[SOLVED] Need help deciding on a cooler?

[Stobbzy2019]

Okay so,

I have a NZXT Kraken X52 240mm and it's paired with a 9900k temps Idle are 40 degrees. I have 3 fans running in an NZXT S340 Elite case. 40 Degrees tells me that this cooler has ran its time for me. I have had it for about 2-3 years now and I think it's time to upgrade.

So I am debating either to get a Corsair H100i 240mm Platimum RGB (White) AIO with 3x 120mm Corsair White LL LED Fans.

Or.

I could buy a water cooling kit? Like a Thermaltake or EK Block?

Which should I buy?

OR
Leave a suggestion. My case can fit a 240mm AIO BUT I can get a different case etc for different colling solutions.

Thanks.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

40c is nothing dangerous. The 9900k is incredibly hot running, so I would expect slightly high temps on a 240mm aio.

As long as load temps are fine, I wouldn't change.

 

[Phaaze88]

The S340 isn't exactly airflow friendly, so I could see that cpu getting a little toasty under load.
Download and run Cpu-Z, go to the Bench tab, do a benchmark run, and like 10mins of the multi-thread stress test.
If you're over 85C, then you have a problem.

I think you need a new case though, one that does have support for 360mm liquid coolers.

 

[geofelt]

What is your ambient(room) temperature?
40c. is not out of line.
What counts is how hot things get under your normal heavy load.
Measure with hwmonitor.
If, under load you see >85c. then think about changing our cooling.
The processor will slow down or shut off to protect itself if it detects a dangerous temperature.
That is around 100c.

 

[tennis2]

Yeah, idle temps are useless.

As others have said, we need ambient temp, load temp (non-AVX), and fan speeds at that temp. Also ensure the pump is running at full speed.

 

[geofelt]

Yeah, idle temps are useless.

Idle temperatures do say something about the cooler.
If a cooler is mounted well in a decent case, it should show 10-15c. over ambient.
If that basic test can not be passed, one needs to check things out before worrying about load temperatures

 

[Stobbzy2019]

What is your ambient(room) temperature?
40c. is not out of line.
What counts is how hot things get under your normal heavy load.
Measure with hwmonitor.
If, under loadyou see >85c. then think about changing our cooling.
The processor will slow down or shut off to protect itself if it detects a dangerous temperature.
That is around 100c.

I will check when’s i back home but my room temps are not that bad as my feet are usually cold and I can open my windows to let cooler air inside. However the cooler fans gets quite loud when playing fortnite or apex legend a so I am assuming it does go above 85. I will check when I’m home.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

40c is nothing dangerous. The 9900k is incredibly hot running, so I would expect slightly high temps on a 240mm aio.

As long as load temps are fine, I wouldn't change.

I know it might be "normal" but the fans are so loud on 60+ degrees. Even now, just using and discord im getting about 37.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

The S340 isn't exactly airflow friendly, so I could see that cpu getting a little toasty under load.
Download and run Cpu-Z, go to the Bench tab, do a benchmark run, and like 10mins of the multi-thread stress test.
If you're over 85C, then you have a problem.

I think you need a new case though, one that does have support for 360mm liquid coolers.

Okay so I have benched the CPU. I got 509 on single thread and 4320 on multi.

Stressing the cpu after 15 mins gave me a temp of 59 degrees on Asus CPU-Z (Downloaded from Asus motherboard on first ever boot).
With HeavyLoad for 15mins I got temps of 61.

It is mainly long duration gaming when it starts to make very loud nosies.

 

[Karadjgne]

Aios are not aircoolers. They don't react the same, work the same, there's nothing about them that's the same. Which is unfortunate since most ppl look at them as being the same, especially as far as temps go.
Aircoolers are a metal to metal transfer and metals have a very low heat saturation point. Meaning they'll get hot and transfer heat extremely fast. Aios are a liquid exchanger and that liquid will absorb a seriously high amount of heat and not change temps.

So an aircooler sitting on a cpu is going to be hot, and it's exhaust from the fan will be hot, an aio will not. It's basically in a constant battle with the fans to get back to ambient temps.

That's the reason heavy gaming over extended periods is raising your fan volume, the coolant has finally absorbed enough wattage to raise its temp a few °C and the fans are responding.

The cpu doesn't care about your perception of temps. Anything between @ 30°C ish and 80°C ish is exactly the same. Operating temp range.

As far as your cpu goes, it's sitting pretty. It's you who has an issue. A 240mm AIO runs @ 250w ish capacity. On a cpu that's quite capable of 200w at stock settings and 250w when pushed to 5.0GHz. So I'd not expect uber low coolant temp levels under long, hard usage. To get comfortable capacity levels will take a 280mm/360mm aio or full custom loop. As to temp performance between different brands, that's a measure of the efficiency of the rad vs fans, not capacity.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

Like right now I am playing apex legends and the fans are so loud. 65 degrees and it is quite loud.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

Like right now I am playing apex legends and the fans are so loud. 65 degrees and it is quite loud.

Aios are not aircoolers. They don't react the same, work the same, there's nothing about them that's the same. Which is unfortunate since most ppl look at them as being the same, especially as far as temps go.
Aircoolers are a metal to metal transfer and metals have a very low heat saturation point. Meaning they'll get hot and transfer heat extremely fast. Aios are a liquid exchanger and that liquid will absorb a seriously high amount of heat and not change temps.

So an aircooler sitting on a cpu is going to be hot, and it's exhaust from the fan will be hot, an aio will not. It's basically in a constant battle with the fans to get back to ambient temps.

That's the reason heavy gaming over extended periods is raising your fan volume, the coolant has finally absorbed enough wattage to raise its temp a few °C and the fans are responding.

The cpu doesn't care about your perception of temps. Anything between @ 30°C ish and 80°C ish is exactly the same. Operating temp range.

As far as your cpu goes, it's sitting pretty. It's you who has an issue. A 240mm AIO runs @ 250w ish capacity. On a cpu that's quite capable of 200w at stock settings and 250w when pushed to 5.0GHz. So I'd not expect uber low coolant temp levels under long, hard usage. To get comfortable capacity levels will take a 280mm/360mm aio or full custom loop. As to temp performance between different brands, that's a measure of the efficiency of the rad vs fans, not capacity.

Okay so what would you recommend I do? Get a new case and get a 360mm rad / custom water cooling loop or keep my current case and get a different 240mm rad. Or Keep everything the same?

 

[Karadjgne]

You should be using Cam. Change the settings from cpu to liquid and take it off performance mode and use silent. Your temps are so far inside limits that running a few °C hotter won't change anything.

 

[tennis2]

Sounds like you should adjust your fan speed profile in the BIOS to increase the target temp a bit.

 

[geofelt]

What is your objective?
It would seem that your temperatures are fine.
If it is noise that is bothering you, you can be less aggressive on radiator fan speed at the cost of increased temperatures.

If you really want quiet, look into installing a noctua NH-D15s air cooler.
It will have about the same cooling capability as a 240mm aio but will be much quieter.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

What is your objective?
It would seem that your temperatures are fine.
If it is noise that is bothering you, you can be less aggressive on radiator fan speed at the cost of increased temperatures.

If you really want quiet, look into installing a noctua NH-D15s air cooler.
It will have about the same cooling capability as a 240mm aio but will be much quieter.

Yes my objective is to get low sound / noise as my pc makes a lot of noise when 60+ degrees and I want nice temps when gaming for long peroids of time.

 

[tennis2]

The definition of "nice" temps is subjective. I think what everyone here is trying to say is that 65C for a long-term fully loaded 9900K is too ambitious of an expectation.

 

[Karadjgne]

You have a 240mm AIO on a 9900k. Nice temps is a relative thing. That's a small pan of water on a hot burner and you are wanting it not to boil. Not gonna happen. Either turn down the heat or get a far larger pan of water.
With a 9900k, nice is anything below @ 80°C when gaming. At below @ 80°C the cpu doesn't care about the temp, only you do, for no real reason. So adjust the fan curve. You have room.

 

[Stobbzy2019]

The definition of "nice" temps is subjective. I think what everyone here is trying to say is that 65C for a long-term fully loaded 9900K is too ambitious of an expectation.

Okay so what do you recommened

You have a 240mm AIO on a 9900k. Nice temps is a relative thing. That's a small pan of water on a hot burner and you are wanting it not to boil. Not gonna happen. Either turn down the heat or get a far larger pan of water.
With a 9900k, nice is anything below @ 80°C when gaming. At below @ 80°C the cpu doesn't care about the temp, only you do, for no real reason. So adjust the fan curve. You have room.

Thank you. I have done and tested on Apex. The bad fan noise has gone

 

[geofelt]

As an alternative suggestion.
Locate the pc box more distant from you, perhaps on the floor.
Power on/off via an extender box like this
https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a1311...t=&hvlocphy=9011560&hvtargid=pla-568166651906

Your monitor cables can be perhaps 10 feet and usb parts can have extenders.

 

[tennis2]

Since you have an Asus mobo, I know there's a fan speed graph in the BIOS.

Here's what I've done/learned using my AIO:

• AIOs are VERY restrictive to airflow
• If your AIO is the only exhaust for your case, you need to carefully balance the fan speed (noise) of the AIO with consideration given to how air it's pulling out of the case. Your AIO might be able to maintain 70C @ 600rpm fans, but your GPU may cook itself in it's own waste heat. The more the GPU heats up the air inside the case, the hotter the AIO/CPU will get (coolers operate on temp difference compared to ambient air). In this case, your AIO fans may be silent, but your GPU fans are going to be screaming loud.
• Ramp AIO fans up to something reasonable (say ~1400rpm) between 55C and 70C so the AIO is pulling GPU heat out of the case decently during gaming so that GPU temps don't get out of control.
• Once temps get to 70-75C resume a fairly steep AIO fan speed ramp up to maximum bearable noise limits to prevent overheating.
• If the AIO isn't able to maintain 80-85C at near max fans, you've got problems to address. Fans too slow, fans not enough static pressure, not enough other case airflow, poor contact with CPU, AIO pump not operating at full speed, AIO liquid not full, AIO internal corrosion, radiator not large enough, etc etc