Clocked i7 7700K CPU Cooling Options in NZXT S340.

[silverzx]

Having decided to treat myself to a newer CPU, RAM and MOBO I have managed to pick up a Asus PRIME Z270-A for £82 in very good condition.

I will be purchasing a i7-7700K and 16GB/32GB of DDR4 3000/3200MHZ to go along with it. I plan to purchase a newer GPU in the next 12 months as mine is starting to show it's age at times in newer titles (MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5).

I've always used Artic Cooler Freezer's both on my E6320 and i5-2500K clocked at 4.5GHz currently in my S340 NZXT case.

I would like to try clock the new 7700K to a reliable 5GHz and don't know whether to:

A) put a big 240mm AIO in the front such as NZXT Kraken X52 (£115) or Corsair H100 V2 (£103) which I fear will make the GPU run hot as there is no space for any more fans on the front where this would mount and have read threads on here of people having GPU heat issues with the whole front case blowing air through a 240mm CPU AIO.

B) Keep the two 120mm intake fans at the front and buy a better air cooler e.g. Noctua NH-D15 (£80) or something better then a Artic Cooler Freezer 13 (£25).

C) Replace the single 120mm rear exhaust fan with a CPU AIO 120mm variant e.g. NZXT Kraken X42 (£108) or Corsair H55 (£63) if space allows or mount in the top 120mm exhaust fan. If niether fit I could replae the higher front intake fan so cold intake air is still blown freely over the GPU.

Air flow isn't the best in the S340 so not really sure which route to go, haven't had problems with my i5-2500k clocked to 4.5GHz but having spent a few hundred doing the upgrade I'd like the CPU to run cool whilst clocked to 5 (or as near as reliably possible with cooling in place). Plus when I upgrade GPU I don't intend to OC the GPU.

Advice please!

 

[XxDarkMarioxX]

I do not think you need to overclock the 7700k to 5Ghz because 4.2 is really good speed for an cpu and as you know 7700k dose run hot but good cooler would cool it down but overclocking it to 5 will just make the cpu run even more hot and the cpu is not designed to run at 5Hz only 4,50ghz!

 

[Jwpanz]

The 7700k is known to run pretty hot at 5GHz so I understand your concern. First off, I would ditch the 120mm AIO.

Second, many tests have been done showing that a 240mm AIO and a good Air cooler (like the Noctua) both handle heat similarly. I personally own the Corsair H100i v2 with it front mounted and pulling air through the front of the case. I have two 120mm fans in the rear as exhaust. Again, many tests have shown this method to be the best as far as AIO’s are concerned. The fact remains that an air cooler blows heat back into the case just the same as an AIO would mounted as an intake. GPU’s will pull some warm air through it’s cooling fans and, thus, may not cool as efficiently. It’s really just preference.

 

[mdd1963]

too weak of a GPU (GTX1060 or below), and your OC will be useless...

Play 4k where the GPU is the bottleneck, and your CPU overclock will again be useless....

The 7700K still offers great performance even at all-core turbo speeds of 4.5 GHz w/ an MCE- enabled mainboard...

 

[geofelt]

NZXT S340 is a decent cooling case.
It has space for two 120/140mm front intakes.
For best cooling, use two 140mm intakes; they move more air quietly.
A single 120mm rear exhaust is all you need.

The case allows a 161mm high cooler.
The Noctua NH-D15 is a fine cooler, but it is 165mm tall.
Instead, use the NH-D15s which is 160mm. The cost should be similar.
In addition. the s variants are more compatible with tall ram heat spreaders and are offset to clear graphics cards mounted in the first x16 slot
https://noctua.at/en/tdp-guide

If you want a good quiet 120mm cooler, look at the scythe kotetsu.
Here is a review:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1391-page1.html

I see no need for the issues of a liquid cooler in a nice case like yours.

My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
Past that, A AIO radiator complicates creating a positive pressure filtered cooling setup which can keep your parts clean.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
Google for AIO leaks to see what can happen.
While unlikely, leaks do happen.

I would support an AIO cooler primarily in a space restricted case.
If one puts looks over function, that is a personal thing; not for me though.
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

Your pc will be quieter, more reliable, and will be cooled equally well with a decent air cooler.

 

[jacksoncarl256]

I've got the Coffee lake, lots of people are running them at 5 GHz, right now I'm using an air cooler and can run it at 4.4 GHz, it runs okay under stress test at this speed. I have 2 120 mm fans in front, another in the back all pushing air in, an exhaust for the heat sink is at the top.
The top exhaust port had to be cut out using a tool I was able to find. I got interested in the Peltier and am now making a Peltier water cooled water loop, one loop for cooled water and one loop for the heat side of the Peltier going to the radiator. Much better to cool with low temp water.