Monoblock - worth it?

midweek · 23 Nov 2018 at 15:37

Looking at one of these in the sale - X470 Taichi Monoblock

Will a monoblock actually improve cooling over the passive stuff on the VRMs or is it mostly just shiny for the motherboard (not that there is anything wrong with that!)?

Dirk Diggler · 23 Nov 2018 at 15:48

They are worth it for aesthetics only, IMO. A little 80mm fan pointing in the right direction would be far more effective.

midweek · 23 Nov 2018 at 16:07

Thanks. Pretty much as I imagined. So a vanity purchase it may be.

Bugbait · 23 Nov 2018 at 16:54

Agree that it's a vanity item (i.e. Not required for performance) but disagree that an 80mm fan would be more effective. Water cooling the VRM would be more effective than a small amount of air, not to mention quieter but it's overkill for 99.9% of users.

Dirk Diggler · 23 Nov 2018 at 16:58

Bugbait said:
Agree that it's a vanity item (i.e. Not required for performance) but disagree that an 80mm fan would be more effective. Water cooling the VRM would be more effective than a small amount of air, not to mention quieter but it's overkill for 99.9% of users.

Whilst I agree that they could keep the actual VRMs cooler than a fan will, monoblocks don't cool the RAM and similar surrounding components. On balance, I would consider a fan more effective as that's what the motherboard is designed for.

Bugbait · 23 Nov 2018 at 17:03

With the CPU heat removed from the immediate area, do the surrounding components really get that hot? RAM running at intended specification (frequency and voltage) doesn't get particularly warm. The hottest components around the CPU socket, besides the CPU itself are usually the VRM. The standard heatsink and heatpipe locations support this.

Safetytrousers · 23 Nov 2018 at 17:29

I had an RGB monoblock on my last board but switched to a normal block now. The normal block hand screws in the four sockets and is so easy to install. The monoblock involved removing many screws and awkwardly putting new screws in.
The monoblock was just for looks, it won't help performance beyond a standard CPU only block. I can't imagine anyone puts a monoblock on a sub-par board, and any good board's VRMs will work well within spec.
My RGB CPU block looks nice, and the CH7 is a very nice looking board I don't want to cover up.

midweek · 24 Nov 2018 at 12:55

I currently have a supremacy MX on my MSI B350 Tomahawk board which struggles to hold an overclock. The VRMs get really hot. Hopefully the Taichi won't suffer in the same way.

I may still get the monoblock as I like the look of it.

pete910 · 28 Nov 2018 at 10:59

String said:
They are worth it for aesthetics only, IMO. A little 80mm fan pointing in the right direction would be far more effective.

Depends on block and board tnh, Have the mono block on my giga ax370, did wonders for the VRM temps as well as looking the part