What air cooler should I get for i7 7700K?

Sebubble

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I have the Noctua D15 on my wishlist at £75 but I was wondering if there were better ones/cheaper ones that would be good. I was previously going to go with 212 Evo but I've heard that might not be good enough.

I'm going to pair it with a GTX 1070 if that helps. No immediate plans to OC but I don't want to rule it out.

Also will the z170 PRO Gaming motherboard be good for this setup?
 
Solution


I7-7700K runs at near overclock speeds at stock.
Nothing wrong with the TIM supplied by noctua.
If your idle temperatures are more than 10-15c. over ambient, either the cooler is not mounted well, or your case does not supply sufficient intake air for the cooler to do it's job.
Even then, the 7700K will not throttle at 80c.

nzalog

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Noctua's have always been my favorite. When I'm not overclocking I simply run them without any fans and have never had issues.
NH-D15 should be great fanless but I'm sure the smaller ones would also have no issue with this.

Just keep in mind you need to monitor your CPU to make sure it works before just assuming and using the system. The best way to do this is just run prime95 for a while and make sure your CPU temps stay reasonable.

I do however connect the rear most exhaust fan to the motherboard CPU fan pins so that at least one fan reacts to CPU temps. I just don't put any fans directly on the heatsink.
 

atljsf

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the heat generated by the gpu should not affect the cpu unless you are going to buy a mini itx case and airflow is a concern, what case are you going to use?

the mainboard should work but is better to get a z270 mainboard, the 170 is meant for the previous generation, not the new generation of cpus

the noctua you mention is very heavy, almost 3 pounds but should be enough for that cpu because it is rated for a tdp of 140 watt, same as the i7 you selected, you could also consider watercooling kit, the price is similar in general

for more recommendations a list of specs and a budget culd help
 
Love noctua.
But, the new s variants are reengineered to clear ram and graphics cards in the first pciex16 slot.
Look at the NH-D15s for the best, but a NH-U12s or NH-U14s should do the job.
Just make certain that your case can supply sufficient intake air.
Two 120mm intakes or better.

Actually, I am much impressed with the scythe kotetsu for $35.
Here is a review. It compares favorably with the noctua NH-U14s:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1391-page6.html

If you are buying 7th gen processor, buy a Z270 based motherboard.
Most any should do.
 

ilayg6

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Jul 30, 2016
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I have an i7 7700k with noctua Nh-u12s
and without over clocking the cpu (when its on 4.5Ghz tubro)
It sits on 70C+ after 10min of playing any game.
and it spikes to 80C+
Just a crappy TIM from intel.. :(
 


I7-7700K runs at near overclock speeds at stock.
Nothing wrong with the TIM supplied by noctua.
If your idle temperatures are more than 10-15c. over ambient, either the cooler is not mounted well, or your case does not supply sufficient intake air for the cooler to do it's job.
Even then, the 7700K will not throttle at 80c.
 
Solution

ilayg6

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Jul 30, 2016
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My temps on idle are fine staying at 32c-35c so I'm pretty sure the cpu fan is mounted well
my case is the ''Corsair Spec Alpha mid tower Black/red'' it has 2 intake fans and one exhaust.
the thing is the temps are 67C-73C but the CPU temp spikes to 80C+ because of the bad TIM.
See how the TIM affects,it can make a difference in 20C+-