Ryzen 5 3600 cooling solution: 240mm CLC vs single-tower 135mm+ air cooler

[Marinatall_Ironside]

Hello

 

For a Ryzen 5 3600, as a cooling solution, which would be the quietest for this chip?

 

I've been debating between me and my brother for a new build for someone, and my argument is in favour of an air cooler, whereas my brother's in favour for a 240mm CLC cooler.

 

My argument is like this: The Ryzen 5 3600 is rated by AMD at 65 watts. My choice for a single-tower 135mm air cooler is the be quiet! Dark Rock 4, which they (the air cooler maker) rate the thing for 200 watts of cooling capacity. Way overkill - and so much that the fan doesn't need to spin fast, if at all. The CLC (my brother's argument) is that it looks nicer, has a potentially higher TDP capacity, and works best with any kit of RAM in terms of compatibility.

 

I want your second opinion on this matter.

 

p.s. here's the parts list for the new build in question. Absolute max budget is USD $1,300 (as shipped w/ taxes included).

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($213.67 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler  ($80.89 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.58 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($75.58 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($118.78 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Computer 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.38 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB Video Card  ($431.98 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H500 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($75.58 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($102.58 @ Amazon)
Total: $1288.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-01 19:27 EDT-0400

 

[GOTSpectrum]

Honestly, unless you REALLY need a water cooler, which is almost never, air cooler all the way.

 

 

 

get your brother to watch this

[bignaz]

Personally I would go with a dark rock 4 pro. Aio's are trash and I do not even consider them water-cooling. More along the lines of poser cooling so people can say oh yeah I got a water cooled PC bro.

 

Custom loop or highend air.

 

 

That being said these cores run hot. Single core with pbo you will get close to that 65w alone. The small focused heat spot from the 7nm makes these chips feel more like 105w in terms of temps. 

 

Now I never ran a 3600 on an aio. I did test a 3900x on a Corsair h115i pro and it just couldn't handle it. Temps were in the high 80's low 90's. Liquid temp was well over 48c I'm guessing just by how hot the tubes and rad was it was closer to the mid 50's. 

 

 

Aio will cool the 3600 fine. But a dark rock 4 pro is a better option and better cooling. It's cheaper so it will fill your budget better also. 

 

 

 

I'm all for water cooling I hate air. But when faced with an AIO or air I would go with air every time and the Dark Rock 4 pro is my top pick. Noctua will bee soon as those new finish's come out but the Pro is a great all around cooler at a great price 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

1 minute ago, bignaz said:

Personally I would go with a dark rock 4 pro. Aio's are trash and I do not even consider them water-cooling. More along the lines of poser cooling so people can say oh yeah I got a water cooled PC bro.

 

Custom loop or highend air.

 

 

That being said these cores run hot. Single core with pbo you will get close to that 65w alone. The small focused heat spot from the 7nm makes these chips feel more like 105w in terms of temps. 

 

Now I never ran a 3600 on an aio. I did test a 3900x on a Corsair h115i pro and it just couldn't handle it. Temps were in the high 80's low 90's. Liquid temp was well over 48c I'm guessing just by how hot the tubes and rad was it was closer to the mid 50's. 

 

 

Aio will cool the 3600 fine. But a dark rock 4 pro is a better option and better cooling. It's cheaper so it will fill your budget better also. 

 

 

 

I'm all for water cooling I hate air. But when faced with an AIO or air I would go with air every time and the Dark Rock 4 pro is my top pick. Noctua will bee soon as those new finish's come out but the Pro is a great all around cooler at a great price 

That's what I'm thinking. The Dark Rock 4 Pro is a little more pricey, but to me the Dark Rock 4 isn't too awful either. Plus it'll make my life easier with installing RAM into the system thanks to its single-tower profile. It shouldn't have a hard time cooling the Ryzen 5 chip, right?

 

I have a custom loop in my computer that currently cools an Intel Core i7-5930K. The radiator in question is a 480mm HW Labs Black Ice SR2 Multiport. It's ridiculous overkill, but I can run my fans really low. All of my fan curves are based off of coolant temperature.

 

But yes, my thinking these days is, when faced with the choice between a high-end air cooler or a CLC, I'll choose the high-end cooler any day. Most high-end air coolers can compete with most of these CLCs, no problem.

[hello_there_123]

Stock.

[xg32]

honestly i'd just use the stock cooler, but between air and AIO, air.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

2 minutes ago, xg32 said:

honestly i'd just use the stock cooler, but between air and AIO, air.

 

38 minutes ago, hello_there_123 said:

Stock.

How does overclocking on the stock cooler fare? That's one of the things I had in mind too.

[hello_there_123]

1 minute ago, Jurunce said:

 

How does overclocking on the stock cooler fare? That's one of the things I had in mind too.

Good enough that there will usually be no noticeable performance in gaming between a stock-overclocked 3600 and a large tower cooler-overclocked 3600. 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

5 minutes ago, quakeguy said:

I bought a $20 DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX 400 HSF for my Ryzen 5 3600, because I read bad reviews of the included Wraith Stealth cooler.  It was easy to install.  It included an AM4 mounting clip.  It keeps my temps at 40C idle and 73C under full load.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JEMXYQ

I still remember upgrading the stock cooler of my friend's computer which runs an AMD FX-8350 to a Cooler Master Hyper T4, and that did fantastic for that CPU. The stock cooler wasn't so great anyways. But now I'm wanting to get something that's going to be a significant upgrade to what's currently in there. CLCs are off the table on this one, and although a dual-tower air cooler has a potentially greater cooling capacity, it's just too chunky for this CPU unless I had a passive CPU cooling solution in mind, which isn't.

 

Plus I'm all for lower CPU temperatures, even if it's at 100% load because of quieter operation.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Jurunce

[Energycore]

3 minutes ago, quakeguy said:

I bought a $20 DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX 400 HSF for my Ryzen 5 3600, because I read bad reviews of the included Wraith Stealth cooler.  It was easy to install.  It included an AM4 mounting clip.  It keeps my temps at 40C idle and 73C under full load.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JEMXYQ

The deepcool gammaxx 400 is probably one of the biggest sleepers in the gaming industry. It's a cooler that easily outperforms $50-$60 solutions while costing sometimes as little as $15. I'm puzzled why it's not the best selling cooler in the US

[Marinatall_Ironside]

2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

The deepcool gammaxx 400 is probably one of the biggest sleepers in the gaming industry. It's a cooler that easily outperforms $50-$60 solutions while costing sometimes as little as $15. I'm puzzled why it's not the best selling cooler in the US

I still have the Hyper T4. Could work for the AM4 socket if the factory brackets are still used?

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Jurunce said:

I still remember upgrading the stock cooler of my friend's computer which runs an AMD FX-8350 to a Cooler Master Hyper T4, and that did fantastic for that CPU. But now I'm wanting to get something that's going to be a significant upgrade to what's currently in there. CLCs are off the table on this one, and although a dual-tower air cooler has a potentially greater cooling capacity, it's just too chunky for this CPU unless I had a passive CPU cooling solution in mind, which isn't.

A good middle of the road option is the Thermaltake Macho Direct, a high performance cooler that isn't as chunky but is still up there in terms of performance. If you don't like the looks of the gammaxx 400, consider this one.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/TsL7YJ/thermalright-cpu-cooler-machodirect

https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7981/thermalright-macho-direct-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html

 

[Energycore]

Just now, Jurunce said:

I still have the Hyper T4. Could work for the AM4 socket if the factory brackets are still used?

I remember reading a year ago that the AM4 mount is the same as AM3. If it is, then the Hyper T4 will work for sure.

[xg32]

3 minutes ago, Energycore said:

The deepcool gammaxx 400 is probably one of the biggest sleepers in the gaming industry. It's a cooler that easily outperforms $50-$60 solutions while costing sometimes as little as $15. I'm puzzled why it's not the best selling cooler in the US

it looks exactly like the 60dollar TT cooler i used back in the opteron days, how the hell is it 20bucks lol.

[Energycore]

Just now, xg32 said:

it looks exactly like the 60dollar TT cooler i used back in the opteron days, how the hell is it 20bucks lol.

It seems to cut every corner in the aesthetics department, the fan on it is hideous imo

 

But it's the best price / performance on a cooler you will find, hands down.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-gammaxx-400-slim-tower-cpu-cooler,4460-2.html

[Marinatall_Ironside]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

It seems to cut every corner in the aesthetics department, the fan on it is hideous imo

 

But it's the best price / performance on a cooler you will find, hands down.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-gammaxx-400-slim-tower-cpu-cooler,4460-2.html

I took a look at the DEEPCOOL cooler. If aesthetics isn't your thing, then it's not too bad according to other posters. But I care about the aesthetics.

 

And if I want to be cheap, I can reuse the Hyper T4.

[Energycore]

8 minutes ago, Jurunce said:

I took a look at the DEEPCOOL cooler. If aesthetics isn't your thing, then it's not too bad according to other posters. But I care about the aesthetics.

 

And if I want to be cheap, I can reuse the Hyper T4.

If you care about aesthetics but want good performance, grab the facelift Macho Rev B

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4TCrxr/thermalright-cpu-cooler-machorevb

 

Still really cheap for the performance and looks good imo

 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

If you care about aesthetics but want good performance, grab the facelift Macho Rev B

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4TCrxr/thermalright-cpu-cooler-machorevb

 

Still really cheap for the performance and looks good imo

 

I once considered getting a Thermalright Le Grand Macho CPU cooler back in the day. I still have the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.C, but alas, it won't work with AM4

 

I also found the C revision of the Macho cooler, and I chose that one. It's not much more expensive compared to the B revision on Amazon.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Jurunce

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Jurunce said:

I once considered getting a Thermalright Macho CPU cooler back in the day. I still have the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.C, but alas, it won't work with AM4

 

I'm sad that old CPU coolers which were insanely good don't work anymore because of mounting changes.

 

Of course, you can always Linus it and use zip ties.