I5-6600k overclocking query

[Preds]

Hello all!
Just planning my new pc build with i5 6600k and I want to get the best potential out of this, so I intend to overclock it to at least 4.5 GHz and was wondering which cpu cooler to use for it. For the huge reason of leaks and maintenance issues, I want to go the route of air cooling and have a few in mind, they are:
1) Scythe Kotetsu
2) Cooler Master Hyper 212x
3)Arctic freezer i11
Also i need some answers as to how these coolers performance would increase if i were to add say 4 or 5 case fans, or more to the Fractal design core 3300 or Phanteks Enthoo pro m or even the Thermaltake core v21( severe case of indecision This really has me stuck as there are a huge number of choices but i've found the following to be of good value- Arctic freezer F14 (3-pin), Aerocool Shark Blue Edition (3-pin) and Be quiet! Pure Wings 2 (3-pin). All of the 140mm variant. So I basically wanted to know whether these will help keep my setup cool with the i5 6600k, with glax gtx 1070 or 1060. I live in a hot country with outside air temps reaching above 40 degrees Celsius in the peak of summer. So what do you guys think, will my setup fry or stay chill? And which setup do i use (case, case fan and cpu cooler-listed)? Would appreciate any feedback! Thanks in advance guys!

 

[juanrdp]

First of all, i also thing that the air cooler is the way to go 90% of the time.

But you have choosen mid (or even low-mid) tier air coolers, while you aim to a good OC (probaly to reach 4.5 you would need to raise stock voltages) and with high temperatures.

But in the end depends on a) what is your maximun room temperature?, do you use A/C?, do yo reach 40+ degrees in the room the pc is? b) What is your tolerance to sound comming from the PC?

A good airflow in the case is needed for CPU air coolers, from the fans you mention i would stay far away from the Aerocool (too noisy) and probably i would choice the be quiet! (im using be quiet! SHADOW WINGS SW1 myself and works nice, but they are silent fans, no high performance ones) because im very sensitive to noise, anothe option you have are high presure and high airflow fans, probably from Corsair.

And the CPU cooler, think about a high performance one, like a Noctua NH-D14 or D15.

 

[Preds]

First of all, i also thing that the air cooler is the way to go 90% of the time.

But you have choosen mid (or even low-mid) tier air coolers, while you aim to a good OC (probaly to reach 4.5 you would need to raise stock voltages) and with high temperatures.

But in the end depends on a) what is your maximun room temperature?, do you use A/C?, do yo reach 40+ degrees in the room the pc is? b) What is your tolerance to sound comming from the PC?

A good airflow in the case is needed for CPU air coolers, from the fans you mention i would stay far away from the Aerocool (too noisy) and probably i would choice the be quiet! (im using be quiet! SHADOW WINGS SW1 myself and works nice, but they are silent fans, no high performance ones) because im very sensitive to noise, anothe option you have are high presure and high airflow fans, probably from Corsair.

And the CPU cooler, think about a high performance one, like a Noctua NH-D14 or D15.

Hello and thank you for your response, ok and for your answer a) temps in my room around 35 degrees celsius max! (summer) without A/C obviously, with A/C, around <24 degrees, but i'm looking at the worst possible case scenario perspective (w/o A/C) b) My sound tolerance while in the "heat" (pun intended) of gameplay will need to be low which is why I agree with your point about the Be quiet! fans.

Alrighty then for case airflow, let's assume dual fans in front (intake) and dual top (exhaust) and one at the rear (exhaust), how many degrees C less would the temps be in addition to the cpu cooler, a very approximate value if you can, maybe around 5 C or 10C?

Corsair , huh? I've checked those out and their CFM values are a little lower than the bargain fans that i've listed, at least in my area. The Corsair fans are about $20 while the ones listed are around $12 (Be quiet!) max. But if i have to shell out some more for better performance then will do. Btw, which fans are better, the Static Pressure or High Airflow variety? In general, not limited to corsair?

 

[juanrdp]

with A/C, around <24 degrees, but i'm looking at the worst possible case scenario perspective (w/o A/C) b)

Hey, i play without A/C that's why i asked it 😉 24 degrees is an ok temp, and it's very diferent to build a system with an intended room temperature of 24 than one of 35 xD. At 35-50 the problem is that you could have easy an internal case temperature of nearly 50-55º and then most of the coolers have lvery little delta temperature to work with.

If you build a system for 35-40 degrees room temperature i would recommend a water cooling system for Cpu and an "exaust" model of cooling solution like the nividia 10xx refernece design, but for 24 you have better options.

My sound tolerance while in the "heat" (pun intended) of gameplay will need to be low which is why I agree with your point about the Be quiet! fans.

Then think about switching the cpu cooler for a Noctua, i would recomend a NH-D14 to lower the sound comming from the cpu, and the Be quiet! fans.

Alrighty then for case airflow, let's assume dual fans in front (intake) and dual top (exhaust) and one at the rear (exhaust)

That would work, but you probably will have negative air pressure inside the case (2 fans in, 3 out), The problem of negative air pressure is that is more prone to get dust inside, with that config seek a case that have dust filters.

, how many degrees C less would the temps be in addition to the cpu cooler, a very approximate value if you can, maybe around 5 C or 10C?

Less than?, i don't get the question. You must think how many degrees you would get on the cpu/gpu/mb mainly because that's one of the limits of any overlock.

,Corsair , huh? I've checked those out and their CFM values are a little lower than the bargain fans that i've listed, at least in my area. The Corsair fans are about $20 while the ones listed are around $12 (Be quiet!) max.

Corsair have mid tiers fans, the good about them is that they offer silent, high pressure and high airflow versions of the fans (some times ago the names where messed and for example the "quiet" had more airflow but also less silent) and have also silent and normal lines and have several mooding options, they are not specially silent nor offer especially good performance, but are decent enought.
I still prefer Be quiet! (for silence and buid quality mainly, they are not great on airflow), but personally from my experience i would stay away from Aerocool (i had three some time ago and tend to fail more and generate a lor of noise) and have little direct experience of Arctic freezer fans, had to replace one on arrival and for my opinion lacks some things like rubber fittings and the wiring is a bit of meh (well, they look awfull xD) but they are decent fans with great airflow and wonderfull if you are value oriented.

Btw, do not allways belive the values the builders put on fans 😉

Btw, which fans are better, the Static Pressure or High Airflow variety?

Depends, in general High Airflow often offer better performance because they move more air than the high static pressure equivalents, but if you have restricted airflow (dust filters, water cooling radiators, cases with mesh or hard covers over the fans like sound dampering ones or cases crowed by cables) the high pressure retain better performance than the high airflow ones.

By rule of the tumb if yor have restricted airflow->high pressure, on rest of cases high airflow.

 

[Preds]

with A/C, around <24 degrees, but i'm looking at the worst possible case scenario perspective (w/o A/C) b)

Hey, i play without A/C that's why i asked it 😉 24 degrees is an ok temp, and it's very diferent to build a system with an intended room temperature of 24 than one of 35 xD. At 35-50 the problem is that you could have easy an internal case temperature of nearly 50-55º and then most of the coolers have lvery little delta temperature to work with.

If you build a system for 35-40 degrees room temperature i would recommend a water cooling system for Cpu and an "exaust" model of cooling solution like the nividia 10xx refernece design, but for 24 you have better options.

My sound tolerance while in the "heat" (pun intended) of gameplay will need to be low which is why I agree with your point about the Be quiet! fans.

Then think about switching the cpu cooler for a Noctua, i would recomend a NH-D14 to lower the sound comming from the cpu, and the Be quiet! fans.

Alrighty then for case airflow, let's assume dual fans in front (intake) and dual top (exhaust) and one at the rear (exhaust)

That would work, but you probably will have negative air pressure inside the case (2 fans in, 3 out), The problem of negative air pressure is that is more prone to get dust inside, with that config seek a case that have dust filters.

, how many degrees C less would the temps be in addition to the cpu cooler, a very approximate value if you can, maybe around 5 C or 10C?

Less than?, i don't get the question. You must think how many degrees you would get on the cpu/gpu/mb mainly because that's one of the limits of any overlock.

,Corsair , huh? I've checked those out and their CFM values are a little lower than the bargain fans that i've listed, at least in my area. The Corsair fans are about $20 while the ones listed are around $12 (Be quiet!) max.

Corsair have mid tiers fans, the good about them is that they offer silent, high pressure and high airflow versions of the fans (some times ago the names where messed and for example the "quiet" had more airflow but also less silent) and have also silent and normal lines and have several mooding options, they are not specially silent nor offer especially good performance, but are decent enought.
I still prefer Be quiet! (for silence and buid quality mainly, they are not great on airflow), but personally from my experience i would stay away from Aerocool (i had three some time ago and tend to fail more and generate a lor of noise) and have little direct experience of Arctic freezer fans, had to replace one on arrival and for my opinion lacks some things like rubber fittings and the wiring is a bit of meh (well, they look awfull xD) but they are decent fans with great airflow and wonderfull if you are value oriented.

Btw, do not allways belive the values the builders put on fans 😉

Btw, which fans are better, the Static Pressure or High Airflow variety?

Depends, in general High Airflow often offer better performance because they move more air than the high static pressure equivalents, but if you have restricted airflow (dust filters, water cooling radiators, cases with mesh or hard covers over the fans like sound dampering ones or cases crowed by cables) the high pressure retain better performance than the high airflow ones.

By rule of the tumb if yor have restricted airflow->high pressure, on rest of cases high airflow.

Ok i see, but wouldn't I need -ve pressure inside the case as it is better for cooling, with downside of dust though as you said. Also what about getting best of both worlds (less dust and more heat dissipation), is that possible? Would two front intake fans and two exhaust achieve this balanced pressure?

Futhermore, I've decided to stay away from liquid coolers as I may have very limited maintenance support (PC shops) for them, plus leaks and pump failures and such, but I will consider it in case I have this support.

I've heard great things about Noctua's air coolers, but I've also seen comparable performance at lower cost from Be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, which is also well reputed. I've also found real value with Scythe coolers, (hence the option of Scythe Kotetsu); but if you say thats not good enough, then how about coolers like, Scythe Mugen 4, Mugen Max, Ninja 4 and FUMA, they seem powerful but have heard -ve reviews about their fans breaking down so am a bit worried about that. What do you think?

Ah, I didn't know that about Corsair branded fans, the ML fans are there though more costly, but do you think that this is a good option- http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/sickleflow-120-2000rpm-blue-led/
I think that this is a triple threat on value for money, silence, static pressure and airflow!!
great advice , btw

 

[Preds]

Hello again all!
I have been doing some more research and have found out that the Scythe cpu coolers offer great bang for the buck, notably, in order from best to worst- Scythe Ninja 4, Scythe Mugen Max and Scythe Ashura. One very interesting thing was this page on overclockers.com - http://www.overclockers.com/scythe-ninja-4-heatsink-review/
They show that for an i7 4790K at 4.5 GHz ( 1.24 volts Max) the temps shown are amazing, but can the same temps be achieved on an i5 6600K at 1.3 volts or higher? Just got curious. So what do you guys think?

 

[jwcrellin]

Scythe makes great cpu coolers. Keep your voltages under 1.4 for good cpu life and temps. Depending on how good a motherboard you get,(I like the gaming 5) you should be able to run a stable x45-x46 multiplier. Always stress test with prime95 for a good hour or two to find max temps.

 

[Preds]

Scythe makes great cpu coolers. Keep your voltages under 1.4 for good cpu life and temps. Depending on how good a motherboard you get,(I like the gaming 5) you should be able to run a stable x45-x46 multiplier. Always stress test with prime95 for a good hour or two to find max temps.

Hello jwcrellin, Thank you for your response. I've heard that the optimal volatage is below 1.4, and btw why do some motherboards give better OC results and others don't? Is it solely because of the motherboard or the cpu, or both?

 

[jwcrellin]

More power phase control capacitors and rear I/O surrounds and features. Also Asus is supposed to have the best bios uefi as far as ease of use when overclocking.

 

[Preds]

More power phase control capacitors and rear I/O surrounds and features. Also Asus is supposed to have the best bios uefi as far as ease of use when overclocking.

I see and what about msi or gigabyte? But I suppose it is the more expensive ones that would give you better OC results.

 

[jwcrellin]

Yes, a $150 MSI Gaming5 will give higher and more stable results than a $90 Gigabyte z170-hd3p.

 

[Preds]

Yes, a $150 MSI Gaming5 will give higher and more stable results than a $90 Gigabyte z170-hd3p.

Thanks for your help!