Cooling advice for lga1150

[g0ldb3rg]

Hi everyone, I need advice, in order to choose the best cooling method for my actual rig.

I have an i7 4790k stock, cooled with a seidon 120v, which is getting 2 years old and I decided to change it.

Since I always dreaded water cooling (because, I mean, who in his right mind would put liquid in an electric circuit?), I was planning to go back to air cooling.

I saw 2 possible options. Either I go back air cooled with a noctua NH d15, or I go all in with liquid cooling and get a gamestorm captain 360.

Now my main concern with liquid cooling is: the radiator is installed directly above the VGA, so if some coolant were to drip on it, what would the extent of the damage be? I have a Gtx1070 g1 gaming from gigabyte, it has a back plate, so I figured that if some coolant were to drip on it, it would cause no major damage, right?

About the noctua now... Not only is less expensive, it's also nearly as good as liquid cooling. We're talking about 1-2C° difference. But my main concern about this cooler is... It's a really HUGE heatsink. I mean, since we're talking about a lot of metal there, I was wondering if it wouldn't crack or ruin the motherboard from the weight.

For information purposes, I am currently installing this in a Thermaltake core v51, so I have no problems of space since the rams are low profile Corsair vengeance, so the noctua heatsink would be installed easily with the 2 fans, and my motherboard is an AsRock z97 anniversary.

I am open to other suggestions, please feel free to suggest anything that comes in your mind.

I'm planning to spend around 100-150€ (which is around 200 dollars I guess?) but it has to be AIO, ready to use, no DIY kits. I would prefer air cooling, but could evaluate liquid cooling

Thanks to everyone who reads this!

 

[don256us]

I personally like the cooler master EVO 212. Light weight compared to the noctua and does a very good job keeping things cool and quiet.

That said, you will find very little problem with coolant leakage.

 

[Jeff G]

The EVO 212 is a great choice for air cooling. CM also makes a lot of other good air coolers if you're looking for a specific 'look'.
If you go water, just let it leak test over night with no power going to the rest of the system. I've never had one leak past the 24 hour mark, if they leak it's usually in the first few minutes (when you should be testing without power to the system).

 

[g0ldb3rg]

First and foremost, let me thank you both for answering this thread

I personally like the cooler master EVO 212. Light weight compared to the noctua and does a very good job keeping things cool and quiet.

That said, you will find very little problem with coolant leakage.

Both of you suggested me the EVO 212, which is a really cheap and rather good aftermarket cooler. But what I see and understand from both your posts is that, whatever cooler is fine at stock frequency? I've read somewhere that i7 4790k is rather "nasty" to cool down, even though i never encountered any real problems with my seidon.

The EVO 212 is a great choice for air cooling. CM also makes a lot of other good air coolers if you're looking for a specific 'look'.
If you go water, just let it leak test over night with no power going to the rest of the system. I've never had one leak past the 24 hour mark, if they leak it's usually in the first few minutes (when you should be testing without power to the system).

This is intriguing. How do i test it over without giving power to the rest of the system? Could you explain in details?

 

[Jeff G]

Plug the psu into the wall power and don't connect anything to it except your water pump. You will have to jumper a pin in the 24pin plug though. I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Antrons-24-Pin-Jump-Starter-Bridge/dp/B00K38IKRY
That way you only have power to the water pump and not the cpu/gpu/mb/etc.

 

[g0ldb3rg]

Plug the psu into the wall power and don't connect anything to it except your water pump. You will have to jumper a pin in the 24pin plug though. I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Antrons-24-Pin-Jump-Starter-Bridge/dp/B00K38IKRY
That way you only have power to the water pump and not the cpu/gpu/mb/etc.

Oh I see, now i understand. Thank you for your time!

 

[ehume]

The 212 does not have as many heatpipes as the Noctua.

Try looking at some reviews. For example, we do them on this site.

 

[trents]

Come on guys, you're not serious in recommending the CM hyper 212 Evo over the Noctua D15 for someone who is open to putting in a few extra dollars (or whatever his currency is called where he lives) to get the best are you?

Yes, the D15 is heavy but I have yet to hear of anybody breaking a motherboard using it.

g0ldb3rg, your worries about coolant leak from an all in one water cooler are not realistic. Just doesn't hardly ever happen. And I'll tell you what I like best about water cooling is it really opens up the inside of your case. Much easier to work on things.

 

[bob4933]

The 212 evo is a fine and admirable cooler for the entry/budget level consumer.

What its not is a "high quality" product like you will find elsewhere. I've seen 212's fall apart, and the mount is frankly crap. The fan it comes with isn't that great either. That said, it is 30$ and for 30$ its really great. Comparing it to an NH-D series cooler isn't fair at all. The noctua is superior in every possible way, with the exception of the sheer size of it.

considering your uses, if you're not overclocking at all, and you're willing to spend a bit of cash, I would go for aesthetics, performance, and silence. So, the Be Quiet! dark rock series is probably what I'd recommend to you. Very svelte cooler too PLENTY of headroom for overclocking, and will be extremely reliable.

 

[g0ldb3rg]

Thank you guys for your replies! They've been extremely helpful and managed to dissuade me from any fear of heatsink weight or coolant leaking

Come on guys, you're not serious in recommending the CM hyper 212 Evo over the Noctua D15 for someone who is open to putting in a few extra dollars (or whatever his currency is called where he lives) to get the best are you?

Yes, the D15 is heavy but I have yet to hear of anybody breaking a motherboard using it.

g0ldb3rg, your worries about coolant leak from an all in one water cooler are not realistic. Just doesn't hardly ever happen. And I'll tell you what I like best about water cooling is it really opens up the inside of your case. Much easier to work on things.

So, about the liquid cooler... Anyone you would recommend? I frankly fell in love with Captain 360 for its aesthetics, and I've read around that it's quite good at cooling as well, but since I'm running stock i hardly believe anything above 60-70$ makes much of a difference. But I want to spend my money wisely, and prefer buying something pricey, but reliable in the years to come.

The 212 evo is a fine and admirable cooler for the entry/budget level consumer.

What its not is a "high quality" product like you will find elsewhere. I've seen 212's fall apart, and the mount is frankly crap. The fan it comes with isn't that great either. That said, it is 30$ and for 30$ its really great. Comparing it to an NH-D series cooler isn't fair at all. The noctua is superior in every possible way, with the exception of the sheer size of it.

considering your uses, if you're not overclocking at all, and you're willing to spend a bit of cash, I would go for aesthetics, performance, and silence. So, the Be Quiet! dark rock series is probably what I'd recommend to you. Very svelte cooler too PLENTY of headroom for overclocking, and will be extremely reliable.

I've seen those, and they look really good! Thank you for your suggestion

 

[don256us]

I run three 212's in my house and two of those are folding 24/7. One is on a stock i7-3770 Hexacore and I don't have any trouble with heat or noise. If they are no good, I haven't seen it yet so "yes", I still recommend the 212 especially if the CPU is running stock. Why waste the money otherwise?

Any of the other recommended coolers will work great for you so not to worry. The only thing that I am expressing is a difference in philosophy. While I disagree, they are not leading you wrong by any sense.

 

[g0ldb3rg]

I run three 212's in my house and two of those are folding 24/7. One is on a stock i7-3770 Hexacore and I don't have any trouble with heat or noise. If they are no good, I haven't seen it yet so "yes", I still recommend the 212 especially if the CPU is running stock. Why waste the money otherwise?

Any of the other recommended coolers will work great for you so not to worry. The only thing that I am expressing is a difference in philosophy. While I disagree, they are not leading you wrong by any sense.

I agree. I've read plenty of reviews online which are simply ECSTATIC with the 212 performance. What I think bob4933 is implying is that it's a great piece of hardware for its money, and we all agree about that. But what has been stressed and what I think I would do, is getting something that gives me a value for years. Simply put, I want to spend some more, and be sure that the hardware I'm buying will last me a whole lot of time, I'm sure the 212 would, too, but I just want to spend something more and get a cooler which grants me the possibility of overclocking, if I ever felt like I needed such thing.

As of now, i'm running an i7 4790k stock with 16 gb 1866 cl8 and a gtx 1070 g1 gaming, and I'm really happy about it. But I absolutely want to change my Seidon 120V and, as I stated in the original post, I am actually a little hesitant to get another liquid cooler and wanted to go back with air cooling, and I precisely chose the noctua d15 because test results held it among expensive water coolers, so I was kinda oriented with that. Simply put, because I want the cpu to run cool, in the summer it can get pretty hot where i live, so that's the main reason to spend "a few more bucks" for it.

But, again, I thank you for the suggestion of 212evo, it's a great piece of hardware

 

[wingman99]

I run my i5 Overclocked to 4.5GHz for 5+ years with the Hyper 212 not one bit of trouble.

 

[ehume]

The 212 may last a long time, but don't forget the mount. I have seen good ones and bad ones. The Noctua are among the best. Scythe is easy but has no stops. What is the mount like on the 212?

 

[trents]

The mount on the 212 is not easy to work with compared to those from Noctua. Unless, that is, CM has changed the mount from the original.

g0ldb3rg, why did you spend the extra moneny on a "k" i7 id you're not overclocking it?

 

[wingman99]

The 212 may last a long time, but don't forget the mount. I have seen good ones and bad ones. The Noctua are among the best. Scythe is easy but has no stops. What is the mount like on the 212?

I have no trouble with the mount on the hyper 212. Juts mount the back plate, then lay the rig on it's side and you can mount the heatsink with one hand.

 

[g0ldb3rg]

The mount on the 212 is not easy to work with compared to those from Noctua. Unless, that is, CM has changed the mount from the original.

g0ldb3rg, why did you spend the extra moneny on a "k" i7 id you're not overclocking it?

Because, as I stated above, I want to be able to, one day. Even if that day comes in 5 or 6 years. and that's precisely why I want a cooler that, in extreme cases, would give me no problems at all

 

[bob4933]

I agree. I've read plenty of reviews online which are simply ECSTATIC with the 212 performance. What I think bob4933 is implying is that it's a great piece of hardware for its money, and we all agree about that. But what has been stressed and what I think I would do, is getting something that gives me a value for years. Simply put, I want to spend some more, and be sure that the hardware I'm buying will last me a whole lot of time, I'm sure the 212 would, too, but I just want to spend something more and get a cooler which grants me the possibility of overclocking, if I ever felt like I needed such thing.

As of now, i'm running an i7 4790k stock with 16 gb 1866 cl8 and a gtx 1070 g1 gaming, and I'm really happy about it. But I absolutely want to change my Seidon 120V and, as I stated in the original post, I am actually a little hesitant to get another liquid cooler and wanted to go back with air cooling, and I precisely chose the noctua d15 because test results held it among expensive water coolers, so I was kinda oriented with that. Simply put, because I want the cpu to run cool, in the summer it can get pretty hot where i live, so that's the main reason to spend "a few more bucks" for it.

But, again, I thank you for the suggestion of 212evo, it's a great piece of hardware

You got it. If the budget was 30$, this wouldn't even be a discussion. The 212 works, and works well for its 30$ tag, but its not some magical device that trumps its more expensive cousins.

NH-d14 on newegg for 70$, but I find them quite ugly . The dark rock is a really good looking heatsink.

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g0ldb3rg, why did you spend the extra moneny on a "k" i7 id you're not overclocking it?

keep in mind, the 4790k is/was only 20 bucks or so more expensive than the non k variant, but comes with a 10% higher base and boost clock.

 

[g0ldb3rg]

You got it. If the budget was 30$, this wouldn't even be a discussion. The 212 works, and works well for its 30$ tag, but its not some magical device that trumps its more expensive cousins.

NH-d14 on newegg for 70$, but I find them quite ugly . The dark rock is a really good looking heatsink.

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keep in mind, the 4790k is/was only 20 bucks or so more expensive than the non k variant, but comes with a 10% higher base and boost clock.

Which Dark Rock did you have in mind? The basic, the advanced or the pro one?

 

[bob4933]

Which Dark Rock did you have in mind? The basic, the advanced or the pro one?

The dark rock PRO 3 is what I was recommending, as I saw it on sale at newegg for 54.99. its now 69.99$, which is noctua territory. Still great, just annoying.

Heres a pretty big list of quality coolers, these will all be similar cooling ability, ~1-2c

Dual Tower :

Cryorig R1 ultimate 90$
Noctua NH-D14 70$ newegg
Dark Rock Pro 3 70$ newegg
Noctua NH-D15 88$ newegg
DeepCool Assassin II 70$ newegg
Phanteks PH-TC14PE 64.99$ newegg (comes in various colors)
Raijentek Tisis 70$ newegg

As you can see, they are about 70$ lol. They all perform pretty much the damn same, and they all have really high quality and durable mounting solutions. At this point, it becomes more of an aesthetics choice. The Phanteks come in colors, the dark rock pro looks sleek and modern, the noctua looks like a turd but is probably the best build quality (cant be by much, and merely a subjective observation) , the tisis is a bit "boy racer" (I own one lol), the deepcool assassin is also "boy racer" with the god awful blue they chose, but its a really good unit (shockingly good tbh).

Of those, the only one I haven't physically owned or had in my hand for a build is the Cryo R1 and the NH-D15. That said, their reputations precede them.