[SOLVED] Help choosing water cooler

demorah95x

Honorable
Nov 26, 2017
18
0
10,510
I need help deciding on what water cooler to purchase for my pc setup.
This is my Motherboard:
System Model Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz, 3701 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
 
Solution
8700k suffers from the junk Intel paste between the CPU cores and IHS, so what is 'reported' by the CPU sensors exists because not enough thermal load makes it to the IHS and the cooler quickly and effectively enough. Delidding is an option to provide better paste with better conductivity, but also requires you slice open your CPU to accomplish.

Outside of this, there are plenty of great air coolers on the market to cool high-load CPUs. Liquid cooling isn't automatically better than air cooling, but the concept persists because the knowledge isn't generally known. It's assumed 'because it has liquid, it is better, like custom watercooling'.....which is completely wrong. Liquid cooling is HIGHLY dependent on radiator surface area...

demorah95x

Honorable
Nov 26, 2017
18
0
10,510
Not much to go on here.
-Can't tell you what would fit
-Don't know the purpose of the cooler: silent operation, overclocking performance, or a balance of the 2.
Purpose of the cooler is not allow my CPU temp to go over 70 Celsius. I play Monster Hunter World and I feel like the this high temperature is not healthy. It also makes the room very hot. So I suppose a healthy balance
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
8700k suffers from the junk Intel paste between the CPU cores and IHS, so what is 'reported' by the CPU sensors exists because not enough thermal load makes it to the IHS and the cooler quickly and effectively enough. Delidding is an option to provide better paste with better conductivity, but also requires you slice open your CPU to accomplish.

Outside of this, there are plenty of great air coolers on the market to cool high-load CPUs. Liquid cooling isn't automatically better than air cooling, but the concept persists because the knowledge isn't generally known. It's assumed 'because it has liquid, it is better, like custom watercooling'.....which is completely wrong. Liquid cooling is HIGHLY dependent on radiator surface area, fans/airflow and pump/coolant flow rate.

Yes, the same liquid cooling principles apply between AIOs and custom loops. As someone who has watercooled with custom loops for nearly 19 years and who also does the cooler testing/reviews for Tom's Hardware, there are vast differences and levels of performance out there between different AIOs and different air coolers. I will say that both air and AIO cooling has come a very long way in the last couple years and there are options in both category which can do very well.

What is the current CPU cooler being used?

What case is the system installed in?

These both are very large factors in where we currently start this process from.

Also, having the best cooler in the world does not automatically mean the best temps possible - if case airflow is very poor, temps can (and will) still be a problem.

Below is my copy/paste on checking airflow vs. cooler problems.

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Airflow / Fan / Cooling / Overheating - How to test, steps to resolve

High CPU and GPU temperatures:

This could be caused by a few different things, please don't automatically assume 'the cooler is not working' without also checking if the case airflow is sufficient.

Remove the side panel of the PC case. Orient a house fan (desk or box style fan) to blow air into the case, directly over components at the highest setting.

This will represent a case with the best possible airflow possible. For reference, the fans I am providing as examples would look like the items below (just to clarify for anyone who might want reference)

nI6vx5v.jpg
2GBempv.jpg


Re-test as you have normally done - play games, run benchmarks, etc. to get to where temperatures were normally seen to be higher than they should. Normal room temperature is usually between 20-24C or 68-75F. Please note that every air or liquid cooler operates as a product of delta-T over ambient, meaning that if the PC is operational (simply turned on), it is impossible for the CPU to display a temperature below ambient room temperatures. If it is, this is likely a bug in software temperature reporting either from the desktop UI or the BIOS reading it incorrectly.

With the fan running at full speed, if temperatures drop by 5-7C or more, case airflow is one major issue to contend with. You will need additional fans or better fans for your setup in order to optimize air in and out of the chassis. This might even require consideration for a new PC case or leaving the side panel partially open during sessions of heavier computing until these items are corrected.

If your temperatures remain relatively the same (difference less than 1-2C), then you likely have an issue with the cooler in question (if CPU is hot, CPU cooler, if GPU is hot, GPU cooler). It would be good to then approach the next steps by thoroughly cleaning the cooler with compressed or canned air and ensuring there are not large blockages in cooling fins or on fans, etc. This might require the cooling fans to be removed from the heatsink or radiator to ensure there is not a buildup of pet hair, dust or even carpet fibers which can trap additional debris. Please ensure the PC is turned off and unplugged during this process to prevent unwanted startup to keep fingers safe from fan blades or accidental shorting if you happen to drop a screw onto other components during fan removal.

Removal of the cooler and re-application of thermal paste & re-seating the cooler can also be beneficial once cleaning of the cooler is ruled out by retesting the steps above.
 
Solution