[SOLVED] AMD 5900x: my current CPU fan good enough?

[smithchrism]

Hello,

I wanted to pick the collective mind here. Keep in mind when reviewing the below I DO NOT want to use water cooling.

Currently, I have an AMD 3900x cooled by a Thermaltake Contac Silent 12.

I anticipate picking up a 5900x in the near future. Specs show it has a TDP of 105W which [I assume] is based off the baseline clock speed and does not include boost speeds of the CPU.

My Thermaltake specs show it can handle a max TDP of 150W.

I am NOT an overclocker or anything. I am not anticipating trying to push the CPU to 5 Ghz or something crazy like that. I will just let the system boost the CPU based on temperature and such with default BIOS settings.

Is my Thermaltake good enough to reasonably handle a respectable amount of clock boost on the 5900x? Or, should I consider a better CPU cooler? I am looking at a Be Quite! Shadow Rock 3 cooler which handles 190W maximum TDP. I just wonder if I would get enough extra performance out of the CPU with this cooler compared to mine to warrant the expense of buying it coupled with the work of installing it?

Thanks,
Chris Smith

 

[jeremyj_83]

Hello,

I wanted to pick the collective mind here. Keep in mind when reviewing the below I DO NOT want to use water cooling.

Currently, I have an AMD 3900x cooled by a Thermaltake Contac Silent 12.

I anticipate picking up a 5900x in the near future. Specs show it has a TDP of 105W which [I assume] is based off the baseline clock speed and does not include boost speeds of the CPU.

My Thermaltake specs show it can handle a max TDP of 150W.

I am NOT an overclocker or anything. I am not anticipating trying to push the CPU to 5 Ghz or something crazy like that. I will just let the system boost the CPU based on temperature and such with default BIOS settings.

Is my Thermaltake good enough to reasonably handle a respectable amount of clock boost on the 5900x? Or, should I consider a better CPU cooler? I am looking at a Be Quite! Shadow Rock 3 cooler which handles 190W maximum TDP. I just wonder if I would get enough extra performance out of the CPU with this cooler compared to mine to warrant the expense of buying it coupled with the work of installing it?

Thanks,
Chris Smith

The max power draw of the 5900X is 142W. With a150W cooler the CPU will run hot when being pushed. The Shadow Rock 3 is a 190W cooler which will help. Ideally you want a cooler that can do 215W+ to keep temps even lower.

 

[smithchrism]

Jeremy,

Thanks for the response.

You mention "max power draw of..." in your response. I'm not referring to max power draw but am referring to TDP in regards to the CPUs and my Thermaltake CPU fan. Max Power Draw and TDP are totally different where, basically, max power draw is the amount of [maximum] power the CPU is using and TDP is the amount of heat being generated or can be handled, depending on the component be discussed.

My basic question still stands: based on the TDP of the 5900x and the TDP of my Thermaltake, can I expect a reasonable amount of boost out of the CPU or should I consider another solution? On paper, the answer is "yes" but it would be nice to get a more.... "informed" response.

Thanks,
Chris Smith

 

[jeremyj_83]

Jeremy,

Thanks for the response.

You mention "max power draw of..." in your response. I'm not referring to max power draw but am referring to TDP in regards to the CPUs and my Thermaltake CPU fan. Max Power Draw and TDP are totally different where, basically, max power draw is the amount of [maximum] power the CPU is using and TDP is the amount of heat being generated or can be handled, depending on the component be discussed.

My basic question still stands: based on the TDP of the 5900x and the TDP of my Thermaltake, can I expect a reasonable amount of boost out of the CPU or should I consider another solution? On paper, the answer is "yes" but it would be nice to get a more.... "informed" response.

Thanks,
Chris Smith

I quoted the Total Package Power for a reason. While the TDP of the Ryzen is 105W, the total package power is 142W. Designing for TDP alone isn't a good idea. You will leave a lot of performance on the table if you do that. Not to mention your system will run very hot. Ideally you want to look at typical power draw during things like gaming or y-cruncher After finding that number, 142 in this case, you multiple by 1.5 to give you the TDP of what the cooler should be able to handle to give thermal headroom for either OC or keeping the temps lower.

 

[smithchrism]

Interesting. I will look around for a better cooler than. Thanks!

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hello,

I wanted to pick the collective mind here. Keep in mind when reviewing the below I DO NOT want to use water cooling.

Currently, I have an AMD 3900x cooled by a Thermaltake Contac Silent 12.
...

According to most reviews the 5900X runs with about the same power consumption as a 3900X. That suggests it should throw off the same amount of heat, roughly speaking. So I would think that TT-CS 12 would work as well on it as it did on the 3900X.

But that said, it probably wasn't working as well is you may have thought. Ryzen 3000 and 5000 both work the same way: pulling back clocks as it gets warm. A better cooler would probably let it stay boosting higher in heavy processing loads.