Question Is This Cooler Good Enough For An Intel Core i7 9700K?

[blackop]

Thanks in advance!

Is this cooler good enough to handle an intel Core i7-9700K? CPU and cooler show 95W TDP. However, I'm worried it may get hotter.

If not, what would you recommend? I will not be overclocking, but I will use Turbo boost. I don't game at all.

Here is the cooler I had in mind: Cooler Master i71C RGB.

Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Maste...dp/B07H1VZ11F/ref=psdc_11036281_t1_B07FNH5Z8Y

 

[siaan312]

That cooler is kind of underwhelming.

If you have the space for a bigger cooler, like a T2 or hyper 212 get one.

If youre looking at a small cooler for a compact build, i would suggest either watercooling
or a noctua nh-L9i or nh-L9x65

 

[blackop]

That cooler is kind of underwhelming.

If you have the space for a bigger cooler, like a T2 or hyper 212 get one.

If youre looking at a small cooler for a compact build, i would suggest either watercooling
or a noctua nh-L9i or nh-L9x65

Thanks for the quick response!

Do you know of an air cooler that's easy to install? I'm scared of mounting brackets, etc... I installed one once and almost broke the motherboard. Or is this just the future? Water cooling is too expensive right now. Any insight would be deeply appreciated. Thanks!

 

[siaan312]

Thanks for the quick response!

Do you know of an air cooler that's easy to install? I'm scared of mounting brackets, etc... I installed one once and almost broke the motherboard. Or is this just the future? Water cooling is too expensive right now. Any insight would be deeply appreciated. Thanks!

Noctua coolers arent the cheapest ones, but they have the best mounting system imo.
And are one of the best coolers in general.

 

[Phaaze88]

Intel's 95w TDP applies to the cpu running at base clock ONLY.
Add Turbo Boost into the mix - the TDP then turns into a lie. Even the old, reliable Cooler Master Hyper 212 has trouble with a 9700K.

be quiet! Dark Rock 4: I've installed this one before. Installation was pretty smooth, until I got to the fan. It was rough for some reason.
Noctua NH-D15S: I have this cooler. It's like the Luigi of air coolers; overshadowed by the original NH-D15.
Noctua NH-U12A: This thing can hang with it's D15 brothers... but it's even more expensive. Not worth it, IMO.
ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO: Pretty good cooler for the price, going by reviews.
Noctua NH-U14S
be quiet! Dark Rock TF: Hands down one of the strongest top-down cooler options.
Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M

 

[blackop]

Noctua coolers arent the cheapest ones, but they have the best mounting system imo.
And are one of the best coolers in general.

Thanks! I'll give then a look.

 

[blackop]

Intel's 95w TDP applies to the cpu running at base clock ONLY.
Add Turbo Boost into the mix - the TDP then turns into a lie. Even the old, reliable Cooler Master Hyper 212 has trouble with a 9700K.

be quiet! Dark Rock 4: I've installed this one before. Installation was pretty smooth, until I got to the fan. It was rough for some reason.
Noctua NH-D15S: I have this cooler. It's like the Luigi of air coolers; overshadowed by the original NH-D15.
Noctua NH-U12A: This thing can hang with it's D15 brothers... but it's even more expensive. Not worth it, IMO.
ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO: Pretty good cooler for the price, going by reviews.
Noctua NH-U14S
be quiet! Dark Rock TF: Hands down one of the strongest top-down cooler options.
Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M

Thanks for the insight and list! I figured that Turboboost would ruin it.

Perhaps this is the wrong place to post, but I was wondering if upgrading my current rig--see below--would be worth it with the 9th gens, or just wait for the 10th gen.

Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Motherboard
Intel Core i5 5600
8GB G Skill DDR400 Ram
Samsung EVO 850 SSD

 

[Karadjgne]

Just to put it into perspective, with no OC whatsoever, just using stock default settings and enabling MCE (multi-core enhancement) in bios which locks all the cores, at its rated boost in turbo, the I7-9700k is @ 200w at 100% loads like Prime95. Heavy gaming can approach @ 70% of that, so the cpu itself is bouncing the 140w mark.

Just to keep that cpu at those wattage in the 70°C range requires a cooler of at least 1.5x the wattage.

That means coolers in the 200w+ range for gaming loads or closer to 300w for max loads.

TDP is unreliable. It's based on the average scores of a specific series of normalized apps at base speeds with no extras like boost or MCE or turbo. It's not based on maximum outputs.

So if planning on using the 9700k using non-MCE stats, a decent 180w cooler will do just fine. If looking to get any real OC or use of MCE, start looking at the 250w+ rated coolers like the NH-D15, Cryorig R1, Deepcool Assassin 3 or most 240mm-360mm AIO's.

You can never overcool a cpu, but it's far too easy to undercool one, especially if choosing coolers based on popularity for budget builds.

 

[blackop]

Just to put it into perspective, with no OC whatsoever, just using stock default settings and enabling MCE (multi-core enhancement) in bios which locks all the cores, at its rated boost in turbo, the I7-9700k is @ 200w at 100% loads like Prime95. Heavy gaming can approach @ 70% of that, so the cpu itself is bouncing the 140w mark.

Just to keep that cpu at those wattage in the 70°C range requires a cooler of at least 1.5x the wattage.

That means coolers in the 200w+ range for gaming loads or closer to 300w for max loads.

TDP is unreliable. It's based on the average scores of a specific series of normalized apps at base speeds with no extras like boost or MCE or turbo. It's not based on maximum outputs.

So if planning on using the 9700k using non-MCE stats, a decent 180w cooler will do just fine. If looking to get any real OC or use of MCE, start looking at the 250w+ rated coolers like the NH-D15, Cryorig R1, Deepcool Assassin 3 or most 240mm-360mm AIO's.

You can never overcool a cpu, but it's far too easy to undercool one, especially if choosing coolers based on popularity for budget builds.

Thanks for the insight! I guess gone are the days where you got an adequate CPU cooler with the purchase of your CPU.

 

[Phaaze88]

Perhaps this is the wrong place to post, but I was wondering if upgrading my current rig--see below--would be worth it with the 9th gens, or just wait for the 10th gen.

Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Motherboard
Intel Core i5 5600
8GB G Skill DDR400 Ram
Samsung EVO 850 SSD

In case you aren't aware, 8th and 9th gen aren't compatible with your current motherboard:
Current system - LGA 1151
8th and 9th gen - LGA 1151 V2
10th gen - LGA 1200

 

[blackop]

Thanks! Yeah, I would have to go with a Z390. I've been looking at alternatives. The AMD Ryzen 3700 is looking pretty good right now.

 

[Karadjgne]

I just bought a 3700x yesterday. For the price range there's nothing Intel has to offer that really even competes with it. That might change with 10th Gen Intel if prices and release come about as expressed, but I'd rather have really good now than wait possibly another 6 months+ for just slightly better.

 

[blackop]

I just bought a 3700x yesterday. For the price range there's nothing Intel has to offer that really even competes with it. That might change with 10th Gen Intel if prices and release come about as expressed, but I'd rather have really good now than wait possibly another 6 months+ for just slightly better.

Good point. Due to COVID and how that's impacted my family, I'm going to have to wait until I can buy a new PC. That said, I just posted another thread asking if upgrading my SSD from a Samsung EVO 850 SATA SSD to a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 would make much of a difference performance wise. Just looking to squeeze out more performance with the least financial impact.

 

[Phaaze88]

Good point. Due to COVID and how that's impacted my family, I'm going to have to wait until I can buy a new PC. That said, I just posted another thread asking if upgrading my SSD from a Samsung EVO 850 SATA SSD to a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 would make much of a difference performance wise. Just looking to squeeze out more performance with the least financial impact.

I have a 1TB 850 Evo and the 512GB 970 Pro, and I don't notice a difference until I run benchmarks - aka, not doing any real world tasks that'll take advantage of the muscle of the 970 M.2.
Between SATA SSD, and NVMes, just get the more affordable of the 2 at the time.
For the more expensive NVMes, if you're not transferring large files, editing large 4k photos or the like on the regular, know that you'll not make the most of that investment, and that the difference could've been spent elsewhere, or saved.

 

[blackop]

I have a 1TB 850 Evo and the 512GB 970 Pro, and I don't notice a difference until I run benchmarks - aka, not doing any real world tasks that'll take advantage of the muscle of the 970 M.2.
Between SATA SSD, and NVMes, just get the more affordable of the 2 at the time.
For the more expensive NVMes, if you're not transferring large files, editing large 4k photos or the like on the regular, know that you'll not make the most of that investment, and that the difference could've been spent elsewhere, or saved.

Thanks! I'm glad to know I can save the money. =)

 

[Phaaze88]

You're welcome.