Will replacing my CPU cooler be worth it?

[adam247866]

[Moderator note: edited to break up wall of text.]


I am using a core i7 7700k, and the cooler attached is a Thermaltake gravity i2.

I purchased the computer pre-built, because at the time it was on sale and I was getting my CPU and a GTX 1080 for about $1000.

I don't have any issue with it except for the CPU cooler that came with it.

When I am running games like GTA V or the new Assassin's Creed Odyssey at max settings, the CPU gets dangerously close to 100 C (using CAM to get this number).

I get frequent alerts saying that "prolonged use at this temperature may shorten the CPU's lifespan."

I was thinking I would replace it with the Scythe Fuma, a well reviewed CPU cooler, but I have a few questions before I do this.

First off, what am I risking? Is it a dangerous operation to replace a CPU fan, and could I permanently destroy my PC?

Secondly, do I need to worry about replacing the whole unit? If I could leave the heat sink on and just replace the fan I believe that would eliminate the risk, so are heat sinks generally the same with different fans?

Lastly, do I need to change anything at all? Are the temperatures I'm getting actually bad for my CPU? My current solution to the issue I'm having is taking the front panel off of my PC case, which has kept the temperatures below 80 degrees, but I'm not sure if this is a good idea. My computer is in a basement and not close to the outdoors, so dust and pollen aren't a problem, but it just seems like a bad solution. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For the love of your hardware, STOP running it and figure out the problem. You should NEVER, EVER, EVER be running that system with a core temp higher than 80°C MAXIMUM.


Is your CPU overclocked?

Have you checked to see if one of the corners of the CPU cooler has been broken or come loose, because it sure sounds like either it has or there was no thermal paste applied between the CPU cooler and CPU lid. I'd turn the machine off, and check all those things. If all four corners are not securely down, and you can tell by gently lifting at each corner of the cooler, then that's a problem.

If you can secure it, then fine, you can probably limp by with it until you can get another cooler, but if one of the corners has broken hardware, or no thermal paste was applied (Might have pre-applied thermal "pad" with cheap or stock style coolers) then it's a problem.

That's a really low end cooler to begin with. That is no way as capable as even a stock Intel cooler and should probably have never been used with that CPU. Also, what is your case model?

How many case fans?

Are they all working? What direction are they EACH blowing?

Make sure the CPU cooler fan is even turning?

Make sure the case fans are oriented properly? Front and bottom fans blowing INTO the case. Rear and top fans blowing OUT of the case.

What kind of budget do you have for a new cooler?

 

[adam247866]

I am not overclocking. My case is a CoolerMaster CM 590 III. There are 3 fans attached to my case, all working, Two on the front blowing into the case and one on the back blowing out. They all seem to be CoolerMaster MasterFan MF120L Blue fans. The CPU fan is secure on the cpu, and it is turning and reaching the speeds it is supposed to reach (according to CAM). All of my fans work as they are supposed to be, so the issue would most likely be the thermal paste. My budget is under $50, so the Scythe Fuma cooler seemed like a good choice. I'm willing to go slightly over if I need to purchase other things with it like thermal paste. One question I have for you though is if I do replace my fan, how easy is it to break my CPU in the process? I don't want to do anything that causes permanent damage.

 

[smorizio]

changing the whole cpu cooler is not hard and if your care full your rig will be fine. you start by unplugging the pc from the wall and place it on a table and take both sides off. the low end coolers use plastic push feet. you take a small flat head and turn the leg a small turn (the top of the leggs most time have arrow pointing in and out) once the legs are unclipped the cooler will come off. follow the cable to the cpu fan connector. when you unplug the old cable have small white tape or nail polish or colored marker to mark pin one so that you dont try and force the new fan plug on wrong and bend the fan pins. (cpu fans should have 4 wires). if the cooler has a back plate and screws you have loosen the screws and then remove the back plate. the only thing that you have to do is prep the cpu for new thermal paste. use cpu thermal paste or pick up rubbing alcohol and some wipes and care fully wipe the paste off but dont drown the cloth in liquids. the better gaming air coolers have back plates and screws...hold on better then push pins. with coolers with back plates you install the plate then screw in the cooler. just put a small dot on the cooler make sure it does not ooze out like an orero cookie. some thermal paste can short out the mb and cpu.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What country are you in?

Newer Scythe coolers and fans are not top notch products like the older ones used to be. They are certainly not trash either, but I wouldn't put them up there with products from companies like Thermalright or Noctua, and I would have on older Scythe products. At some point Scythe went bankrupt and closed shop, and then restarted with either different owners or a different business model.

Either way, not as good as they once were, but still better than a lot of other companies.

Knowing what country you are in allows us to make suggestions based on what products we KNOW are available in your region, and this differs greatly from region to region.

 

[adam247866]

What country are you in?

I’m in the United States. Also, I’d be willing to push my budget for the fan up to $80 if the difference will get me a much better cooler. I’d also be willing to do liquid cooling if it does more for the same price. I can't fit a cooler taller than 6 inches (15 cm) in my case while the front panel is on, my motherboard is a Z270 SLI PLUS.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is your case model?

If it really only supports 150mm coolers, then you're probably stuck with something like the Cryorig H7, which is a VERY good budget cooler. It's not going to give you terrific overclocking headroom, but it will certainly handle that CPU at the stock configuration with ZERO trouble at all. It's also well within your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($36.40 @ OutletPC)
Total: $36.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-08 14:23 EDT-0400

 

[adam247866]

My case is a Cooler Master CM 590 III, which claims to have a cpu cooler clearance of 159mm. I have no desire at all to overclock, so this should be fine. What do you think about using the H7 Plus instead? It seems to also fit, and it is still within my price range. Would the two fans be worth the extra price?

 

[darth.kojo87]

just a suggestion, you may need to check the thermal paste job as well. simply taking off the old and replacing with a new even layer may work wonders. A great cooling fan, with zero/inadequate/old thermal paste, is useless.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0795DP124/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I used when I rebuilt my prebuilt PC that I bought.

My suggestion? Try this first, then replace stuff. Its non conductive as well, so the risk of too much is non-existent and there is no chance of shorting out your board

 

[Darkbreeze]

With a clearance of 159mm, this is the cooler that I would MOST recommend based on the height restrictions, your budget, your region and your CPU platform. This is a very good cooler and is more than sufficient for stock configurations AND some decent overclocking, if you should choose to do so. Very hard to beat Noctua in terms of quality, performance and the all important fan noise levels. There are no fans on the market that I'm aware of that are quieter than a Noctua fan while providing the same level of performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $57.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-08 18:34 EDT-0400


But, the H7 is a good choice as well, especially if you have no plans to overclock ever. As for the thermal paste, while that is true and I did mention that in my first post, the bottom like is that that Thermaltake unit is very low quality and is substantially less capable than even the stock cooler in my opinion. Not a fan of Thermaltake products, at all, but even less so when it comes to their bottom of the barrel budget offerings.

Practically ANY tower style cooler would be a huge upgrade from that unit.

 

[adam247866]

My suggestion? Try this first, then replace stuff.

I would, but as darkbreeze mentioned, my current fan is junk for my CPU. even if the thermal paste job was fixed, I'd still be dealing with a crappy cooler.

 

[adam247866]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $57.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-08 18:34 EDT-0400

Perfect, thank you.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For sure. I've got the NH-U14S, the bigger brother of the U12S, and have used many Noctua coolers on client builds over the years. You will be well pleased with the performance and quality. Be aware however that installing an aftermarket cooler is not going to be as easy as the one you have, or a stock style cooler that uses the stock mounting bracket and backplate.

If you have a case that does not have a removable side panel on the bottom side of the motherboard then you are going to have to remove the motherboard from the case in order to install ANY half decent aftermarket cooler. That's really not a big deal. Takes maybe an hour or two at most for a first timer, but just want you to be aware that you will need to do that if you only have one removeable case panel like some cases have.

Probably yours has a removable back panel, so it's likely not a big problem, but, you WILL still need to remove the existing backplate and CPU cooler mounting bracket from the motherboard, and replace them with the included Intel backplate and mounting bracket that comes with the cooler.

Watching several videos on the installation of the U12S, U14S or really any tower cooler on LGA 1151 socket would be a good idea so you know what to expect.

 

[adam247866]

Update if anybody sees this thread anymore. The old cooler that came with the CPU was installed horribly. Probably about 4x more thermal paste in there than they needed, it was like they used the entire syringe when they put it on. Then, the back plate that held the cooler in place was damaged. The way it worked was the back plate had 4 sockets to screw the cooler into. One of them had been screwed in so hard that it destroyed the socket, making it impossible to take the back plate out. In an attempt to remove this damaged part, I almost destroyed my motherboard scratching one of the lines that led from my RAM to my CPU, which is my fault, but I shouldn't have been there in the first place. I did eventually get the NH-U12S installed and now my PC runs at about 30C less than it did before, instead of peaking at 95, I don't get higher than 65. I'm overall happy that my computer works after the whole thing, and very annoyed that the builder of this PC did such a bad job of it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

That is not surprising. Was this a prebuilt system? What company did you get it from? CyberpowerPC? iBuypowerPC?

Or did you HAVE somebody assemble it for you? This is EXACTLY why we say "build it yourself". Yes, it will require a little bit of your time. But 95% of people are capable of building their own machine if they can simply listen and follow instructions.

 

[adam247866]

That is not surprising. Was this a prebuilt system? What company did you get it from? CyberpowerPC? iBuypowerPC?

It was prebuilt by a company called ABS.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I see. Well, I'd avoid them in the future for sure. Honestly, I'd avoid all prebuilt system companies. There are really very few benefits to using them, aside from not having to be bothered to actually assemble things.

 

[adam247866]

There are really very few benefits to using them

I understand this is usually the case, but there was a large discount on the PC at the time. Here's all the parts I have in PCPartPicker (Before I changed anything):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/44ppNQ
It totals to about 1550, which would be 1600 but the mouse and keyboard that came with it (worth $51) wasn't in PCPartPicker. I got the computer for a little over $1000. Even if I cheaped out on the whole thing, got a worse motherboard, less RAM, excluded the SSD and the optical drive, and didn't purchase the mouse and keyboard, I would have ended up a few hundred over what I actually spent. I would purchase it again if given the option.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Occasionally, albeit rarely, buying a prebuilt makes sense. Usually, 90% of the time, you can build an identical system to what you can buy prebuilt, or a better one, for less money. Usually, for the same price, you can build a much better one.

Also, I would throw that power supply directly into the trash and get a high quality reliable model. I would NOT trust that unit with the rest of your expensive hardware. This is why.

It's an EXTREMELY poor quality unit. Probably the worst review score of any known name brand power supply I've ever seen on JG.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=563