Does the i7 7700K need a CPU cooler

darkknightadi

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Dec 4, 2016
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I have just ordered an i7 7700K.I want to know whether I have to purchase an air or liquid CPU cooler.I am not going to overclock it,But I am gonna use it to play games at 1080p with all settings maxed out.I would also like to know whether I will be needing a CPU cooler if I am gaming at 4K??

System Specs

MOB - MSI Z270-A Pro
CPU - i7 7700K
GPU - Zotac GeForce 1080 Mini
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 1*16GB

P.S. I will be gaming for long periods at a stretch

 
Solution
i7-8700k is going to be released quite soon, so if you can hold off, that might be the better purchase, despite the extra cost. 6 cores vs the 4 cores of the 7700k. If you proceed:

1) It doesn't come with one, so you do need something
2) Bigger cooler, means it will be quieter
3) It will still boost to 4.5Ghz, if temperature allows, so a larger cooler may keep it at 4.5Ghz longer or constantly
4) Overclocking 200-300Mhz isn't terribly difficult with the 7700k. A decent mid-range cooler in $35 range can handle that. (Evo 212, Cryorig H7, Gaimaxx 400, and so on)

Eximo

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i7-8700k is going to be released quite soon, so if you can hold off, that might be the better purchase, despite the extra cost. 6 cores vs the 4 cores of the 7700k. If you proceed:

1) It doesn't come with one, so you do need something
2) Bigger cooler, means it will be quieter
3) It will still boost to 4.5Ghz, if temperature allows, so a larger cooler may keep it at 4.5Ghz longer or constantly
4) Overclocking 200-300Mhz isn't terribly difficult with the 7700k. A decent mid-range cooler in $35 range can handle that. (Evo 212, Cryorig H7, Gaimaxx 400, and so on)
 
Solution


I use the H7 with mine @4.5GHz (Enhanced Turbo Boost enabled) and it's just fine. But any overclocking past that and it gets too hot under full load.
 

Yes that is light overclocking given a full time 4.5Ghz. Even 4.4Ghz full time is overclocking as its with all the cores instead of 1 or 2 the boost may only be working with.
If yours doesn't overclock lightly could be you got a very poor silicon lottery.
 
Are you able to get the voltage down to around 1.15v? Here is a test of where the CPU's voltage should fall at. Even the worst should work at under 1.15v.
5908f6728d607_aHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmJlc3RvZm1pY3JvLmNvbS81L1AvNjM5MTMzL29yaWdpbmFsL0NoaXAtUXVhbGl0eS5qcGc.jpg.d39cde6b8164d55e7f1ccab2c8bb4d18.jpg


If thats ok maybe you got a air bubble in the thermal paste. PM me tho if you wish to talk more because its getting off topic a bit.
 

AdventureGuy

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Mar 14, 2017
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Definitely, you’re not going to cool a 91W CPU with nothing. Buy a decent air cooler like the Cryorig H7 or Cooler Master 212 EVO. If you’re gonna overclock I suggest a better one but looks like you’re just running good ol stock so yeah. And CPU usage isn’t going to change much if you change resolutions nowadays. You’re not going to game with Intel HD graphics so worry more about the GPU instead.
 

Eximo

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Crap, potato for me. 1.416 for 5Ghz and I had to de-lid it for reasonable temps.