Recommended cooler for an AMD 2700X that's getting toasty?

[TheBigCheese]

Hi guys

I've been really happy with this AMD chip for a long time and with just the stock cooler (saved a lot of pennies in the initial build), but I'm looking to do some HD 1080p encoding for the first time on this chip and I've noticed that is getting really hot 80oC+ so I'm thinking of an aftermarket cooling solution.

I would like:

Either...
Something air cooled that doesn't take up too much room. I've had huge Phantex air coolers before now, I couldn't get my fingers around the case with one of those, but I have upgraded the case since.

Or...
A sealed water cooling unit, I've used the Corsair H50 and H110i before now and been happy with them.

No
I don't want a DIY water solution. I'd bungle it and fry the computer, or myself. Something simple is what I need.

Case
It's going into a Coolermaster Cosmos II case, so space shouldn't be an issue.

Budget
I know what I need isn't going to be cheap and I'd rather buy something really good once that's exceptionally quiet, rather than buying cheaper and upgrading fans etc., later...whatever is recommend really that fits the specs. Having said that, certainly less than £200, less than £170 is even better.


I've been looking round online and much of the info is either from affiliate sites so who knows if it's accurate, or quite out of date now.

Any recommended solutions I can pick up from OCUK would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[TheBigCheese]

Thanks for the replies guys, it's interesting that there doesn't seem to be concensus on there being a single absolute best. I guess technologyt and specialist companies have really come on in the last few years.

As Relentless81 has pointed out, it is heavy duty cooling I'm after, looks like for an air cooler it's going to be a massive heatsink.

What about the contained water systems like the Corsair Hydro series? Are they just not as good as a big air cooler?

Thanks.

 

[TheBigCheese]

Thanks again for the replies guys, I think we're getting there.

So the AIOs are out, very good point about the guarantees on them.

I don't remove the RAM unless there was a fault. There's 64GB in there, filling all the channels so it's not going anywhere.

This may be a stupid question...would any of the heatsinks block the RAM slots or do they all fit over the top? It's Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB x4 16GB sticks, so there's no extra height in heatspreaders etc. The motherboard is an Asrock X470 Taichi.

Quiet is definitely key as well as much as possible, especially if I'm going to be doing a lot of video editing so it'll be running at full speed.

So, if heatsink size isn't a factor, would the recommendations still be for a U12A, D15S or does the Dark Rock 4 Pro take the cake?

*edit* wow, that DR4 Pro is 'only' £74 at the moment, that's a far better price than I was thinking for top quality cooling!

 

[TheBigCheese]

I think I'm leaning more towards the Noctua NH-D15 than anything else, no messing about buying extra fans etc., it's all in one package, that'll do the job. Even if it is a bit louder, it'll be quieter than the stock cooler so it'll be a win either way.

Am I right in thinking that the only difference the two models is one is black and one is a colour that should never be seen on tech? I don't look in my computer, it's down the side of my desk with the window facing away from me, but even so, I don't think I could live with myself knowing that brown monstrosity is in there!

 

[TheBigCheese]

Thanks again everyone for all the posts and information. That's been a really interesting read EsaT!

Joxeon, cheers for the different recommendations, I think I'm going to move away from AIOs this time, especially with the suggestions from others and improved performance with air coolers these days.

I think I'm going to take your suggestion Relentless81, D15, but the Chromax black version. Yep, I'm falling for the marketing and paying more for the black version...I don't know whether that makes me more or less of a fool going into that with my eyes open.

 

[TheBigCheese]

I bought the S version with a brown fan so I can buy the Chromax bits over the coming months because I love buying things for my PC

Enjoy, I'm sure you wont be disappointed, if you think its too loud in windows because the CPU is boosting when browsing etc just set a custom fan curve, mine is completely silent in Windows

Ha ha, cheers, I'm sure it'll be great, arriving tomorrow, will get it installed over the next day or so! Cheers for the tip, I may have to look into readjusting fan profiles now this monster is coming!

If you haven't got Cosmos II yet, I advise not getting one. 200mm fans are notorisusly bad performance because their very low pressure ratings mean they can't overcome resistance to airflow of grill and filter .. and if case does not have good airflow the airflow to coolers is pre-heated by their exhaust which results in the air into them when working hard can easily be 10c, 15c, even 20c higher than room .. and every degree warmer air into cool is is same degrees hotter componet will be.

Thanks for the concern doyll, I've had it for over a year now. I haven't noticed any problems with it and the space it affords is crucial with the amount of stuff I have in there. The new CPU cooler is a precaution as I'm finding Handbrake on HD recoding is putting the temps up high, otherwise it runs quite happily.