35W CPUs-- how much cooler do they run?

[letsrun4it]

Hi everyone,

Building a mini ITX in a very slim case. I am going with a B250i motherboard. I will not be overclocking due to temp concerns.

Do you think it makes sense to buy a 35W cpu like the 7700T to keep temps down or will the heat difference not be significantly different from a non overclocked 65W 7700. The 7700k is 91W and I know that'll be too hot for this case (based on what others have said).

 

[Karadjgne]

The PS4 uses an 8core 1.8GHz processor for a reason, heat. So your idea has merit. But there's other factors that may play into it. You say a super slim case. So what's the actual cooling ability of the case? Is any air really gonna move at all? What's the maximum cpu cooler height? Would something like a 120mm AIO be an option? Any of those factors can play into your cpu choice, besides the actual TDP of the cpu. There's also options in Windows power settings, you can specify a limit on cpu usage %, so it's possible to use a higher clocked cpu and using only 1 or 2 threads you'll have plenty of power, but using multiple threads will throttle it back to acceptable heat ranges.

 

[Dugimodo]

Depends how hard you work the CPU, at idle and low loads they all use much the same power and generate similar amounts of heat. Having a low wattage CPU effectively just caps the performance to prevent the power & heat exceeding a preset limit. Under that limit they are basically Identical in performance.

So if you push it hard all the time the 35W unit will put out less heat, but on the flip side the 65W unit will perform better and finish the task faster so while it will put out more heat it will do it for a shorter amount of time. So for short bursts of high usage the faster CPU could work out better but for sustained periods the 35W unit will limit the heat better.

What do you intend to do with this machine and will their also be a graphics card installed? if there is a graphics card you may want to stick with a blower style cooler version if you go for a standard desktop cpu. If there is no graphics card you should be fine with whatever CPU.

 

[letsrun4it]

Thank you for the replies so far. To answer some questions--

1) The case is VERY tight. I've seen guys fit the stock cooler from a Ryzen 3 in there but PC parts picker only gives me like 2 choices of low profile coolers.
2) I've heard the GPU cooling is ok, the sides have good ventiliation and I've heard that as long as you use a blower style card, the GPU will be fine.
3) I plan on using this for a stealth gaming computer to have at work. When my contract is up in a year I'm going to give it to a friend who does editing in premiere pro.

Here is the build, only thing I haven't ordered yet is the CPU so it has to be an intel chip.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700T 2.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.43 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Silverstone - AR06 40.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I PRO Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.90 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($161.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: PNY - CS1311 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - Spinpoint M9T 2TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($117.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case ($74.68 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone - 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1104.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-16 21:29 EDT-0400

 

[Karadjgne]

That case will handle a 58mm cooler,

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2614
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2730
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2587

There's 3x coolers all @45mm or lower that'll fit that board and can easily handle a 65w cpu.

 

[letsrun4it]

That case will handle a 58mm cooler,

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2614
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2730
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2587

There's 3x coolers all @45mm or lower that'll fit that board and can easily handle a 65w cpu.

Thank you, great info! Appreciate it everyone. I'll go 7700 and one of those Scythe coolers, they look nice.