[SOLVED] Should I swap out the Wraith Stealth for the Wraith Spire, on a 5600x?

[RonKorakas]

I'm building a gaming rig. I bought a Ryzen 5 5600x, and it comes with a Wraith Stealth. I'm going to be using this rig for gaming.

I also have a smaller rig with a Ryzen 5 1600(AF), which came with Wraith Spire. I use that one for very very light gaming, like Emus, and not high-demanding games.

Is it an obvious answer to just swap out the coolers?? I haven't finished building the 5600x rig, so the cpu and the cooler are still in the box.

I've watched a couple of comparison videos on youtube, and it looks like the Spire is much better than the Stealth, up to 10deg C difference sometimes.

Thanks in advance.

-Ron

 

[punkncat]

My thought is no. If you are going to swap coolers from stock go aftermarket.

 

[cryoburner]

I mean, if they have both coolers already and don't want to spend another $30+ for a better aftermarket tower cooler it might be worth considering. I doubt it would make much difference to performance, but might make the processor run a little cooler and quieter.

Are you sure your AF has the Spire though, and not the Stealth? I believe they switched to the Stealth with that version of the 1600 due to its lower power demands, though it's also possible that yours could be fitted with a Spire.

 

[RonKorakas]

I mean, if they have both coolers already and don't want to spend another $30+ for a better aftermarket tower cooler it might be worth considering. I doubt it would make much difference to performance, but might make the processor run a little cooler and quieter.

Are you sure your AF has the Spire though, and not the Stealth? I believe they switched to the Stealth with that version of the 1600 due to its lower power demands, though it's also possible that yours could be fitted with a Spire.

Am I sure?...yes. Unless it's a Stealth with the Spire-high heatsink.

I was confused why the 5600x would NOT have the Spire. Maybe because it's more "efficient".

And believe me, I Thought the same: "It's not going to be much of a difference". But I looked up comparisons on youtube, and googled it, and for normal "benchmark" games, the differences were about 8 deg C in average. That's a big difference, no? (14 deg F difference)

 

[cryoburner]

Am I sure?...yes. Unless it's a Stealth with the Spire-high heatsink.

I was confused why the 5600x would NOT have the Spire. Maybe because it's more "efficient".

And believe me, I Thought the same: "It's not going to be much of a difference". But I looked up comparisons on youtube, and googled it, and for normal "benchmark" games, the differences were about 8 deg C in average. That's a big difference, no? (14 deg F difference)

Yeah, it could be the Spire. Reviews mentioned that the AF version switched to the Stealth, but I noticed that at least in some regions it was appearing listed with the Spire. In any case, AMD always considered the 1600 to be a "65 watt" class CPU, so the fact that it ever came with a stock cooler the size of the Spire was a nice extra, at least compared to the coolers CPUs with that level of heat output usually come with. Even the Stealth is slightly better than Intel's recent stock coolers.

And I think AMD's switch to those smaller coolers comes down to the reduced power draw of the newer chips. I do think the 5600X should have been given the larger Spire considering its higher price point though, but perhaps they figured many people might be using a third-party cooler anyway.

As for the differences the larger cooler makes, it's definitely going to cool more efficiently since the larger fins provide more surface area, but I don't think it's going to make a perceptible difference to the actual performance in games and applications. But if it were me, I would probably swap the coolers to keep the 5600X running a bit cooler and quieter. An exception might be if the 1600 were overclocked, in which case it might get a bit toasty on the Stealth.

If you haven't removed the cooler from the 1600 before, you might want to run the CPU under a heavy processing load to warm it up just prior to shutting down, to help soften the thermal compound. Otherwise, there's a greater chance of it taking the CPU with it when removed, which could potentially result in damage to the pins. Twisting the cooler lightly prior to lifting up on it might help too if it's stuck.

 

[logainofhades]

Personally, I would spend the $20 and get a deepcool gammaxx 400 v2, if it will fit in your case. Going to be cooler, and quieter, than any stock cooler.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 V2 64.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($18.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $18.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-04 14:44 EST-0500