Thinking about ways to improve my performance in productivity workloads

[geeklint]

Country: USA

 

My current system is below.  I'm actually perfectly happy with the current gaming performance; I'm not really into playing the latest AAA games or anything that taxing.  However it comes up with some frequency that I'll need to do some kind of bulk processing (specifically code compiling, image/video encoding, and 7-zip compression as well as other things commonly referred to in benchmarks as "productivity workloads").  So while I wouldn't want to downgrade from my current setup in terms of gaming performance, I'm specifically looking for improvements in "productivity" / multi-core.  I could potentially drop a few thousand dollars on upgrades although I am optimistic I can work something out that's much less than that.  The primary limiting factor is that I am somewhat attached to my current aesthetic which includes a SFF case integrated into my desk, and my current case only officially supports a 120mm radiator.

 

Current relevant components:

• i7-7700
• GTX 1060 6GB
• Corsair H60
• Cooler Master Elite 130
• SeaSonic X650 Gold

Obviously I'm looking to upgrade my CPU.  The top contenders I'm considering are probably either something like the i7-12700 or waiting for Ryzen 7000, (based on the rumors, maybe the Ryzen 7 7700X).  I expect either of those to have a considerably higher cooling need than I can currently support.  So I'm also thinking about possible ways I can improve my cooling.  I could get a SilverStone SG13, which is very similar to my current case however it supports a 140mm rad.  Information on 140mm coolers is kind of niche though.  Another possibility is the Corsair H80i GT/v2.  I've had a hard time finding good benchmarks but it seems like this might be one of the best performing 120mm AIOs with a 80% thicker radiator than my current AIO.  My desk setup has space for a case up to 210mm tall and 350mm wide; there are some other cases I was considering that would allow better cooling and look like they would fit but it's unclear if they really support being turned on their side.

 

Is it a fool's errand to try to cool a modern high-core count CPU with a single-fan radiator?  Is there anything else you think I should consider?

[PDifolco]

Well i7 12700 or R9 5900X would be good choices, not that hard to cool, yet they're beter with 240mm+ AIOs...why don't you rather go for say a CM NR200 that allows it still in ITX format ?

[geeklint]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

Well i7 12700 or R9 5900X would be good choices, not that hard to cool, yet they're beter with 240mm+ AIOs...why don't you rather go for say a CM NR200 that allows it still in ITX format ?

The CM NR200 was one of the ones I was looking at that I liked but just wasn't sure if it really supported being turned on it's side (my space is wider than it is tall).  I think I will send a message to their support and see what they say.

[PDifolco]

1 minute ago, geeklint said:

The CM NR200 was one of the ones I was looking at that I liked but just wasn't sure if it really supported being turned on it's side (my space is wider than it is tall).  I think I will send a message to their support and see what they say.

You can rest it on its back (because it's not a sandwich design, there's nothing on the back), and remove case feet, but it's kinda ugly...

[brob]

What sort of storage do you have?

[geeklint]

I currently have a 1TB NVME WD Blue (for primary (linux) OS), a 256GB SATA WD Blue SSD (for windows), and a 1TB Seagate HDD (for music and video files).  If I upgrade to something with PCIe 4/5 I would consider upgrading to a faster SSD, and if I get a new case that can't fit the current media drive I'd figure an alternative solution out.

[brob]

6 hours ago, geeklint said:

 

Is it a fool's errand to try to cool a modern high-core count CPU with a single-fan radiator?  Is there anything else you think I should consider?

 

You could simply use the i7-12700 stock cooler. It probably couldn't handle hours long renders, but would be fine otherwise.

 

That said, cpu performance can be improved with better cooling and the open power limits better cooling permits.