[SOLVED] Asus P8H61-M LE with ARCTIC AC Freezer 11 LP

[andreii707]

Hello!

I am still learning my way around PCs and I was looking to upgrade my CPU cooling. I found a good deal on a cooler but I wanted to ask knowledgeable people just to be sure. My gaming temps have gone up to 90c and I am afraid of going on much longer with just stock cooling, paste needs a change as well.

My motherboard is a old Asus P8H61-M LE, my current CPU is a i5 3470, the cooler I found a good deal on is a ARCTIC AC Freezer 11 LP.

From what I read the CPU power consumption is within parameters, as is the socket, but I am not entirely sure it would all fit together, mainly the dimensions and the way it's set on the motherboard. Will I encounter any problems, anything to worry about? Should I look for another cooler? Though please keep in mind it's the most I can spend on it for now.

Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[clutchc]

I don't foresee any problems with installation. It isn't very large and should not take up much more room than the stock cooler.
Do you need the cooler to be low profile?

90C with the stock cooler indicates an issue tho. Might be just that the cooler's fan isn't spinning fast enough anymore. Or the TIM is totally ruined. Or the stock cooler is loose (check that all 4 feet are still thru the board and that the white post is flush with the black fingers. have to look at the back of the board)

 

[andreii707]

Thank you for the reply, I did what you said, I think it wasn't actually seated properly, I had this issue before but it's been a while since I specifically checked for it. I also cleaned it up a bit, cleaned up the case fans as well, it wasn't extremely bad but bad enough to impact the temperatures I guess. I did not entirely remove the fan though as I do not have thermal paste on hand at the moment, so I just cleaned it up as it was seated.

I now hit 71c in the most demanding scenarios, around 65c-66c in regular scenarios, which is a far cry from 85-90. I guess it was dust after all, case fans not being able to keep proper airflow plus the CPU fans being a bit dusty too summed up to what it was. even my GPU doesn't peak as high now, used to peak at 70c now at 58c.

I am still going to look for new options, but I will wait until I can set more money aside for a better cooler,

 

[clutchc]

Those are safe temps, so no hurry getting a new cooler if you want one. Glad tho, that you found the issue and fixed it. Carry on!

 

[Karadjgne]

You got lucky. Not only did you get an education in comparing dust buildup to temp ratio, but due diligence saved you some cash. That Arctic is a low profile model (LP dead give-away) that's pretty much designed for htpc and slim fit cases. It's not really much better than the better stock coolers, so for your purposes, yes you'd see a marked improvement but no not from the cooler itself, but from the fact it's a clean cooler. The temps you are seeing now would be roughly what you'd see from the Arctic. It'd just be somewhat quieter about doing it.

Totally agree with clutchc though, your temps are seriously ok and no rush on new cooler. Tally ho! Game On! Lol.

 

[andreii707]

Thank you both, I shall look into better cooling solutions and set some more money aside, might as well buy a good long lasting cooler now rather than rush the purchase since the issue is solved for now.