Best CPU cooling for the 8700K?

Space Monkey

Space Monkey

Space Monkey

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Hi guys,

Looking at getting the 8700K and as I've been out of the PC building game for the last few years I'm out of touch with cooling solutions, so what's the best cooling I can get? Not interested in full water cooling but looking at maybe AIOs or old skool metal coolers?

Thanks :)
 
tamzzy said:
depends on what ram you have, and whether you want a 1kg lump of metal hanging off your board? :p
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Lol, I'm not too keen on the weight pulling on the mobo but when reading reviews there seems to be mixed results as to whether they are better than the AIOs?

I'm looking at the 2 styles of Team Group 8 Pack RAM, goes to 45-46mm high IIRC?
 
Space Monkey said:
Lol, I'm not too keen on the weight pulling on the mobo but when reading reviews there seems to be mixed results as to whether they are better than the AIOs?
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the best air coolers - ie 1kg lumps of metal - are better than the top end 240mm aio, but they also overhang the ram slots by quite a bit, so...
Space Monkey said:
2 styles of Team Group 8 Pack RAM, goes to 45-46mm high
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these won't fit. you'll need ram without heatspreaders - or at the very least heat spreaders with minimal extra height on them, like the vengeance lpx
 
tamzzy said:
these won't fit. you'll need ram without heatspreaders
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i probably twisted the truth a little bit (or rather not presented it properly), the fan mounts can move up to accomodate taller ram somewhat, so some of these bigger coolers may accomodate taller ram, but then you get wasted air not being blown into the heatsink
 
Thanks for your help, it's steered me to take a better look at the AIOs, just pulled the trigger on the Antec Mercury 360mm for £64.99!! Normally £110!

The best AIO I had was an Antec many years ago, so hoping this'll work out as well :)
 
The best Air Cooler is the D15 (or D15S if there are conflicts with the PCI-E slot).

When it comes to AIO coolers they're all pretty much the same (e.g a H115i is not much different to an X62 or CLC 280 by EVGA), most of them use the same OEM and most differences in cooling come down to the included fans.

You need at least a 240mm AIO to compete with the likes of a D15. I'd recommend a 280mm at least if you have the option to mount in your case. 280mm are generally quieter, and provide marginal performance differences.

Corsair are releasing a "Pro" line of AIO coolers and they're very interesting due to their 0 rpm modes at low loads. Even the included fans have a max RPM of around 1200rpm so the coolers should be very quiet.
 
NH-D15 is no better than at least half a dozen other top cooler, like PH-TC14PE, R1 Ultimate, Le Grand Macho RT, Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme, Dark Rock Pro 3, TRUE Spirit 140 Power, etc., and these are often lower priced.

First off, don't confuse all AIOs with CLCs. AIOs are All in One liquid cooling that at present time include 2 kinds of pre-build and filled liquid coolers; AIOs that are CLCs and AIO that are not CLCs. CLCs are assembled is ways that meke them near impossible to repair with no way of topping off coolant. Almost all CLCs are made by 2 companies; Asetek (who owns the USA patent rights to LCLC and CLC concept of a pump mounted on waterblock) and IDCooling. There are 2 basic low cost pump designs that are basically the same flowing about 40-60 liter per hour coolant through low cost aluminum radiators that require high airflow to cool well. By comparison the pumps in AIOs flow significantly more coolant, use copper radiators, threaded fittings, fill port and are much better made. Swiftech H series pumps flow up to 660 liter per hour and Alphacool OEM AIO pumps flow 72-100 liter per hour. Alphacool OEM are their own Eibear, Fractal Design Kelvin and be quiet! Slent Loop.

As a comparison the D5 pump (arguable the most popular custom loop pump) flows up to 1500 liter per hour.

In all honesty there have has been little to no improvement in the most commonly sold CLCs . They depend on different looking pump covers, fancy fans, and other bling to promote new models. People jumped on the CLC wagon because they were able to have 'water cooling' without really understanding that the only thing CLCs and real water cooling have in common is 'water'. :p Many who still push the CLC hype do so with no understanding of how much different and better real water cooling is. Many think airflow ratings are key to how well a fan performs when the reality is fan pressure rating is more important than airflow rating ..but that's another story.

A good air cooler and case fans cost less than a wonky CLC, will cool better, will be way more dependable, will be quieter, and the only thing that might go bad in 5-8 years is the fans and they can be replaced without braking the bank.

Short version; Get a good case, some good case fans and an air cooler to "Live long and prosper." :D
 
Whether rightly or wrongly, a lot of people tend to refer to closed loop coolers as "AIO", even big review outlets. Infact some of the manufacturers themselves even referred to their own products in that way. To be fair they are all in one units (no seperate components), and closed loop (no way of removing fittings, re-filling etc) hence why many interchange the terms.

Yes there are "all in one coolers" from the likes of EK, Swiftech etc with expandability in mind, but they've had lot's of issues and EK if I remember rightly even had to remove their product from the market.

The thing is the line is being blurred because you have the likes of Fractal with their Celcius coolers, which would traditionally be a CLC but that offers some expandability on the rad (at the cost of voiding the warranty).

I agree about air cooling in that there are comparable coolers to the D15, although the D15 is probably the mainstream name, and arguably the easiest to mount, some of the ones you mentioned are an absolute nightmare for a beginner.

Ultimately with cooling for performance, we're at a point where the silicon is the determining factor as to how much you can push an overclock, the average decent air cooler or closed loop unit is more than capable of achieving a generous overclock.

Custom loops in my opinion are more likely to provide better aesthetics and noise levels as opposed to higher overclock results. Obviously temps will be lower but as I said most modern cpu's are restricted by their silicon as opposed to temperature being the stumbling block to higher overclocks.
 
True, some cooler mounts are not as good as others, but all that I listed work pretty well. Something I learned many years ago is to do a 'practice' install with no TIM before actually mounting the cooler with TIM. Doing the practice install (including fans) give installer a chance to determine exactly where to set the cooler so the last 2 mounting screws are where they are supposed to be and installer can get them started with one hand while holding cooler in place with other. And don't be too proud to ask a mate to help. An extra pair of hands often makes an install much easier.

And it's much easier to do if motherboard is not mounted in the case. ;)
 
I have and continue to have closed cases (no window or that tempered glass finger smudging stuff) and use the best air coolers exclusively. D15 and 2 Phanteks PH-TC14PE are my current units
 
I've never considered CoolerMaster top tier, more like an economy cooler at best. 212 was good value economy cooler, but now there are many as good or better for similar or less money. Their bigger coolers have way too much plastic 'foo-foo' on them for my tastes. :D
 
Space Monkey said:
How would a 360mm AIO or a 280mm fair against the 1KG monsters?
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depends on the system you've built. if I didn't overclock I'd just use the wraith cooler that came with my 1700. I'm happy with my AIO and others are happy with their air coolers. I didn't bother with an air cooler large enough to compete with my asetek based AIO because it wouldn't physically fit in my case and they pretty ugly IMO. The fact that the pump isn't nearly as powerful as a D5 is irrelevant given the temps my CPU gets to. I don't need it to be a 4-5c cooler. I don't even run my fans at full speed either (800-900rpm). 6 hours gaming yesterday my cpu didn't hit 50c - not bad for a £90 aio with a crap pump
 
To be honest the Noctua D15 is pretty much best cooler, and with the new chromax it looks good as well. The D15 is as good (or within few degrees of best ones) as any of the AIO when at the same noise level, some AIO are better if you have them at 2000rpm super loud fans, but why would you want 2000rpm fans.
 
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