The last 6-8 months or so have kinda blurred the lines a bit. The Alpha PAL8045 and then the THermalright AX-7 both perform very well with low to intermediate noise 80mm fans, and so watercooling isn't maybe the necessity for quiet overclocking that it once was.
I find that, no matter how much I think I want quiet, I end up cranking fans and the voltage to get that last bit of o/c. Water cooling takes me further than even the best heatsinks can, and once you have your setup it isn't that expensive to stay ahead of the cooling curve.
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