Replacing stock cooling with aftermarket cooling

[bp2008]

Today I replaced the CPU cooler on my Blue Iris server (i7-3770k, not overclocked). I was using the freebie Intel heatsink and fan, but it had grown very dusty and I was tired of seeing 100C temperatures. Rather than just clean the dust out of the heatsink, I decided to do it properly and bought one of these and installed it. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

The temperature differences are dramatic. The real-world effect is practically none. Maybe a little lower power consumption due to more efficient operation at a lower temperature?

CPU Load	Old cooling	New cooling
30-35%	80C	50C
50-60%	95C	58C
70-80%	100C	62C

 

[fenderman]

Wow that is a dramatic change...what are you using to measure the temps?

 

[bp2008]

A program called RealTemp. It is normally bundled with spyware so you have to be careful obtaining it.

 

[badmop]

I have one of those on my octacore desktop PC, good cooler

 

[Michelin Man]

Was the measurements for the old cooling done with a clean heatsink or the clogged up dusty one?

 

[Razer]

I use the 212 EVO in my home desktop, and I built a couple Autocad machines here at work and used them there too and they are working great and I really like the cooler. Home cooler has been in longer and the fan did go out at one point so I picked up another one and it was an easy fix.

All the new Intel Skylake chips do not come with a cooler at all anymore, so aftermarket should be getting a big boost as many home builders and small PC businesses use the stock cooler and now there is none.

 

[bp2008]

Was the measurements for the old cooling done with a clean heatsink or the clogged up dusty one?

It was the clogged up dusty measurements. It is not quite as bad when clean but I don't have any numbers for that.

 

[Michelin Man]

Ahh, no worries. Was just curious to see why the stock temps were soo high.

 

[Del Boy]

Great temps from an air-cooler. The difference between water and air nowadays isn't the same. But I'm still always going to use water

If you want it to be quieter (and even cooler) than use Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP-14s, you can put them in push/pull config too either side of the heatsink. AP-15s aren't that quiet despite many reviews saying they are. AP-14s are very quiet (almost silent), AP-13s are silent but don't shift much air. I have my fans on the outside so inside AP-15s might be very quiet too.

 

[Eric]

On my main PC I run a water cooling block like this one. I think you'd get even better cooling temps for hardly much more cost. Something to consider for others interested in getting better temps over a stock setup.

 

[bp2008]

Yeah I have considered water cooling many times, but never tried it. I tell myself I prefer the simplicity of a good heatsink and fan. Something about circulating a liquid inside my computer case just never seemed like a very good idea. With my luck, the thing would leak. Do those setups use actual water, or do they use some kind of liquid that is not electrically conductive just in case of a leak?

 

[Larebear]

+1 on that bp. I've built many systems over the years and have never used a water cooled heat sink. One thing I've always done is to remove the original heat conductive material from the stock heat sink and applied Arctic Silver 5. I do that on every system I build. My non-dedicated BI system stays cool even when converting video or playing a graphic intensive game.

 

[Eric]

Yeah I have considered water cooling many times, but never tried it. I tell myself I prefer the simplicity of a good heatsink and fan. Something about circulating a liquid inside my computer case just never seemed like a very good idea. With my luck, the thing would leak. Do those setups use actual water, or do they use some kind of liquid that is not electrically conductive just in case of a leak?

I'll admit I was very hesitate for a long time running anything water related in my computers, but I've ran two of these systems for the last several years and have had zero issues with heat nor leakage of any kind. This setup is a closed loop setup which doesn't guarantee against leakage but is safer than those that are not closed loop.

 

[Zorac]

im running a Noctua NH-U14S, expensive, but performs well, near silent and none of the worries associated with water cooling. the lower end sealed water units in general don't seem to perform well in reviews (in terms of noise or outperforming air units)

 

[Del Boy]

Those sealed systems (closed loop) are much better now than they use to be. However, unless you get a 240mm rad than there isn't much advantage over a tower with heatpipe design which has a 120mm fan on it.

I have run non-sealed water cooling systems for well over a decade. I've used all manner of fittings and never had a problem. One of my systems uses 1/2" barbs with 7/16" pipe on it and no cable ties or anything (just heated it with boiling water and pushed it on. Not even that leaks. Leaks are possible if you are stupid but if you check check check and run a 24 hour leak test (I hate to admit I don't!) then you will be fine.

Great thing about water cooling is you can have a much bigger radiator and combine CPU and GPU cooling. However, unless you are cooling a GPU too then I would say get a closed loop 240mm radiator system, as there is little advantage getting a full water cooling system. I will always get a full system though, mainly cos I'm a nutter.

This is good: http://www.corsair.com/en/hydro-series-h105-240mm-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler

 

[Zorac]

yea, its been a few years since i have looked at them. i always wanted to do a full system as that's where i saw the real advantage (eliminate all the fans by having both the gpu and cpu water cooled), but the price on the gpu water blocks always put me off.

 

[Eric]

However, unless you get a 240mm rad than there isn't much advantage over a tower with heatpipe design which has a 120mm fan on it...

I can't say I agree with that. The smaller 120mm rad keeps my i7-3770 CPU plenty cool (86 F) and as linked above can be picked up for around the $50 mark. The "better" fan towers like the Noctua NH-U14S are going to be around the $75 mark plus they are huge which means I now have to consider that when picking a case. Obviously the 240mm rad setups are going to offer even better performance but that doesn't mean the 120mm isn't worth using.

Water isn't for everyone so those hesitate in this thread I can fully understand that, I used to be as well.

 

[Del Boy]

I can't say I agree with that. The smaller 120mm rad keeps my i7-3770 CPU plenty cool (86 F) and as linked above can be picked up for around the $50 mark. The "better" fan towers like the Noctua NH-U14S are going to be around the $75 mark plus they are huge which means I now have to consider that when picking a case. Obviously the 240mm rad setups are going to offer even better performance but that doesn't mean the 120mm isn't worth using.

Water isn't for everyone so those hesitate in this thread I can fully understand that, I used to be as well.

Fair enough, you can't pick a decent one up for $50 in the UK!

Most coolers will keep the CPU around this level on idle though. If you install Prime95 and stress test it then that will give you a proper temperature comparison. I have a 3770K with a quad-rad and that won't keep it at 30 C on full load!

Closed loop water will be 99% fine, there's more chance of your HDD dying.

 

[hansik377]

after changing to Noctua fans, I will never go back. They're not that expensive if you look at quality difference with stock coolers, which should be forbidden

 

[Del Boy]

after changing to Noctua fans, I will never go back. They're not that expensive if you look at quality difference with stock coolers, which should be forbidden

That's fine but keep an eye on the temperatures. Noctua fans are generally quieter than similar fans with same air output (maybe 3 to 6db, which is a big difference) but the main difference in noise is the reduction in airflow!