Cooling Combo Confliction

[Mike Soda]

It should be noted that I'll be using any one of these below heatsink & fan combos with 4 Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 140mm fans in my MasterCase Pro 3. I could fit a 5th one (3rd exhaust) in the top too, but I'm trying to avoid negative pressure. Which of the below combos will provide the easiest mounting, lowest temperatures & noise on my MSI B350M AM4 socket & Ryzen 5 1500X?

 

1a: Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 $60, Noctua NF-F12 PWM chormax.black.swap $23 & Noctua NA-HC1 chromax.black.swap heatsink cover  $20 (optional). $83 or $103 with cover.

 

1b: Alternatively, MSI Core Frozr L $50 & Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black.swap $23 in place of the included torx fan. $73

 

2a: Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 $90, Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM chromax.black.swap $27 & Noctua NA-HC3 chromax.black.swap heatsink cover $30 (optional). $117 or $147 with cover Crossed out because it would only fit in single fan mode, dual won't clear my RAM.

 

2b: Alternatively, MasterAir Maker 8 with it's included dual 160,000 MTBF Silenco FP for $115. Crossed out this option as it's no longer considered, narrowed down to the above 3 now.

 

P.S: I know there's a poll option but for some reason I couldn't get it to work with this desired layout. I also know that $275 is a lot to spend on air cooling especially with the unnecessary heatsink accessories, but I figure if I'm going with Noctua I might as well go all out the first time.

 

*EDIT: After reading this article I've discovered that the MSI Core Frozr L is about 2 dBA quieter than the NH-U12S. Unfortunately no cooling comparison was shown so I'm still conflicted on which of the above combos to pick.

[Jason_Tan_]

I cant say anything regarding their mounting systems as I dont own any of the listed coolers, but what I can say is that any cooler that you have listed in the 2nd grouping is way overkill for an R5 1500x even if its overclocked. If I were you I would go with the MSI Core Frozr L any day of the week especially when paired with your msi mobo. The msi cooler comes with a black top cover too so itll match your board perfectly. The 1a is also good but for the price it is really not all that good. Possibly consider getting a cryorig h7 or their quad lumi variant as those are also really good for the price imo.

[Mike Soda]

31 minutes ago, Jason_Tan_ said:

I cant say anything regarding their mounting systems as I dont own any of the listed coolers, but what I can say is that any cooler that you have listed in the 2nd grouping is way overkill for an R5 1500x even if its overclocked. If I were you I would go with the MSI Core Frozr L any day of the week especially when paired with your msi mobo. The msi cooler comes with a black top cover too so itll match your board perfectly. The 1a is also good but for the price it is really not all that good. Possibly consider getting a cryorig h7 or their quad lumi variant as those are also really good for the price imo.

Thank you & I know there overkill but I might upgrade to a 6 core 12 thread Zen2 chip in coming years. Would a Core Frozr L with it's stock fan or even a NF-F12 swap be enough for overclocking that? Basically I just want this to be the 1st & last aftermarket air cooler I need for the next decade or more. For the price I wouldn't trust Cryorig & it doesn't support AM4 anyway. I've heard that both Frozr L & MasterAir Maker 8's mounting is very difficult but that could be entirely subjective. Do you think swapping the torx fan on the MSI cooler would be worth it regarding temperature & noise?

[Jason_Tan_]

I cant tell you for sure about the zen2 chips but if the msi core frozr L will work adequately to cool current R7 chips it should also be able to handle the second gen versions too. As of what I have read, the torx fan included has gotten some good reviews however, if you would want a better fan, I do still believe the noctua ones will be better. Additionally, if you already have all noctua fans why not continue the trend of all noctua fans, that way all the fans will have the same sound signature which will help the sound of the fans to blend in better. Honestly, any mounting system is going to be a little difficult with an air cooler but i dont think the different mechanisms will make it thaaat much harder than the other if you know what I mean. I will admit that I am a bit biased, but I still think that you should consider cryorig's h7 or quad lumi, as I have the quad lumi and it works real well. You can watch a review from Science Studio where he uses it to cool a 7900X and it works. There is no way that the Zen chips would get that hot so itll work, and I can confirm that the quad lumi does ship with am4 brackets out of the box. Also, the quad lumi was my first aftermarket air cooler that I installed and it was quite simple. 

 

Here is the link to the video:

 

[Mike Soda]

1 minute ago, Jason_Tan_ said:

I cant tell you for sure about the zen2 chips but if the msi core frozr L will work adequately to cool current R7 chips it should also be able to handle the second gen versions too. As of what I have read, the torx fan included has gotten some good reviews however, if you would want a better fan, I do still believe the noctua ones will be better. Additionally, if you already have all noctua fans why not continue the trend of all noctua fans, that way all the fans will have the same sound signature which will help the sound of the fans to blend in better. Honestly, any mounting system is going to be a little difficult with an air cooler but i dont think the different mechanisms will make it thaaat much harder than the other if you know what I mean. I will admit that I am a bit biased, but I still think that you should consider cryorig's h7 or quad lumi, as I have the quad lumi and it works real well. You can watch a review from Science Studio where he uses it to cool a 7900X and it works. There is no way that the Zen chips would get that hot so itll work, and I can confirm that the quad lumi does ship with am4 brackets out of the box. Also, the quad lumi was my first aftermarket air cooler that I installed and it was quite simple. 

 

Here is the link to the video:

 

Thanks giving it a watch now.

[Trulop]

The Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 is a very solid and one of the most popular coolers. It performs great while still being able to be pretty quiet. Not as familiar with the others however.

 

Even if things are within 2-3 DB of each other, you maybe not even be able to tell that difference, where as 3-5C difference is quite a bit more of wiggle room for cooling, so id say as long as they are close to the same DB, if one gives better cooling results go with that one. Since your using a 1500X at the moment, mostly anything that performs a bit better than the stock cooler will get the job done for as far as you can push your CPU. If you want just over the top headroom with low temps or plan on upgrade in the future and want to leave space for something that produces higher heat however, might not be a bad choice to just go all the way now instead of buying a cooler twice later on

[Mike Soda]

10 minutes ago, Jason_Tan_ said:

I cant tell you for sure about the zen2 chips but if the msi core frozr L will work adequately to cool current R7 chips it should also be able to handle the second gen versions too. As of what I have read, the torx fan included has gotten some good reviews however, if you would want a better fan, I do still believe the noctua ones will be better. Additionally, if you already have all noctua fans why not continue the trend of all noctua fans, that way all the fans will have the same sound signature which will help the sound of the fans to blend in better. Honestly, any mounting system is going to be a little difficult with an air cooler but i dont think the different mechanisms will make it thaaat much harder than the other if you know what I mean. I will admit that I am a bit biased, but I still think that you should consider cryorig's h7 or quad lumi, as I have the quad lumi and it works real well. You can watch a review from Science Studio where he uses it to cool a 7900X and it works. There is no way that the Zen chips would get that hot so itll work, and I can confirm that the quad lumi does ship with am4 brackets out of the box. Also, the quad lumi was my first aftermarket air cooler that I installed and it was quite simple. 

 

Here is the link to the video:

 

Man now I'm considering the Cryorig H7 too, another choice to add lol >.<.

[Mike Soda]

5 minutes ago, Trulop said:

The Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 is a very solid and one of the most popular coolers. It performs great while still being able to be pretty quiet. Not as familiar with the others however.

 

Even if things are within 2-3 DB of each other, you maybe not even be able to tell that difference, where as 3-5C difference is quite a bit more of wiggle room for cooling, so id say as long as they are close to the same DB, if one gives better cooling results go with that one. Since your using a 1500X at the moment, mostly anything that performs a bit better than the stock cooler will get the job done for as far as you can push your CPU. If you want just over the top headroom with low temps or plan on upgrade in the future and want to leave space for something that produces higher heat however, might not be a bad choice to just go all the way now instead of buying a cooler twice later on

Thank you so much & yes I'm now more leaning towards Noctua if I do go with an overkill option VS CoolerMaster. Mainly because I read in this Newegg review of the MasterAir Maker 8 that the bracket which you have to get seperately from CM & pay like $7 shipping on interfers with some AM4 Motherboard capacitors. Only a 2 year warranty on this price tire of product isn't reassuring either vs Noctua's 6 year at only slightly more cost & that's only if I include the unnecessary heatsink cover.

[Trulop]

1 minute ago, Mike Soda said:

Thank you so much & yes I'm now more leaning towards Noctua if I do go with an overkill option VS CoolerMaster. Mainly because I read in this Newegg review of the MasterAir Maker 8 that the bracket which you have to get seperately from CM & pay like $7 shipping on interfers with some AM4 Motherboard capacitors. Only a 2 year warranty on this price tire of product isn't reassuring either vs Noctua's 6 year at only slightly more cost & that's only if I include the unnecessary heatsink cover.

You definately wont be unhappy with Noctua (even more now that they dont have to be ugly beige =P). They are great cooler and is why a LOT of people use them, and also youtubers use them to benchmark on air cooling often.

[Mike Soda]

4 minutes ago, Trulop said:

You definately wont be unhappy with Noctua (even more now that they dont have to be ugly beige =P). They are great cooler and is why a LOT of people use them, and also youtubers use them to benchmark on air cooling often.

Slowly whittling down my combo choices unless I decide to add Cryorig H7 although they like CoolerMaster might have the AM4 bracket shipped separately depending on when & who I buy from.

[Mike Soda]

As an update I looked harder at a Guru3d review of the MSI Core Frozr L. Although like mentioned before they unfortunately don't include cooling performance between it & the NH-U12S only sound. They did in fact test it VS the normal NH-D15, now that could be different from the Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 but have yet to find anything other than mounting changes. I also know that the i7-4790K they tested might have different thermal output than my R5 1500X but with 0 tests done using what I'm considering/own all I can do is assume the following would still apply even to me. the normal NH-D15 only performs 4-5C cooler at stock idle/OC but only 1C better when voltage & clocks are adjusted. It's louder too, so I'm starting to see less reason to pay $150 for a CPU cooling upgrade when I can get similar performance for $50. The only thing I'm still worried about is the warranty, 1 year vs Noctua's 6.

 

[Jason_Tan_]

6 hours ago, Mike Soda said:

As an update I looked harder at a Guru3d review of the MSI Core Frozr L. Although like mentioned before they unfortunately don't include cooling performance between it & the NH-U12S only sound

If im not mistaken, Gamers Nexus uses the msi core frozr L for most of their cooling tests. It might be beneficial for you to check there. PS I would check for you but its 2am here soo yeah.

[Mike Soda]

10 minutes ago, Jason_Tan_ said:

If im not mistaken, Gamers Nexus uses the msi core frozr L for most of their cooling tests. It might be beneficial for you to check there. PS I would check for you but its 2am here soo yeah.

I did & I'm sorry if I kept you up, you & Trulop have been extremely helpful. It's definately gonna be the Core Frozr L, NH-U12S, Cryorig H5 Ultimate, H7 Quad Lumi or the new Core Frozr XL. For now I'm gonna wait a little bit to actually purchase as there aren't any amazing sales on any of my considerations anyway.

[LogicalDrm]

What RAM you are using if its going to be issue with D15? And have you considered U14S as option?

[Mike Soda]

15 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

What RAM you are using if its going to be issue with D15? And have you considered U14S as option?

I've crossed out the NH-D15 as an option because it wont clear my RAM. 16GB G.Skill Vengence DDR4 3200, 40 something mm tall & that cooler only has 30 something clearance. I completely forgot about that cooler though, it's better than the NH-U12S right? I'm gonna give it a look later tonight & see if at least the black Noctua fans will fit it. I know they do on the NH-U12S & the same for the chromax heatsink cover but it, itself doesn't work on the U14S I don't think.

[LogicalDrm]

5 hours ago, Mike Soda said:

I've crossed out the NH-D15 as an option because it wont clear my RAM. 16GB G.Skill Vengence DDR4 3200, 40 something mm tall & that cooler only has 30 something clearance. I completely forgot about that cooler though, it's better than the NH-U12S right? I'm gonna give it a look later tonight & see if at least the black Noctua fans will fit it. I know they do on the NH-U12S & the same for the chromax heatsink cover but it, itself doesn't work on the U14S I don't think.

You mean Ripjaw V? Vengeance is Corsairs model. It actually fits under both D15 and U14S fins. First being 64mm and latter 41mm. Since your case has room for it, you can raise fans to accommodate taller RAM. Other option with D15 is to have outee fan as pull on the other side. Or use 120mm fan pushing. Same with U14S.

[Mike Soda]

8 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

You mean Ripjaw V? Vengeance is Corsairs model. It actually fits under both D15 and U14S fins. First being 64mm and latter 41mm. Since your case has room for it, you can raise fans to accommodate taller RAM. Other option with D15 is to have outee fan as pull on the other side. Or use 120mm fan pushing. Same with U14S.

My bad yeah it's Ripjaw V, I know it would fit under the D15's fins if I mounted the fan facing down/up but I want it to exhaust air out the back. I did find out from Noctua though that even in dual fan mode the NH-U14S won't overhang my RAM slots on my particular board. So I'm going to update my original post to show the 3 considerations I'm debating & will continue to research for the next few weeks.

[LogicalDrm]

1 minute ago, Mike Soda said:

My bad yeah it's Ripjaw V, I know it would fit under the D15's fins if I mounted the fan facing down/up but I want it to exhaust air out the back. I did find out from Noctua though that even in dual fan mode the NH-U14S won't overhang my RAM slots on my particular board. So I'm going to update my original post to show the 3 considerations I'm debating & will continue to research for the next few weeks.

D15 is so big that it can only be mounted one way. And with that RAM will definetly fit under the fins. You are only moving 1 of 2 fans, or if you adding 3rd fan, it would need to be raised or 120mm.

[Mike Soda]

Just now, LoGiCalDrm said:

D15 is so big that it can only be mounted one way. And with that RAM will definetly fit under the fins. You are only moving 1 of 2 fans, or if you adding 3rd fan, it would need to be raised or 120mm.

Wow really? I'd like to have one fan pushing air into the 1st set of fins on the right with the second fan in the middle pushing/pulling out the last set of fins on the left, that combo is possible?

[LogicalDrm]

3 minutes ago, Mike Soda said:

Wow really? I'd like to have one fan pushing air into the 1st set of fins on the right with the second fan in the middle pushing/pulling out the last set of fins on the left, that combo is possible?

Thats how its by default. Here's pic where 1st fan is raised. Which is option as your case has 190mm clearance. Meading that fans top can be 30mm higher than heatsinks top.

 

Other options with that fan setup is to use 120mm fan as first fan. U14S is good alternative with bit less cooling performance.

[Mike Soda]

4 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Thats how its by default. Here's pic where 1st fan is raised. Which is option as your case has 190mm clearance. Meading that fans top can be 30mm higher than heatsinks top.

 

Other options with that fan setup is to use 120mm fan as first fan. U14S is good alternative with bit less cooling performance.

Oh wow thank you so much, although now it means I can go all out with this choice if my budget enables it at the time. Honestly it's gonna come down to that, I'd love to have this but it would mean I'd be spending up to $275 on air cooling. Verses $205 with the NH-U14S or $165 with the Core Frozr L, all combos with 4, NF-A14 chromax.black.swap case fans. Moving one of those 140mm fans up won't effect cooling performance though?

[Mike Soda]

33 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Thats how its by default. Here's pic where 1st fan is raised. Which is option as your case has 190mm clearance. Meading that fans top can be 30mm higher than heatsinks top.

 

Other options with that fan setup is to use 120mm fan as first fan. U14S is good alternative with bit less cooling performance.

Actually never mind my question about if moving a fan up would effect cooling. With the way these fans put out air I've realized a minor change like that will be irrelevant. Thank you so much, I know now what I need to either change in my OP or simply create a new thread as a poll. It's gonna come down to how much I want & or can spend at the time though. Just checked prices on amazon & the NH-D15 SE-AM4 combo I'd want with heatsink cover, 2 black chromax fans, a box of Y splitters & 4 NF-A14 black chroxmax fans comes to $312.39. A lot more than I can spend right now but that might change in a month, we'll see. Thank you so much again though, you've cleared up all remaining concerns I had.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Mike Soda
changed how to now