Is the stock fan on a 14700 adequate?

[Strategist1]

I'm currently building a NAS.

Spoiler

although the Meshify 2 XL case planned is on backorder for a week at B&H unless I wanted to pay an extra $40 on Amazon which is making me double check everything while I wait

Currently I have it slightly over-spec'd due to a good deal on a 14700 non-k. It's $10 cheaper than the k and comes with a cooler, theoretically saving even more. However, I have to ask if you know if the stock cooler is good enough as a Google search shows several posts indicating that it may not be, although some say they solved things by disabling CEP.

 

Would you recommend getting the K sku and undervolting or getting something along the lines of the Thermalright Phantom Spirit? The latter would have added $55 to the build between the k sku and cooler, so I just want to run it by you. The main difference between the k and standard seems to be a minor difference in boost clock along with over/undervolt support.

 

Also, do you think there needs to be any fans added to a Meshify 2 XL case used for a NAS or are the ones that come with it along with the internal CPU fan enough?

 

Also, if I did go through with getting a non-k, stock cooler version would I still have to buy and apply thermal paste or is that not necessary/ somehow included in a stock configuration with no overclocking needed or planned.

 

Thank you for your clarity!

[podkall]

3 minutes ago, Strategist1 said:

Also, if I did go through with getting a non-k, stock cooler version would I still have to buy and apply thermal paste or is that not necessary/ somehow included in a stock configuration with no overclocking needed or planned.

stock coolers come with pre-applied paste usually

 

14700 vs 14700k only difference is overclock support and all that fun, 14700 might be bit cooler,

 

there are also settings in BIOS for different coolers, that set TDP, lowest is like 65W or something for stock, which can slightly limit performance,

 

stock cooler can work for 14700 if the use-case isn't demanding, though for non-demanding use case, not sure why get 14700 in the first place, unless that's a question of something more demanding in the future.

[Alex Atkin UK]

The stock cooler will almost certainly thermal throttle, I had a 12400 in my home server and it would hit the thermal limit under a heavy load, after a couple of years the fan started to seize which makes me question the quality of Intel stock coolers these days.

I now have a 14700k in there using a Thermalright AXP90-X53 Full Copper, which of course also throttles but works well for my use case (brief spikes in all-core load).

You absolutely need a decent aftermarket to get the best out of Intel CPUs.

[podkall]

4 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

The stock cooler will almost certainly thermal throttle, I had a 12400 in my home server and it would hit the thermal limit under a heavy load, after a couple of years the fan started to seize which makes me question the quality of Intel stock coolers these days.

I now have a 14700k in there using a Thermalright AXP90-X53 Full Copper, which of course also throttles but works well for my use case (brief spikes in all-core load).

You absolutely need a decent aftermarket to get the best out of Intel CPUs.

And most are better ran alongside at least slight undervolts too.

[Alex Atkin UK]

17 hours ago, podkall said:

And most are better ran alongside at least slight undervolts too.

No doubt, just not willing to risk the instability personally.

[podkall]

2 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

No doubt, just not willing to risk the instability personally.

undervolts aren't unstable if they're done right,

 

you step lower and lower, while testing stability each time of course, and if you're fine with results or run into wall, you go back up few steps and that's it.

[Alex Atkin UK]

8 hours ago, podkall said:

undervolts aren't unstable if they're done right,

 

you step lower and lower, while testing stability each time of course, and if you're fine with results or run into wall, you go back up few steps and that's it.

During which time my server would be unavailable and there is no real way (I'm aware of) to check for stability on a server where that instability could be data corruption.