Why buy an expensive cooling fan?

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

I am building a rig that is going to have the new skylake i7 6700 k CPU. I was wondering, because the I7 does not come with a stock cooler.. which CPU cooling fan is good? I am thinking about buying the noctua nh D 14.. however, I personally think that 72 dollars for a fan is expensive.. I can afford it.. but I dont know if I am spending my money like a smart consumer. I am already overpaying for my case CM stryker that is going to cost 170 dollars with shipping and it cost more to buy it in store due to sales tax... Any recommendations for case and cooler? Thank you

Motherboard- gigabyte gaming 7 ATX

Ram Gskill ripjaw 16 gb

CPU: I7 6700k

PSU: supernova 850 g2

GPU: GTX 660 or 770 (will upgrade in the future)

Case:?
Cooler:?

Gam3r01 · Apr 21, 2016

A Phanteks Enthoo Pro is always a solid recommendation for a case.
As for the cooler, do you plan on doing heavy overclocking? If yes the NH-d14 would be a solid purchase. If you plan on moderate, or no overclock, look at the cryorig H7.

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

Gam3r01 :

Its just that my other parts are expensive.. like the motherboard and CPU and GPU in the future aiming for (980 ti), I dont know if cheaping out on the cooler is a good idea.

Gam3r01 · Apr 21, 2016

The H7 is by no means cheaping out. It is still a very capable cooler at an affordable price, and can handle moderate OCs just fine.

firefoxx04 · Apr 21, 2016

The noctua is not just a fan, its a very high quality heatsink that is proven to perform. If you can afford it, just get it. When you open it for the first time you will understand. The fan quality is amazing as is the heatsink quality.

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

firefoxx04 :

Do you own one? Can you speak about it if you are an owner? maybe compared to a previous owned cooler?

Ecky · Apr 21, 2016

The point of buying a large aftermarket cooler is to chase those last few percent in performance. A stock i7 6700 comes with an adequate cooler and performs within 15% of a 6700K overclocked to 4.6ghz (which is as high as you can reasonably get on air cooling), but you're paying $45 more for the CPU, $30-50 more for a motherboard, and $30+ for a cooler, probably another $20-30 on a power supply, perhaps $20 in additional fans...

To me, it's not cost effective, but you simply can't buy a 4.6ghz stock CPU, so if you absolutely need that single threaded performance it's your only choice. Otherwise, I'd take that extra $150+ in overclocking gear, and instead just buy a 6-core 5820K, which will be considerably faster in anything that makes use of those cores.

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

Ecky :

The point of buying a large aftermarket cooler is to chase those last few percent in performance. A stock i7 6700 comes with an adequate cooler and performs within 15% of a 6700K overclocked to 4.6ghz (which is as high as you can reasonably get on air cooling), but you're paying $45 more for the CPU, $30-50 more for a motherboard, and $30+ for a cooler, probably another $20-30 on a power supply, perhaps $20 in additional fans...

To me, it's not cost effective, but you simply can't buy a 4.6ghz stock CPU, so if you absolutely need that single threaded performance it's your only choice. Otherwise, I'd take that extra $150+ in overclocking gear, and instead just buy a 6-core 5820K, which will be considerably faster in anything that makes use of those cores.

I'm sorry.. but could you explain that a little bit easier to understand for a noob lol

Ecky · Apr 21, 2016

The i7 6700 (non-K) is non-overclockable, $45 less expensive, can be used on cheaper motherboards (non-Z170 chipset), draws less power, and comes with its own cooler. It's a far better value, overall, and the only reason I can see someone buying a "K" CPU and large cooler is to chase those last few percent in performance. Overclocking isn't a way to get more value, like it used to be - it's an expensive enthusiast's hobby now.

I say this as an owner of a "K" CPU.

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

Ecky :

Okay thank you lol.. now I understand. But the reason I am getting expensive parts is 1. I want to be able to stream on twitch. 2. for Video editing purposes, music editing, and of course gaming. 3. Future proof, so that I won't need to upgrade my pc for another 4 years or so.

My current computer.. which gave out.. is so outdated 5 years or so outdated.. that it is no longer worth upgrading, cannot support any of the needs listed above. It was put to a good use for that times worth... but I would like to build a new rig that will last me another 5 years or so that I can upgrade if needed. What do you think?

Ecky · Apr 21, 2016

I don't think an i7 6700K will last any longer than the much cheaper i7 6700, and I expect you could buy the much-faster i7 5820K (6 cores!) for the same price as a 4-core 6700K + overclocking gear.

This CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117402&cm_re=5820k-_-19-117-402-_-Product

This motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128772R

Or this one if you don't like open-box items: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128772

zervical · Apr 21, 2016

Ecky :

This is all very interesting stuff.. thank you I will be thinking about these parts for another 5 months

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