CPU Cooling Question...

[Alan Iglesias]

I'm going to be building a rig based on ASUS Rampage V Extreme/i7 5960x and would love to get it up around 4.5 or so. My question to you folks that are doing this: Is a water-cooled CPU cooler absolutely the way to go? Or is the basic air-based cooler adequate? What are you using, folks?

Thanks very much!

-Alan

[alexyork]

Both are fine. A good air cooler like a Noctua can be quieter than a beastly closed-loop corsair water cooled solution and both can perform the same in terms of actual cooling. For me it's more about convenience - the closed-loop water coolers take up less space and are way, way less fiddly than the large air coolers, which often require extremely fiddly fans and clamps and can sometimes block the ram slots, which make things awkward. I like the simplicity of the corsair coolers for these reasons.

It should also be said that if you're not overclocking then there's really no need to go for anything that powerful. Go for something quiet and reliable instead. If you're going to be rendering 24/7 and/or OC then definitely get a powerful cooler, of course.

I presume that since you've gone for the top end i7 you'll be overclocking that puppy, so I'd personally go for good corsair closed-loop. But it's really personal preference. Just be careful about the size of the air cooler if you go for that, and if your ram heatspreaders are large and need breathing space.

[super gnu]

if you are going to go with the corsair water coolers, id get the largest you can, possibly paired with some aftermarket quieter fans.

i made the mistake of pairing oc'ed 3930k's with corsair h80's. they work, but they are a bit undersized for the load, so i have to run them on high. with 2 of them, each with 2x 2400 rpm 120mm fans on, its mighty noisy.

it didnt bother me at first but now it drives me nuts.

im currently building the mother of all custom external watercoolers. it should have the cooling capacity to do all 3 of my machines, plus gpus and be whisper quiet.

[arobbert]

Get the biggest dual fan water cooler you can get. These CPU's run hot in OC! I have a Corsair H110 280mm with 140mm fans. The larger dual radiator provides more cooling surface and the larger fans move more air with less noise compared to 240mm dual or single fan units. You will want to upgrade the fans as the ones they come with are noisy. I upgraded to Noctua NF-P14s. This is now a very quiet setup. You will need a big case. I got a full tower Corsair case with lots of breathing space. Corsair cases are made to fit these coolers (check the specs).

[Alan Iglesias]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it very much. Yes, overclocking is a definite so I'll go with the Corsair set-up, both case and cooler for (hopefully) good compatibility.

Unless I find out these are not compatible, here's what I'll be getting for the interested: Case Cooler

After all these years building machines it seems so conflicting to introduce water anywhere near or in the system, but until we get a room-temperature super-conductor, this is where we are at! Ha!

Thanks again,

-Alan

[Syclone1]

I have pretty much the setup that you listed at the start and Im using air cooling as I have trust issues with water I have it running stable at 4.2ghz and after a couple days of rendering at 100% it only got to around 60C tops.

This is the cooler Im using and love it: http://us.coolermaster.com/product/D...r-212-evo.html

-dave

[arobbert]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it very much. Yes, overclocking is a definite so I'll go with the Corsair set-up, both case and cooler for (hopefully) good compatibility.

Unless I find out these are not compatible, here's what I'll be getting for the interested: Case Cooler

After all these years building machines it seems so conflicting to introduce water anywhere near or in the system, but until we get a room-temperature super-conductor, this is where we are at! Ha!

Thanks again,

-Alan

That's the same setup I have except I have the H110. I get temps around 70C at 4.4 GHz if ambient temps are around 70F. In the summer when temps are above 74F I have to take it down to 4 GHz to maintain those temps.

[Alan Iglesias]

Thanks for that info Dave - I hear ya re the water trust issues!

-Alan

[Alan Iglesias]

That's the same setup I have except I have the H110. I get temps around 70C at 4.4 GHz if ambient temps are around 70F. In the summer when temps are above 74F I have to take it down to 4 GHz to maintain those temps.

Thanks for this - I will keep an eye on temps in the summer time for sure. To make matters worse, I'll be running multiple GPU cards as well. Wish me luck,

-Alan

[arobbert]

I guess there is some variation CPU to CPU. I think mine runs hotter than others. It may not be a bad idea to add some additional fans to the case. It comes with three.

On a side note. What cards are you getting? Does adding an additional card double your RT speed?

[super gnu]

re. the water trust issues. ive been using watercooing on my pcs for 15 years. ive tried pretty much every setup going. the only time i ever had a leak was on my first ever build.. a shoddy kit with dodgy plastic push fit, quick release hose fittings. it used to drip a bit if you moved it too much, or detached and reattached the hoses too much.

modern watercooling components are precision components, all machined metal, good quality rubber seals and heavy duty hose clamps. my current build you could probably swing on the hoses without them coming off.

the all in one setups even more so, they are so well sealed you dont even lose a drop to evaporation, or need to change/top up the coolant.

i can see why water+expensive stuff with electricity in =danger, but with a properly built system you wont be getting leaks.

to be honest the all-in-one jobbies dont offer enough advantage over a good air cooler to really interest me. as mentioned they can be noisy and dont really offer much lower temps.

the main advantage is not having 3kg of metal hanging off your motherboard and filling your entire case.

i only used them in my last build because i was space constrained and didnt have the time or budget for a custom setup. this is being rectified as we speak.

[Alan Iglesias]

I guess there is some variation CPU to CPU. I think mine runs hotter than others. It may not be a bad idea to add some additional fans to the case. It comes with three.

On a side note. What cards are you getting? Does adding an additional card double your RT speed?

Yes, all things are not created exactly equal in silicone-land.

One of the best things about GPU rendering is the nearly 100% linear scalability. Two of the same cards renders pretty much in twice the speed as only one of the cards. I see you are getting some good RT/GPU information in other threads.

I'm still running my tried-and-true dual GTX 580 set-up and will be adding a Titan in this build. I use GPU rendering all the time for render testing as I go, and very often for finished stuff. It's also great for training purposes.

Thanks again,

-Alan

[Alan Iglesias]

re. the water trust issues...

Heya Gnu, thanks for the comments. Your experience re cooling is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for noting your confidence in the water-cooled world and why.

Cheers!

-Alan

[arobbert]

I always assumed that water cooling was more efficient. It would be helpful if manufacturers would specify heat exchange in the form of a specification so we could compare. All the stuff I read on OC forums suggested that you need a substantial water cooling system to OC the 5960X beyond 4 GHz.

[werticus]

5960x here with noctua air cooling at 4.2ghz stable. 69c temp on cpu with 21c air temp outside.

The noctua 14 is a hilariously big cooler. You think you know it is big from photos but until you you see it in person you cant appreciate it