Advise on cooling.

TbDk87 · December 19, 2014

Hi everyone. I have recently built a new rig and was hoping for some advise. This is my first complete build and I use it for gaming and work so I wan't to make sure I do the best I can for it. My biggest concern right now is cooling. I don't have any issues currently, I just want to see if there is a way to optimize. I have a Zalman Z11 chasis, an Intel I5-4690k, MSI Z97 Gaming 5 mother board, and a CM Hyper 212 Evo. I currently have just the stock CM fan from the 212 evo installed in push mode. I mounted the heatsink so that it would aim to the back of the chasis at the 120mm case fan that is pushing out.

My few questions are:

Is the Hyper 212 ok for OC? Intel says the I5 can go to 3.9Ghz over the stock 3.5Ghz. The MSI board easily allows OC.

Is the current fan configuration good or should I add a second heatsink fan for Push/pull?

Is there a real benefit to a push/pull in general? Would I see a benefit even though the rear case fan is 3-4 inches away pulling anyway?

Should I upgrade the CM fan to a different brand? If so what brands are better for performance, noise level, and life?

I greatly appreciate any advice and I hope that I provided enough info. My main goal is to stream from this unit to twitch, but I don't play anything like far cry or crysis. I mostly play smite, 7 days to die and TF2.

Also not sure if it matters but I'm using a gt640 card (planning on upgrading at some point) and 12 gb Ram.

WoodenMarker · December 19, 2014

Push/pull can help lower temps by a few degrees and is generally not worth it unless you have fans lying around already. The stock fan is alright and it's usually not worth getting a better fan that tacks on more cost to the original cooler.

You should be able to push for ~4.2-4.4ghz if not more with a 212 Evo. Make sure to watch your voltages and temps.

you may add a noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM

Totally not worth the money for a 212 Evo.

TbDk87 · December 19, 2014

Thanks for the fast replies everyone. I really appreciate it. Would upgrading to a Noctua fan really help the cooling at all or mostly with the noise level. My current set up isn't bad at all when it comes to noise so unless I would see a reasonable improvement, it doesn't sound like I would need to replace the fan from what I'm reading. I see that you mentioned a push pull config would work better. Any Idea in temps what it could have the potential for? I know without you being here and seeing my layout its hard to say, I just mean a ball park if possible. Thanks again.

TbDk87 · December 19, 2014

Another noobie question. When you OC, do you leave it that way or only do it for certain times? Meaning do you OC only to play games or stream and then reset it back to stock afterwards, or just leave it OC 100% of the time? Will the latter hurt it?

Tam3n · December 19, 2014

Another noobie question. When you OC, do you leave it that way or only do it for certain times? Meaning do you OC only to play games or stream and then reset it back to stock afterwards, or just leave it OC 100% of the time? Will the latter hurt it?

I guess people have 24/7 OC which is under the max oc they could get out of the cpu and also doesn't have too high voltage. Then for benchmark runs and such go all out.

WoodenMarker · December 20, 2014

Thanks for the fast replies everyone. I really appreciate it. Would upgrading to a Noctua fan really help the cooling at all or mostly with the noise level. My current set up isn't bad at all when it comes to noise so unless I would see a reasonable improvement, it doesn't sound like I would need to replace the fan from what I'm reading. I see that you mentioned a push pull config would work better. Any Idea in temps what it could have the potential for? I know without you being here and seeing my layout its hard to say, I just mean a ball park if possible. Thanks again.

It depends on the fan you're upgrading to. Getting a better fan or using 2 fans in push/pull would lower temps by a few degrees at most.

Another noobie question. When you OC, do you leave it that way or only do it for certain times? Meaning do you OC only to play games or stream and then reset it back to stock afterwards, or just leave it OC 100% of the time? Will the latter hurt it?

It depends on the person. Most people have a 24/7 oc with comfortable voltages/temps that isn't the max attainable oc. More voltage can lower a part's lifespan and oc;ing doesn't necessarily need more voltage over stock.

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