I need help with this cooling situation.

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Let me start off by saying this is my first time on this site so if I do something wrong just tell me. Now onto the actual problem. 

 

I was getting frustrated by the stock cooler on my Athlon X4 760K as it was stupid loud and hot as well (I play a lot of games BTW), so I decided to do some research and find a good cooler that was quiet and could fit in my case, (Fractal Design Core 1000) and found the Noctua NH-L9a low profile cooler.

 

I did research on this cooler and many people were using it to cool the same processor so I thought it would be fine, but later I looked and found that the cooler is recommended for 55W CPU's and the X4 760K is a 100W CPU so I wasn't sure but I got it anyway along with a new side panel fan for the case.

 

I installed it and it worked, for about 10 seconds until it started smoking from the back of the CPU area of the motherboard, it refused to turn off and after I unplugged it, it wouldn't work after that.

 

So a few months and many questions later I'm here, after figuring out it was the motherboard that was broken I took it out for RMA and got a new one (a cheaper one but very similar), and my computer works again (:YAY:), however the problem still remains with the stock cooler being extremely loud and hot so I'm not sure if I should try to install the cooler again or if that's not possible just get a new fan to put on the stock cooler (if that's even possible). 

 

Thank you.

[TakeToTheShadows]

I'm no expert but from what I've heard Noctua are just about the best air cooling manufacturer period. Are you worried about the cooler being faulty? Because from a company that good I'd be surprised.

[WoodenMarker]

Go ahead and use the NH-L9a. The problem was the motherboard and not the cooler. 

Pay attention to the temps though since the L9a wasn't made for non-low tdp cpus. 

[TheFalseHuman]

If the stock cooler is loud and/or not performing as well as you hoped, then replace it

 

Consider both water and air cooling options?

 

If you are planning to get a new cooler, what is your budget?

[Sargent Mustard]

Its common knowledge that AMD stock coolers are rubbish. Go for Noctua coolers if you want the best of the best, as the the guys above me are saying. If you want something a bit more budget oriented have a look at the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO. Cheap and stupidly effect. It also supports a wide array of chipsets and manufacturers, even if there are only 2 of them.

 

Also the actual wattage of your CPU does not have much to do with your cooler. The TDP of a CPU has no effect on the compatibility of a CPU cooler, regardless of model or brand. 

 

EDIT: Also, welcome to the forum. 

[WoodenMarker]

Also the actual wattage of your CPU does not have much to do with your cooler. The TDP of a CPU has no effect on the compatibility of a CPU cooler, regardless of model or brand. 

The tdp of the cpu has to do with its heat output. 

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Its common knowledge that AMD stock coolers are rubbish. Go for Noctua coolers if you want the best of the best, as the the guys above me are saying. If you want something a bit more budget oriented have a look at the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO. Cheap and stupidly effect. It also supports a wide array of chipsets and manufacturers, even if there are only 2 of them.

 

Also the actual wattage of your CPU does not have much to do with your cooler. The TDP of a CPU has no effect on the compatibility of a CPU cooler, regardless of model or brand. 

 

EDIT: Also, welcome to the forum. 

I have the cooler already, (Noctua NH-L9a) and I'm worried if I try it again it might overheat or something. Also, the Hyper 212 Evo won't fit in my case (Fractal Design Core 1000) without a bulge on the side panel. Thank you for your reply.

 

Go ahead and use the NH-L9a. The problem was the motherboard and not the cooler. 

Pay attention to the temps though since the L9a wasn't made for non-low tdp cpus. 

So you are saying it should work with my CPU? And will I get lower temps if I use the Noctua cooler I have? Sorry about all the questions, I just need to make sure.

Thanks for the reply.

 

If the stock cooler is loud and/or not performing as well as you hoped, then replace it

 

Consider both water and air cooling options?

 

If you are planning to get a new cooler, what is your budget?

I already have the cooler, it just didn't work for me last time (second and third paragraph of my post).

Thanks for the reply.

[TakeToTheShadows]

I have the cooler already, (Noctua NH-L9a) and I'm worried if I try it again it might overheat or something. Also, the Hyper 212 Evo won't fit in my case (Fractal Design Core 1000) without a bulge on the side panel. Thank you for your reply.

 

So you are saying it should work with my CPU? And will I get lower temps if I use the Noctua cooler I have? Sorry about all the questions, I just need to make sure.

Thanks for the reply.

 

I already have the cooler, it just didn't work for me last time (second and third paragraph of my post).

Thanks for the reply.

There should not be anything wrong with the cooler as it's very high end and didn't you say last time it was a faulty mother board anyway? If so then I would go for it just make sure everything is switched off (at the back of the power supply) when you're messing around inside your case and make sure you are plugging it in the correct place (it should be marked something like ''CPU_FAN'') and preferably look into getting some anti-static wrist straps if you want to be as safe as possible. About performance, Yes if you decide to use the Noctua cooler even with one of there stock type cooler configurations like the NH-L9A you should see a lot cooler temps and a lot less noise too. Might even be able to do some light over clocking if you're in the mood! For a smaller case like yours I would actually recommend one of there 92mm tower coolers which should still fit inside your case (still make sure before you buy one) and provide a lot better cooling than there stock style coolers. Still if you're planning to run stock speeds or slight over clocks then the Noctua you have should do the job just fine Remember to click mark as solved if someone provided the answers you were looking for and feel free to PM me if you have any more questions 

[AFlyingBuffalo]

There should not be anything wrong with the cooler as it's very high end and didn't you say last time it was a faulty mother board anyway? If so then I would go for it just make sure everything is switched off (at the back of the power supply) when you're messing around inside your case and make sure you are plugging it in the correct place (it should be marked something like ''CPU_FAN'') and preferably look into getting some anti-static wrist straps if you want to be as safe as possible. About performance, Yes if you decide to use the Noctua cooler even with one of there stock type cooler configurations like the NH-L9A you should see a lot cooler temps and a lot less noise too. Might even be able to do some light over clocking if you're in the mood! For a smaller case like yours I would actually recommend one of there 92mm tower coolers which should still fit inside your case (still make sure before you buy one) and provide a lot better cooling than there stock style coolers. Still if you're planning to run stock speeds or slight over clocks then the Noctua you have should do the job just fine Remember to click mark as solved if someone provided the answers you were looking for and feel free to PM me if you have any more questions 

Thank you for your reply and all the help, I'll be trying the cooler tomorrow, also does anyone know of a good program to monitor fan speeds and temps?

[TakeToTheShadows]

Thank you for your reply and all the help, I'll be trying the cooler tomorrow, also does anyone know of a good program to monitor fan speeds and temps?

Yeah the ones I use are MSI Afterburner and HWinfo which are both free! Watch this 

And If you have any problems getting it working again you can PM me. Also a note with those is I've never managed to get it to display on the desktop although because you have to have them open anyway for them to work you can just take a quick look every ones in a while at temps and usage and such. What I really use it for is to display temps in games because you can set it up so it displays whatever stats you want like temps, usages, clock speeds, and just about everything else you might want to monitor anywhere on the screen while in fullscreen applications like games. You can also set up alarms so it makes a loud noise whenever something like temperature goes over a limit that you set so you know if something is getting too hot.    

 

:Edit: I just remembered you can actually make it display stats on the right side of the toolbar next to internet and updates, I usually just have it show CPU and GPU temps but you can have it show whatever you like as long as you can fit it in the toolbar. Also I'd recommend just messing around in both msi and hw for a bit because there's some really cool stuff you can do with them. Just remember exactly the settings you got from the video so if it stops working you don't need to reset everything to default and set it up all over again   

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Yeah the ones I use are MSI Afterburner and HWinfo which are both free! Watch this 

And If you have any problems getting it working again you can PM me. Also a note with those is I've never managed to get it to display on the desktop although because you have to have them open anyway for them to work you can just take a quick look every ones in a while at temps and usage and such. What I really use it for is to display temps in games because you can set it up so it displays whatever stats you want like temps, usages, clock speeds, and just about everything else you might want to monitor anywhere on the screen while in fullscreen applications like games. You can also set up alarms so it makes a loud noise whenever something like temperature goes over a limit that you set so you know if something is getting too hot.    

 

:Edit: I just remembered you can actually make it display stats on the right side of the toolbar next to internet and updates, I usually just have it show CPU and GPU temps but you can have it show whatever you like as long as you can fit it in the toolbar. Also I'd recommend just messing around in both msi and hw for a bit because there's some really cool stuff you can do with them. Just remember exactly the settings you got from the video so if it stops working you don't need to reset everything to default and set it up all over again   

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate all the help I've been getting from people here at LTT and I'll be sure to be on this site often. 

[TakeToTheShadows]

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate all the help I've been getting from people here at LTT and I'll be sure to be on this site often. 

Yeah no problem be sure next time to add some more tags tho like 'help' just so more people find it and reply and if you're unsure of which thread to post in just go for the more popular one as you'll get replies more quickly

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Yeah no problem be sure next time to add some more tags tho like 'help' just so more people find it and reply and if you're unsure of which thread to post in just go for the more popular one as you'll get replies more quickly

Thanks, also I got most of the information running in my games but i wasn't able to find the CPU temps in HWiNFO (I guess because it's a newer version?) but if you could help me locate it that would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[TakeToTheShadows]

 

Thanks, also I got most of the information running in my games but i wasn't able to find the CPU temps in HWiNFO (I guess because it's a newer version?) but if you could help me locate it that would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Hmm my main gaming rig is down for major upgrades atm so I don't have it installed  :wacko: do you know if you're using the latest stable version are the beta for the new version?

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Hmm my main gaming rig is down for major upgrades atm so I don't have it installed  :wacko: do you know if you're using the latest stable version are the beta for the new version?

I believe I'm using the latest stable version. Also is 35 C a good temp to have at idle (this is stock cooler), and when I'm gaming or doing other intensive tasks my fan ramps up for a second then back down, I'm not sure whats going on with it. I'll be putting the new heat sink on tomorrow.

[TakeToTheShadows]

I believe I'm using the latest stable version. Also is 35 C a good temp to have at idle (this is stock cooler), and when I'm gaming or doing other intensive tasks my fan ramps up for a second then back down, I'm not sure whats going on with it. I'll be putting the new heat sink on tomorrow.

I sent you a message check next to your name at the top right and reply there it's easier and we don't have to clutter up the furum with really long threads

[WoodenMarker]

So you are saying it should work with my CPU? And will I get lower temps if I use the Noctua cooler I have? Sorry about all the questions, I just need to make sure.

It will probably work but you might get higher temps with the NH-L9 rather than lower.

There should not be anything wrong with the cooler as it's very high end and didn't you say last time it was a faulty mother board anyway? If so then I would go for it just make sure everything is switched off (at the back of the power supply) when you're messing around inside your case and make sure you are plugging it in the correct place (it should be marked something like ''CPU_FAN'') and preferably look into getting some anti-static wrist straps if you want to be as safe as possible. About performance, Yes if you decide to use the Noctua cooler even with one of there stock type cooler configurations like the NH-L9A you should see a lot cooler temps and a lot less noise too.

It's not very high end and might perform worse than stock. The NH-L9 cools similarly to the Intel stock cooler which is less beefy than AMD's stock cooler. 

[AFlyingBuffalo]

It will probably work but you might get higher temps with the NH-L9 rather than lower.

It's not very high end and might perform worse than stock. The NH-L9 cools similarly to the Intel stock cooler which is less beefy than AMD's stock cooler. 

I just recently installed the Noctua cooler and it is incredibly quiet, I can barely hear it under full load while gaming and at idle, and I do get better temps (most of the time) under load and similar temps at idle to the stock cooler.

I don't plan to overclock since I'm still fairly new to this but I'm still going to check temps often to make sure nothing goes wrong over the next few days.

I am still kinda wishing I had went with an i3 instead because of the heat and TDP but this processor is doing what it needs to do for now.

Thanks for the reply.

[TakeToTheShadows]

It will probably work but you might get higher temps with the NH-L9 rather than lower.

It's not very high end and might perform worse than stock. The NH-L9 cools similarly to the Intel stock cooler which is less beefy than AMD's stock cooler. 

Dude Amd's stock coolers are terrible and sound like you installed a leaf blower inside your case

[WoodenMarker]

Dude Amd's stock coolers are terrible and sound like you installed a leaf blower inside your case

They may be noisy but are still beefier and perform better than Intel's stock coolers.

[TakeToTheShadows]

They may be noisy but are still beefier and perform better than Intel's stock coolers.

Yeah but you're comparing them to a Noctua cooler with roughly the same architecture but infinitely better fans for both temps and noise levels   

[WoodenMarker]

Yeah but you're comparing them to a Noctua cooler with roughly the same architecture but infinitely better fans for both temps and noise levels   

...same architecture?

[TakeToTheShadows]

...same architecture?

Referring to them being roughly the same size and same design  

[AFlyingBuffalo]

Is it possible not to argue aboot this? Anyway I'm getting similar or slightly higher temps at idle and slightly lower or similar temps under full load, but I can barely hear the fan on the cooler.

I was never expecting a low profile cooler like this one to cool 10 C better or something like that, what I was looking for was a much quieter solution that could perform slightly better or similar to a stock cooler, and I got this one.

However it does seem to be a bit less hot after an hour or two of gaming so that's a plus.