Rosewill Thor 4770k build only hitting 4.2 overclocks with Noctua cooling, better case fans in order?

[Nicker1320]

I have just built a new pc in rosewills thor case. Even with a Noctua nh-d14 cooler I am only able to get my overclock to about 4.2 before my temps start running up. I am pretty stable at 4.3-4.4 but I don't want to run it in the 80 degree range under stress. I was considering replacing some of my stock case fans to see if I could bring the temp down enough to at least get a comfortable 4.3 overclock. At the least I want to pull the 230mm side stock fan and put a 4x120mm high flow setup to get more direct cooling to my GPU array. Will replacing the stock fans really make a big temp difference with this setup? The stock fans are pretty solid but i can't find any info on how much air they move compared to some of the higher end fans. If replacing is a solid upgrade then what fans can I get in the 120mm and 230mm sizes that will give me the best bang for my buck? I don't mind a little fan noise as long as we're not talking about a leafblower under my desk, so cooling power>silence in my case.

 

[CaedenV]

Aftermarket fans are typically better at reducing noise than they are at getting significantly more airflow through a case. Adding fans to what you currently have is going to yield better airflow results than replacing what is currently there.

The big thing with cooling is not so much flowing mass ammounts of air at a system, as much as it is having air blowing across the system that is cool enough to accept more thermal energy. As long as you have some air flow, and you are not recycling warm air from the back of your case back into the front, and your thermal paste is applied correctly, then the biggest thing you can do to cool your computer is to cool the air flowing into the room. Turn the heater down, or the AC up a bit and it will keep the whole system cooler.

That being said; 4.2GHz is not bad for a Haswell processor. They simply don't clock all that high, and you are very much playing the CPU lottery when buying a processor. Sometimes you get lucky, but other times it is just not going to go much further.

 

[ahnilated]

Remember that if you put a lot of high speed fans in your case to get ones that are quiet. You sure don't want to listen to 5 hair dryers going all day when you start up your computer.

 

[Nicker1320]

I keep my tower in a cool room conveniently located about 18 inches from the a/c so it gets a nice feed of good cool air. I can only really add one more 120mm fan without displacing fans already in the system. I can however swap one 230mm on the side for 4 120mm fans, which seems a good trade. In the top I can also pull one 230mm fan in favor of 2 120mm or 140mm variants. I am not a fan expert but I was thinking these two trades would be worth it in the long haul. What fans are currently at the top of the ladder in performance? All of the threads i find on the subject have many years of dust on them at this point.

 

[ahnilated]

FYI, larger fans can move more air at times with a lot less noise.

 

[CaedenV]

I keep my tower in a cool room conveniently located about 18 inches from the a/c so it gets a nice feed of good cool air. I can only really add one more 120mm fan without displacing fans already in the system. I can however swap one 230mm on the side for 4 120mm fans, which seems a good trade. In the top I can also pull one 230mm fan in favor of 2 120mm or 140mm variants. I am not a fan expert but I was thinking these two trades would be worth it in the long haul. What fans are currently at the top of the ladder in performance? All of the threads i find on the subject have many years of dust on them at this point.

Bad idea. Fans push air by surface area and rotational speed. Smaller fans have a lot more wasted space due to their relatively larger center motor, and the relatively larger air gap between the blades and the mounting. Your single large fan probably moves just as much air (if not more) than 4 smaller ones, but can do it much quieter.

Again, your issue is probably one of the CPU lottery, not one of airflow and ambient temperatures.