CPU Cooling for an I5 8400?

[tomstafford333]

Hi guys,

I recently purchased my first gaming PC, due to be delivered this Friday. I’ve realised the Heatsink is a standard intel cooler and was wondering if this is OK?

I’m looking to purchase a hyper evo 212 before hand, if not. The main question I have though is for a complete beginner, is the process relatively easy? I don’t want to remove the motherboard (if possible).

Any advice would be amazing. The motherboard is an ASUS h310m-a w/ GTX 1060.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Darkbreeze]

The stock cooler is fine, so long as there is adequate case cooling and airflow through the enclosure.

If you end up buying an entry level budget cooler, I would not recommend the 212 EVO.

Either the Deepcool Gammaxx 400 or Cryorig H7 would be FAR better choices, in terms of looks, quality and performance. The fans are likely to have a lot more longevity than what comes on the 212 EVO as well.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/hJFPxr,93Crxr/

 

[tomstafford333]

Thanks for the reply. I think the cryorig is the one for me. Going to play around with the PC when it arrives. How easy is the installation without taking the motherboard out?

 

[Darkbreeze]

That depends on the case. ANY aftermarket CPU cooler that is not using the stock style retention system will require replacing the backplate and mounting hardware. All of them, including the 212 EVO. So it doesn't really matter which one you go with, will be the same process. If the case back panel comes off, motherboard can stay in place. If it doesn't, then motherboard has to come out to do it. Most modern cases have removable side panels on both sides though, so usually it's fine.

 

[mdd1963]

the 8400's cooler was reported to be marginal and causing throttling in some scenarios, but, perhaps your case will get good airflow, and...winter is coming!

 

[Darkbreeze]

I always recommend replacing the stock cooler for any 95w or higher TDP processor. That won't change, until stock coolers get a whole lot better. And I don't see that happening anytime soon, but you never know. The AMD Wraith cooler IS a step in the right direction.

 

[tomstafford333]

Hi Guys, got the hyper evo 212 on the way, the back panel does come off and watched plenty of videos so should be fairly easy to do. Was gonna go with cryorig or deepmaxx but this cooler cost me £15 compared to £35 so I thought for the price it can't be much worse right?

Thanks for all the advice!! Gonna post a new thread about my PSU now lol...

 

[Darkbreeze]

For half the price, it's probably a better VALUE, and it doesn't perform half as well, so it's ok-ish, but I'd have paid the extra for the Cryorig, but it will better than the stock cooler by a fair amount. My advice would be at some point, swap the fan on it out for a better fan. With this fan, that cooler will perform really well, but then you will have spent more money anyhow.

Even so, that heatsink with this fan likely also outperforms any of the other coolers we discussed. And is probably a lot quieter at equivalent RPMs, but it WILL get to higher RPMs, so once it does it will probably be marginally louder than the fans that come on any of those other units. Maybe not though. I have one of these added to the back of my Noctua NH-U14S and honestly the noise level is very low.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Noctua - NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£25.74 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £25.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-24 18:38 BST+0100

This would also be a very good option that will likely offer a little better performance than the stock CM fan on that heatsink and be a LOT quieter at any RPM.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Noctua - NF-A12x15 PWM 55.4 CFM 120mm Fan (£16.89 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £16.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-24 18:39 BST+0100

 

[tomstafford333]

Do I just add it to the other side? (2fans attaches to the evo heatsink?) That’s a great bit of info thanks I think I’ll do that

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, I would remove the Cooler master fan and replace it with one of those two I linked to. Then even later, if you want, you might add a second one just like it to the back for some additional pull.

A really good combination might be that 2000rpm fan on the back with a Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black.swap , or the NF-A12x15 PWM fan I lined to up above on the front.

You always want a faster or higher CFM fan on the back so that the front fan is NEVER going to have to struggle against the resistance of both the heatsink AND the rear fan. A faster or higher CFM rear fan not only makes sure that doesn't happen, it will assist the front fan making it's job easier, plus it will help remove any dead spots that a push only fan might create.