A good air cooler for a i5 9600k, planning on overclocking to 4.4ghz

[Captain_Norway]

Hey guys!

 

This is my first on this forum  Happy to be here!

 

I am planning on buying my first pc, and i need help with choosing which air cooler i should buy. I am too afraid of water cooling so i am going to stick with air cooling.

 

As mention in the title i plan on overclocking my cpu(i5 9600k) to 4.4 ghz or higher.

I was wondering on which air cooler i should buy. It should’t be too expensive(mid ranged maybe) as well as being able to cool my cpu, having good thermals.

 

I was planning on buying the Cooler master hyper 212 rgb black edition, but i don’t exactly know how well it will perform.

I also have my eyes on Be Quiet Dark Rock 4.

 

 

Thanks for helping me!

 

Here are my parts:

 

Motherboard: gigabyte z390 aorus elite

Cpu: i5 9600k

Gpu: Msi 1660ti gaming x

Ram: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8G 3000 mhz 

Case: NZXT H500

PSU: Corsair TXM 650w

 

[boey]

the 9600k has an all core boost of 4.3ghz. I'd use a decent air cooler like the be quiet! Dark Rock 4

[Semper]

Of these two, I would opt for the Dark Rock Pro 4.

In the same price bracket comes the NH-D15 which, at peak performance (meaning not noise equalized) will hold a slight edge.

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, _d0nut said:

the 9600k has an all core boost of 4.3ghz. I'd use a decent air cooler like the be quiet! Dark Rock 4

Ahaha, not to mention its my first time overclocking, i have seen mulitple place it can be overlocked to 5. But i may have misread. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Captain_Norway]

2 minutes ago, Semper said:

Of these two, I would opt for the Dark Rock Pro 4.

In the same price bracket comes the NH-D15 which, at peak performance (meaning not noise equalized) will hold a slight edge.

The things is that, i don’t know if it will fit in my case. Do you have any other air cooling than the ones i mentioned.

 

Thanks for the quick reply you too!  

[boey]

Just now, Captain_Norway said:

Ahaha, not to mention its my first time overclocking, i have seen mulitple place it can be overlocked to 5. But i may have misread. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

5 is very possible but you likely need a slightly more beefy air cooler to keep it at decent temps, like be quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 or Noctua NH-D15. 

[boey]

Just now, Captain_Norway said:

The things is that, i don’t know if it will fit in my case

h500 has max cpu height of 165mm

dark rock pro 4 height : 162.8mm

dark rock 4: 159.4

nhd15: 165mm

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, _d0nut said:

5 is very possible but you likely need a slightly more beefy air cooler to keep it at decent temps, like be quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 or Noctua NH-D15. 

Do you know if the be quiet dark rock 4 will fit in my case?

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, _d0nut said:

h500 has max cpu height of 165mm

dark rock pro 4 height : 162.8mm

dark rock 4: 159.4

nhd15: 165mm

Does it have clearance for the ram sticks and the gpu

 

[Semper]

4 minutes ago, Captain_Norway said:

The things is that, i don’t know if it will fit in my case

the H500 has a listed max of 165mm for CPU radiators, the NH-D15 comes in at 165mm with the fan mounted (160 without), the Dark Rock Pro 4 comes in at 162.8. Theoretically it fits, but it doesn't leave much room for manufacturing tolerances if the h500's specification is extreme max (I.E. touching the side panel).

Both the DRP4 and the NH-D15 perform very similar, so it's up to you.

 

[boey]

1 minute ago, Captain_Norway said:

Does it have clearance for the ram sticks and the gpu

  

Both be quiet coolers fit your RAM, while the noctua does not(i'd recommend going for the be quiet ones anyway since they look nicer and perform basically the same

 

[Captain_Norway]

2 minutes ago, Semper said:

the H500 has a listed max of 165mm for CPU radiators, the NH-D15 comes in at 165mm with the fan mounted (160 without), the Dark Rock Pro 4 comes in at 162.8. Theoretically it fits, but it doesn't leave much room for manufacturing tolerances if the h500's specification is extreme max (I.E. touching the side panel).

Both the DRP4 and the NH-D15 perform very similar, so it's up to you.

 

I don’t plan to push it to 5 ghz do i still need the DRP4 or is it fine with just the DR4

[Semper]

1 minute ago, Captain_Norway said:

I don’t plan to push it to 5 ghz do i still need the DRP4 or is it fine with just the DR4

Apologies, I totally spaced out and forgot that the DR4 and DRP4 are two different SKU's here.

The Dark Rock 4 should be plenty sufficient so long as you're not having to do something totally and unreasonably bizarre with your voltages.

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, _d0nut said:

Both be quiet coolers fit your RAM, while the noctua does not(i'd recommend going for the be quiet ones anyway since they look nicer and perform basically the same

 

This is a great community thanks everyone for replying!

Do you have any other air cooler which are cheaper but perform for like 4.4 overclock? I might go with the DR4 but  i also want other options! 

Thanks everyone!

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, Semper said:

Apologies, I totally spaced out and forgot that the DR4 and DRP4 are two different SKU's here.

The Dark Rock 4 should be plenty sufficient so long as you're not having to do something totally and unreasonably bizarre with your voltages.

No need to apologize! Thanks for helping!

[boey]

14 minutes ago, Captain_Norway said:

This is a great community thanks everyone for replying!

Do you have any other air cooler which are cheaper but perform for like 4.4 overclock? I might go with the DR4 but  i also want other options! 

Thanks everyone!

I'd recommend going for a slightly higher oc, 100mhz won't do much. Maybe 4.6?

Other cheaper coolers you can get are

Cryorig H7(should be capable of a decent oc, there are people using this for 4.7 oc on 8600k)

Arctic Freezer 33 eSports ONE(this one is cheaper and comes in a bunch of different colours, can be used to match colour schemes if needed, should be sufficient for minor oc)

 

There are many air coolers of better value than the Hyper 212(all editions are basically the same, be it turbo, rgb, black etc), so try not to get that

 

[Captain_Norway]

3 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

I'd recommend going for a slightly higher oc, 100mhz won't do much. Maybe 4.6?

Other cheaper coolers you can get are

Cryorig H7(should be capable of a decent oc, there are people using this for 4.7 oc on 8600k)

Arctic Freezer 33 eSports ONE(this one is cheaper and comes in a bunch of different colours, can be used to match colour schemes if needed, should be sufficient for minor oc)

 

I thought the baseclock was at 3.7ghz, thats why i wanted to overclock to 4.4

[Captain_Norway]

17 minutes ago, Semper said:

Apologies, I totally spaced out and forgot that the DR4 and DRP4 are two different SKU's here.

The Dark Rock 4 should be plenty sufficient so long as you're not having to do something totally and unreasonably bizarre with your voltages.

What are your thoughts on the cooler master hyper 212 rgb black edition?

[Semper]

1 minute ago, Captain_Norway said:

What are your thoughts on the cooler master hyper 212 rgb black edition?

It's not going to perform as well as the DR4, but it is an option.

 

Personally, I don't like CM's SF120 fans, what the 212RGB is bundled with. They're clearly inspired by Gentle Typhoon's, but are unremarkable in comparison.

[Captain_Norway]

1 minute ago, Semper said:

It's not going to perform as well as the DR4, but it is an option.

 

Personally, I don't like CM's SF120 fans, what the 212RGB is bundled with. They're clearly inspired by Gentle Typhoon's, but are unremarkable in comparison.

You guys have changed my mind, probably going with the DR4.

Thanks alot! 

[Captain_Norway]

@Semper @_d0nut, off topic i used pcpartpicker its says total watts will be around 400w, is 650w psu overkill?

[Semper]

6 minutes ago, Captain_Norway said:

@Semper @_d0nut, off topic i used pcpartpicker its says total watts will be around 400w, is 650w psu overkill?

Slightly, but not excessively so.
If you'd like to save a few bucks, you could drop down to a 500/550w unit, but who you talk to will depend on what you're going to get recommended. I prefer a little bit more overhead than some others do. I have a 750w unit in my rig at the moment which some would consider excessive overkill.

Keep in mind, for that estimate to be as accurate as possible, you need to include everything that your PSU will be feeding, which means all case fans, all non-external powered peripherals, ETC.

[Captain_Norway]

10 minutes ago, Semper said:

Slightly, but not excessively so.
If you'd like to save a few bucks, you could drop down to a 500/550w unit, but who you talk to will depend on what you're going to get recommended. I prefer a little bit more overhead than some others do. I have a 750w unit in my rig at the moment which some would consider excessive overkill.

Keep in mind, for that estimate to be as accurate as possible, you need to include everything that your PSU will be feeding, which means all case fans, all non-external powered peripherals, ETC.

Yeah true, probably going with 650w then i have some headroom if i ever upgrade my system

[boey]

31 minutes ago, Captain_Norway said:

Yeah true, probably going with 650w then i have some headroom if i ever upgrade my system

400W is calculated by TDP, which is not representative of actual power draw. A 105w TDP on a CPU usually means it pulls 105W at it's base clock. 650W is fine.

58 minutes ago, Captain_Norway said:

I thought the baseclock was at 3.7ghz, thats why i wanted to overclock to 4.4

Base clock doesn't actually mean too much. When the CPU is under load(like in a game) it will go to the boost clock, which is 4.3. 

[WoodenMarker]

10 hours ago, Semper said:

the H500 has a listed max of 165mm for CPU radiators, the NH-D15 comes in at 165mm with the fan mounted (160 without), the Dark Rock Pro 4 comes in at 162.8. Theoretically it fits, but it doesn't leave much room for manufacturing tolerances if the h500's specification is extreme max (I.E. touching the side panel).

1mm or extra headroom according to specs is generally plenty for accommodating for manufacturer tolerances.

10 hours ago, _d0nut said:

Both be quiet coolers fit your RAM, while the noctua does not(i'd recommend going for the be quiet ones anyway since they look nicer and perform basically the same

The NH-D15 fits fine and is 165mm tall with the fans in the standard position which leaves 32mm of height under the front fan for ram.

Corsair LPX is standard profile which nearly all coolers are designed to accommodate.

9 hours ago, Semper said:

Keep in mind, for that estimate to be as accurate as possible, you need to include everything that your PSU will be feeding, which means all case fans, all non-external powered peripherals, ETC.

PCPartPicker is pretty good about including the fans and accessories under the power draw estimation.

The estimated 400w is already generous. A good 450w would be plenty. For the sake of future upgrades, I'd recommend going with a good ~550w.

You can see examples of more power hungry systems drawing much less at load: https://www.anandtech.com/show/13973/nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-review-feat-evga-xc-gaming/15

 

@Captain_Norway 4.4ghz isn't much and either cooler would be fine for that but the DR4 is much quieter. If you're interested in saving some money, there are usually more cost-effective coolers. Where are you shopping / located?