Quiet cooler for non-overclocked i7-6700

Arterion · 12 Oct 2015 at 17:21

Hi all,

I'm putting together an i7-6700 machine, on a GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboard.

As this isn't the sort of chip which lends itself well (if at all) to overclocking, I'm thinking I probably don't need to go as high-end as a be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 cooler. I want quiet operation, for sure, and good thermal performance, but not total overkill.

Is there anything out there, which is more suited to my needs?

Thanks!

Jumper118 · 12 Oct 2015 at 19:03

you can bclk overclock with skylake so it will probably do 4.5-4.7ghz just like the k chip........
as for a cooler this will be more than enough.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-007-RT&groupid=701&catid=2330

5960xNvidiaGamer · 12 Oct 2015 at 22:53

The Noctua coolers are extremely quiet and worth a look, unless you want to go AIO.

Arterion · 13 Oct 2015 at 15:37

Thanks for the info, everyone!

Jumper118 said:
you can bclk overclock with skylake so it will probably do 4.5-4.7ghz just like the k chip........
as for a cooler this will be more than enough.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-007-RT&groupid=701&catid=2330

Interesting, I've not heard of this brand until now, though they seem to be getting some good write-ups! The Noctua does seem to be a bit quieter, though, and roughly similar temps, for a little bit more money.

5960xNvidiaGamer said:
The Noctua coolers are extremely quiet and worth a look, unless you want to go AIO.

Why are these things brown and beige :confused:

I'm thinking either the NH-U9B SE2, or the NH-D9L might be good choices.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 13 Oct 2015 at 15:51

Yeah the Noctuas are damn ugly, but they are superb fans and widely recognised as some of the quietest and best.

SamyBoy13 · 13 Oct 2015 at 18:58

Another one for noctua. They are maybe little bit more expensive but worth every penny for its silence

Arterion · 13 Oct 2015 at 19:29

5960xNvidiaGamer said:
Yeah the Noctuas are damn ugly, but they are superb fans and widely recognised as some of the quietest and best.

SamyBoy13 said:
Another one for noctua. They are maybe little bit more expensive but worth every penny for its silence

Thanks both, think I'll go for the D9L, because the GA-Z170X board doesn't appear to have enough clearance to fit the U9B, probably because of the covering on and around the back panel.

ukxenon · 14 Oct 2015 at 06:29

Good choice

tyler_jrb · 14 Oct 2015 at 09:33

£5 worth of matte black, white spray paint will cure that brown fan issue

. The noctua coolers are very good. The 6700k does overclock well enough but it's the thermal performance of the TIM they used which holds it back.

Arterion · 14 Oct 2015 at 12:55

tyler_jrb said:
£5 worth of matte black, white spray paint will cure that brown fan issue . The noctua coolers are very good. The 6700k does overclock well enough but it's the thermal performance of the TIM they used which holds it back.

I had planned to go for the bog standard i7-6700 (not the K version), because there seems to be very little performance in it, yet the difference is over £100 :confused:

doyll · 14 Oct 2015 at 15:14

Why get such an expensive little cooler when there are bigger and better for less money? Is your case too small for a taller cooler?

Something like the Matterhorn Pure is only £29.99 (out of stock at the moment) and is a few degrees better than NH-D9L. NH-D9L is a great little cooler .. key word being "little."

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-037-AL&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2337

Silverstone HE01 is a great cooler for £44.99. Yes if fan is ran at high speed it is loud, but you would be plenty cool with it not much above an idle.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-SV&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2351

ATIorNvidia · 14 Oct 2015 at 15:45

Why so many ridiculous Noctua recommendations in the thread? Just get a cheap 120mm tower cooler like a CM 212/Be Quiet Pure Rock and run the fan at minimum speed. Will be more than enough for stock, no need to spend extra on a Noctua.

Jumper118 · 14 Oct 2015 at 17:04

doyll said:
Why get such an expensive little cooler when there are bigger and better for less money? Is your case too small for a taller cooler?

Something like the Matterhorn Pure is only £29.99 (out of stock at the moment) and is a few degrees better than NH-D9L. NH-D9L is a great little cooler .. key word being "little."
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-037-AL&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2337

Silverstone HE01 is a great cooler for £44.99. Yes if fan is ran at high speed it is loud, but you would be plenty cool with it not much above an idle.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-SV&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2351

ATIorNvidia said:
Why so many ridiculous Noctua recommendations in the thread? Just get a cheap 120mm tower cooler like a CM 212/Be Quiet Pure Rock and run the fan at minimum speed. Will be more than enough for stock, no need to spend extra on a Noctua.

agreed. noctua coolers are quite under massive load, but at idle you cant tell the difference, unless its an open test bench.

doyll · 14 Oct 2015 at 19:26

In it's day the 212 was a good deal, but it's day is long gone. For example the Matterhorn Pure is same price and much better.

Other coolers are just as quiet under "massive load". For example TRUE Spirit 140 are quieter under "massive" load than NH-D14.

Sorry, but I massively like "massive load".

Jumper118 · 14 Oct 2015 at 19:48

doyll said:
In it's day the 212 was a good deal, but it's day is long gone. For example the Matterhorn Pure is same price and much better.

Other coolers are just as quiet under "massive load". For example TRUE Spirit 140 are quieter under "massive" load than NH-D14.

Sorry, but I massively like "massive load".

i know. i have the Matterhorn rev b. best single tower cooler i have ever owned.

ATIorNvidia · 14 Oct 2015 at 20:50

doyll said:
In it's day the 212 was a good deal, but it's day is long gone. For example the Matterhorn Pure is same price and much better.

Other coolers are just as quiet under "massive load". For example TRUE Spirit 140 are quieter under "massive" load than NH-D14.

Sorry, but I massively like "massive load".

The Matterhorn is better but it's OOS. Regardless you wouldn't see a difference between the two on stock settings. Either one will cool to around 30-35*c above ambient. Only when you start to overclock and draw more current you'll see more heatpipes/surface area come into play. My point is that any 120mm tower with a low rpm fan will do for a stock 65w CPU.

Quartz · 14 Oct 2015 at 21:00

Arterion said:
I want quiet operation, for sure, and good thermal performance, but not total overkill.

As you're not overclocking, just go for a Nofan CR-95C. You can't beat total silence. According to Nofan's compatibility list you can use the first x16 slot on that motherboard.

doyll · 14 Oct 2015 at 21:07

ATIorNvidia said:
The Matterhorn is better but it's OOS. Regardless you wouldn't see a difference between the two on stock settings. Either one will cool to around 30-35*c above ambient. Only when you start to overclock and draw more current you'll see more heatpipes/surface area come into play. My point is that any 120mm tower with a low rpm fan will do for a stock 65w CPU.

Matterhorn will cool quieter because it can dissipate more heat.

Quartz said:
As you're not overclocking, just go for a Nofan CR-95C. You can't beat total silence. According to Nofan's compatibility list you can use the first x16 slot on that motherboard.

You must be joking.
Why pay £100 to do what a £30 cooler will do making less noise than other case fans or GPU fans make?

ATIorNvidia · 15 Oct 2015 at 02:40

doyll said:
Matterhorn will cool quieter because it can dissipate more heat.

BS. If you took the same fans on both coolers and ran them at 800rpm there would be little to no difference between them.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/cooler_master_hyper_212_evo_cpu_cooler_review,8.html

You can see a Hyper 212 EVO and the Matterhorn included in this test. At stock on a i7 920 (130w) they both cool at around 35*c above ambient, as do most coolers there. You only see a difference in the overclocked (4ghz) test where the chip is probably pulling ~300w. As I said, for stock settings, there is very little difference between almost anything. The i7 6700 non k is a 65w chip.

doyll · 15 Oct 2015 at 10:10

ATIorNvidia said:
BS. If you took the same fans on both coolers and ran them at 800rpm there would be little to no difference between them.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/cooler_master_hyper_212_evo_cpu_cooler_review,8.html

You can see a Hyper 212 EVO and the Matterhorn included in this test. At stock on a i7 920 (130w) they both cool at around 35*c above ambient, as do most coolers there. You only see a difference in the overclocked (4ghz) test where the chip is probably pulling ~300w. As I said, for stock settings, there is very little difference between almost anything. The i7 6700 non k is a 65w chip.

What you say is true, but the Matterhorn will cool a stock chip to 35c delta with less air speed because with it's increase number of pipes and fin area it can move as much air over more area removing more heat than the 212 at a slower fpm. Lower fpm means less noise.

Hyper 212 is 4x heatpipes with 116x112x512mm finpack 4x pipes have 75 (150mm in finpack) surface area per mm with 130sq cm face area and 662.6cu cm total area in finpack

Matterhorn is 6x heatpipes with 134x122x75mm finpack 6x pipes have 114mm surface area per mm (224mm per mm in finpack) with 163.5 sq cm face area and 1226.2cu cm airflow area in finpack

This is the same reason I put a Macho Zero on wife's computer instead of a ID-Cooling SE-214X .. more pipes and more fin area means slower airflow means less noise.

Sahil did a very good job of testing in his reviews, but they did not have noise measurements and deltas were based on different between room and CPU. Room temp is not important, the temp of air going into the cooler is, Cooler intake is not the same temp as room, even in when testing on an open bench. It is even higher when testing in a case. Think of it as looking at the thermometer in the lounge to see how warm it is in the kitchen or bedroom.