7950x Cooler suggestions

katie279

katie279

katie279

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Hi all,

Just about to start assembling a new PC - specs are:

- 7950x
- 4090
- 96GB ram
- 8tb NVMe (4 x 2tb)
- Asus Proart MB

Thinking about the cooler for the CPU and see a few schools of thought, ie:
- Stock coolers are fine really and everything works fine
- Get a decent CPU cooler and it's worth it
- Spend bazillions on water cooling and a liquid nitrogen injector

I'm not convinced that watercooling is worth all the downsides (faff of taking off and on, extra cost, maintenance and so on), so I'm keen to go with air cooling.

I plan to run the 7950x in eco mode which has been recommended in many videos (ie ~5% drop in performance for 30-40% drop in watts seems a good deal).

Has anyone got any tips on best fan setup and any recommended options?

....and yes, I'll be a girl about it - I'd ideally like it in black with RGB option.... :D
 
Best bang for buck Air cooler
Something like peerless assassin
Think there may be a black version with rgb

And am assuming you mean an AIO
By watercooling?
No maintenance with those
Most of them are sealed units
Only a few you can top up yourself
Without some DIY hackery anyway
 
katie279 said:
Cool - I saw peerless assassin pop up in a few of the reviews.

Re AIO - do these not need topping up after a few years regardless (and thought I'd read that they have lower reliability than fans?)
Click to expand...
No most of them are sealed
So you can't top them up
Usually get maybe 6--8 years out of one
Though could last less or could last longer
They work same idea as a cars cooling
Pump,radiator and fans
So yes the pump is an added point of failure
Whereas an air cooler is a lump of metal
Fans are only point of failure
 
Get a 360mm aio it will keep the 7950x in check if you have space in your case to fit it .

Alternatively the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120se is the price to performance king
 
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Mcnumpty2323 said:
Will she need an AIO
If running it in economy mode?
No personal experience with 7xxx cpus
So not sure how toasty they are in eco mode

Though its a nice build
Be a shame to hobble it a bit
By using eco mode
Click to expand...
Yes, I will design to allow me to put it full whack, but a few reviews I saw highlighted that for a lot of workstation use (eg CPU and GPU getting battered), it actually outperforms in eco regardless of cooling as you just get thermal throttling like mad without a really complex cooling set up....
 
katie279 said:
Ah useful guys - thanks, must have misread where they said there was always a degree of evaporation regardless of sealing.

Cool - ok, will look up between the 360mm or the Peerless Assassin then.

Re case I'm thinking of making one out of wood, so space should be fine..... :D
Click to expand...
Yeah there's a degree of permeation
Where the coolant very slowly can permeate
Through the tubing
Not a fast process though
And the type of Tubing used will have an effect to
How long it takes to permeate

Yes quite possibly you might be right
About the workstation use part
Not had hands on with a 7xxx cpu
Or a 4090 unluckily lol
The cpu is designed to run at 95c according to AMD
Even though I know that
It would still scare the #### out of me
If I saw my cpu at 95c :cry:
 
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Mcnumpty2323 said:
Will she need an AIO
If running it in economy mode?
No personal experience with 7xxx cpus
So not sure how toasty they are in eco mode

Though its a nice build
Be a shame to hobble it a bit
By using eco mode
Click to expand...
Need, No but having cooling ability is always a plus and will run quiet.

For £30 the Assassin you just can't argue with it's performance but an aio tend to disapate the heat slightly better and can handle the higher load for longer without throttling.
 
mickyflinn said:
Need, No but having cooling ability is always a plus and will run quiet.

For £30 the Assassin you just can't argue with it's performance but an aio tend to disapate the heat slightly better and can handle the higher load for longer without throttling.
Click to expand...
Yeah definitely agree with more cooling
Than you need if possible
Isn't a bad thing at all
Though with a custom loop
You can have 2 pumps for redundancy measures
Can't do that with an AIO
Well technically you can if got a swiftech
Or any other expandable AIO
AIO are decent but pump failures can happen
For a workstation I would prefer 2 pumps
I am just a belt and braces type of person lol
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
The cpu is designed to run at 95c according to AMD
Even though I know that
It would still scare the #### out of me
If I saw my cpu at 95c :cry:
Click to expand...
I agree, but it does seem the way of the world these days! I remember my taid who built bombers in the war being amazed at a PC I was building needing a 600W PSU at the time, saying he used to start a bomber with half that amount - now I'm installing 1200W for this build!
 
katie279 said:
Any suggestions on AIO to compare to Assassin? (esp if black RGB!!!)

Agree it does seem to be a question of £ to degrees - a lot of reviews seemed to suggest it was relatively small in comparison, but be good to have a decent AIO to compare it to!
Click to expand...
Most AIO come in black luckily for you
Again bang for buck option
Artic freezer
There may even from memory be a 420mm version
If you're making a case then
The extra size shouldn't be an issue
Same with artic use a thicker 38mm radiator
Instead of 30mm
Again shouldn't be an issue if make the case
 
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katie279 said:
I agree, but it does seem the way of the world these days! I remember my taid who built bombers in the war being amazed at a PC I was building needing a 600W PSU at the time, saying he used to start a bomber with half that amount - now I'm installing 1200W for this build!
Click to expand...
Lol
Yeah components are just getting power crazy
In order to get more performance
Unless there's a big breakthrough
In the material used
Can't see that improving much
We are reaching close to the limits of silicon
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
Yeah definitely agree with more cooling
Than you need if possible
Isn't a bad thing at all
Though with a custom loop
You can have 2 pumps for redundancy measures
Can't do that with an AIO
Well technically you can if got a swiftech
Or any other expandable AIO
AIO are decent but pump failures can happen
For a workstation I would prefer 2 pumps
I am just a belt and braces type of person lol
Click to expand...
I know you are and also a well informed member who's opinion I value .


Personally wouldn't go custom the cost just isn't worth it as there are so many good aio available
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
Most AIO come in black luckily for you
Again bang for buck option
Artic freezer
There may even from memory be a 420mm version
If you're making a case then
The extra size shouldn't be an issue
Same with artic use a thicker 38mm radiator
Instead of 30mm
Again shouldn't be an issue if make the case
Click to expand...
Cool - I'll look at these! And stupid question, where do the fans usually get mounted?! Most videos I've looked at just have them in test racks? Do you mount them to the top of the PC?
 
katie279 said:
Cool - I'll look at these! And stupid question, where do the fans usually get mounted?! Most videos I've looked at just have them in test racks? Do you mount them to the top of the PC?
Click to expand...
There's no stupid questions
It's only stupid
If you don't know something But won't ask

Usually an AIO I would put at the top of the case
But it's not a strict requirement
Depends on the case
Some the fans can go in the roof
Then the radiator inside
Others can't fit fans in the roof
So both the fans and radiator go inside

Same idea if you fit the AIO at the front of the case

Edit
As for case fans
Basically the idea is put them wherever
You want
The idea is just to get air flowing through
More complicated explanation would be
You can aim for positive or negative air flow/pressure
 
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