Cooling for 8700K?

[Gregow]

I’m waiting for a 8700K to arrive and thinking about how to solve the cooling situation.

Currently running a Fractal Designs Kelvin S36, but will this be enough to push past 5Ghz on the 8700K? I will delid it, of course.

Thinking of either modding the Kelvin, with a DC-LT 3600 pump instead of the 2400 pump, as well as better fans for the radiator.

The only other option I can think of is going for a custom loop, but that’s a whole other price point and finding reliable tests on the differences is proving difficult.

What are your recommendations

 

[Dunlop0078]

With a delid it's far more than enough, you could likely do a 5ghz overclock with acceptable temps on a single tower air cooler after a delid and liquid metal application. It would likely be possible without a delid on a 360mm rad.

 

[Gregow]

With a delid it's far more than enough, you could likely do a 5ghz overclock with acceptable temps on a single tower air cooler after a delid and liquid metal application. It would likely be possible without a delid on a 360mm rad.

I will be aiming for something like 5,2Ghz (if the store agrees I’ll actually replace the the 8700K with a 8086K, just to make sure to get a better binning).

The Kelvin has been running on a 5820K at 4,4Ghz and 1,29V, which gives mid 80:s Celsius temps without AVX, and no air cooler can handle that properly with a powerful GPU in the case.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

You can go with the Kelvin now. You can also considered liquid metal and full copper ihs for your cooling.

The speed of the inbuilt pump is sufficient imo. What really changes the performance are the fans. Go for high static pressure fans like the noctua industrial @ maybe 1500-2000rpm.

 

[Gregow]

Replacing the fans is the kind of solution I'd like, if it works well. Though the Noctuas are expensive, they are far cheaper than going full custom loop.

What improvements do you reckon I´d get from replacing the original Fractal Design fans? I understand this is difficult to quantify, but are we talking like 5 C cooler at the same noise level or even better than that?

 

[Lucky_SLS]

There are a lot of reviews about that.

The one that comes to my mind immediately is a review comparing the noctua industrial, AF 12 and a few others by optimum tech YouTube channel on a kraken x52. He cooled the 8700k I think.

 

[Gregow]

There are a lot of reviews about that.

The one that comes to my mind immediately is a review comparing the noctua industrial, AF 12 and a few others by optimum tech YouTube channel on a kraken x52. He cooled the 8700k I think.

After checking the reviews it seems the biggest value is in the performance per noise level, but not so much in absolute cooling. That may indeed make it worth the money though, The Fractal fans get very loud at full load, and there’s very little in between quiet and loud.

I think I’ll try replacing the fans as a first order of business at least. After that I’ll know where I’m at in terms of cooling and noise. If it turns out I want to take more extreme measures, I can always keep the fans anyway.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ good decision!