Best AIO Liquid Cooler you can buy? i9-7940X running hot

[Woxter]

I bought an i9-7940X second hand from a friend and have my Noctua NH-D14 with it. The problem is it runs too hot. With memory at 2133 MHz and stock speeds, it reached 73-77 degrees rendering heavy scenes is not ideal.

I wouldn't be too picky about it but the problem is the memory controller, I bought 2x16 GB Corsair 3000 MHz RAM and XMP doesn't even let me put it at 3000 MHz, So I tried at 2666 MHz which is what the platform can handle without XMP/OC (actually enabled XMP and changed from 3000 to 2666 with everything on stock). Then I tried 2666 MHz and booted to Windows, ran Cinebench and reached 86 degrees in about less than 10 seconds on multicore speed and about 68 on single core test....it's too hot.

So now I have to run my RAM at 2133 MHz. Of course I wouldn't even think of an Overclock at this point...any ideas on the best AIO Liquid Cooler?. I saw the Cooler Master ML360R and it's quite cheap in my country right now (118€).
The final question, I want the best cooling solution with out any custom loop, so please PLEASE don't suggest Custom Loop because I am not going to build one, now the question, what is the best AIO Liquid cooling 360mm radiator? I'm talking about radiator itself, as all reviews I've seen they try different AIO with different fans so I would like to eliminate the fans as a variable as I would like to put in there 3x of the best 120mm fan. I was thinking of the Noctua NF12 fan but there are so many different ones for the same model that it gets confusing.

Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

 

[winks42]

I recommend NZXT kraken radiators or a h150i if you want a 360mm radiator

 

[Woxter]

I recommend NZXT kraken radiators or a h150i if you want a 360mm radiator

Thanks for your reply, I already saw reviews of those against the CM ML360R and they performed a bit worse being about 30-50€ more expensive. However, what fans do you recommend for the best possible performance?
I've seen very confusing reviews, each one had one different fan for the best performance.
Noctua's Industrial PPC PWM, Bequiet SilentWings 3, Nidec Gentle Typhoon PWM and San Ace Silent PWM are always amongst the top, but I've yet to discover a solid and legit review for Radiator/Case Fans.

Budget is not an issue here, nor is sound, I just want to get my i9 cool for rendering as I need to render for a Project right now and between my first post and this one I already got 83 degrees in just a 5 minute render scene... also 210W TDP...everything at stock...

 

[CompuTronix]

I bought an i9-7940X second hand from a friend and have my Noctua NH-D14 with it. The problem is it runs too hot. With memory at 2133 MHz and stock speeds, it reached 73-77 degrees rendering heavy scenes is not ideal ...

Actually, that is ideal. Throttle temperature (Tj Max) for the i9 7940X is 102°C: Intel® Core™ i9-7940X X-series Processor - https://ark.intel.com/products/126695/Intel-Core-i9-7940X-X-series-Processor-19-25M-Cache-up-to-4-30-GHz-?q=i9%207940x

As experts all agree that it's prudent to observe a reasonable thermal margin below Tj Max, here's the nominal operating range for Core temperature:

Core temperatures above 85°C are not recommended.

Core temperatures below 80°C are ideal.

Core temperatures increase and decrease with ambient temperature. This is an important consideration because not everyone maintains a constant 22°C (72°F) standard indoor ambient temperature for their computer as seasonal temperatures fluctuate.

... ran Cinebench and reached 86 degrees in about less than 10 seconds on multicore ... it's too hot.

Yes, that's on the edge of toasty for a Cinebench workload. The 7940X has AVX2 and AVX 512 Instruction Sets, so check the AVX offset values in BIOS. AVX2 should be set to 3, and AVX512 should be set to 5. If they're not, it can cause excessively high Core temperatures.

... I already got 83 degrees in just a 5 minute render scene... also 210W TDP...everything at stock ...

Noctua's Industrial PPC fans are about as good as it gets. You can use them in a push-pull configuration on the radiator, which may give you another 2 - 3°C, and you can also use them for case fans.

Since cooler is always better for ultimate stability, performance and longevity, your desire to upgrade cooling is well founded. You just need to finish working through the reviews and decide on which 360 AIO.

Best Closed-Loop Liquid CPU Coolers - https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpu-coolers,4181-2.html

Tom's reviewed, tested and overclocked your processor's bigger brother to 4.3GHz on all Cores using an H100i v2: Intel Core i9-7960X Review - https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-7960x-cpu-skylake-x,5238-2.html

As your 7940X has a soldered Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS), it's cooling capabilities are significantly handicapped, so you might want to consider delidding.

Silicon Lottery - https://siliconlottery.com/collections/sl/products/delid?variant=12391255310422 - is a company that tests, bins and sells overclocked and delidded "K" and "X" CPU's. They're located near Houston, Texas, are reputable, do a professional job, offer 24 hour turn-around, and warranty their work. If you intend to overclock, their "binning" service will determine your processor's overclocking capability, then provides the BIOS settings on your test report.

If you don't want to endure the downtime or potential shipping delay through customs, you can safely delid with a "delidding tool":

der8auer Delid Die Mate 2 - http://der8auer.com/delid-die-mate/
Dr. Delid - https://www.aquatuning.us/water-cooling/cpu-water-blocks/cpu-spare-parts-accessories/22284/aquacomputer-dr.-delid-tool-for-skylake-and-kaby-lake-processors?sPartner=googleshoppingusa&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8o_Rv6zj3gIVzUsNCh123ANaEAYYAiABEgI4SvD_BwE
Rockit 88 - https://rockitcool.myshopify.com/

For more information, read Section 9 - The TIM Problem: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

CT

 

[Woxter]

First of all, sorry I don't know how to multi-quote.

I already got 83 degrees so that's very hot, I'm just frustrated that I bought a 3000 MHz kit and can't even use it at 2400 MHz and can't even max out my i9 because of the heat.

"Core temperatures increase and decrease with ambient temperature[/i]. This is an important consideration because not everyone maintains a constant 22°C (72°F) standard indoor ambient temperature for their computer as seasonal temperatures fluctuate. "

I live in Spain, it's now winter, but in summer temps can easily pass 40 degrees.

" Yes, that's on the edge of toasty for a Cinebench workload. The 7940X has AVX2 and AVX 512 Instruction Sets, so check the AVX offset values in BIOS. AVX2 should be set to 3, and AVX512 should be set to 5. If they're not, it can cause excessively high Core temperatures. "

You mean an offset of -0.030v and -0.050v? I come from a Haswell CPU so that feature didn't exist in the BIOS. I will try that, does it affect performance?

"Noctua's Industrial PPC fans are about as good as it gets. You can use them in a push-pull configuration on the radiator, which may give you another 2 - 3°C, and you can also use them for case fans."

I already saw Noctuas IPPC, they seem to deliver the best performance, they're not the typicall PWM fans, I don't even think my motherboard fan headers would support them + at 3000 RPM they're just too loud at 50 dB. I'm really stuck here. I'm considering the Noctua NF-12A, Noctua NF-F12 (don't even know the difference between both) or the Be quiet Silent Wings 3 High Speed. Each of those fans are around 20€ so not cheap considering I will need 3 but my concern is best performance and support. Since support for IPPC fans seems a lottery (most systems I've seen that support PWM don't even support them) then I suppose I will go with one of the other 3. Anyone has a link with a legit review of different fans?

"Since cooler is always better for ultimate stability, performance and longevity, your desire to upgrade cooling is well founded. You just need to finish working through the reviews and decide on which 360 AIO."

I'm 90% decided on the CM MR360L because of the reviews it was about 6 degrees cooler than NZXT Kraken and Corsair H150i Pro, along with the fans I buy that should help 3 degrees or so, and 9 degrees margin against other AIO is crucial when Overclocking. The thing is I can't find a review of this cooler vs the other 3 popular ones with the same fans to see which one has the best base cooling capability.

"As your 7940X has a soldered Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS), it's cooling capabilities are significantly handicapped, so you might want to consider delidding."

Silicon Lottery - https://siliconlottery.com/collections/sl/products/delid?variant=12391255310422 - is a company that tests, bins and sells overclocked and delidded "K" and "X" CPU's. They're reputable, do a professional job, offer 24 hour turn-around, and warranty their work. If you intend to overclock, their "binning" service will determine your processor's overclocking capability, then provides the BIOS settings on your test report.

If you don't want to endure the potential customs delay, you can safely delid with a "delidding tool":

der8auer Delid Die Mate 2 - http://der8auer.com/delid-die-mate/
Dr. Delid - https://www.aquatuning.us/water-cooling/cpu-water-blocks/cpu-spare-parts-accessories/22284/aquacomputer-dr.-delid-tool-for-skylake-and-kaby-lake-processors?sPartner=googleshoppingusa&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8o_Rv6zj3gIVzUsNCh123ANaEAYYAiABEgI4SvD_BwE
Rockit 88 - https://rockitcool.myshopify.com/

For more information, read Section 9 - The TIM Problem: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

CT [/quotemsg]

I'm familiar with deliding, never done it but I just don't have the bal*s to do it to my i9 considering how risky it is, I'm sure i'm capable of doing it properly as I've seen a ton of videos, but I don't like the risk. Also, the CPU although aquired from a friend, still has a 2 year warranty ticket, so I wouldn't like to void a 1300€ CPU warranty especially since things can go south deliding. I wouldn't mind paying a profesional service for delid. The site you just posted how does it work? I mean does it deliver to Europe? The thing is I can't be 2 weeks or more without the CPU because I'm a 3D Design/Modeling and Animation student, so I can't be 2 weeks doing nothing as I need the PC for my current projects and deadlines. I have a 4 core i7 laptop in emergency cases of 2-3 days but it can't render complex scenes as it also thermothrottles.

I found a spanish website where they sell delided cpus, they do any CPU, but that's before purchase, I emailed them asking them if they provide a delid service for cpus purchased outside their website.

I will update this with the results I get, including the 360mm with stock fans vs fans purchased.
Oh I almost forgot, THANK YOU very much for the long, detailed and clear reply!

 

[CompuTronix]

... You mean an offset of -0.030v and -0.050v? I come from a Haswell CPU so that feature didn't exist in the BIOS. I will try that, does it affect performance?

AVX offset has nothing to do with Core voltage offset; it's a frequency offset (Core speed) that downclocks the processor so it can cope with the extreme and brutal workloads that AVX2 and AVX512 impose on the processor. AVX offset ensures that Core temperatures don't skyrocket, and the processor doesn't throttle.

 

[Woxter]

... You mean an offset of -0.030v and -0.050v? I come from a Haswell CPU so that feature didn't exist in the BIOS. I will try that, does it affect performance?

AVX offset has nothing to do with Core voltage offset; it's a frequency offset (Core speed) that downclocks the processor so it can cope with the extreme and brutal workloads that AVX2 and AVX512 impose on the processor. AVX offset ensures that Core temperatures don't skyrocket, and the processor doesn't throttle.

Okay thanks! Now I get it. So the AVX offset feature in the BIOS is just to customize the CPU voltaje - Offset applied for those apps that use AVX set of instructions? That sounds really interesting. Although I prefer to spend money on a full monster AIO with good fans, I won't touch that at stock speeds because, well, it's stock speeds and I paid money to get the full 3,8 GHz, I don't want anything less than that. I will order today the CM AIO just to see tomorrow how it works and do some tests, I could always return it.

The AVX Offset looks interesting for OC if I can get 4 GHz stable on all cores along with 2666 MHz, then I can jump to 4.3 or even 4.5 GHz on all cores on non-AVX workloads adjusting the Offset, thanks!! This really gave me an idea!

 

[Woxter]

Just wanted to update closing the thread, I did get the Cooler Master, I did a ton of synthetic and real world torture tests (AIDA 64, Blender Render, Cinebench and all that) the Max temp was 62c with an average of 58.5c. So I enabled XMP and worked (3000 MHz), did the same tests, temps whent all the way up to a max of 67 and average of 62.6c which I guess it's better than I expected, a max of 60 and averages of 55 would've been better but I can't complain for a 117€ AIO. I was getting 80c on the Noctua NH-D14 and 87 when XMP was enabled.

Downside...Motherboard Mosfets & VRM get all the way to 75c (little room for OC), tried hooking up a ton of expensive Noctua ippc fans to the Mosfets, Chipset and VRM, temps of those dropped all the way to 46c at stress tests but the problem was my motherboard's fan headers where suffering since Noctuas where drawing 1.1A from the single header. They could only run at full speed, tried them running on 2 headers, same, I haven't got enough headers, they were running at 3000 RPM so the noise alone was a reason not to consider this solution, a shame given the Overclocking heatroom it provided. Now I'll just buy some 3x small 60-90mm Noctua 1300 rpm fans and attach them directly to the Chipset and the 2 VRMs, I think this will work better since it will fit better than bigger fans and it will be blowing directly.
I will update this thread one last time and share what I've got with the fans, and also what Overclocking & Temps I got.