Noob questions about cooling

[VelikiPCguy]

Hey all, first-time PC builder.

 

When people talk about a cooler, do they generally mean a CPU cooler or a GPU cooler? Do both of these need a separate cooler? I know some aftermarket GPUs come with a built-in cooler, so is this worth using, can it even fit alongside a regular cooler?

 

I've also read that the RAM and SSD should be cooled as well (some SSDs come with their own heatsink "jacket" now, so I guess that's enough for it? But then I've also read that certain parts of the SSD actually should stay warm, cos they function better that way), or does that just happen through ambient cooling from your main cooler system?

 

Finally, since I'm too inexperienced to think of a custom liquid cooling system, is it better to go for an air cooler or an AIO liquid cooler, for a top-end / future-proofing gaming PC?

 

Thanks! 

[doomsriker]

When somebody is talking about a cooler they often mean the CPU cooler unless we are talking about water cooling. Most non- water cooled air coolers graphics cards are just plug and play straight out of the box. I would steer clear of water cooling as it is more of an enthusiast hobby than a practical build option especially for a new builder (come at me for that statment PCMR I dare you). m.2 and NVME drives may need a heat sink as they can run hot. Older style sata ssds do not need a heat sink. Also any ram that needs a heat sink will come with one already installed on the sticks. Definitely just go air cooled for your first build; water cooling is more for enthusiasts who want to do extreme overclocking and have a cool looking loop. I recommend an air cooler for your CPU as well. 

[WoodenMarker]

As long as temps aren't too high, components should generally be fine. You can check with software like HWinfo. Excessively high temps or dramatic changes in temperature can degrade components more quickly.

All computer components that draw power require cooling. Those that draw more power like the cpu or gpu often require active cooling. This is often in the form of a heatsink and attached fans.

Modern graphics cards generally come with an attached heatsink for cooling and it's uncommon to find out without an attached heatsink. 

RAM and SSDs can often be cooled with the system airflow and won't require a dedicated heatsink. It's not uncommon for a heatsink to included even if unnecessary for better cooling or aesthetics. 

 

There are plenty of best practices but a system with an intake and exhaust fan is generally fine for most systems that aren't particularly power hungry. The included coolers for CPUs and graphics cards are generally adequate. 

An AIO can be convenient for providing a lot of raw cooling power but has more moving parts than an air cooler. An air cooler requires less maintenance in the long run and can enough cooling for just about anything outside of heavy overclocking.

 

If you're aiming to build a new system, check this thread out:

If you want help planning a new system or upgrade, you can post a thread to the New Builds and Planning subforum. 

[Nathanpete]

This is a CPU air cooler, aka heatsink and fan: 

This is a CPU all-in-one (aka AIO) water cooler, it attaches to both the motherboard and to the side of the case to pull in air, for simplicity just get something like the image above: 

This is a GPU cooler, they also use a heatsink and fan, but all that really matters is the heatsink, but for a noob it really doesn't matter as long as it is small enough to fit inside your case. PCPartPicker is a fantastic tool and it will automatically throw out warnings if the GPU's length is beyond that supported by your case: 

When you buy a GPU it will always have a cooler preattached unless you bought it disassembled from ebay, so don't do that. The cooler is what makes the biggest difference between my RX 5600 XT and some other user's 5600XT, in both performance and looks, because the cooler is 95% of what makes or breaks a GPU's looks, and a well designed cooler can make a GPU shine in comparison to other cards with the same hardware underneath. IMO, buy a GPU that has an included heatsink no matter the quality, because in the current market, you won't be building a PC if you contemplate too much on the looks of a GPU

Aftermarket GPUs really don't exist unless they have been "water-blocked" which for your purposes you should avoid. Cards like the one from Asus ROG above is not aftermarket, it is whatever the opposite of aftermarket is. 

 

A lot of M.2 drives can get really hot. Now M.2's need to be hot, but 120F or 50C is a nice place. Too hot and it will slow itself down to prevent overheating, too cold and it will actually start to wear out faster and not last as long, because chemistry. Good things is that most motherboards nowadays actually include a piece of metal and thermal pad above the top M.2 slot to help remove excessive heat from the M.2. So use the top M.2 slot if you can

 

A huge amount of RAM come with heatsink included, and don't bother removing them because you are very likely to literally rip electronics right off the circuit board. Do that and you have a dead RAM stick. 95% of choice when it comes to what RAM heatsink you want is choice. The shape of the metal, the number, placement, and colors of the LEDs, etc. IMO, get corsair LPX, it works with anything and has no extra flairs like RGB. 

 

[VelikiPCguy]

11 minutes ago, doomsriker said:

Most non- water cooled air coolers graphics cards are just plug and play straight out of the box.

Wait what do you mean by that, non-water cooled air coolers graphics cards?

12 minutes ago, doomsriker said:

m.2 and NVME drives may need a heat sink as they can run hot. Older style sata ssds do not need a heat sink. Also any ram that needs a heat sink will come with one already installed on the sticks.

Ah so RAM that needs its own heatsink will come with one already, but an SSD that needs one won't necessarily?

[doomsriker]

9 minutes ago, NewwGuyy123 said:

Wait what do you mean by that, non-water cooled air coolers graphics cards?

I was over explaining. I just mean air cooled 

[doomsriker]

10 minutes ago, NewwGuyy123 said:

Ah so RAM that needs its own heatsink will come with one already, but an SSD that needs one won't necessarily?

Yes, usually the motherboard will have a heat sink but always look up a reputable review and/or read the included paperwork when in doubt. I think some SSDs come with pre installed heat sinks, but this is certainly not the norm. 

[VelikiPCguy]

30 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

Aftermarket GPUs really don't exist unless they have been "water-blocked" which for your purposes you should avoid. Cards like the one from Asus ROG above is not aftermarket, it is whatever the opposite of aftermarket is.

Hmm what do you mean by that? Isn't, say, every version of an RTX 3090 that's not Founders Edition technically the aftermarket?

[VelikiPCguy]

13 minutes ago, doomsriker said:

Yes, usually the motherboard will have a heat sink but always look up a reputable review and/or read the included paperwork when in doubt. I think some SSDs come with pre installed heat sinks, but this is certainly not the norm. 

So if the MB description says "Fins-Array Heatsink & Direct Touch Heatpipe", I'm assuming that means it has a pre-built heatsink for the SSD?

[Nathanpete]

Just now, NewwGuyy123 said:

Hmm what do you mean by that? Isn't, say, every version of an RTX 3090 that's not Founders Edition technically the aftermarket?

No, Here is how it goes for 90% of GPUs that aren't the founders edition: A industry partner like Gigabyte or MSI puts in an order for what are called reference boards, which is the same identical circuit board with the same GPU on it every time. There is a different reference board for every SKU and every revision. They buys these reference cards, a build their own cooler, this cooler must be approved by Nvidia (sticking to Nvidia for this example) and then they are allowed to mass manufacture these coolers, put some thermal paste and pads on, screw the reference boards to these coolers, and sell them with Nvidia's official licensing. Because it is under license from Nvidia (for example the reason why every single RTX box has the same color and logo in one corner is because this marketing is required by Nvidia or their license is revoked. Like a discolor in the green could revoke the license if there are too many misprints. Because this is all done under the supervision of Nvidia, they are still consider before market cards. 

 

The other 10% is where after a couple months of studying the design, a industry partner (called Add-In-Board partners or AIBs) can design their own custom circuit board. They can then order just the GPU to put on their custom circuit board. Basically, if you were to purchase 100 different AIB SKUs of RTX 2060s and disassembled them all, over 85% of them would have identical circuit boards underneath because they all use the reference board design. 

 

After-market implies user-installed modifications. These include shunt modding, and user-installed waterblocks. Pre-installed waterblocks from companies like EKWB and Gigabyte are still considered before-market because they are manufactured and installed with Nvidia's permission. You technically don't have Nvidia's permission to put a custom waterblock on your GPU, but nothing is stopping you and they can't do anything about it except revoke warranties. 

[Nathanpete]

10 minutes ago, NewwGuyy123 said:

So if the MB description says "Fins-Array Heatsink & Direct Touch Heatpipe", I'm assuming that means it has a pre-built heatsink for the SSD?

No, M.2 heatsinks don't include fin-arrays. What this is is called VRM cooling. VRMs are super important to keep them cool, but all these MB manufacturer's try to make their own fancy VRM cooling to make their MB unique, when in reality it does nothing useful compared to the competitor's design. VRMs are really big in area that heat pipes need to be places, so this is 100% talking about the VRM heatsink. Upload a picture of the motherboard you are looking at and I can help.

[VelikiPCguy]

5 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

No, Here is how it goes for 90% of GPUs that aren't the founders edition: A industry partner like Gigabyte or MSI puts in an order for what are called reference boards, which is the same identical circuit board with the same GPU on it every time. There is a different reference board for every SKU and every revision. They buys these reference cards, a build their own cooler, this cooler must be approved by Nvidia (sticking to Nvidia for this example) and then they are allowed to mass manufacture these coolers, put some thermal paste and pads on, screw the reference boards to these coolers, and sell them with Nvidia's official licensing. Because it is under license from Nvidia (for example the reason why every single RTX box has the same color and logo in one corner is because this marketing is required by Nvidia or their license is revoked. Like a discolor in the green could revoke the license if there are too many misprints. Because this is all done under the supervision of Nvidia, they are still consider before market cards. 

 

The other 10% is where after a couple months of studying the design, a industry partner (called Add-In-Board partners or AIBs) can design their own custom circuit board. They can then order just the GPU to put on their custom circuit board. Basically, if you were to purchase 100 different AIB SKUs of RTX 2060s and disassembled them all, over 85% of them would have identical circuit boards underneath because they all use the reference board design. 

 

After-market implies user-installed modifications. These include shunt modding, and user-installed waterblocks. Pre-installed waterblocks from companies like EKWB and Gigabyte are still considered before-market because they are manufactured and installed with Nvidia's permission. You technically don't have Nvidia's permission to put a custom waterblock on your GPU, but nothing is stopping you and they can't do anything about it except revoke warranties. 

Ahh okay I see, so I was using aftermarket wrong then. Thanks for the explanation, really helpful.

 

So if you're buying an Nvidia GPU modified by one of the industry partners, so EVGA, Gigabyte, etc., do they usually come pre-overclocked? I've read somewhere that they do, and I'd like this to be the case as, from what I understand, an OC GPU has better performance than the standard one as long as it's cooled properly.

[VelikiPCguy]

5 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

No, M.2 heatsinks don't include fin-arrays. What this is is called VRM cooling. VRMs are super important to keep them cool, but all these MB manufacturer's try to make their own fancy VRM cooling to make their MB unique, when in reality it does nothing useful compared to the competitor's design. VRMs are really big in area that heat pipes need to be places, so this is 100% talking about the VRM heatsink. Upload a picture of the motherboard you are looking at and I can help.

I was thinking of the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master as it's apparently one of the best ones around, but now I don't know if it has pre-built heatsinks for the SSD or not. Picture below.

[WoodenMarker]

33 minutes ago, NewwGuyy123 said:

I was thinking of the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master as it's apparently one of the best ones around, but now I don't know if it has pre-built heatsinks for the SSD or not. Picture below.

Yes, these are all m.2 heatsinks. The ssds are installed under them. 

[VelikiPCguy]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:46 AM, WoodenMarker said:

Yes, these are all m.2 heatsinks. The ssds are installed under them. 

Ah perfect, thank you! Just out of curiosity, why is the bottom one shorter than the top two?

 

And also, if I use 2 SSDs instead of 1, do you reckon that might slow down the mobo or cause any kind of issues / intreference that 1 SSD would not?

[WoodenMarker]

16 hours ago, NewwGuyy123 said:

Ah perfect, thank you! Just out of curiosity, why is the bottom one shorter than the top two?

And also, if I use 2 SSDs instead of 1, do you reckon that might slow down the mobo or cause any kind of issues / intreference that 1 SSD would not?

There's a pcie slot to the left that would be in the way of a longer m.2 slot. 

The motherboard manual explains that the M2C_SOCKET (lowest slot) shares bandwidth with the SATA3 4/5 connectors so avoid plugging into both the M2C slot and these SATA ports at once. https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-MASTER-rev-10/support#support-manual