Closed-Loop vs Large Air Cooler - Upgrade Options

[physicsboy]

Hi guys,

 

I'm looking for a bit of advice with regards to upgrading my CPU cooling as I have begun to make strides towards properly gaming on my rig, and I'm hitting temps higher than are comfortable.

 

So far as a short term fix I have fitted an extra 80mm fan within my case just to help push an extract more hot air, but of course I am looking for a more permanent and efficient solution.

 

I have toyed with the idea of fitting something like the Be Quiet! BK008 air cooler in the past, but I've always thought that its size and mass would put undue stress on the MoBo. This then led me to consider something like the Corsair H60 closed loop liquid cooler; but with my lack of experience in the liquid cooling world I thought that I would seek your advice and see how things go.

 

Of course price is an issue here, I'm not wanting to break the bank; but of course I am after something that is not cheap and nasty.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Adam

 

Specs for my build (just FYI):

MoBo: Gigabyte F2A68HM-HD2 AMD FM2+

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K Black Edition 3.70GHz

GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 WF2 3GB

Case: HP Pavilion p6300uk (don't laugh)

[TheGlenlivet]

16 minutes ago, physicsboy said:

Hi guys,

 

I'm looking for a bit of advice with regards to upgrading my CPU cooling as I have begun to make strides towards properly gaming on my rig, and I'm hitting temps higher than are comfortable.

 

So far as a short term fix I have fitted an extra 80mm fan within my case just to help push an extract more hot air, but of course I am looking for a more permanent and efficient solution.

 

I have toyed with the idea of fitting something like the Be Quiet! BK008 air cooler in the past, but I've always thought that its size and mass would put undue stress on the MoBo. This then led me to consider something like the Corsair H60 closed loop liquid cooler; but with my lack of experience in the liquid cooling world I thought that I would seek your advice and see how things go.

 

Of course price is an issue here, I'm not wanting to break the bank; but of course I am after something that is not cheap and nasty.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Adam

 

Specs for my build (just FYI):

MoBo: Gigabyte F2A68HM-HD2 AMD FM2+

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K Black Edition 3.70GHz

GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 WF2 3GB

Case: HP Pavilion p6300uk (don't laugh)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAADY44C6006&cm_re=noctua_nh-d15-_-35-608-045-_-Product

I've had this monster hanging off my z170 motherboard for about 18 months now without any negative effects.  It was the quietest way to cool a 7700K.  The corsair h110 I tried before was louder, and performed slightly worse.  

With the d15 I stay under 80 degrees at full load with a 4.8MHZ OC. 

First things first, I think you will need a new case.  A hyper 212 evo is the go to air cooler as it is cheap and works well, but I don't think it will fit in your case.

[physicsboy]

2 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAADY44C6006&cm_re=noctua_nh-d15-_-35-608-045-_-Product

I've had this monster hanging off my z170 motherboard for about 18 months now without any negative effects.  It was the quietest way to cool a 7700K.  The corsair h110 I tried before was louder, and performed slightly worse.  

With the d15 I stay under 80 degrees at full load with a 4.8MHZ OC. 

First things first, I think you will need a new case.  A hyper 212 evo is the go to air cooler as it is cheap and works well, but I don't think it will fit in your case.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking that Noctua would be the way forward. I see them recommended everywhere.

 

I've just been looking at my CPU temp at the moment, when I'm only using Youtube and on here and I'm at 70C (160F) for some reason... Perhaps I need to rethink some internal layouts? Not that there is much I can do with the innards.

[TheGlenlivet]

1 minute ago, physicsboy said:

Thanks for the info. I was thinking that Noctua would be the way forward. I see them recommended everywhere.

 

I've just been looking at my CPU temp at the moment, when I'm only using Youtube and on here and I'm at 70C (160F) for some reason... Perhaps I need to rethink some internal layouts? Not that there is much I can do with the innards.

Hmmmm, is the machine pretty old?  When was the last time it was cleaned?  Maybe clean it out, redo the thermal paste and see if that fixes it before you do anything else.

[physicsboy]

On 12/29/2017 at 1:59 PM, TheGlenlivet said:

Hmmmm, is the machine pretty old?  When was the last time it was cleaned?  Maybe clean it out, redo the thermal paste and see if that fixes it before you do anything else.

I bought the 1060 for xmas and got that installed on the day, so everything was cleaned out with a can of compressed air less than a week ago.

 

As we speak, HWMonitor shows all temps as follows:

• Motherboard: 34C (93F)
• CPU: 70C (155F)
• SSD: 24C (75F)
• GPU: 43C (111F)

I think that I will have a look at reapplying thermal paste and re-seating my cooler either today or tomorrow. That way I can have a look at available space for drilling some holes into my case and mounting a new blower!

 

I just took it all apart, removed the cooler, scraped everything off and reapplied thermal paste. Then I realised how much of a hassle it is to get my cooler back over the mounts! Finally all back together and booted up, CPU is still seen to be hovering around 67C (152F) as shown in HWMonitor by CPUID. However, I have also downloaded AMD Overdrive which is showing temps of around 55C (131F) with a "Thermal margin" of 45C which is normal I suppose.

 

I think HWMonitor is being a little scare-mongery for some reason. But if I take a happy medium between the two, then I shouldn't be too worried.

 

I will be investing in a new case at some point in the future, so hopefully I can get something worked out without my system melting down in the meantime.

[TheGlenlivet]

3 minutes ago, physicsboy said:

I just took it all apart, removed the cooler, scraped everything off and reapplied thermal paste. Then I realised how much of a hassle it is to get my cooler back over the mounts! Finally all back together and booted up, CPU is still seen to be hovering around 67C (152F) as shown in HWMonitor by CPUID. However, I have also downloaded AMD Overdrive which is showing temps of around 55C (131F) with a "Thermal margin" of 45C which is normal I suppose.

 

I think HWMonitor is being a little scare-mongery for some reason. But if I take a happy medium between the two, then I shouldn't be too worried.

 

I will be investing in a new case at some point in the future, so hopefully I can get something worked out without my system melting down in the meantime.

Cool.  Progress.

I don't know what games you play, but if you are going to get a new case, I would suggest a new system.  The FM2 is getting pretty long in the tooth.....  A Ryzen 5 or 8350k or something along those lines would pair better with your 1060.

Good Luck!

[physicsboy]

7 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Cool.  Progress.

I don't know what games you play, but if you are going to get a new case, I would suggest a new system.  The FM2 is getting pretty long in the tooth.....  A Ryzen 5 or 8350k or something along those lines would pair better with your 1060.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the advice.

To be fair, I'm no hardcore gamer. I mean, I still play CounterStrike: Source mostly! But I'm wanting to venture out into new things also (hence buying the 1060).

 

As for buying a new system... I'm not loyal to any one brand. I bought AMD for the cost a few years back, and with the 8th gen Intel chips coming out, a 7700K will be coming down quite a bit soon, so I may hold out for one of those when I get paid a few more times etc. since I'll need a new MoBo etc...

 

This is starting to get expensive! :-P

[andrewmp6]

Right now the price of a 7700k is 339 us,A ryzen 7 1800x 349us,And the 7700l is 4 core 4.2 vs a 8 core 3.8.I'd take the 1800x its newer and double the cores,And being a am4 socket amd is keeping that tell 2020 so you could upgrade cpus later on with a bio flash to most motherboards.

[physicsboy]

On 30/12/2017 at 10:19 AM, andrewmp6 said:

Right now the price of a 7700k is 339 us,A ryzen 7 1800x 349us,And the 7700l is 4 core 4.2 vs a 8 core 3.8.I'd take the 1800x its newer and double the cores,And being a am4 socket amd is keeping that tell 2020 so you could upgrade cpus later on with a bio flash to most motherboards.

I see what you're saying. It would be good to future-proof myself, but at that cost... It's gonna be a hefty upgrade. The Ryzen would cost the same as my entire current build haha.

[andrewmp6]

You could go down to a ryzen 5 1600 its a 6 core at 3.2 ghz for 199 us,A b350 motherboard which is still am4 socket for around 100 us for a good one.About 200 give or take for ram,A cheap but good psu a cheap case and reuse your video card your set with a new pc besides whatever windows you want to use.For windows 10 add another 120 ish.Get on youtube and search like 600 or 750 dollar gaming build youll find a lot of them in that.And take in to mind you have a good enough video card now you can reuse that and spend a little more else where of that budget.

[physicsboy]

6 hours ago, andrewmp6 said:

You could go down to a ryzen 5 1600 its a 6 core at 3.2 ghz for 199 us,A b350 motherboard which is still am4 socket for around 100 us for a good one.About 200 give or take for ram,A cheap but good psu a cheap case and reuse your video card your set with a new pc besides whatever windows you want to use.For windows 10 add another 120 ish.Get on youtube and search like 600 or 750 dollar gaming build youll find a lot of them in that.And take in to mind you have a good enough video card now you can reuse that and spend a little more else where of that budget.

I already have a 750W psu and I've got experience of changing MoBo's without having to reinstall Windows (what a hassle), so fingers crossed...

I remember a time when RAM used to be cheap

[andrewmp6]

I remember when ddr ram came out,I remember cpus being a cartage,I seen a lot of change over the years and prices go down and back up.

[physicsboy]

9 minutes ago, andrewmp6 said:

I remember when ddr ram came out,I remember cpus being a cartage,I seen a lot of change over the years and prices go down and back up.

Old man :-P

I'm going to have a look into upgrading things over the next 6 months. Gotta pay for a trip to China first haha.

 

What are your thoughts on CPU air coolers vs closed system water coolers as per my original post?

[andrewmp6]

I would try to find a tower air cooler that will fit your case,Its the cheaper option and give you more money for your rebuild budget.And just remember ambient temperature matters also.If the room the pc is in is hot its gonna run hotter.Is the inside of your pc clean and dust free ?With its age the thermo compound could have broken down causing it to run hotter,I replace mine every 4 years or so for that reason.

[physicsboy]

Just now, andrewmp6 said:

I would try to find a tower air cooler that will fit your case,Its the cheaper option and give you more money for your rebuild budget.And just remember ambient temperature matters also.If the room the pc is in is hot its gonna run hotter.Is the inside of your pc clean and dust free ?With its age the thermo compound could have broken down causing it to run hotter,I replace mine every 4 years or so for that reason.

I have my case open every so often for a quick dust, can of air and toilet paper in hand!

My room isn't too warm, but I have moved the desktop from on top of my desk to below it backing onto a wall, so I suppose air-circulation has taken a dip. 

I replaced the compound the other day also, however it was from a tube that is a little old now - so I suppose I could spend a couple of £££ to get some new stuff.

 

I'm thinking of getting a Phanteks Enthoo case with space for radiators, just so that I can have fans in front, back and top for all around circulation.

[Dark Sakul]

One thing everyone forgets about these very large air coolers is that it requires alot of clearance.

The Cooler could be incompatible with your case (not having enough clerance) or having your Ram too tall and getting in the way.

 

You also want to have decent case air circulation, as the massive air cooler needs a good amount of air flow in the case to work  

[andrewmp6]

Yeah he needs to know his case clearance or wait tell he buys a new case,I have made that mistake years ago and i did something ghetto,I cut a hole in the side panel it was ugly but worked.

[physicsboy]

On 03/01/2018 at 5:42 PM, Dark Sakul said:

One thing everyone forgets about these very large air coolers is that it requires alot of clearance.

The Cooler could be incompatible with your case (not having enough clerance) or having your Ram too tall and getting in the way.

 

You also want to have decent case air circulation, as the massive air cooler needs a good amount of air flow in the case to work  

I'm sure that my current Ram is too tall for a large cooler, but I've seen component bundles on different websites offering MoBo, CPU, Tall cooler & Ram, so I have seen the type of Ram I'll need to have clearance.

 

I'll be looking more into this stuff so I will be making sure to take things into consideration. Any of the Enthoo line of cases by Phanteks looks decent enough with plenty of clearance and air flow options IMO.