Cooling a 3600 (for now)

gpuerrilla · 15 Aug 2021 at 13:57

I have an ageing AIO that I plan to retire soon as its had a good innings and I wanted to ask what people's opinions on what were a quality option now.

I am aware a decent air cooler can trump a budget AIO so I am happy to return to that idea.

I also wouldn't rule out in the future me swapping the 3600 for something like a 3700X or a 5600X (so might need performance instead of just enough to cover a 3600).

I have a 3090FE dumping air into my case but I have the airflow under control - but this is with the CPU on the AIO.

As its been a long time since I studied the CPU coolers I wanted to hear what people's experiences are before shortlisting. TIA

mickyflinn · 15 Aug 2021 at 14:29

The go to aio is the Arctic Freezer 2 for best price to performance cooling, air coolers can compete but like the nochtua d15 or dark rock pro 4 but theese cost the same as the Arctic aio.

There are a few good air coolers mid range such as the Alphenon Brocken 3 at £42 offer decent cooling for the money. There is also a dual fan black or white version for astetics.

gpuerrilla · 15 Aug 2021 at 14:41

What about the BeQuiet types? I was drawn to something not overly bulky, but thanks for the AF2 as the 280mm one would be a direct replacement for my Corsair one (same size rad).

EsaT · 15 Aug 2021 at 15:06

Th0nt said:
What about the BeQuiet types?

Brand overpriced.
You can get 120mm fanned ones for less:
Jonsbo CR-1000 120mm RGB CPU Cooler - Black= £20.99
Though also that's budget construction with gaps in between heatpipes on its base.
Arctic Freezer 34 has heatpipes without gaps in base:
Arctic Freezer 34 CPU Cooler - 120mm= £24.95

For narrower cases Alpenfohn Brocken Eco Advanced would be just 149mm high.
Alpenfohn Brocken ECO Advanced CPU Cooler - 120 mm= £29.99

That Brocken 3 is again very good cooler just step behind the best heatpipe coolers and perfectly fine for top Ryzens.
Though its 165mm height doesn't fit into narrower cases.

doyll · 15 Aug 2021 at 17:44

Another very good one is Scythe SCMG Mugen 5 Rev. B £43.99. Not as low prices but it's 6x 6mm heatpipes can handle a lot of heat and be quieter doing it.

gpuerrilla · 15 Aug 2021 at 18:17

Ace, will keep checking out the air coolers because another AIO can be near a ton and I don't fancy shelling that much if its barely much gains on the temps.

XBloodyR · 15 Aug 2021 at 19:15

I would recommend Scythe Fuma 2 really amazing one price/performance/noise ratio is amazing.

rare · 16 Aug 2021 at 08:18

I’m using a nh-12s redux currently, admittedly you still pay a premium for the brand but it’s nicely made and the mounting mechanism is still the best out there.

Armageus · 16 Aug 2021 at 08:25

EsaT said:
Arctic Freezer 34 has heatpipes without gaps in base:
Arctic Freezer 34 CPU Cooler - 120mm= £24.95

Might just be bad luck, but I've recently moved one of these from my step son's 2500k to his 3600, not particularly impressed.

It doesn't cover the entire IHS (whether that makes a difference idk), and didn't seem to perform great (~77C spikes when stress testing, but yet the cooler/heatpipes were cold to the touch)

Ross Thomson · 16 Aug 2021 at 08:33

Armageus said:
Might just be bad luck, but I've recently moved one of these from my step son's 2500k to his 3600, not particularly impressed.

It doesn't cover the entire IHS (whether that makes a difference idk), and didn't seem to perform great (~77C spikes when stress testing, but yet the cooler/heatpipes were cold to the touch)

stress testing is not real life - 77c is well within spec.

gpuerrilla · 16 Aug 2021 at 11:37

Its good to see real users feedback though!

Tbh, I would take users on here feedback greatly over some review site that could have been influenced by many methods. I have my eye on a coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo but these are trying to snag on the cheap.

EsaT · 16 Aug 2021 at 14:32

Th0nt said:
I have my eye on a coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo but these are trying to snag on the cheap.

That's brand overpriced for Freezer 34 level cooler using even cheaper construction base with gaps in between heatpipes.
Brocken Eco Advanced is cheaper and little beefier.

Armageus said:
It doesn't cover the entire IHS (whether that makes a difference idk)

While chiplet Ryzens need lot larger good contact area than monolithic Intels, outermost edges don't matter:
https://www.igorslab.de/en/cpu-heat...asures-now-at-amd-and-intel-rethink-basics/3/

gpuerrilla · 21 Aug 2021 at 13:31

I have been checking out the air coolers.

I also found this to be a reasonably priced AIO which I could swap out swiftly for my old Corsair H100 as it has the same clamp mechanism. OcUK dont seem to sell it anymore but can be picked up online elsewhere.

Anyone owned/had this particular one?

harmattan · 21 Aug 2021 at 15:33

EsaT said:
Brand overpriced.
You can get 120mm fanned ones for less:
Jonsbo CR-1000 120mm RGB CPU Cooler - Black= £20.99
Though also that's budget construction with gaps in between heatpipes on its base.
Arctic Freezer 34 has heatpipes without gaps in base:
Arctic Freezer 34 CPU Cooler - 120mm= £24.95

For narrower cases Alpenfohn Brocken Eco Advanced would be just 149mm high.
Alpenfohn Brocken ECO Advanced CPU Cooler - 120 mm= £29.99

That Brocken 3 is again very good cooler just step behind the best heatpipe coolers and perfectly fine for top Ryzens.
Though its 165mm height doesn't fit into narrower cases.

Can confirm the Brocken is a fine choice to cool a Ryzen 3600. Relatively easy to fit, mines lasted me across 3-4 builds. I used mine for the past few years on a 1600, 2700, and 3600, all with a healthy overclock 4Ghz+.

It will not, however, handle the higher, 8-core+ chips, at least not when overclocking. I just moved to a 5800x (which is known to be a hot-running chip) and it just wasn't cutting it and had to move to an AIO. It would likely cool a 5600x well.

Joxeon · 21 Aug 2021 at 17:01

harmattan said:
Can confirm the Brocken is a fine choice to cool a Ryzen 3600. Relatively easy to fit, mines lasted me across 3-4 builds. I used mine for the past few years on a 1600, 2700, and 3600, all with a healthy overclock 4Ghz+.

It will not, however, handle the higher, 8-core+ chips, at least not when overclocking. I just moved to a 5800x (which is known to be a hot-running chip) and it just wasn't cutting it and had to move to an AIO. It would likely cool a 5600x well.

What were the temps like? as I was using a wrath prism on the 3600 I had and then tossed it onto my 5800X while deciding what cooler to get but it's been fine with the prism so just left it be as temps were maxing out around 80c at stock and I'd imagine the Brocken to do better than this.

harmattan · 21 Aug 2021 at 19:43

Joxeon said:
What were the temps like? as I was using a wrath prism on the 3600 I had and then tossed it onto my 5800X while deciding what cooler to get but it's been fine with the prism so just left it be as temps were maxing out around 80c at stock and I'd imagine the Brocken to do better than this.

I think my 5800x is a hot chip to begin with so take with a grain of salt... With the Brocken it would idle at 51c and get to 90c with a decent undervolt at stock clocks. The AIO I'm using now (which I'm sort of ashamed of using as I've always built custom loops) with the 5800x stays around 43c idle/80c load.

On the 1600, 2700, and 3600, I never saw much above 70c with the Brocken. It was a notable step above the stock Wraith I was using before it.

gpuerrilla · 21 Aug 2021 at 20:22

If your 3080 dumps hot air above it (like my FE) then the AIO would be better. I would think the Brocken would be perfect if the FE didn't have the second fan doing this.

father-ted · 1 Sep 2021 at 10:02

I have been using the Alphacool Eisbar LT360 AIO for a couple of years now, very pleased with it tbh - good buy for the money