Liquid Cooling Dilemma for the i7-7700K

[Andronew]

Hello,

I have the Intel Core i7-7700K processor. I work as a software developer, and I can put the CPU under quite a bit of load when working with it. Speccy shows that I idle around ~43°C and under load, can get upwards of ~75°C. This obviously isn't the greatest nor completely horrible but I've read around that this processor is known to run hot (correct me if I'm wrong). I am currently using the Hyper 212 EVO and have replaced the stock fan with a XIGMATEK FCB fan.

My current case is the Rosewill CHALLENGER and the space is getting pretty crammed. I want to get a closed loop liquid cooling solution but I'm not sure I'll have much room. I have come up with 2 solutions for myself:

Order a larger case now then a liquid cooling solution in December (financial reasons). I'm looking at the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Series for the case.

Order a liquid cooling solution now then the case above in December (will want to upgrade my GPU in the future so a larger case is needed eventually). With my current case being crammed and wanting something good for the new case, I am looking at the EVGA CLC 240. I don't care for the RGB but this is going for a good price on Amazon at the moment and seems to be of good quality. The only way I would be able to get it to fit right now, though, is by removing one of the fans as it would need to be mounted on my side panel and slip past the GPU.

My main concern is the CPU running so hot. But, with point 2 there, would removing one of the fans make the cooler upgrade negligible to the current performance? Thanks in advance!

 

[bmockeg]

1. Your CPU isn't running that hot. Over 85 and I would worry. You wanting it to run lower is normal, but not,necessary.
2. I have the EVGA 280 and love it, one of the better performing AIO.
3. Phanteks Enthoo is a great case.

How you go about it from here is mostly personal preference. I like big space cases, I use a,Corsair 600c carbide.

 

[MCMunroe]

IF you are not over-clocking temps can be lowered dramatically by undervolting. The i7-7700k is usually stable with between a -0.080v to -0.120v undervolt. You would be surprised how much voltage lowers current and thus temps at a given GHz.

If you are overclocking Undervolting probably won't be an option. I do find that folks tend to jack up the voltage more than needed when overclocking as that is the easiest blunt tool to use to get higher GHz.

Liquid metal between the heat spreader and die does live up to the hype, and I have applied it to four of my systems for load temps to drop 15-20F. Scary to some but really not that bad. You can 3D Print the delidding tool and use nail polish.

The i7-7700k was the hottest chip that I have had to deal with vs 4770k, 6700k, it really does run hot under load. The bad thermal paste does not help. Remember the die shrink also means same amount of TDP being produced on a smaller surface area.

Tip: If you get a AIO Cooler make sure there is air flowing over your motherboards VRMs as I ran into them over heating and throttling after installing a large AIO.

A well laid out case can do wonders for your heat management and overall build, new cases also make cable management much easier than cases even a few years old.

 

[Andronew]

Thanks for the input! I ended up getting the case and the cable management was way nicer than the previous case I had. Looks very nice and idling temps have dropped to around 35 Celsius and has peaked at 70! Much better.