Background:
I'm currently using a PC I built way back in 2009 with a few changes along the way.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE with stock cooler
Motherboard: Asus M4A79 Deluxe
Case: Nzxt Guardian 921 (2x 120mm intakes and 1x120mm exhaust)
Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2
GPU: Sapphire RX560
Storage: 1HDD and 1SSD
No OC. Cool n Quiet enabled. A month ago the CPU fan started getting really noisy. So I checked the CPU temp with HWiNFO. It was idling at 61deg. Apparently, that is the cutoff temp for this CPU. So I replaced the thermal paste. This dropped the idle temp to less than 50deg. Surprisingly the 11 year old tube of paste still works fine.
Some crude testing:
Used CPU-Z for stressing the CPU and HWiINFO for monitoring temps and RPM. Ambient temp ~28deg. I tried using different combinations of the Asus Q-Fan option from the BIOS. Here are the results. I didn't take screenshots of the readings. Just noted them down.
(Sorry I couldn't figure out how to make a compact table.)
So, I'm currently using the Silent/Off Q-Fan combination, which seems to be the best trade-off between temp and noise. I tried using speedfan to see if I could increase the case fan RPMs and drop the CPU RPM, but there was no manual control even after disabling Q-Fan from the BIOS. And neither does HWiNFO show the fan control icon. So I guess I'm out of luck with this motherboard. I want to squeeze as much out of this PC as possible. The PC will likely be used soon at ~40deg ambient. The 12deg increase in ambient will probably give an almost direct increase in the CPU temp and get it throttled.
Question:
Would it be worth it replace the cooler with say, a Noctua NH-U9S for better direct cooling for the CPU? (Cooler has to be <=150mm in this case or it's going to touch the fan on the side panel.)
Or should I replace the case fans with say, 3 x Noctua NF-S12B 1200 3-pin for more cold air into the case ?
I don't want to take both and spend double the cash. So, which option would be better in keeping everything cool and quiet?
I'm currently using a PC I built way back in 2009 with a few changes along the way.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE with stock cooler
Motherboard: Asus M4A79 Deluxe
Case: Nzxt Guardian 921 (2x 120mm intakes and 1x120mm exhaust)
Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2
GPU: Sapphire RX560
Storage: 1HDD and 1SSD
No OC. Cool n Quiet enabled. A month ago the CPU fan started getting really noisy. So I checked the CPU temp with HWiNFO. It was idling at 61deg. Apparently, that is the cutoff temp for this CPU. So I replaced the thermal paste. This dropped the idle temp to less than 50deg. Surprisingly the 11 year old tube of paste still works fine.
Some crude testing:
Used CPU-Z for stressing the CPU and HWiINFO for monitoring temps and RPM. Ambient temp ~28deg. I tried using different combinations of the Asus Q-Fan option from the BIOS. Here are the results. I didn't take screenshots of the readings. Just noted them down.
(Sorry I couldn't figure out how to make a compact table.)
CPU Q Fan Mode | CPU Fan RPM | Case Q Fan Mode | Case Fan 1 RPM | Case Fan 2 RPM | CPU Temp | Noise |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Under Load | ||||||
Off | 6550 | Off | 1300 | 1100 | 54.5 | Vacuum cleaner |
Performance | 5000 | Performance | 1000 | 900 | 57.5 | Extremely noisy |
Optimal | 4650 | Optimal | 950 | 850 | 59.5 | Very noisy |
Silent | 4560 | Silent | 800 | 700 | 61 | Noisy |
Silent | 4300 | Performance | 950 | 975 | 60 | Bearable |
Silent | 4250 | Off | 1075 | 1225 | 59 | Bearable |
Idle | ||||||
Off | 6250 | Off | 1300 | 1200 | 44.5 | Vacuum cleaner |
Performance | 4400 | Performance | 990 | 840 | 46.5 | Noisy |
Optimal | 4000 | Optimal | 880 | 770 | 47.5 | Bearable |
Silent | 3950 | Silent | 770 | 620 | 48 | Ok |
So, I'm currently using the Silent/Off Q-Fan combination, which seems to be the best trade-off between temp and noise. I tried using speedfan to see if I could increase the case fan RPMs and drop the CPU RPM, but there was no manual control even after disabling Q-Fan from the BIOS. And neither does HWiNFO show the fan control icon. So I guess I'm out of luck with this motherboard. I want to squeeze as much out of this PC as possible. The PC will likely be used soon at ~40deg ambient. The 12deg increase in ambient will probably give an almost direct increase in the CPU temp and get it throttled.
Question:
Would it be worth it replace the cooler with say, a Noctua NH-U9S for better direct cooling for the CPU? (Cooler has to be <=150mm in this case or it's going to touch the fan on the side panel.)
Or should I replace the case fans with say, 3 x Noctua NF-S12B 1200 3-pin for more cold air into the case ?
I don't want to take both and spend double the cash. So, which option would be better in keeping everything cool and quiet?