aio or air cooled?

[ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge]

i have an nzxt h210i paired with a 12700k and a rtx 4070fe. the mobo is an asus z690i wifin gaming mini itx. it is being cooled by a dark rock slim. at idle with youtube playing temps are around 40c. i would like to acheive better idle temps and wrestle some thermal headroom for performance.  2 120 noctuas (front intake) and 1 120 nzxt on top and rear exhaust

[GuiltySpark_]

4 minutes ago, ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge said:

. i would like to acheive better idle temps and wrestle some thermal headroom for performance.

You're going about it wrong if idle temps are a concern. Under an all core load, what are your all-core clockspeeds and power draw? Temp during this? 

 

As a former owner of an H210i, its a terrible case but that's mostly from a GPU cooling perspective. 

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge said:

i have an nzxt h210i paired with a 12700k and a rtx 4070fe. the mobo is an asus z690i wifin gaming mini itx. it is being cooled by a dark rock slim. at idle with youtube playing temps are around 40c. i would like to acheive better idle temps and wrestle some thermal headroom for performance.  2 120 noctuas (front intake) and 1 120 nzxt on top and rear exhaust

40c idle temps are quite good.  Any particular reason you want better idle temps?

You can use a dual tower air cooler fore the 12700k as well as an AIO, it all depends on your budget and preference.

[ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge]

If 40 is good, then I'll keep it as is. Thank you

[TPCEA]

15 minutes ago, ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge said:

i have an nzxt h210i paired with a 12700k and a rtx 4070fe. the mobo is an asus z690i wifin gaming mini itx. it is being cooled by a dark rock slim. at idle with youtube playing temps are around 40c. i would like to acheive better idle temps and wrestle some thermal headroom for performance.  2 120 noctuas (front intake) and 1 120 nzxt on top and rear exhaust

I have the same CPU but, thankfully, not that case. Your cooler is a bit weak and you can easily achieve better temps on idle and max play by getting a bigger cooler. I started with the Noctua U12A, which was fine even when it was 90+F, but you could also step up to the best dual tower coolers for some additional support, especially if your 12700k runs really hot. Mine doesn't. If yours does, then I also suggest you get a bend correction frame (BCF), and you can buy the cheaper one like from Thermalright, or the expensive (2x$) one from Thermal Grizzly, which will prevent your CPU from warping and, if it has already started to do so, it will help correct that.

[freeagent]

40 seems a bit high to me, usually my Intel CPUs idle in the 20s. But I do not own a modern Intel so..

[ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge]

Yeah, I thought 28-32 was considered typical. I have all limits enforced up to 90 in bios. No xmp. I thought the bending could be an issue. Also I have a noctua NH-d9l....I could try that. Could have better results? Thank you all

[TPCEA]

14 hours ago, ForUnlawfulCarnelKnowledge said:

Yeah, I thought 28-32 was considered typical. I have all limits enforced up to 90 in bios. No xmp. I thought the bending could be an issue. Also I have a noctua NH-d9l....I could try that. Could have better results? Thank you all

Give it a go, then, since it's a dual tower, as long as it'll mount correctly to your CPU.

 

You don't need to have XMP off.