The size of your desktop system will end up playing a decisive role when picking a CPU cooler. For everyday use, the stock cooler or a slightly stepped-up air cooler will suffice, unless the CPU maker flat-out recommends a liquid cooling solution. (This is rare, and mostly applies only to upper-end chips like Intel's top Core i9 models and AMD's Ryzen 9 and Threadripper chips.) For the best performance, but especially for system tweakers and CPU overclockers, you'll likely want the largest cooler that will fit inside your case, whether you go with an air or water solution. It's also worth noting that air coolers tend to benefit more from having extra case fans and strong ventilation to supplement the cooling action of the heatsink and the fan or fans mounted on the cooler. Water coolers have their radiators mounted to one of the case walls, and the radiator fans vent or pull air in or out of the system through the radiator, boosting case-wide ventilation and making these cooling systems less reliant on supplemental case fans. These differences give the two types of coolers notable advantages in different types of systems. Air coolers, in general, perform best in large cases with lots of airflow. Water coolers can perform well in systems like this, but they tend to surpass air coolers in smaller cases that are more congested with restricted airflow. Many very small chassis, however, lack room to add a water cooler, forcing you to rely on a low-profile air cooler even if the PC doesn't allow for great internal airflow.