Water cooling help
Water cooling help
It could be true to some extent. However, the main point is that anyone running a 5Ghz overclock doesn't necessarily want to use their memory at 2133mhz, as it seems counterproductive. It would be unusual for someone to prioritize such a high frequency while settling for standard memory. I don't know anyone who would do that, though they could. Even without considering memory speed, you still need a solid motherboard, and hopefully you'll get lucky with the chips available—most of them can't reliably reach 5Ghz, even if they're not delidded. I've only heard from a few people, out of about five, who have experienced this with their Kaby...
There are no assurances that your 7700k will actually reach 5Ghz. Most units can only sustain 4.7-4.8Ghz consistently, regardless of cooling solutions, and those achieving 5Ghz are using top-tier motherboards paired with the absolute best RAM.
I just checked and it seems you didn't require any premium memory to hit a 5ghz clock speed on your CPU. In fact, bare-metal RAM like 2133mhz would work fine if you're going for simplicity. You still need a decent motherboard, though not the top-of-the-line one. The main issue is the low-quality TIM Intel chips under the IHS; you'll probably need to replace them to reach 5ghz, especially if your CPU can actually sustain that speed.
That might be true, to a degree. Bottom line though is that anybody with a 5Ghz overclock does not WANT to run their memory at 2133mhz, because, well, that's sort of self defeating don't you think? I mean, who would actually pursue a 5Ghz full time stable overclock but leave all the ponies on the table using default memory?
I don't know anybody that WOULD do that, although they certainly COULD. So even if you leave the memory out of the equation, you still need a damn good motherboard, and, hope you win the silicone lottery because from what I've seen there are not a lot of these chips that can hit 5Ghz to start with, delidded or not. I know of three people, out of maybe five that I'm on a first name basis with, who've had their Kaby CPUs delidded, that could not get over 4.8Ghz stable at any voltage, much less then keep them cool enough for long term use at that voltage.
The other two did pretty fair and are able to keep them at 5Ghz with 1.35-1.37v, but no further. That's where they hit the wall. Mostly I've seen about 50% of 7700k owners say they've been able to stabilize at 5Ghz with no issues but I've not seen anybody, although I'm sure there have been at least a couple, that have been able to maintain a full time 5Ghz OC WITHOUT delidding else they'd have uncontrollable thermal issues.
Even delidded there are a good many chips that are not able to stay put much past 4.8Ghz due to either stability or the fact that even delidded, they have to have so much voltage it's either insane to continue running them (Because they'd most likely degrade within a matter of months) or they can't overcome the thermal wall without a full custom loop.
And those guys pretty much all have at least a 230 dollar Maximus or something equivalent. If you go take a look at the Z270 boards, you'll find that they are ALREADY becoming scarce and prices are going up. The Gigabyte Z270X-Gaming 5 that was like 120 bucks three or four months ago is now 170.00, and the maximus is well over 200 when you could have had one for about 180 in July. Anyhow, all that aside, it's a poor idea anyhow unless you plan to make another platform change in the not too distant future because I can guarantee you that at 5Ghz without delidding (And that's an added cost as well to send out and back, plus the service unless you do it yourself, and if you could do it yourself you wouldn't be coming here asking advice on a cooler.) that CPU will be shot within two years TOPS. IF it lasts that long. Unless you are one of the top ten all time lottery winners and happen to get some seriously glorious binned love from the CPU gods, er, Intel.
Regardless, if you want to try, and there's nothing wrong with trying, I'd suggest that in addition to a VERY good board (And yes, poor quality memory can create stability issues as well. Consider, the MC is INSIDE the CPU so any changes to memory voltage directly affect the stability and thermals of the processor), a case with MANY fan locations and preferably no drive cages on the hardware side of the motherboard tray, a full house of really decent case fans and if it's going to be an AIO cooler I'd personally recommend either the Corsair H115i extreme or the EVGA CLC 280 for 280mm units (Special mention for the Id Cooling Frostflow+ 280, which performs just about as well as these others but is significantly less expensive. There are however a small percentage of people who have complained about problems with the mounting system not being able to properly sustain it's mounting pressure.) and the 360mm coolers are probably limited to the biggest of cases so I won't even mention those by name unless you intend to use a full tower case.
As for air, well there are only a few and they are the usual suspects such as the big Noctua NH-D15, Cryorig R1 Ultimate, Phanteks TC14PE, Reeven Okeanos and Raijintek Tisis are all within a very close margin of each other. Most of these can PROBABLY keep a 5Ghz OC within thermal boundaries if there is sufficient case airflow using the fans that come with them, but performance is increased by a good margin using Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 3000 PWM fans. I haven't personally tested this, but I would stake money on any one of these being certain to do so when equipped with those fans in place of the fans that come with them.
The biggest problem I've seen with overclocks in the 4.8-5.2Ghz range on Kaby though is the VRM and Northbridge overheating. This is why a lot of folks who are serious about running a full time 5Ghz overclock on any modern platform need to seriously consider an open loop using a monoblock in order to cool all critical areas. This type of configuration is expensive AND quality monoblocks are only available for a handful of the highest end motherboards, which is why I say you'd probably want one of those if you're going to seriously pursue a full time 5Ghz overclock. While this is probably not a strict necessity, it's certainly a far more convincing solution and is a lot less likely to leave your CPU or motherboard crippled and in an early grave.
Plus, at that point you can also include your GPU in the mix and throw a 360mm radiator in there as well. The only limits are what you are willing to spend, but one thing is certain and that is that there are no easy, cheap, 5Ghz overclocks.
Cool. Well then you might get there. Given the information ShadyHampster and myself have offered you should at least have a point of reference to focus on now. Sorry if I sounded snarky before but you'd be surprised HOW MANY yahoos we get coming in to ask that question thinking they can do it on a shoestring budget and then getting mad when they find out they can't get a Caddillac for the cost of a skateboard.
At least you get that there will be some prerequisites involved. That's a decent enough board, only a very slight step down from the Hero. Should be fine for overclocking but I don't know if you're going to see 5Ghz on it. It's definitely possible though if you get good enough silicon.