DeepCool's LS520 is a great cooler which provides top-tier cooling performance at a budget price. Featuring the 4th generation of DeepCool's in-house water pump design, the LS520 provides performance similar to AIOs twice as expensive at a very reasonable price of $109.99 USD. Unless you need a fancy LCD screen on your cooler, there's no reason to look at any other AIO in this author's opinion.
MSI's MEG CoreLiquid S280 has top tier cooling performance, and is one of the few coolers I would recommend for overclocking Alder Lake
MSI's CoreLiquid K360 provided better than expected performance when testing Intel's i9-12900k, and kept it cool in scenarios most other coolers fail. Alder Lake’s thermal density makes cooling high TDP loads a lot harder than cooling previous generation CPUs, and the MSI K360 CoreLiquid rises to the challenge.
In multi-threaded tasks the 12700 is just shy (~8%) of AMD's Ryzen 5900x on average, and a bit faster (~16%) in single threaded tasks. Cooling it is easy, and for most users the included stock cooler will actually suffice in most tasks - although it does run a bit noisy.
With an expected retail price of ~$350, the i7 12700 packs a great value - especially when paired with a b660 motherboard. It's crazy to think that for the price of a 5900x, you can get this CPU and a motherboard
Today we're testing DeepCool's CASTLE EX360 AIO Cooler, can it tame Intel's i9-12900k when power limits are removed?!
DeepCool has created a great product with the LS720. Featuring the 4th generation of DeepCool's in-house water pump design, the LS720 provides cooling performance of up to 8c+ better than it's previous generation AIOs. At $149 it provides a great value, providing performance similar to coolers which cost $50+ more.
DeepCool's CK560 is a nice mid-tower case that provides good cooling performance while running silently. This is a quality product that gets the job done well. I have no complaints about this product and would recommend it to anyone looking for a new computer case.
The Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black performs well as an air cooler with Alder Lake, able to handle up to 220w long term loads when paired with Intel's i9-12900k - performing almost as well as the bigger NH-D15. The all-black asthetic of this cooler will appeal to those who are tired of seeing RGB plastered everywhere, and Noctua's top-notch customer support means you'll know this cooler will be supported for years to come.
I'm giving Enermax' Aquafusion 360 the Silver Award because it's a good value AIO cooler ($120 USD) that technically passes all of my thermal tests (a test only one other cooler has passed), but It fails to get the Gold award because the fans get louder than they should in the hottest of loads.
The $619.99 i9-12900k provides incredible uplifts in both gaming and productivity, while the $299.99 i5-12600k is the star of the show providing better overall performance than Intel's i9-10900k and uses significantly less power to do so.