Question Air Cooler for an i7-14700K ?

[Capt. Timeter]

Hello!

I am about to upgrade to a 14700K CPU and I am currently stuck at picking the right cooling solution. I've read tons of reviews and threads, many of them are quite dated and I feel somewhat overwhelmed. I'd be most grateful if you could help!

Knowledgeable people say liquid cooling is not the only way: a good air cooler can be enough. I am also inclined towards an air cooler. But which one to pick?

1. The hardest task on the PC will be gaming (Microsoft Flight Simulator, RDR2, Hunting sims, RPGs, etc.)
2. No overclocking planned.
3. 2560x1080 (for some reason this question arises).

I plan on buying a speedy set of RAM modules (G.Skill Trident Z5) which are quite tall (my vendor lists them as 42 mm). Low noise levels would also be appreciated.

To give you some context, I'm currently running a 7700K in the same case with Zalman CNPS7X. It keeps 35-40 ºC at idle on a hot summer day and up to 80 ºC during gaming. The absolute peak I've observed was at 88º. And I've never heard it running. If I had a quiet fan that could keep the 14700K at the same levels I'd be most happy. I was about to get Zalman CNPS9X, however, its TDP is only 180W. Cooler Master MA612 specs look fine, but people complain it's noisy.

 

[Lutfij]

I would get an AIO at the very least a 280mm or a 360mm and call it a day. The 7700K and the 14700K aren't of the same league/power draw and if you've read through what Intel's going through, perhaps avoid Intel entirely.

If you're going to pair the 14700K with a B760 chipset, might as well get the non-K SKU since you won't be able to overclock the processor on the B series chipset and you're not looking to overclocking either. You should pay attention to the max power draw of the processor to give you semblance of why you're advised to go for high end cooling.

 

[Phaaze88]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgkggcBBW8Q

6:18 - Intel GAMING Temperatures, or check out the whole video.

The Phantom Spirit non Evo is more affordable if you'd rather look at that.
Maybe even pass on the 14700K entirely, since it seems you've not seen some of the recent news:

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