[SOLVED] Good cpu cooler fan for overclocking my i7-3770 to 4.3 GHZ safely while gaming? Also looking to replace PSU.

ReignOfHell

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I currently have the stock intel cpu cooler, which idles between 40-55'c idle (it's been hot lately where i live so that probably doesn't help) and it climbs up to 100'c when overclocking to 4.3ghz while gaming (even happens when setting it to 3.9). So, i figured it would be a good time to consider replacing the CPU Heatsink/fan.

What would be a suitable replacement? I use a Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Mid sized case, so that would factor into the size, I also live in canada so that is a possible cost issue. I've been debating on the Hyper 212X double fan 120mm cooler, but heard a LOT of reviews saying its a pain to install, that it can hinder ram slot usage (i currently use 4x4gb corsair Vengeance 1600hz DDR3), or the Noctua variant of the same size. I wouldn't mind a 'modular' CPU Cooler, however, if it impedes the ram slots, then it would be pointless for me to get.

I have also been looking into upgrading my PSU to something like the 650-850w 80% Gold/Plat, so was wondering what would be a good replacement there? I was looking into the SeaSonic 650-850 G/P or the Corsair of the same W and G/P as well.
Just looking for some advice, so all help is appreciated.
 
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I personally like the 212+/EVO because all of the retention hardware is steel so I don't have to worry about tiny fine-threaded screws getting ripped out of the aluminum block like I would with most other affordable HSFs. That said, those can indeed be somewhat of a pain to install since you need to steady the clip while bringing the heatsink in until you manage to get the first two screws started.

My 212 EVO is keeping my i5-11400 under 70C through XTU stability tests and CBr23 with cores at max multiplier pulling 115W of package power, so I'd say the effort is well worth it.

InvalidError

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I personally like the 212+/EVO because all of the retention hardware is steel so I don't have to worry about tiny fine-threaded screws getting ripped out of the aluminum block like I would with most other affordable HSFs. That said, those can indeed be somewhat of a pain to install since you need to steady the clip while bringing the heatsink in until you manage to get the first two screws started.

My 212 EVO is keeping my i5-11400 under 70C through XTU stability tests and CBr23 with cores at max multiplier pulling 115W of package power, so I'd say the effort is well worth it.
 
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boju

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12cm tall for the evo, or if can fit 2.5cm taller (14.5cm) maybe cryorig h7.

Wouldn't really need 850w if not intending to run an rtx 3070 or higher gpu. 750w would comfortable and plenty for most systems with overclock. Corsair Rmx/Hxi/Txm and Superflower Leadex are some good recommendations. Avoid Seasonic if are after an Rtx 3xxx gpu due to sensory issues people are experiencing tripping the ocp.
 

ReignOfHell

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12cm tall for the evo, or if can fit 2.5cm taller (14.5cm) maybe cryorig h7.

Wouldn't really need 850w if not intending to run an rtx 3070 or higher gpu. 750w would comfortable and plenty for most systems with overclock. Corsair Rmx/Hxi/Txm and Superflower Leadex are some good recommendations. Avoid Seasonic if are after an Rtx 3xxx gpu due to sensory issues people are experiencing tripping the ocp.
I was debating on getting the 212 evo V2 since it has a better fan with faster RPM, but idk about the difficulty installing it vs an evo 212 (from my cousin i heard it was a 'B#*$^ and a half to install') Was originally thinking a Noctua D15S or the 212 black edition but the fan goes on with clips vs snap on on both of those.

As for 750w, yeah that'd probably be fine, I was originally considering the Corsair 750w Plat, as i helped my cousin install a 650 into his new rig, so it'd be a little easier for me to remember how to.

I won't be upgrading to a 3xxx for a while since the GPU 'famine' has put prices WELL over 2-3x retail, damned scalpers. the MSI 1650S i got will work for a year I'd say at the least, since my old 750ti lasted me 4 before i needed an upgrade. (still have it in a box, might put it on a new build one day)
 

InvalidError

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The only problem I have with Noctua stuff is that they cost twice as much for similar performance. For the cost difference, I don't mind the 212 +/EVO 1-2min longer "bitch and a half" install. Unless something unexpected/catastrophic happens or you decide to take it off for deep-cleaning, you will only need to install it once in the system's entire service life.
 

ReignOfHell

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The only problem I have with Noctua stuff is that they cost twice as much for similar performance. For the cost difference, I don't mind the 212 +/EVO 1-2min longer "bitch and a half" install. Unless something unexpected/catastrophic happens or you decide to take it off for deep-cleaning, you will only need to install it once in the system's entire service life.
2-3x as much on average (unless you settle for a lower end/smaller one)
 

ReignOfHell

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I have read up on the Bronze/Silver/Gold/Plat/Titan, but what is the ACTUAL difference between them besides price? I'm not necessarily 'tech savvy' but i can usually understand most things, but the differences seem minute compared to a normal 80%. Seems the same as putting 'RGB' on a model something just to drive the price up, when the original version was good to begin with /shrug.

Also, i have read some reviews mentioning 'Single rail vs Multiple rail' Is that a 'placebo' effect by the companies marketing, or is it something that exists? My old Cooler Master 625 is getting up there in years, and will PROBABLY need a replacement soon, which is why I am looking into replacing both the PSU & CPU Cooler (Cooler is more of a 'well, it'd be nice', but as long as I dont severely OC my PC it doesnt go higher than 80-90'c)
 
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InvalidError

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I have read up on the Bronze/Silver/Gold/Plat/Titan, but what is the ACTUAL difference between them besides price? I'm not necessarily 'tech savvy' but i can usually understand most things, but the differences seem minute compared to a normal 80%.
From 80% Basic and 80% Gold (90+%) efficiency across most of the range), there is a pretty decent jump too: if your system is drawing 500W, a 90+% efficient PSU wastes 50W less energy as heat. That is 50W less heat that the PSU has to get rid of and 50W less heat contributing to accelerated component aging which should help extend its service life and long-term reliability.

While 80+ Gold may not guarantee the highest quality, it does take generally better quality components and engineering to actually meet the requirements. You also need the higher efficiency to increase the power range at which the PSU can run silent for models that support silent mode.

As for the rails, most PSUs have only one real 12V rail. All that "multi-rail" PSUs do is split their 50+A 12V output in a bunch of individual 20-30A over-current "rails" for safety reasons: if you have a single-rail 1200W (100A @ 12V) PSU, an 80A short on a 12V wire can still look like a normal load and will end up starting a fire. With the output spanning multiple ~25A OCP channels, the PSU will hopefully shut down before catastrophic damage gets done beyond the short's origin.

If a VRM FET on the motherboard or GPU shorts 12V to ground with the PSU shutting down should any OCP channel break 25A, there is a pretty good chance the board will be fixable. If the PSU has a single 100A output, there is a pretty good chance it will weld itself in place and ruin the PCB. Single-rail is simple but potentially suicidal, multi-rail is safer at the expense of needing to mind loads on individual rails to avoid tripping their individual OCP.
 
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Karadjgne

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Title reads a i7-3770. It is possible with some bios on Z boards to add an extra 400MHz to Ivy-Bridge cpus, which will bring you to that 4.3GHz number, but that doesn't include voltage hikes beyond stock settings. With that speed though, you'd be looking at lower than default voltages anyway.

Any of the budget 140w coolers will work just fine, the differences being efficiency, the Noctua are more efficient as are beQuiet than the hyper212 series, so do see better temps at lower noise levels.

The hyper212 claim to fame in the beginning was it was an excellent cooler for the price, when all of its competition was double or better. Now that it's equitable in price, the competition is usually better value.

Ram clearance isn't usually an issue with the 212 series, but the older bracket design was pretty miserable and often posed installation challenges some found frustrating beyond belief. The 212 Black and newer use an improved mount, very similar to Noctua, just like many other coolers have adopted.

Personally, I'd use a Evga 240 CLC or Arctic 240 and then not worry about ram clearance or other issues. Your cpu will be serioysly pushing its luck to get another 5 years or so, which is about what an aio generally is good for.
 

alexbirdie

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My old system is a 3770k, vcore 1.14, 4.3 Ghz with a corsair H80-AIO (all from January 2013).

Temps reached about 70 degree, and system works great up to today ( I use it as a spare system, if neccessary). But it depends on silicon-lottery. For sure I do not have the best 3770k, but a good one.
 

ReignOfHell

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From 80% Basic and 80% Gold (90+%) efficiency across most of the range), there is a pretty decent jump too: if your system is drawing 500W, a 90+% efficient PSU wastes 50W less energy as heat. That is 50W less heat that the PSU has to get rid of and 50W less heat contributing to accelerated component aging which should help extend its service life and long-term reliability.

While 80+ Gold may not guarantee the highest quality, it does take generally better quality components and engineering to actually meet the requirements. You also need the higher efficiency to increase the power range at which the PSU can run silent for models that support silent mode.

As for the rails, most PSUs have only one real 12V rail. All that "multi-rail" PSUs do is split their 50+A 12V output in a bunch of individual 20-30A over-current "rails" for safety reasons: if you have a single-rail 1200W (200A @ 12V) PSU, an 80A short on a 12V wire can still look like a normal load and will end up starting a fire. With the output spanning multiple ~25A OCP channels, the PSU will hopefully shut down before catastrophic damage gets done beyond the short's origin.

If a VRM FET on the motherboard or GPU shorts 12V to ground with the PSU shutting down should any OCP channel break 25A, there is a pretty good chance the board will be fixable. If the PSU has a single 100A output, there is a pretty good chance it will weld itself in place and ruin the PCB. Single-rail is simple but potentially suicidal, multi-rail is safer at the expense of needing to mind loads on individual rails to avoid tripping their individual OCP.
Ok, so if i read that right, multirail is MUCH safer, but there are very few 'true 12v multi-rail' PSU's out there, while most claim to be multi-rail, but are 'hybrids' more or less. Would you be able to recommend a decent 600-850w PSU with TRUE Multi-Rail? (not one of those 'oh we have multi-rail!' but ends up being a hybrid/high end single coil. The reason i say UP TO 850w is that i MAY consider increasing to a 3080 in the coming years and don't want to buy 2 seperate PSU's, one for now and another one when i upgrade, its just a waste of $)

Obviously i wouldnt want a 600$+ PSU when a 100-400$ one will work just as well/last as long, but at the same time I wouldn't want to cheap out and get a 'low quality' PSU that dies in a few months or a year at the same time. (just keep in mind, I live in Canada so the price is probably 1.3-1.6x as much as the US atm)

I am not currently looking into one of the 3xxx or 2xxx gpu's since the 1650s I have works fine for now, however once prices go back down a bit (hopefully in the next half year or so) i will probably consider it.

I might be considering a new MOBO/CPU in the next year or 2, but that is a while off, so obviously a CPU cooler/PSU upgrade would last much longer since i'd probably just yoink it from my old build and put it in the new one.
 
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ReignOfHell

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Title reads a i7-3770. It is possible with some bios on Z boards to add an extra 400MHz to Ivy-Bridge cpus, which will bring you to that 4.3GHz number, but that doesn't include voltage hikes beyond stock settings. With that speed though, you'd be looking at lower than default voltages anyway.

Any of the budget 140w coolers will work just fine, the differences being efficiency, the Noctua are more efficient as are beQuiet than the hyper212 series, so do see better temps at lower noise levels.

The hyper212 claim to fame in the beginning was it was an excellent cooler for the price, when all of its competition was double or better. Now that it's equitable in price, the competition is usually better value.

Ram clearance isn't usually an issue with the 212 series, but the older bracket design was pretty miserable and often posed installation challenges some found frustrating beyond belief. The 212 Black and newer use an improved mount, very similar to Noctua, just like many other coolers have adopted.

Personally, I'd use a Evga 240 CLC or Arctic 240 and then not worry about ram clearance or other issues. Your cpu will be serioysly pushing its luck to get another 5 years or so, which is about what an aio generally is good for.
Yeah it's ancient, but at the moment i don't really have enough $ in the bank to do a full upgrade on my build, and the 3770 was a HUGE upgrade from the old 3330 that was included in this pc when i got it used off the local classifieds.

The reason i mention Ram Clearance, is that i use a 4x4gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 ram setup and i really can't afford to lose any of those. And yeah, i heard from my cousin who installed a 212 that it was a miserable experience. (to be fair, i said the same thing when i installed the stock intel Heatsink into my build to install the 3770 so :/)

If it came to Noctua NH-U12A Black, vs the 212 Black edition (with the silencio fan), vs the original 212 Evo v2, which of them would hit the highest possible fan speed for cooling, and which of them have the best 'track record' for fan durability and not falling off at the slightest knock/movement. (i read up on the silencio/noctua models which use clips to keep the fan(s) in place, and people have said they fall off like nothing, which is why i mention that)

I dont feel comfortable using a Water Cooler since if for some reason (i have bad luck with anything water based, an old water bed i had bust in the middle of the night :/) it craps out/leaks, my entire build is done and i wouldn't be able to build a new one for a LONG time.
 
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InvalidError

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Single vs multi-rail isn't quite as much of a safety concern for sub-700W PSUs since #18 wiring should be able to pass 50A long enough to trip OCP without melting down.

One downside of multi-rail PSUs is that since the individual rails' trip points are a fraction of the total output current, you have an increased chance of transient load triggering OCP during normal operation. I suspect this is one of the main reasons many people are having issues running RTX3070-3090s on what should otherwise have been overkill PSUs based on recorded power draw during benchmarks.
 

ReignOfHell

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Single vs multi-rail isn't quite as much of a safety concern for sub-700W PSUs since #18 wiring should be able to pass 50A long enough to trip OCP without melting down.

One downside of multi-rail PSUs is that since the individual rails' trip points are a fraction of the total output current, you have an increased chance of transient load triggering OCP during normal operation. I suspect this is one of the main reasons many people are having issues running RTX3070-3090s on what should otherwise have been overkill PSUs based on recorded power draw during benchmarks.
Ah, so it's a catch to have better safety protocols by making the PSU 'protect itself' by shutting down when it feels something is using too much power, which could cause a PSU failure/MOBO meltdown if left unchecked. A good idea.. in theory at least.

This is kind of the problem with the newer tech being developed before everything else catches up. you get the case of '2/3xxx cards malfunctioning' because of a power spike. Though.. you'd assume that's something Nvidia and AMD would have worked on before they released said cards wouldn't you :/
 

ReignOfHell

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Generally speaking, the reason that the reason there are so few truly multi-rail PSUs out there is that it's not really needed. Modern PSUs are more than capable at OCP and junk PSUs aren't going to be true multi-rail.
Ah. Figured that was the case. a lot of 'future tech' marketing by companies when most of them are artificial MR. Any suggestions as to a 700-900w Gold/Plat PSU (would say 600-750, but IF the silicon famine ends i might consider upgrading my PC to a better MOBO/3070+ and i don't wanna have to re-buy another psu when i could just get the 1 PSU now and keep it for the future)
 

ReignOfHell

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super easy FUMA 2!!!
Thats quite an expensive cooler though in comparison to the Noctua/Hyper 212 Evo midrange/high end ones, looks sexy though not gonna lie.

I have another question though; I know Newegg is one of the 'top' reputable sites for PC parts, but i've heard some people get lemons from them and have to jump through circus hoops to get either an RMA or refund (99% of the time an RMA)
Would it be a better idea to buy from amazon and have a 30 day 'well if it shows up broke/dead/dies in 30 days, full refund'?
 

Karadjgne

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The scythe Fuma2 generally runs around $50, but so does the Hyper212 series ±. What does make a difference is the cpu, whether that's a 3770K or a 3770. The 'K' version does use more power and has an unlocked multiplier that combined on a Z motherboard will allow overclocking to @ 5.0GHz at max. The non-K does not, it's a locked cpu, but Ivy-Bridge cpus on certain Z motherboards can be boosted upto 400MHz above stock. A teaser overclock. That boost can generally not use anything more than stock values/settings in bios, so overclocked but not over-volted.
 

ReignOfHell

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The scythe Fuma2 generally runs around $50, but so does the Hyper212 series ±. What does make a difference is the cpu, whether that's a 3770K or a 3770. The 'K' version does use more power and has an unlocked multiplier that combined on a Z motherboard will allow overclocking to @ 5.0GHz at max. The non-K does not, it's a locked cpu, but Ivy-Bridge cpus on certain Z motherboards can be boosted upto 400MHz above stock. A teaser overclock. That boost can generally not use anything more than stock values/settings in bios, so overclocked but not over-volted.
Ah, so that's the main reasoning behind making the K variants. Ah well, 4.3 should be more than enough for the forseeable future. (i would shell out for the 3770k, but i got my 3770 for an absolute STEAL on my local classifieds for 75$. on newegg and amazon it was well over 300$)

The Fuma2 on amazon is 130$, and sold by 3rd party company not scythe itself. However, they don't even sell that model on Newegg :/ (thats why i made the comparison to high end/noctua) Damned inflation. https://www.amazon.ca/Scythe-FUMA-120mm-CPU-Cooler/dp/B07QMK5R45
 
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