Discussion Best CPU Air Cooler for i7-8700?

[Thisisnotharry]

Hi all,

I'm in the market for upgrading my cooling solution within my PC. Recently, I upgraded my CPU from an i5-9400F to an i7-8700 (non K version) and it wasn't the smoothest transition (see profile for other thread asking for help) which is likely due to my inadequate CPU cooler.

I've currently got a basic upHere tower cooler with dual 92mm fans (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9W5HFGY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) which "works" but gets loud quickly, which (I assume) causes the room to heat up while gaming as it is not cooling the CPU adequately, making it very uncomfortable to be in.

When I play games, I get temperatures around 70 degrees instantly, which is better than the high 80s I was experiencing before I undervolted the CPU with ThrottleStop, but not as good as figures I see from other members of the community, whose CPUs only reach the mid 50s during a gaming session.

Now, I'm wondering what CPU cooler would be a good choice. My budget isn't exceptionally high, so I'd like something cheap (£30-£40 being the absolute most). I don't mind second-hand options, most of my build is actually second-hand. At the minute I'm looking at an ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185871069503) which seems like a good deal to me, but obviously I'd like to ask the helpful community here before I proceed into anything.

I should mention that my case is the Corsair Carbide Series® SPEC-04 Tempered Glass Mid-Tower, with 6 Corsair ML120 case fans installed.

Input and assistance would be appreciated.

TL;DR - Looking for a new CPU cooler for my build, £40 absolute maximum price

 

[Eximo]

which (I assume) causes the room to heat up while gaming as it is not cooling the CPU adequately, making it very uncomfortable to be in.

When I play games, I get temperatures around 70 degrees instantly, which is better than the high 80s I was experiencing before I undervolted the CPU with ThrottleStop, but not as good as figures I see from other members of the community, whose CPUs only reach the mid 50s during a gaming session.

The heat output of your computer only changes with load, not cooling. A better cooler will actually manage to heat your room up faster. There is a minor loss in heat output from slightly greater efficiency at lower temperatures, but not worth considering.

If your computer consumes 250W, that is how much heat is being output.

That is a decent deal for a dual fan cooler.

Here is an alternative.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/RkC48d/thermalright-assassin-king-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-ak120-se-d6

 

[Thisisnotharry]

The heat output of your computer only changes with load, not cooling. A better cooler will actually manage to heat your room up faster. There is a minor loss in heat output from slightly greater efficiency at lower temperatures, but not worth considering.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the heat output of my PC?

My room only started to heat up a few months ago and I've always linked it to my PC. Then again, I've never had such high-end PC parts (this time last year I had an i5-9400F and a GTX 1650, now I have an i7-8700 and an RTX 2080).

It's a bit annoying because my room never got so hot so fast when I spent all day playing on a PS5, while idling my PC at the same time.

 

[Eximo]

Is there anything I can do to reduce the heat output of my PC?

My room only started to heat up a few months ago and I've always linked it to my PC. Then again, I've never had such high-end PC parts (this time last year I had an i5-9400F and a GTX 1650, now I have an i7-8700 and an RTX 2080).

It's a bit annoying because my room never got so hot so fast when I spent all day playing on a PS5, while idling my PC at the same time.

You basically tripled the heat output of the GPU, and with a more capable CPU, your GPU can push more frames.

You can set V-Sync to on and set your refresh rate to 60hz to limit the GPU to only rendering what you need. You already tackled some of it with a limit to the CPU.

Some people move the PC outside the room and run cables through a wall.

An idle PC might pull 50W.

Apparently a full bore PS5 can pull 200W or so. I think the PSU is a little larger for accessories.

Your GPU alone is rated at 215W. 250W if it is a 2080 Super.

 

[Thisisnotharry]

You can set V-Sync to on and set your refresh rate to 60hz to limit the GPU to only rendering what you need. You already tackled some of it with a limit to the CPU.

I don't necessarily want to sacrifice high frame rates (as I've got a 144hz monitor), but would reducing in-game settings to let's say medium as opposed to full high or ultra reduce the amount of heat output because there's less work needed to render the frames?

Some people move the PC outside the room and run cables through a wall.

Unfortunately I'm unable to do this.

Your GPU alone is rated at 215W. 250W if it is a 2080 Super.

Understandable, so my GPU alone outputs the same amount of heat as a PS5 alone.

Also, may I ask if you know if my current CPU cooler is actually adequate enough? When I boot Windows (before the ThrottleStop application starts) the CPU fans instantly ramp up to the max until I login and the app starts up in the background. I just don't feel like that is very normal behaviour which is initially why I thought about upgrading the cooler. Here's a link to it https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9W5HFGY

I've also just found out that my original idea to upgrade it to the ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO won't work because the maximum height for CPU clearance in my case is only 150mm, whereas the total height for that cooler is just over that mark, around 157mm unfortunately.

 

[Eximo]

Might be some BIOS settings you need to take a look at regarding the CPU fan. It isn't completely abnormal for some coolers to run at full speed during early POST. Continuing into Windows isn't that normal, and needing software to adjust it doubly so. Depending on your board you should have complete fan curve control.

That cooler is probably adequate for an i7-8700. Could be a mounting issue, or a surface flatness issue. Direct heat pipe coolers like that aren't always the flattest, and your CPU may be less flat than usual. If you want to go through the effort, you can take the CPU out, put the heatspreader on a flat surface and see if it will spin (Convex), or not (Concave/Flat). Little harder to do with the cooler, but you can also just put a good straight edge on it and see if you can see light through the gaps. Solution would be to lap the surfaces (sand against a flat surface like a pane of glass)

But mid-70s isn't that bad for a CPU under load. If it were constantly pegging

 

[Thisisnotharry]

OS settings you need to take a look at regarding the CPU fan. It isn't completely abnormal for some coolers to run at full speed during early POST. Continuing into Windows isn't that normal, and needing software to adjust it doubly so. Depending on your board you should have complete fan curve control.

I've checked the CPU fan curve in the BIOS and it seems fine, I've never really tinkered with it before, previously I had an Acer OEM stock cooler (similar to the intel one except it could reach highs of 4000RPM) which never really got loud unless you put some serious load onto it, hence why I'm thinking this could be a defect with this new cooling system I've got.

Regardless of that, I'm planning to upgrade my PC case to the NZXT H511 Flow next month, as well as swap out the CPU cooler to the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO I originally researched. I know this might not do much in terms of reduce the room temperature/PC temperature but I'm in need of a case upgrade (my current build was actually a case swap from an old Acer Nitro system, and my first time building some sort of PC from scratch, so it's not in the best of condition) and I've heard good things about NZXT's airflow within their cases, as well as being aesthetically pleasing from the simplistic design. Do you reckon this could make a slight difference if at all?

Thanks for sticking with me throughout this.

 

[Thisisnotharry]

It isn't completely abnormal for some coolers to run at full speed during early POST.

Adding onto this, the fans don't ramp up at post, in fact they're completely silent despite running. As soon as the Windows lock screen appears after the bootup, the fans begin to run full speed. Could it be something to do with my Windows installation/an app conflict?