[SOLVED] How Should I Cool My System?

[Freakface109]

Hello! I'm currently looking to overhaul my system, and I'm moving into new territory as I'm looking to go higher end. Noise is a major concern for me as my current system is so loud and I can't stand it. My current system just has a random assortment of different-size fans that don't necessarily fit, but the temps are fine. That being said, I don't know too much about airflow and cooling as I've simply never needed to.

I'll post the specs of what my full build is going to look like below. My goal is to keep my PC as quiet as possible without cooking my components lol. Budget isn't really an issue.
These are not my official specs as of yet, but this is most likely what I'll end up with:
Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming x570 Plus Wifi
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X
GPU: Zotac RTX 3070 Twin Edge OC
RAM: 32GB Ripjaws V DDR4 3000mhz (4x8GB sticks)
PSU: Rosewill PMG850 80 Plus Gold
Storage: Pending (either 2x 1TB Samsung 980 PRO or 2x 1TB Sabrent Rocket 4 PLUS)

I'm going to be replacing my current case with the Lian Li Lancool II. Ideally I'd like white components to match the white version of this case and my white GPU - but that's not too important tbh.
A big appeal to me is that you can't see the fans behind the front panel, which may help hide the fans, should the colors be a little offputting (looking at you Noctua). I was also considering mounting an AIO in the front though, but I'm unsure if that's a good spot for it or if I should mount it up top and just use quiet fans for the front intake. Do I even need an AIO? What are some good quiet fans and AIO if you think I need one?

Also I saw my motherboard comes with a heatsink for one of the NVMe 4 SSD slots. Listed above are 2 SSDs that I'm interested in. My plan is to have one boot drive and my games, and a second one for storage. Naturally I'd put my boot drive with the onboard heatsink, but should I buy a heatsink for my other drive? (I'm unexperienced here, I've only ever had systems running off a single HDD).

I know it's a lot, but I'd really appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thank you!

 

[Lafong]

Heatsink on the second SSD seems to be a matter of anxiety level. Those who are easily wound up about temperatures generally should probably use a second heatsink if only to relieve their anxiety, regardless of "necessity" or "good idea" or "not needed", or "can't hurt", etc. Why worry for 20 bucks or whatever they cost?

As usual, there's a lot of sheer genius clickbait stuff about it on Youtube.

 

[geofelt]

What are your current parts?
There is no end to the quest for quiet computing.
What sort of a budget do you have?

It looks like your primary use is for gaming.
To that end, look for a processor with high single thread performance.
Fun CPU-Z bench on your current system and see what you get.
You will do much better with a 12th gen intel if that fits your budget.
The 12600K can do 771. 12900K can do 981
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/bhgfiz/1
On a budget, the 11400 is very good.
Here is a review:

Intel Core i5-11400F Review: The New Value Champ

The Core i5-11400F coupled with a B560 motherboard make for an interesting build configuration, as it's significantly cheaper than the Core i5-11600K/Z590 and less than the cost...

www.techspot.com

For multi threaded batch apps, the 3700X is decent.
Look for a Z690 based motherboard with ddr4 support.
All are good. buy a 2 x 16gb ram kit of 3600 or perhaps 4000 speed for the 12th gen processors.
If you go 12th gen, here is a review of the 12600K:
https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i5_12600k_processor_review,21.html

For quiet, plan on air cooling with a top cooler like the Noctua NH-D15s.
Love the quality of Lian li cases.
The new O11 air mini looks outstanding:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-000Z-00081
There is nothing mini about it, it handles a full atx motherboard.

You could run with 750w, but I really like overprovisioning.
The psu will only use what is demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
The unit you picked is overpriced compared to the Seasonic focus GM-850 with a 7 year warranty.
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-gm-series-focus-gm-850-750w/p/N82E16817151231?quicklink=true
The GX850 version has a 10 year warranty:
Seasonic will warn you to not be alarmed if the psu fan does not operate.
It will only do sounder severe conditions of need.

I think you are better off with a single 2tb ssd. It is easier to manage space on a single address space.
Samsung 850 pro is excellent.

 

[Phaaze88]

Air cooled cpu:
Front intake, opt for the 2 140mm fans.
Rear exhaust is stuck with 120mm, so no changing that...
Top exhaust, 2 140mm fans. Now, the top exhaust is slightly detrimental to the air cooler, but the tradeoff is usually outweighed by getting the gpu heat out of the chassis faster. Power use is at its highest when the gpu is active and it tends to make the most heat, as well as most models dumping their heat inside your chassis.

AIO cooled cpu:
Front intake, 2 140mm fans.
Rear exhaust.
Top exhaust AIO. AIOs are more efficient when the radiator is placed against a mesh panel. The semi-solid front panel on the Lancool II non-mesh doesn't do it many favors if opting for a front mounted AIO, so I would instead suggest skipping that idea for an air cooler if you choose not to do top mount. They end up being more efficient than solid or semi-solid panel AIO installations. Their fans are harder to 'choke' due to always being around the center of the chassis.
Now, I do have a small nitpick with the hardware. When doing top mounted AIO, I believe one should over-provision on size a bit, what with 300w or more gpus being the norm. The Lancool II doesn't allow larger than a 240mm up top. It should've allowed for 280mm, at least...


They each have their pros and cons, so I'm not going to say one type is absolutely better than the other, but since there seems to be some focus on noise, the air cooler probably wins this.
-air cooler is more towards the center as mentioned earlier.
-counter argument to the above: "You still have top exhaust chassis fans, so the air cooler isn't really quieter."
-counter-counter argument to the above: "Chassis fans can be run at lower rpms with a smaller penalty to overall cooling, than the fans pushing or pulling air through the radiator; the rad is another source of air resistance."

 

[Freakface109]

Heatsink on the second SSD seems to be a matter of anxiety level. Those who are easily wound up about temperatures generally should probably use a second heatsink if only to relieve their anxiety, regardless of "necessity" or "good idea" or "not needed", or "can't hurt", etc. Why worry for 20 bucks or whatever they cost?

As usual, there's a lot of sheer genius clickbait stuff about it on Youtube.

Yeah I've read all kinds of stuff like how these new NVMe 4 drives are hotter than ever and how heat sinks are a must! But I've also read that it's only by a few degrees and the difference is pretty negligible so why bother. I guess yeah why worry for such a small amount of money - I might as well lol.

What are your current parts?

Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming x570 Plus Wifi
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X
GPU: MSI GTX 1050 TI (Low profile)
RAM: 32GB Ripjaws V DDR4 3000mhz (4x8GB)
PSU: Thermaltake Smart 500W 80+
Storage: Hitachi 2TB HDD

That's what I have in my system right now. I do already have my 3070, but I still need my PSU and case to install them anyways. And of course, still need the SSDs. So a motherboard and new CPU are just a little ways down the road, as my current expenses are already adding up lol (looking at you overpriced 3070). But yeah I'll definitely look into that in the near future! Budget isn't really that big of an issue, just need some time to save up!

Seasonic will warn you to not be alarmed if the psu fan does not operate.
It will only do sounder severe conditions of need.

Ooh! That's a pretty cool feature actually! I'll likely get a Seasonic PSU then!

For quiet, plan on air cooling with a top cooler like the Noctua NH-D15s.

They each have their pros and cons, so I'm not going to say one type is absolutely better than the other, but since there seems to be some focus on noise, the air cooler probably wins this.

Gotcha, so air cooling looks like my best bet. I probably will go with the Noctura NH-D15S. Any recommendations on 120mm and 140mm fans?

The Noctua REDUX series grays would be nice alongside my white components! How does this one look for 120mm exhaust fans? https://noctua.at/en/nf-s12b-redux-1200-pwm

 

[Lafong]

Re Noctua:

After you've chosen your motherboard, go to Noctua for compatibility lists for that motherboard.

The D15S has one fan. The D15 has 2 fans. You maybe able to use the D15.

The D15S variant is needed on some motherboards, per Noctua web site:

https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s


"Compared to the award-winning NH-D15, the S-version uses an off-set, asymmetrical layout and a single instead of dual NF-A15 fans. This allows the NH-D15S to provide state-of-the-art heatsink performance while maintaining superior RAM and PCIe compatibility."


"As many current motherboards have the top PCIe x16 slot sitting close to the socket, bigger heatsinks tend to block it. Due to its asymmetrical layout, the fin-stack of the NH-D15S is off-set towards the upper edge of the motherboard when installed in standard orientation. This allows it to clear the top PCIe x16 slot on most current µATX and ATX motherboards.*"

 

[Phaaze88]

NF-A14 Chromax for 140mm, NF-S12A Chromax for 120mm? But I suppose the black provides contrast with white, rather than complementing like gray does.
Lian Li has their own UNI SL 140 and 120mm fans available in white - rather pricey, but you did say your budget was flexible...

The Noctua REDUX series grays would be nice alongside my white components! How does this one look for 120mm exhaust fans? https://noctua.at/en/nf-s12b-redux-1200-pwm

👌

 

[emitfudd]

I would seriously consider the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance. More airflow coming through the front grille means your fans won't have to run as hard to keep things cool which will keep the noise down. In a different case I have 2 140mm fans in the front intake, 1 120mm rear exhaust and 3 120mm fans at the very top of my case for the AIO and none of my fans are loud enough to be distracting. You don't need to try to baffle them with a solid front on your case.

 

[Co BIY]

A high-end very efficient power supply will help keep temps down and reduce the need for high speed fans. Something Like this:

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-P6-0750-X1



Your current CPU is still "top of the line". The Ryzen are very efficient making them easy and quiet to cool. I doubt it needs replaced for a gaming computer running a 3070.

 

[Freakface109]

Re Noctua:

After you've chosen your motherboard, go to Noctua for compatibility lists for that motherboard.

The D15S has one fan. The D15 has 2 fans. You maybe able to use the D15.

The D15S variant is needed on some motherboards, per Noctua web site:

https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s

"Compared to the award-winning NH-D15, the S-version uses an off-set, asymmetrical layout and a single instead of dual NF-A15 fans. This allows the NH-D15S to provide state-of-the-art heatsink performance while maintaining superior RAM and PCIe compatibility."

"As many current motherboards have the top PCIe x16 slot sitting close to the socket, bigger heatsinks tend to block it. Due to its asymmetrical layout, the fin-stack of the NH-D15S is off-set towards the upper edge of the motherboard when installed in standard orientation. This allows it to clear the top PCIe x16 slot on most current µATX and ATX motherboards.*"

It looks like the NH-D15 comes with AM4 support since 2019, so I should be good on that. Also, I just found out that there's a CHROMAX version that is coated in black rather than tan/brown. And it looks like the clearance should be just barely enough too! The case is listed to have a 176mm CPU clearance, and the NH-D15 has a height of 165mm.

NF-A14 Chromax for 140mm, NF-S12A Chromax for 120mm? But I suppose the black provides contrast with white, rather than complementing like gray does.
Lian Li has their own UNI SL 140 and 120mm fans available in white - rather pricey, but you did say your budget was flexible...
👌

Are the Noctua NF fans better than UNI SL fans would you say, as far as efficiency and noise goes? If so, I may use the Chromax fans as intake (hidden behind front panel) and the white or gray ones for exhaust as they'd be visible? Otherwise, I wouldn't mind black or gray fans throughout!

I would seriously consider the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance. More airflow coming through the front grille means your fans won't have to run as hard to keep things cool which will keep the noise down. In a different case I have 2 140mm fans in the front intake, 1 120mm rear exhaust and 3 120mm fans at the very top of my case for the AIO and none of my fans are loud enough to be distracting. You don't need to try to baffle them with a solid front on your case.

Ugh yeah, I saw a comparison of the thermals between the regular case, and the mesh version. The original Lancool II has a slightly lower dba level at 100% fan speed, however the thermals were about 10C higher. Meaning my fans would have to run higher in the regular case. Will a bunch of Noctua fans offset it enough in your opinion? I'm not the biggest fan of how the mesh version looks, but it's not out of the question.

A high-end very efficient power supply will help keep temps down and reduce the need for high speed fans. Something Like this:

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-P6-0750-X1



Your current CPU is still "top of the line". The Ryzen are very efficient making them easy and quiet to cool. I doubt it needs replaced for a gaming computer running a 3070.

Wow... That's quite the pricetag for a 750W PSU lol. And yeah my CPU is working great for me so far! I've had it for about a year and a half, it seems to be doing a lot better than my previous i7 2600. I don't intend on upgrading it for a while, but if I did want to upgrade it to something like a Ryzen 9 5900X or 5950X, would a 750W PSU still be viable?

 

[David3290321]

ONLY DO NOCTUA (unless you are on a budget)

 

[emitfudd]

Ugh yeah, I saw a comparison of the thermals between the regular case, and the mesh version. The original Lancool II has a slightly lower dba level at 100% fan speed, however the thermals were about 10C higher. Meaning my fans would have to run higher in the regular case. Will a bunch of Noctua fans offset it enough in your opinion? I'm not the biggest fan of how the mesh version looks, but it's not out of the question.

If you buy non LED or RGB fans you won't even see them behind the mesh grille. And yes, Noctua fans are probably the best quality and quietest. I replaced the 3 fans on my AIO with Noctua Chromax (the black ones) and they are very quiet. You should never have to run your fans at 100% and you can set a curve so they only ramp up to 100% in the case of reaching thermal limit.

 

[David3290321]

I would use RGB fans if you PC is on display on its side so you can actually see the RGB, If you are not willing to spend 20-35 on a fan just buy some cheap RGB ones. (Make sure your Mobo has a 5v header rather than a 12v, if it does but a SATA power to 5v RGB header to use the RGB)

 

[Phaaze88]

Are the Noctua NF fans better than UNI SL fans would you say, as far as efficiency and noise goes? If so, I may use the Chromax fans as intake (hidden behind front panel) and the white or gray ones for exhaust as they'd be visible? Otherwise, I wouldn't mind black or gray fans throughout!

Yes, they have a better balance of performance to noise. How much you'll actually notice though, can't be said, as hardly anyone runs their fans at 100% and a fan's performance doesn't scale linearly.
At 100%, the UNI looks like the stronger fan, but it gets louder than the Noctua. Below 100%, there's no way to know without testing the 2 fans side-by-side at the speeds you can comfortably tolerate from each.

 

[Co BIY]

Wow... That's quite the pricetag for a 750W PSU lol. And yeah my CPU is working great for me so far! I've had it for about a year and a half, it seems to be doing a lot better than my previous i7 2600. I don't intend on upgrading it for a while, but if I did want to upgrade it to something like a Ryzen 9 5900X or 5950X, would a 750W PSU still be viable?

You should use the calculators posted above to determine The wattage level but if quiet is your goal I think starting with power supply makes a lot of sense because all power in the entire system goes through it and creates heat there.

 

[David3290321]

750 or 800 should be perfect.

 

[Freakface109]

Just a quick reply to end off this thread, thank you everyone for your help!

I used 2 of the stock case fans as my top exhaust, and the 120mm Noctua 1200RPM gray REDUX fan as my rear exhaust. Went with 2 140mm Noctua CHROMAX fans as my intake and the NH-D15 as my CPU cooler (the fans are not lined up and barely fit because my motherboard has kind of a dumb layout - BUT it all works out in the end). Decided against the mesh Lancool 2, and stayed with the original design (visual preference). And as for the PSU, I went with the EVGA SuperNOVA 850W T2 Titanium unit.

The temps look amazing, GPU temp has never seen anything higher than 71C on Ultra Nightmare max settings on Doom Eternal, getting about 200fps @ 1080p (a big jump from 60-70fps on low settings with my 1050 TI lmao). And my system is nearly silent. It no longer sounds like I have a jet engine in my room haha!

So yeah, thanks again everyone for all the help and advice! I really appreciate it <3