I've tried to read-up on VRM and VCORE cooling. Information on the former seems to be troubled because laser thermometers might measure the air surrounding the VRM rather than its temperature (compromising measurements of effective cooling somewhat). VCORE seems to be an ASUS Sabertooth-specific electro-hypochondria, as few other motherboards let you measure this, so people are panicking with no reference for the "high temperatures" or knowledge of the part thermal capabilities. Additionally, I've heard it said that air cooling will largely only affect the MOSFET portion of the VRMs, which might have different thermal limits. People have cut fan-holes into their cases to cool the motherboard through the back-plate, precariously hung or tied fans over VRM heatsinks, and used custom water-cooling. All a bit extreme...
What I couldn't find was any good evidence that this improved performance, or lifespan. It seems that cooling the VRMs might prevent protective throttling having to kick in and thereby limiting some overclocks? For modest overclocking, or longevity at stock speeds for my hot AMD parts, could someone point me to evidence? How hot do VRM or VCORE even have to get to be at issue, relative to their capacities? Most especially, can they point me to evidence that downdraft CPU coolers are indeed an effective form of doing this? Every review I've read of down-draft coolers mentions their benefit of cooling RAM and more...yet none record or benchmark their cooling!
It would be great to get clarity on this.
As to the purpose of this:
Looking at after-market cooling my "new" AM3+ build's CPU (AMD FX-6300), with a particular concern for whole-system longevity (and perhaps for accommodating future expansion to the hotter 8-core FX-8370, or modestly overclocking as it ages). Presently using the stock AMD cooler.
I'm torn between a Thermaltake True Spirit 140 BW (tower) or a Scythe Grand Kama Cross 2 (downdraft), both available to me at a very good price, yet the latter over 50% more expensive.
I've tried to compare both, but cannot find even one reviewer who has reviewed both. It seems clear that the 140 BW is the more efficient CPU cooler, but it's hard to gauge just by how much. However, the 140 BW seems the best choice: quieter, cooler, cheaper and shorter...
...yet what should I be cooling? Downdraft is less efficient at cooling the CPU in part because it's cooling more than just the CPU. Given that I'm of course concerned for my motherboard's (Sabertooth 990FX) lifespan too, should I be looking at downdraft cooling instead?
ASUS's AI SUITE sensors show me that while two hours or more of gameplay (Tomb Raider, 1980*1080, 38-53FPS, ULTRA+, FSAA) will push my CPU from 35° to 43°C, RAM at about 25°C and my GPU (Sapphire Radeon 7870 XT) from 38° to a peak of 45°C, over time the hottest component is inevitably the VCOREs, going from about 34° to 49°C. I lack the tools to measure VRM temperatures, to the best of my knowledge.
Obviously, I'm happy with that performance, but it struck me that the VCOREs are getting hotter than anything else, and that presumably they won't benefit from my soon-to-be-bought aftermarket cooler. Likewise the VRMs. So, if they are important to cool, I should be factoring that into my decision, pending evidence that down draft is effective in this. And if they should be cooled differently, there's that to consider too. Side-panel, top-panel, and bottom case fans are all options too.
What I couldn't find was any good evidence that this improved performance, or lifespan. It seems that cooling the VRMs might prevent protective throttling having to kick in and thereby limiting some overclocks? For modest overclocking, or longevity at stock speeds for my hot AMD parts, could someone point me to evidence? How hot do VRM or VCORE even have to get to be at issue, relative to their capacities? Most especially, can they point me to evidence that downdraft CPU coolers are indeed an effective form of doing this? Every review I've read of down-draft coolers mentions their benefit of cooling RAM and more...yet none record or benchmark their cooling!
It would be great to get clarity on this.
As to the purpose of this:
Looking at after-market cooling my "new" AM3+ build's CPU (AMD FX-6300), with a particular concern for whole-system longevity (and perhaps for accommodating future expansion to the hotter 8-core FX-8370, or modestly overclocking as it ages). Presently using the stock AMD cooler.
I'm torn between a Thermaltake True Spirit 140 BW (tower) or a Scythe Grand Kama Cross 2 (downdraft), both available to me at a very good price, yet the latter over 50% more expensive.
I've tried to compare both, but cannot find even one reviewer who has reviewed both. It seems clear that the 140 BW is the more efficient CPU cooler, but it's hard to gauge just by how much. However, the 140 BW seems the best choice: quieter, cooler, cheaper and shorter...
...yet what should I be cooling? Downdraft is less efficient at cooling the CPU in part because it's cooling more than just the CPU. Given that I'm of course concerned for my motherboard's (Sabertooth 990FX) lifespan too, should I be looking at downdraft cooling instead?
ASUS's AI SUITE sensors show me that while two hours or more of gameplay (Tomb Raider, 1980*1080, 38-53FPS, ULTRA+, FSAA) will push my CPU from 35° to 43°C, RAM at about 25°C and my GPU (Sapphire Radeon 7870 XT) from 38° to a peak of 45°C, over time the hottest component is inevitably the VCOREs, going from about 34° to 49°C. I lack the tools to measure VRM temperatures, to the best of my knowledge.
Obviously, I'm happy with that performance, but it struck me that the VCOREs are getting hotter than anything else, and that presumably they won't benefit from my soon-to-be-bought aftermarket cooler. Likewise the VRMs. So, if they are important to cool, I should be factoring that into my decision, pending evidence that down draft is effective in this. And if they should be cooled differently, there's that to consider too. Side-panel, top-panel, and bottom case fans are all options too.
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