Question Looking for advice on CPU cooling for my case

[peachey777]

Hey everyone. Hoping to get some advice on cooling my CPU.

My CPU is an Intel i7-10700. My current CPU cooler is pretty old, it's a Deepcool Gabriel. It's 60mm tall with a 120mm fan, top down down design:
https://www.gamerstorm.com/product/CPUAIRCOOLER/2016-03/1287_4936.shtml

I bought it ages ago for an i7-3770. It's actually working fairly well, but in some games it's just not cutting it anymore. In some typical games I can get anywhere from 65C to 80C, but in CPU intensive games it can get up to 95C and the fan gets way too loud.

My case is a Jonsbo G3. It's a livingroom HTPC build. I don't have an optical drive installed so the maximum CPU cooler height is 135mm.
https://www.quietpc.com/ctc-jb-g3a-silver

I have 2x120mm fans on the side, and 2x80mm exhaust fans out the back:

https://imgur.com/rRN9n9u

View: https://i.imgur.com/rRN9n9u.jpeg

https://imgur.com/sMU31nn

View: https://i.imgur.com/sMU31nn.png


So will all of that in mind I'm looking to upgrade the cooler. The ones I've had in mind are (from cheapest to most expensive):
Thermalright SI-100
Thermalright Silver Soul 135
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Mini
I was also considering the Noctua NH-C14S with the fan mounted on the bottom, but I'd be nervous of it fitting in my case (width, not height). It's also WAY more expensive than the Thermalright coolers.

I've spent a lot of time looking into these and they all seem like they'll do a decent job but I'm not really sure which one would be best for my case/airflow situation. I also can't seem to figure out which one is just a better cooler. I can find reviews on each, but none of them seem to compare them together against each other. Hell maybe just replacing the CPU fan on my existing cooler could be enough.. Just looking for advice on what's best.

Thanks for your time, looking forward to seeing any feedback.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/2248
is another viable option. The other options I would go from your shortlist are the Thermalright tower style coolers instead of the top down coolers.

You could also look at a fan splitter/hub and change the fans out to some high CFM fans , in your instance high static pressure fans would be a good idea as it's a tight space.

 

[geofelt]

Good idea to look towards an upright cooler that can direct the heat towards the back of the case and out.
The soul 135 and 120mini look good, but since the specs are the same 135mm as what you have, there could be an issue.
These specs are usually not exact.
One alternative might be the noctua NH-U9s at 125mm:
https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-u9s/specification

Noctua fans are typically very quiet.

 

[peachey777]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/2248
is another viable option. The other options I would go from your shortlist are the Thermalright tower style coolers instead of the top down coolers.

You could also look at a fan splitter/hub and change the fans out to some high CFM fans , in your instance high static pressure fans would be a good idea as it's a tight space.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind about the high static pressure fans. The 120mm case fan that's to the right of the cpu cooler is already a high static pressure fan but the others are not.

Good idea to look towards an upright cooler that can direct the heat towards the back of the case and out.
The soul 135 and 120mini look good, but since the specs are the same 135mm as what you have, there could be an issue.
These specs are usually not exact.
One alternative might be the noctua NH-U9s at 125mm:
https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-u9s/specification

Noctua fans are typically very quiet.

That's a good point, I measured the inside of the case the best I could and 135mm seems about right. If it were JUST touching the top of the case without adding pressure onto the CPU I assumed that would be ok?

 

[peachey777]

I'd also vote for one of the (short) tower coolers for airflow efficiency. I vote against the Noctua and ANY cooler that costs more than $30 USD, as the PC is way too old to justify a higher spend, especially for minimum gain.

>Noctua fans are typically very quiet.

The one mentioned also costs $70+, pretty much same as what OP's ancient SFF is worth.

Another thought is that you can always run it with the top off, allowing a regular height cooler. That also means you can dispense with some of the fans, eg the 2 80mm ones, for less noise.

It'll be a Franken-case, but shouldn't matter unless aesthetics is a big deal, and you can't hide it. On the plus side, you get bonus geek creds.

I also had one of these shoebox SFF from way back when. It was kind of a disaster, as it gets the worst of both worlds. It's large enough that it can only sit under the desk (same as a regular micro-ATX case); it costs more with proprietary parts; and working with it was a PITA.

Nowaday, when I go SFF route again, it'll be a mini-PC w/ iGPU like Radeon 780M or better.

Ha I don't know if it's "ancient" and only worth $70. It's an i7-10700 with an RX 6800, both released 4 years ago, although I only got them couple years ago. My cooler is certainly ancient but it's what I'm trying to replace. The case is fairly old and can be a bit of a pain sometimes but the size is perfect for my entertainment unit. I'm not sure I'd want to run it with the case open as it seems like it would let so much dust in and I'm not really sure air intake is the problem I'm having to me it just seems like a mismatch of CPU and cooler

 

[beyondlogic]

Hey everyone. Hoping to get some advice on cooling my CPU.

My CPU is an Intel i7-10700. My current CPU cooler is pretty old, it's a Deepcool Gabriel. It's 60mm tall with a 120mm fan, top down down design:
https://www.gamerstorm.com/product/CPUAIRCOOLER/2016-03/1287_4936.shtml

I bought it ages ago for an i7-3770. It's actually working fairly well, but in some games it's just not cutting it anymore. In some typical games I can get anywhere from 65C to 80C, but in CPU intensive games it can get up to 95C and the fan gets way too loud.

My case is a Jonsbo G3. It's a livingroom HTPC build. I don't have an optical drive installed so the maximum CPU cooler height is 135mm.
https://www.quietpc.com/ctc-jb-g3a-silver

I have 2x120mm fans on the side, and 2x80mm exhaust fans out the back:

https://imgur.com/rRN9n9u

View: https://i.imgur.com/rRN9n9u.jpeg

https://imgur.com/sMU31nn

View: https://i.imgur.com/sMU31nn.png


So will all of that in mind I'm looking to upgrade the cooler. The ones I've had in mind are (from cheapest to most expensive):
Thermalright SI-100
Thermalright Silver Soul 135
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Mini
I was also considering the Noctua NH-C14S with the fan mounted on the bottom, but I'd be nervous of it fitting in my case (width, not height). It's also WAY more expensive than the Thermalright coolers.

I've spent a lot of time looking into these and they all seem like they'll do a decent job but I'm not really sure which one would be best for my case/airflow situation. I also can't seem to figure out which one is just a better cooler. I can find reviews on each, but none of them seem to compare them together against each other. Hell maybe just replacing the CPU fan on my existing cooler could be enough.. Just looking for advice on what's best.

Thanks for your time, looking forward to seeing any feedback.

silver soul would be the best due to the height of the fan is exactly up to the heatpipes the cooler is a bit shorter then the perless assassin 120 mini if you look at the diagram and picture youll notice the actual peerless assassin 120 mini stick out a bit over the cooler. the issue is also mounting may increase the height a bit also.

the one below you could switch out the fan a bit easier as there isnt a small screw underneath it unlike the other mini which the fan sits on the screw plate

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermalright-Assassin-MINI-V2-AK120/dp/B0CJF66RW3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZKVWUR7K8FR5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dWxe1kFZlm2Pjrxghw2kq7uNV5JqpZEFw1KVddi70gOtOtnPNIxK63RMU0d0Z59d.p2DwG2Femez42xZ5zj0RUyGMKacEQAvj-FMAhJv5pnw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Assassin%2BKing%2B120%2BMINI%2BV2&qid=1714345661&sprefix=assassin%2Bking%2B120%2Bmini%2Bv2%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1&th=1

 

[NedSmelly]

I have a 10700 with a Jonsbo case as well. Jonsbos are hotboxes.

One thing to check is the motherboard BIOS power settings. It's possible that the 10700 could be overheating because it's not set to the standard 65W power limit. The 10700 will happily run at 220+ watts if fed that amount. That Gabriel should be able to cool the CPU adequately if the power limit is correctly set AND the case airflow is addressed. (10700 came with a stock cooler that was much crummier than that Gabriel.)

Power specs should be:
224W PL2/turbo
28 seconds turbo duration (Tau)
65W PL1/sustained

I manually set my PL2 to 135W to stop thermal throttling.

 

[35below0]

At 132mm, the Arctic Freezer 7 X just barely fits. https://www.arctic.de/en/Freezer-7-X/ACFRE00077A

It's not a beast of a cooler, but the only Arctic that fits (i13 is just a few mm too tall) - https://www.arctic.de/en/products/c...iSocketFilter=LGA1200&order=neuste-zuerst&p=1

The Freezer 11 is not recommended by Arctic, probably because it's not enough to cool a 10th gen i7.
https://www.arctic.de/en/f11lp

beQuiet! Shadow Rock TF2 might be a good low profile cooler - https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/1074

 

[peachey777]

So I ended up getting the Peerless Assassin Mini and it's working great. In CPU intensive games where they used to get into 90C+ temps and my old cooler would ramp the fan up, it's now dramatically improved with a constantly quiet fan and the highest temp I saw now was something like 72C tops.

I want to thank everyone for their input, I think going with a tower cooler was the way to go and I appreciate that advice.