Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom still good enough?

MegaMasher · 20 Nov 2016 at 19:52

Hello, I'm used to overclocking and I know the process. My issue is that the last time I did it was over 4 years ago with my i7 3770K. I've just upgraded to an i5 6600K and its running absolutely fine. Before I overclock I want to know if my K2 Mount Doom will be fine to reach about 4.3G GHz using the specs as seen in signature. If not would I have to upgrade to like a Noctua NH-D14 or my other idea was a Corsair H100i? If anybody is any wiser help is much appreciated.

mowlio · 20 Nov 2016 at 21:09

I have the same cooler and I've managed to get it to 4.5

Pulseammo · 20 Nov 2016 at 21:53

I have a K2 and before I bought it from all the reviews I read the NH-D14 is basically a side grade, the NH-D15 is a tiny bit better and I think the new Alpenfohn Olymp is a tad better than that, but really it's all within a couple of degrees.

Personally I thought about AIO cooling too but I decided I didn't want a cooler that had the possibility of leaking or having pump failure when an air heatsink would produce adequate cooling.

If the bracket fits, use it I say, it's still one of the best air heatsinks around. Just apply your overclock by stepping up the clock slowly, run a bench check the temperatures and it'll become apparent if the K2 cant keep up, however I'm sure it'll be fine.

MegaMasher · 20 Nov 2016 at 22:51

Oh that is good new to know that the cooler is still good also is 1.3V still like a stability voltage for skylake or was that just a thing I did on Ivy?

adolf hamster · 20 Nov 2016 at 23:09

i can keep bulldozer from going nuclear on 4.3 with a k2, i think anything intel is probably going to be fine

MegaMasher · 21 Nov 2016 at 20:42

Running at 4.4GHz now on 1.29V with max CPU temps of 52 degrees. Am I right to try and push the voltage as low as possible for the clock speed?

Pulseammo · 21 Nov 2016 at 22:59

I don't have a Skylake generation chip so I can't comment on max voltages but in general you want the voltage as low as it'll go for stability at a given clock plus one or two increments just to make sure it's not right on the edge of stability.

Voltage will be the biggest factor in heat increase so there's no real reason to be giving the chip extra voltage if it is happy with less.

52 degrees seems particularly good, although like I said I don't have a Skylake, what did you use to stress test for that result?

MegaMasher · 21 Nov 2016 at 23:11

For the test I used AIDA64. Thought the temps seemed low but I don't know cant be out by that much if they are

doyll · 22 Nov 2016 at 17:33

The couple of degree difference between most of the top coolers is more to do with the fans than the coolers. That and which reviews you read. Monitoring room ambient is nice to knowing how warm the air around use is, but doesn't tell us what the temp of air going into cooler is.

Few reviewers monitor cooler intake air temp in realtime, and ever time the temp of air going into cooler changes so does the CPU temp .. by pretty much the same amount.

Even when testing on an open bench the air temp going into cooler is not the same as somewhere else in the room. It has our body heat, GPU, PSU, bench lighting etc all radiating heat onto/into the test area while the rest of the room does not.

But the answer is the K2 is still a good cooler.
I would worry more about cooler intake air temp then changing cooler.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26159770&postcount=7

MegaMasher · 22 Nov 2016 at 19:44

Yeah its working fine at 4.4GHz and got the voltage down to 1.25 can probably go lower all temps on cores are now sub 50 so I may push for 4.5GHz. I don't need it but its not exactly gunna take years off my CPUs lifetime I hope.