Upgrading from Air Cooler to AIO Liquid Cooler for overclocking needs
Upgrading from Air Cooler to AIO Liquid Cooler for overclocking needs
I only intend to increase clock speeds to boost gaming performance. I'm curious if switching from an air cooler to a liquid one is beneficial for overclocking. My current setup uses a Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi, reaching temperatures above 80°C during overclocking of my 7600k to 4.8ghz @ 1.375v. I'm considering upgrading to the NZXT X52 Kraken or Corsair H100i v2. Are there any suggested overclock limits for achieving satisfactory results? Thanks!
If your pc is perfect as is, generally there's no reason to mess with the bios. However, with any new platform you get bugs and other quirks that are impossible for vendors to determine or test for since every user has a different pc, different software, different usage etc. These differences only become apparent over time, and thats when vendors will throw microcoded fixes into bios updates. Some might apply to you, many won't. But it's entirely possible that your original bios is allowing processes to overheat the cpu for no reason, updating the bios could include fixes that'll streamline how the cpu responds, lowering temps. It could do nothing, but it might do something, so is usually a good place to start.
Hmm, that's news about...
The air cooler you have is quite inadequate for such a powerful overclock. It's only suitable for medium-high overclocks or as a standard replacement, not for something this large. A higher-end model would be more appropriate. If your BIOS hasn't been updated to the latest version, that should be your first priority.
If you opt for an AIO cooler, it wouldn't be worth considering. I'd recommend something closer to the H115i or Deepcool Captain 240ex line. Achieving 4.8Ghz requires optimal case fan performance and properly configured profiles in the BIOS or control software to meet the system's needs. Understanding your system specifications is also beneficial, but these are the key areas to address first.
H115i, yes, the Deepcool Captain, no, it isn't among the top AIOs for performance. I'd consider the Kraken X61/X62 or another 280mm cooler, or if 240mm is the limit, the Fractal Design s24. You might also opt for air, like the Noctua NH-D15 or Cryorig R1, beQuiet Darkrock 3 Pro would suffice too. The choice mainly depends on your case and the coolers you can fit.
I would not recommend ANY of the NZXT products that require CAM. WAY too many troubles with that, plus, it makes the data collection that Windows does look like childs play with the amount of totally unnecessary reporting it does phoning home. There are miles of Reddit and CAM forum data on this and they refuse to remove it from the software.
And that's aside from the fact that there hasn't been a stable CAM release since 3.3.21 that didn't break something or other, especially if you have multiple NZXT devices like the Grid+ v2/v3 or Hue+.
I won't recommend anything except their cases anymore.
The Deepcool captain was the wrong cooler. I didn't mean to include that one. It's on the short list for RGB AIO coolers though and it's only off of similar coolers by about two degrees, so if it's on sale it's still a good buy. None of the Deepcool units are known to be highly problematic either, unlike some other brands.
The EVGA CLC 280 is the other one I meant to suggest.
Personally, I believe you could get by with a Noctua NH-U14S or Cryorig H5 if you are almost getting those temps now.
It's not specified though if those temps are under normal gaming loads or while running a full load, steady state stress test.
What are you actually doing when seeing those 80 degree temps?
Darkbreeze suggested the cooler is too small for the intended overclock, recommending a higher-end model instead. He advised checking the latest BIOS update first and emphasized optimizing case fans and their settings for maximum performance. He also mentioned uncertainty about why BIOS updates mattered to him personally and noted his preference against bulky high-end coolers.
If your pc is perfect as is, generally there's no reason to mess with the bios. However, with any new platform you get bugs and other quirks that are impossible for vendors to determine or test for since every user has a different pc, different software, different usage etc. These differences only become apparent over time, and thats when vendors will throw microcoded fixes into bios updates. Some might apply to you, many won't. But it's entirely possible that your original bios is allowing processes to overheat the cpu for no reason, updating the bios could include fixes that'll streamline how the cpu responds, lowering temps. It could do nothing, but it might do something, so is usually a good place to start.
Hmm, that's news about CAM, I've been running it just fine, it actually works great, for several years now on my kraken x61, the only issue I've ever had was it showed funky info about storage. As far as it reporting stuff, that only happens when you bother to log in to the website. I also run Asus suite on my other pc, and I see ppl with issues there too, a lot, yet it's not bothered me a bit, love the fanXpert. Mebe I'm just lucky.
S340 has 161mm of clearance for aircoolers and will fit a 280mm radiator, so pretty much you are good for something like the Evga, Corsair h115i, Fractal Design AIO's or the Noctua NH-D15S (the other dual towers coming in a 163mm+, so are too tall), so you do have options.
(not a fan of big towers either, not from a performance standpoint, they are basically the same as a decent AIO for most users, but purely it's an aesthetics appeal thing).
You'll find problems with any cooler, be it air or liquid. The biggest issue is with Corsair, but for good reason. Corsair has by very far, the most widespread sales areas, they truly are Global, whereas many vendors aren't. Having that widespread availability means you get massive sales, as you say, you are basically stuck with the h100i v2, which means a lot more users. If you figure a 1% failure rate on 10k ppl using Evga and a 1% failure rate on 1M ppl using Corsair, you get a very large discrepancy, and a huge difference in the amount of ppl with issues. What you won't see is the 99% of other users complaining about is the fact that their coolers work just fine.
As far as a recommended frequency for decent results goes, that's awkward. I've run my 3770k at 4.9GHz for several years on my x61, tops out at 72°C under p95 26.6 small fft and @55°C in any game I own. But it's also in a room that pretty much stays 22-24°C year round, in a fractal design R5 case with dual 140mm intakes/exhaust. Different ambient temps will affect that, different airflow, different fan setups, different cpus/gpus and voltages etc. I'd be getting similar results from the NH-D15S as my cpu even with OC, runs under the 250w+ TDP capabilities of either design.
You can't over cool a cpu. No matter how large the cooling capacity, you cannot cool a cpu lower than ambient temps by mechanical means plus factor in usage and figure @10°C above ambient is where idle temps will be, load temps will be upto the coolers efficiency, not its capacity, if oversized. Bigger doesn't always mean better, the Fractal Design s24 240mm uses a copper radiator, designed with help from AlphaCool (they are a leading full custom loop OEM), so is more effective than many 280mm radiators for example.
The cpu works just the same at 70°C as it does with 45°C, it literally does not care one iota about temps as such, and thats important with liquid cooling. Any temp below @70°C is all the same, so no matter what your temps run under usage, with liquids it makes no difference. This is where cooler choice is less important, all you really need is one that'll keep temps below @70°C under your OC settings. The rest, such as looks, RGB, colors etc is all fluff compared to overall performance.
The EVGA CLC 240 performs better in cooling compared to the 280 model. I possess the test data demonstrating these results.
those AiOs are not actual liquid coolers. They seem to contain liquid, but they don’t offer better performance than affordable air coolers that are much cheaper. Also, there’s no significant difference in real-world performance (whether for gaming or other tasks) at speeds of 100-200MHz. The best cooler available would only give you around a 10% boost, which means a few extra frames—hard to notice unless you check the FPS counter. Instead of spending on expensive, flashy products (many of them are made by the same companies), you could just upgrade your CPU to an i7 7700K. If you sell yours, it should cost less than a cooler, but will provide much better performance in many games.
It is widely recognized in the watercooling scene that nearly every AIO cooler comes from just a few manufacturers, with only slight variations in fans and software.
I favor an air cooler over an AIO because there are fewer than three brands I would seriously consider.
I have tested dozens of air and liquid coolers in my home office; none of the liquid models are used for anything I own.
My PCs already have air coolers that aren’t watercooled, so I don’t rely on them either.
In short, I could swap two servers and another PC with AIO units, but I’m sticking with what I have.