Cooler for a Ryzen 9950x

Gwyn

Gwyn

Gwyn

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Hi there

I will be building a new machine for my friend soon. Its mainly used for productivity rather than gaming but he still games a bit. He runs a lot of vitual machines from his pc.

Ive built his machins for the last 10 years and the brief is as powerful as possible with as little noise as possible.

This new build is going to be with the following components:
Ryzen 9950x
B850 board
9070xt gpu
Fractal North XL case (not 100% decided yet)
Noctua NF-A12X25 intakes and exhaust

I cant decide on cooler. I use Peerless assassin 120 in my rig and love it but not sure its good enough for this build.
I am considering a Bequiet silentloop 3 360 AIO but im worried about pump noise. The reviews suggest its silent but is it really?

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks
 
Don't overspend on a cooler. Take a look at the excellent value for money Thermalright AIO's. I have the Thermalright Frozen Edge 240 on my 7800x3d and it's very quiet. I have the pump locked at 2600rpm which makes it totally silent and the fans are on the motherboards silent profile (set in the bios). During extended gaming sessions the cpu is in the low-mid 50's although during that hot spell it did creep up to 62 degrees but is back to normal now. Even during the hot spell the fans didn't ramp up much and were still very quiet. For the 9950x I would go for the 360mm version of the Thermalright Frozen Edge which is £52 for the black version or £45 for the white version. It does have very subdued ARGB around the top edge of the pump/block but nothing on the fans. It's a steal for the performance you get.

For air cooling the Thermalright Phantom Spirit with it's extra heatpipe is slightly better than the Peerless Assassin but like you I am not sure how it would get on with a 9950x. There's also a 140mm version of the Peerless Assassin now although I can only find it in white. It comes with a 120mm front fan for some reason and a 140mm second fan.
 
pastymuncher said:
Don't overspend on a cooler. Take a look at the excellent value for money Thermalright AIO's. I have the Thermalright Frozen Edge 240 on my 7800x3d and it's very quiet. I have the pump locked at 2600rpm which makes it totally silent and the fans are on the motherboards silent profile (set in the bios). During extended gaming sessions the cpu is in the low-mid 50's although during that hot spell it did creep up to 62 degrees but is back to normal now. Even during the hot spell the fans didn't ramp up much and were still very quiet. For the 9950x I would go for the 360mm version of the Thermalright Frozen Edge which is £52 for the black version or £45 for the white version. It does have very subdued ARGB around the top edge of the pump/block but nothing on the fans. It's a steal for the performance you get.

For air cooling the Thermalright Phantom Spirit with it's extra heatpipe is slightly better than the Peerless Assassin but like you I am not sure how it would get on with a 9950x. There's also a 140mm version of the Peerless Assassin now although I can only find it in white. It comes with a 120mm front fan for some reason and a 140mm second fan.
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Thanks for the info, funnily enough I was just looking at reviews of the thermalright Aqua Elite 360. Looks like its the same as the frozen edge, just with different fans. Does sound like a good option, could even change the fans to noctua's. Glad to hear that the pump is silent.
 
Gwyn said:
I cant decide on cooler. I use Peerless assassin 120 in my rig and love it but not sure its good enough for this build.
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It can cool the CPU, but really I'd say they're best for light load and occasional heavy load, not something I'd get for a productivity build that is running at full pelt for hours on end. That said, if you're happy to mess around with the curve optimiser and the fan curves, you can make it work (extra bonus points for power limiting).

Gwyn said:
Its mainly used for productivity rather than gaming but he still games a bit.
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Gwyn said:
9070xt gpu
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Unusual choice for a productivity build, I assume that he has checked AMD are fine for what he does?
 
Tetras said:
It can cool the CPU, but really I'd say they're best for light load and occasional heavy load, not something I'd get for a productivity build that is running at full pelt for hours on end. That said, if you're happy to mess around with the curve optimiser and the fan curves, you can make it work (extra bonus points for power limiting).



Unusual choice for a productivity build, I assume that he has checked AMD are fine for what he does?
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I have always put Nvidia cards in his builds, currently running a 3080. When he games, he likes to game on an ultra wide. I didnt know there could be a compatibility issue with AMD so will check, thanks for the info.
 
Gwyn said:
I have always put Nvidia cards in his builds, currently running a 3080. When he games, he likes to game on an ultra wide. I didnt know there could be a compatibility issue with AMD so will check, thanks for the info.
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It is mainly 3D work (like Blender) where AMD are meaningfully slower. 2D is usually fine. Some apps prefer nvidia and can have visual glitches 'n stuff with AMD cards.

If he has a 3080, I'd consider keeping it, still a very strong GPU.
 
Tetras said:
It is mainly 3D work (like Blender) where AMD are meaningfully slower. 2D is usually fine. Some apps prefer nvidia and can have visual glitches 'n stuff with AMD cards.

If he has a 3080, I'd consider keeping it, still a very strong GPU.
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No, its mainly network stuff, all 2D. I think his daughter has her eye on the cerrent build lol. Current build is an intel i9 12900k with a Noctua NH-D15 chromax and I remember it was difficult to get the temp acceptable even with that massive cooler.

​

 
Gwyn said:
No, its mainly network stuff, all 2D.
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Shouldn't be an issue then.

Gwyn said:
I think his daughter has her eye on the cerrent build lol.
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:D

Gwyn said:
Current build is an intel i9 12900k with a Noctua NH-D15 chromax and I remember it was difficult to get the temp acceptable even with that massive cooler.
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Yeah, high-end high core count CPUs aren't really meant to be cooled with air coolers. You can do it, but needs a fair bit of tweaking to make them manageable. The 9950X is a 16 core CPU after all, which consumes 200+ watts at full pelt. I'd say air coolers are best under 150, ideally less, which is fine for most kinds of usage (like gaming), just not running at high load.
 
Tetras said:
Shouldn't be an issue then.


:D


Yeah, high-end high core count CPUs aren't really meant to be cooled with air coolers. You can do it, but needs a fair bit of tweaking to make them manageable. The 9950X is a 16 core CPU after all, which consumes 200+ watts at full pelt. I'd say air coolers are best under 150, ideally less, which is fine for most kinds of usage (like gaming), just not running at high load.
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Thanks, yes took a lot of tweaking. Looks like AIO 360 this time, just need the quietest pump, fans I can change if needed.
 
Can't speak for the silentloop but I got the light loop to go with my 9800x3d recently and I am really, really happy with the lack of noise.
 
Hutch said:
Can't speak for the silentloop but I got the light loop to go with my 9800x3d recently and I am really, really happy with the lack of noise.
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Thanks for your reply. I installed a light loop a couple of years ago and the fans were great but I could hear the pump on it. Not loud but I could here it over the case fan. Might just have been a one off maybe. Can you hear your pump at all?
 
I don't think I can hear it tbh, though usually under load i've got headphones on gaming.. I had an NZXT kraken a few years ago and the pump on that was very noticable for me even at idle.. I can't hear this one at idle, and idle temps around 40-42 degrees (its currently 21 in the room)
 
Hutch said:
I don't think I can hear it tbh, though usually under load i've got headphones on gaming.. I had an NZXT kraken a few years ago and the pump on that was very noticable for me even at idle.. I can't hear this one at idle, and idle temps around 40-42 degrees (its currently 21 in the room)
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Thanks, good to know. Can i ask what CPU are you running?
 
Gwyn said:
Thanks for the info, funnily enough I was just looking at reviews of the thermalright Aqua Elite 360. Looks like its the same as the frozen edge, just with different fans. Does sound like a good option, could even change the fans to noctua's. Glad to hear that the pump is silent.
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The Frozen Edge is better than the Aqua Elite and to change the fans would be a big waste of money. The fans that come with the Frozen Edge are the v2 version which eliminates any buzzing from the bearings. They are really good fans and don't need replacing. With the motherboard bios controlling them via the silent profile browsing the net, watching Youtube videos the fans are turning at a totally silent 787rpm with the cpu in the 36-38 degrees C range. I will update with gaming speeds later but they are still very quiet. The pump is silent if you fix the speed at 2600rpm. I can't say what it's like when set to PWM as I fixed it as soon as I set it up. I presume you would hear the pump the same as you would just about any other AIO.

***Update*** During a couple of hour gaming session the fans only went up to 961rpm and were still practically silent with the cpu hitting a max of 55.2 degrees C. Don't forget this is with the motherboard bios controlling the fans on it's silent profile which favours silence over temps. I feel it's a satisfactory trade off and the load temps are still very good.
 
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pastymuncher said:
The Frozen Edge is better than the Aqua Elite and to change the fans would be a big waste of money. The fans that come with the Frozen Edge are the v2 version which eliminates any buzzing from the bearings. They are really good fans and don't need replacing. With the motherboard bios controlling them via the silent profile browsing the net, watching Youtube videos the fans are turning at a totally silent 787rpm with the cpu in the 36-38 degrees C range. I will update with gaming speeds later but they are still very quiet. The pump is silent if you fix the speed at 2600rpm. I can't say what it's like when set to PWM as I fixed it as soon as I set it up. I presume you would hear the pump the same as you would just about any other AIO.
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That’s fantastic info, thanks very much.
 
dr_shoe said:
Sorry to steal your thread but I'm in a similar situation with getting a 9950x3d. Will one of the medium sized be Quiet air coolers be enough?
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No worries. It is tricky but I think the X3d versions run a bit cooler.
 
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