cooling suggestions for i-7 5960x OC to ~4.4 GHz

[harsh2art]

I am a novice at OC or cooling systems.
I am building a workstation, 24/7 use for 3D CPU /GPU rendering. These are main components I have in mind, I am open to suggestions. Will be using all threads running at heavy loads.
i7 - 5960x
64 GB RAM
Quadro M4000
X-99 motherboard (open to suggestions suited for OC)

I was reading about temperatures crossing 80C when overclocking 5960x. Which cooling component should I buy?
Any suggestions on how can I get maximum CPU performance would be really helpful.
Thankyou

 

[Sleetz]

For an overclocked system running 24/7 I suggest an H100i/H100GTX.

 

[harsh2art]

Should that be enough cooling for i7-5960x from 3.0GHz - 4.5 GHz ?

 

[Sleetz]

Yes it is one of the best if not the best water cooler on the market right now assuming everything is installed properly.

 

[harsh2art]

Thanks Sleetz. I have been reading online about overclocking i7-5960x to 4.4 - 4.6 GHz and some people are getting around 80C temperature on full load. And since I will be using it for heavy pathtracing for long hours, I was worried before spending on the system.
is H110i gtx better/safer option?
Some other options I was debating were Thermaltake water 3.0 Ultimate, Thermaltake Pacific RL 240 or custom water cooling if that is any better.

Also is anyone using i7 5960x OC with h100i setup who could verify the temperatures ?

Thanks

 

[1LiquidPC]

Depends on what you want to spend dedicated only to cooling. The more radiator(s) your using, the better generally speaking. This is especially true when OC'ing as the power requirements/heat output can go up considerably, especially w/ something like a 5960X. Some quick reviews of the H110iGT/GTX show you could be mid 70's to 80C at the OC you're looking get. If you going to spending a lot of time at full bore as you pointed out, you may want to consider going full custom, or a larger kit. I personally would not want my CPU near 80C for extended periods OC'd. For the same reason, I would stick w/ a quality PSU as well.

 

[Sleetz]

The H110i or the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate should keep you at under 70C at full load. I cannot see you getting above 70C unless you are stress testing with Prime95 which those temps are much higher than most peoples' actual load temps.

 

[harsh2art]

Depends on what you want to spend dedicated only to cooling. The more radiator(s) your using, the better generally speaking. This is especially true when OC'ing as the power requirements/heat output can go up considerably, especially w/ something like a 5960X. Some quick reviews of the H110iGT/GTX show you could be mid 70's to 80C at the OC you're looking get. If you going to spending a lot of time at full bore as you pointed out, you may want to consider going full custom, or a larger kit. I personally would not want my CPU near 80C for extended periods OC'd. For the same reason, I would stick w/ a quality PSU as well.

Thanks. Since its my first time building PC I have no experience in custom water cooling setup. And this is what I have been reading about the temperatures going 70- 80C with 5960x OC. Though few people are suggesting H110i, but I am worried about days long batch renders overheating CPU.

I am willing to spend around 400-500 USD for cooling if required. Is it possible to get a good cooling in that range for OC'd 5960x ?
is Thermaltake Pacific RL240 a good kit ? as I have this available here in Hong Kong.

 

[Sleetz]

Here is a good custom cooling website that I would look into.

 

[1LiquidPC]

The Thermaltake Pacific RL240 seems like a semi-custom kit. However, it's really going to be no better at cooling than the mentioned H110i systems, possible worse as the radiator is smaller(2X 120mm) vs the H110i(2X 140mm). How "stressful" is the software you'll be using on CPUs? Is it going to be running all 8 Cores/16 threads at close to 100% load, or does it use less cores and the load vary for these batch renders?

 

[harsh2art]

The Thermaltake Pacific RL240 seems like a semi-custom kit. However, it's really going to be no better at cooling than the mentioned H110i systems, possible worse as the radiator is smaller(2X 120mm) vs the H110i(2X 140mm). How "stressful" is the software you'll be using on CPUs? Is it going to be running all 8 Cores/16 threads at close to 100% load, or does it use less cores and the load vary for these batch renders?

Thanks,
I would be using multiple softwares, most stressful would be Renderman (VCM path tracer), which would be using all 16 threads at near about 100% load. And this 100% load could continue for hours or days in few cases.
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 seems to be 360mm, expadable, is that a better solution?

 

[1LiquidPC]

Given the specifics of you system setup and actual usage scenario, I can't myself recommend that you use an AIO cooler, even the Kelvin 36. It does seem expandable, but I believe its referring to blocks(GPU/VRMs). If your running this system full load for hours or days, your going to want excellent cooling for both CPU and VRMs for 5960X, power supply, and top quality motherboard. I'd look for a kit with 480mm radiator or so, just to be on the "safe" side. However, I don't know of any prefilled kits this large. This would mean your basically doing a custom WC loop. If you were just using the 5960X for gaming/occasional renders, these smaller kits would be fine. But for your actual workload and OC'd to 4.5 or so, the cooler could be overwhelmed after awhile.

 

[harsh2art]

Given the specifics of you system setup and actual usage scenario, I can't myself recommend that you use an AIO cooler, even the Kelvin 36. It does seem expandable, but I believe its referring to blocks(GPU/VRMs). If your running this system full load for hours or days, your going to want excellent cooling for both CPU and VRMs for 5960X, power supply, and top quality motherboard. I'd look for a kit with 480mm radiator or so, just to be on the "safe" side. However, I don't know of any prefilled kits this large. This would mean your basically doing a custom WC loop. If you were just using the 5960X for gaming/occasional renders, these smaller kits would be fine. But for your actual workload and OC'd to 4.5 or so, the cooler could be overwhelmed after awhile.

In case I am not able to achieve custom WC here in Hong Kong, would you suggest Kelvin 36 as best option for AIO cooler in my situation with a lower clock of say 4.0 Ghz?
Would a 1000 W power supply and ASUS x-99 Delux motherboard be a good choice ?

 

[1LiquidPC]

The Kelvin S36 looks to be a better performer by a few degrees than the H110GT. Another option is the new EK Predator 360mm system. Again, the only way to know would be to buy one and experiment to see what temps are like. You may be able to raise the OC a bit, depends on voltage needed. 1000W PSU is probably a bit excessive for your needs, but given the constant load its probably a better bet. You could go w/ a quality 800W I would think as well. I'm using the X99 Deluxe myself, great board Again though, given the stressful environment/load you'll be using you may want to look as the X99 WS board as well.

 

[harsh2art]

The Kelvin S36 looks to be a better performer by a few degrees than the H110GT. Another option is the new EK Predator 360mm system. Again, the only way to know would be to buy one and experiment to see what temps are like. You may be able to raise the OC a bit, depends on voltage needed. 1000W PSU is probably a bit excessive for your needs, but given the constant load its probably a better bet. You could go w/ a quality 800W I would think as well. I'm using the X99 Deluxe myself, great board Again though, given the stressful environment/load you'll be using you may want to look as the X99 WS board as well.

So I have been reading about custom water cooling and found a lot of info on the sticky:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

So I wanted to calculate TDP for my loop to see how many and which radiators I might need.
I have i7 5960x CPU planning to OC to ~4.4. So seems like my TDP for CPU would be 220W.

Since I am using Quadro M4000 (120W TDP) I couldn't find any water block for it, so it is out of loop. Remaing is the heat is from mother board (ASUS X-99-Delux), 32 GB RAM and Hard drives.
Will all this be cooled by Air flow in chasis? If such a scenario then it seems like one AIO 360mm radiator should be enough to cool just the CPU. Or should I get RAM water blocks etc. ?
Please correct me if I am thinking wrong..

 

[rubix_1011]

You don't need RAM or motherboard blocks. The only things to consider when factoring in loop TDP are the components that will be cooled by the loop, so you don't need to worry about the power draw of RAM or hard drives.

 

[harsh2art]

You don't need RAM or motherboard blocks. The only things to consider when factoring in loop TDP are the components that will be cooled by the loop, so you don't need to worry about the power draw of RAM or hard drives.

Thanks,
Thats what I thought, and since I have only i7-5960x CPU in my loop ( Unless there is cooling block available for Quadro M4000, which I couldn't find and don't know if universal GPU block works on it) TDP for loop shouldn't be greater than 220W. Which means a 360mm radiator AIO should be sufficient to cool it at 4.4 GHz. (is that a correct calculation ? )

Thus, I am confused if I install AIO for CPU. Do I rely on air cooling for my GPU, motherboard, RAMs etc. ?

 

[rubix_1011]

TDP for loop shouldn't be greater than 220W. Which means a 360mm radiator AIO should be sufficient to cool it at 4.4 GHz. (is that a correct calculation ? )

Technically, a 2x120 radiator would be enough with good fans.

Thus, I am confused if I install AIO for CPU. Do I rely on air cooling for my GPU, motherboard, RAMs etc. ?

Yes. Even going with water/liquid cooling, you still need to have case airflow for the remaining components in your case. A CPU air cooler is designed to circulate and move air, and when you remove that and replace with a CPU block, you remove that air movement.

 

[harsh2art]

TDP for loop shouldn't be greater than 220W. Which means a 360mm radiator AIO should be sufficient to cool it at 4.4 GHz. (is that a correct calculation ? )

Technically, a 2x120 radiator would be enough with good fans.

Thus, I am confused if I install AIO for CPU. Do I rely on air cooling for my GPU, motherboard, RAMs etc. ?

Yes. Even going with water/liquid cooling, you still need to have case airflow for the remaining components in your case. A CPU air cooler is designed to circulate and move air, and when you remove that and replace with a CPU block, you remove that air movement.

Thanks a lot,
Do you have any recommedation on case and cooling for i7-5960x at 4.4 GHz ?
As you mentioned 2x120 radiator would be good enough. I was thinking Fractal Design S36 or H110i. Would that be sufficient for OC ?
Any special thing I need to keep in mind for air cooling rest of the parts, specific fans or chasis suggestions ?

 

[rubix_1011]

For a closed loop cooler you really don't need any special considerations, only to ensure the radiator and fan mounts fit your case.

 

[harsh2art]

For a closed loop cooler you really don't need any special considerations, only to ensure the radiator and fan mounts fit your case.

As you mentioned 2x120 radiator would be good enough. I was thinking Fractal Design S36 or H110i. Would that be sufficient for Overclocking i7-5960x to ~4.4 GHz? As there were many concerns raised about temperatures being 70-80C with AIO water cooling with OC 5960x. Just want to be sure before investing..

 

[rubix_1011]

H110i is 2x140 radiator, not a 2x120, just to clear that up.

The pump between this is going to likely be almost identical. The Fractal looks like a 360 rad vs. a 280 of the Corsair. Cooling performance is going to be abou the same between them, but the Fractal is a lower FPI (9-10) vs around 20 for the Corsair, so you can use lower RPM fans on the Fractal. All in all it comes down to how much noise you're willing to put up with since these coolers tend to require fans running higher to compensate for the lower flow rate of the coolant.

Short answer, either one, just your preference.

 

[harsh2art]

H110i is 2x140 radiator, not a 2x120, just to clear that up.

The pump between this is going to likely be almost identical. The Fractal looks like a 360 rad vs. a 280 of the Corsair. Cooling performance is going to be abou the same between them, but the Fractal is a lower FPI (9-10) vs around 20 for the Corsair, so you can use lower RPM fans on the Fractal. All in all it comes down to how much noise you're willing to put up with since these coolers tend to require fans running higher to compensate for the lower flow rate of the coolant.

Short answer, either one, just your preference.

I want low noise, but also low temperatures, since all 8 cores/ 16 threads will be running at about 100% load for long hours/ days at 4.4 GHz. I have no experience in overclocking so I am scared of overheating my 5960x CPU.

 

[rubix_1011]

If the chip gets too hot, it just goes into thermal shutdown and turns off the system. What are you doing that you're running it 24/7 overclocked at 4.4? If you're doing that, wouldn't you want to stick to the side of stability and run it at stock speeds for stability?

I have no experience in overclocking so I am scared of overheating my 5960x CPU.

This is where I would suggest you do a LOT of research in how to overclock...especially if you're using a $1000 CPU as your first time overclock. This isn't something where you want to use a Windows application for overclocking...you want to get into the BIOS and manually adjust your settings appropriately - and avoid the +20% overclock button.

This is where you can potentially cause damage by over-volting your chip or exceeding specs of your RAM. Overclocking also requires that you have a solid power supply and motherboard...as well as RAM. Not all CPUs with the same part number overclock the same.

 

[harsh2art]

If the chip gets too hot, it just goes into thermal shutdown and turns off the system. What are you doing that you're running it 24/7 overclocked at 4.4? If you're doing that, wouldn't you want to stick to the side of stability and run it at stock speeds for stability?

I have no experience in overclocking so I am scared of overheating my 5960x CPU.

This is where I would suggest you do a LOT of research in how to overclock...especially if you're using a $1000 CPU as your first time overclock. This isn't something where you want to use a Windows application for overclocking...you want to get into the BIOS and manually adjust your settings appropriately - and avoid the +20% overclock button.

This is where you can potentially cause damage by over-volting your chip or exceeding specs of your RAM. Overclocking also requires that you have a solid power supply and motherboard...as well as RAM. Not all CPUs with the same part number overclock the same.

Thanks for the heads up,
I will be rendering in pathtracer( Renderman), CPU based. Yeah I would want stability, but also want to use as much power as I can. I can only clock it to 4.0 GHz if that would be more stable in such high loads.

I am currently planning on:
i7-5960x
Corsair Hx1000 power supply,
32 GB 2666 vengence RAM,
ASUS X-99 Delux mother board.

Given this specs, and my CPU load ~100% 15-16 threads. Would getting starter watercooling kit, like - XSPC AX 360/480 be more beneficial/ stable ?