(10-19-2014, 12:22 PM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: A custom water cooling loop with massive radiators is noticeably better at cooling and being quiet than an air cooler, but also requires a tonne of planning and building and testing and money. A cheaper kit type cooler, such as a Corsair H100 is only a few percent better than a good air cooler, but costs far more. It's not worth the investment unless you're going all in, and even then it's only worth it if you're doing really serious overclocking or want your rig to look nice.
Yes, what you have said above is all true. I went from a Noctua D14 to a Corsair H110. It is not that much quieter and not that much cooler, but it did cost a lot more. AIO water coolers take up less space inside the case and are lighter and easier to install - all of which make for better air flow inside the case for the other components like HDD, GPU, VRM, southbridge etc.
The other thing that is not all that well known is heat is no longer the main limiting factor when overclocking. It is now all marketing that sells the AIO water coolers.