Is Stock Enough?

[shyheim]

Have a CM Storm Scout, i7 920 cooled with a Dark Knight heatsink, with some thermal paste in there for good measure. I only have the 3 stock fans the Scout came with so my question is this: Will that be enough cooling to cool a 3.4GHz OC, as well as a GPU and RAM overclock? Or should I buy two fans to go into the extra two slots, or even replace ALL the fans?

 

[AKM880]

It should be enough, the Xig Dark Knight is a excellent cooler. However if you find the fans to be too loud for you, then I suggest something like a Scythe Fan.

 

[Guest]

I agree a good aftermarket cooler will work as long as you are using it for normal use and not benchmarking 24/7, but water does the trick if you plan on getting extreme!

 

[bmadd]

personally i would replace all of the stock fans with some nice quality fan like antic tri cool or Scythe just for that peace of mind factor that there is plenty of nice, cool, fresh air getting to my brand new cpu and mobo. But thats just my anal behaviour.

 

[shyheim]

Well I also love the peace of mind... I hear the case fans for the Scout Storm are pretty nice, but I would replace them so I can get a good pressure gradient. I hear the Scythe are super quite but not really powerful - any middle ground? Not super loud, but also have the strength to push air through and out of the case effectively? Brand suggestions!

 

[bmadd]

I have some of 3 800rpm and 2 1200rpm and like them very much, Quiet and move the air.

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/002/sflex_detail.html

 

[shyheim]

Sounds good; local computer guy said he'll have some fans in on Wednesday so I'll check it out and hope for Scythe.

 

[geofelt]

How are your temperatures now? Do they need improving?
I would only change out to solve a problem that you actually have. Go ahead and OC, monitoring your temperatures. The cpu will throttle back to protect itself if necessary.
I don't think you will have any problem with a modest OC.

Realize that to get better airflow, you will need to use fans that spin faster and make more noise.