What cooler would be the best for me when I upgrade to Skylake?

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Weapon317

Weapon317

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Hello people of Tom's Hardware!

I am planning to build an entire new rig in May which consists of the i7 6700K CPU, along with the Asus Z170 PRO Gaming Motherboard and Corsair Vengeance LPX - DDR4-3333 RAM.

However, I still need a CPU cooler. Right now in my 4 year old PC I have a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev B within it, no issues with it however but I figured since this thing is 4 years old now, I might aswell get a new CPU cooler with my new rig.

I looked on the internet when researching this and found some disturbing reports about Skylake CPU's bending because of the pressure of the aftermarket coolers, though from my understanding this happens with the Scythe Mugen 4 - which is unfortunate because that's the one I wanted. I know that I can request new screws apparently, but I don't really want to go through the trouble of requesting that.

The coolermaster coolers however, seem to work just fine.

My question is, which one would be better? Currently I'm looking into the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO and Cooler Master Hyper 412S

I do not plan to overclock the 6700k nor my motherboard or RAM, however i'd have to enable XMP for my ram in order to get the full speed.

If you guys have any alternatives then those two cooler master coolers, i'd be happy to hear it!
 
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Ecky
Practically any cooler will keep the CPU cool and within spec when gaming for 6 or 7 hours, especially if you have good case ventilation. Remember, a Skylake i7 makes only half to one-third the heat that an FX-9590 makes. It's built on Intel's new 14nm process is is a very cool running, power sipping CPU. Your CPU has a 91w TDP, but in-practice draws less than that.

I have an overclocked Ivy Bridge i5 and I use this cooler:

_igp3250_th.jpg


Even after hours of stress-testing, I still have more than 40c of thermal headroom before my CPU would throttle. Skylake is more power efficient and cooler running.


Today's CPUs actually generate less heat than many Pentium 4's from the early...
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Weapon317

Weapon317

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I would like specifics though, I want something solid what can keep that i7 6700k as cool as possible when the computer runs heavy games, I know that gaming comes down mostly on the GPU, but the CPU plays a part in that aswell.

Like I stated prior, I do not intent on overclocking that 6700k, I would keep it as how you'd get it out of the box.

I don't know which cooler would work best, that's why I want you guys to give me something what doesn't bend my CPU either :p
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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If you don't intend to overclock, even a small cooler should suffice. As long as you keep your CPU under 100c it will not throttle and you will see zero performance difference by buying a better cooler. Running at lower temperatures will theoretically increase its lifespan, but even running 80-90c 24/7, it's likely to far outlast its usefulness - most Intel CPUs will likely last for decades, long after their motherboards have failed, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The advantage of a bigger cooler is that, when overclocking, you can reach higher clocks/voltage before hitting temperatures that cause throttling, OR that you can have less noise at the same clockspeed/temperature.

I'll talk a little about Noctua's offerings, since I like them:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008000%2050012454&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

The Noctua NH-L9i is their cheapest model that fits your socket, and will suffice. It performs pretty similarly to Intel's stock cooler but is smaller. Under torture-testing with AVX loads, it will probably get a little noisy, but for the most part it should be very quiet and inobtrusive, and since you're not overclocking, you won't have any issues.

At the other end (at $90) is the NH-D15. This cooler will also keep your CPU from throttling, and is really big. Under heavy loads, the fans will not spin as quickly as the NH-L9i's, so it will be quieter when torture testing, but both will probably sound about the same under typical use. This is a big, heavy cooler, and there is the remote chance that you could damage your CPU due to its weight if you move your PC frequently.

I would probably recommend something in the middle, such as the NH-D9L, or possibly the NH-U12. Both of these coolers will be quiet under idle and load, will keep your CPU within spec, and shouldn't be too heavy so as to be dangerous.
 
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synphul

synphul

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I haven't heard of too many people with skylake bending issues. One article brought it up after they installed a cpu cooler with a power driver and every tech site copied and pasted the exact same article. I've heard of people bending their cpu when installing it in the wrong socket.

Any larger air coolers, even a 212 evo can have issues if the pc is mishandled and bounced around, dropped onto a desk etc. Same thing with shipping a pc with a larger video card installed, it should be removed first. So long as the pc lives on the desk and is handled with some care and you don't install the cooler with impact wrenches and things I think you'll be fine.

The weight of the cooler is supported by the motherboard using a stiff backplate to reinforce it and simply tightens down to clamp it against the surface of the cpu. Highly unlikely for the motherboard to flex enough over the relatively short span above and below the cpu socket. It's not the weight of the cooler at that point, it's how hard you clamp it down (tighten it). Even a 212 evo if you keep cranking it down sandwiching the cpu tighter and tighter and tighter into the socket will eventually have an issue.
 
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Weapon317

Weapon317

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The computer will pretty much always stay on my desk beside me, I do not plan on moving it around like as if it a laptop. The only time that i'd move it would be about two to four times a year when I decide to clean out my computer from dust.

I've looked in the Noctua NH-D9L and Noctua NH-U12S - however I don't know which one would be better. I have a quite a big case (Antec Twelve Hundred) and will get an ATX motherboard, so space is not really an issue. Currently I have a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev B running which isn't the smallest cooler either.

I don't think Noctua is affected by the CPU bending either- atleast that is what it says in their statement. I do not plan on securing that cooler super tight against the CPU, if anything a friend of mine did my current Mugen onto the Sandy Bridge I have right now.

Any recommendations for cooling paste aswell?
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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The paste Noctua includes with their heatsinks is among the best non-metal pastes on the market. The only things better would be IC7 diamond, and Coollaboratory's Liquid Metal Ultra. The diamond paste has the potential to scratch up your CPU's IHS and the bottom of the heatsink, and liquid metal (a gallium alloy, really) is messy and somewhat dangerous if you spill it. It also has the property of effectively dissolving any aluminum it comes into contact with. If you don't get a Noctua heatsink (which will include their paste), you'll probably want to buy Noctua's NT-H1 anyway.

If you're not overclocking, there is no practical difference between an NH-D9L or NH-U12S. You can see Noctua's TDP chart here:

http://noctua.at/en/tdp-guide

Even the tiny NH-L9i is rated to handle your CPU without an overclock.
 
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Weapon317

Weapon317

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Very well. I think I have everything I need, I might go for the Noctua NH-U14S (instead of the Noctua NH-U12S because I do believe it is better) or the Noctua NH-D14, just to be sure.

Even though I think the Noctua NH-D14 might be too much, but I guess I just want what would be best for me so I can last another couple years with the new rig I am going to be building. All those coolers can be installed easily, right? Won't it block RAM or any PCI slots or anything? Because my Mugen does this.

Any last recommendation what I should pick (NH-U12S, NH-U14S or NH-D14?)

Thanks!
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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I tend to like smaller coolers, personally, because I'm frequently inside my case and large coolers can and do obstruct things. The "S" heatsinks have around half the cooling area in exchange for being much thinner and easier to work around. With the D14, there's a possibility that you might need to remove the motherboard from the case to access power connectors and RAM slots, but it really depends on what board and the location of these connectors.

noctua_nh-d15_install-2_w_600.jpg



I'll just point out once more that there will be zero effective difference between the largest and smallest heatsink Noctua sells if you aren't over clocking.
 
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Weapon317

Weapon317

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I guess I will go with the NH-U14S.

Just because I am not overclocking the 6700k - does that mean the NH-U14S will still keep this CPU cool even when running demading and intense games for a couple of hours? Let's go with 6 or 7 hours. Games such as GTA V, which is pretty powerful. Even though I know most load will go on the GPU, I do not doubt my EVGA GTX 980 TI, nor the Skylake CPU, but more-so that the temperatures will keep in check. Which is where the NH-U14S comes into play- though I need to make sure that it will keep the CPU within reasonable bounds when running games for a couple of hours.

Perhaps I am just too paranoid- I tend to do that.
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Practically any cooler will keep the CPU cool and within spec when gaming for 6 or 7 hours, especially if you have good case ventilation. Remember, a Skylake i7 makes only half to one-third the heat that an FX-9590 makes. It's built on Intel's new 14nm process is is a very cool running, power sipping CPU. Your CPU has a 91w TDP, but in-practice draws less than that.

I have an overclocked Ivy Bridge i5 and I use this cooler:

_igp3250_th.jpg


Even after hours of stress-testing, I still have more than 40c of thermal headroom before my CPU would throttle. Skylake is more power efficient and cooler running.


Today's CPUs actually generate less heat than many Pentium 4's from the early 2000's, due to improvements in manufacturing. Consider the heatsinks that were shipped with these Pentium 4's:

99_9.jpg



To be direct: I think a large aftermarket heatsink is, for the most part, throwing away money. It won't hurt, but you're not going to see any benefits either. Not in longevity, not in performance, and probably not even in noise, after a certain point.
 
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