be quiet! Shadow Rock LP + FX-8350

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JoaquinAraya

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Nov 25, 2016
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Hi

I am kind of new to the PC building stuff, so I could use some help of more experienced users.

This is my current setup:
AMD FX-6300 (stock cooler)
Asus Strix GTX970 oc
Asrock 970 Pro3 R2.0
DDR3 8GB 1600-999 Vengeance LP

I have this pc for half a year now and I found it strange that my gtx970 wasn't performing as I hoped it would. I found out that my cpu is bottlenecking my gpu, so I wanted to upgrade to a FX-8350 since that's the highest cpu upgrade my system can handle. To complete the system I would need a decent aftermarket cpu cooler because the stock cooler is driving me crazy and because I would need to oc the 8350 the get rid of the bottleneck. I came up with the be quiet! Shadow Rock LP, but I haven't seen anyone really use it with the FX-8350. What are your thoughts on it? Should it be fine or should I use an other top down cooler?

Thanks in advance.

PS: I know that my motherboard is really bad, but that is what I have to work with unfortunately. Also I only have a 550W power supply, was that a mistake?
 
Solution
Ecky
After looking at specs for a bit, I'm sure it would be better than the stock cooler, and be quiet!'s TDP ratings are usually pretty conservative. You might also take a look at the Scythe Big Shuriken, but you're not likely to do better than the Shadow Rock LP at the same price. Noctua has a few coolers that would perform better, but at 2-3x the price, which is almost certainly not worth it.

EDIT: I think the Antec PSU will be fine.
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Ecky

Ecky

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Feb 3, 2013
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In cooling, surface area is the first and final word. The Shadow Rock LP is a "small" low profile cooler only rated for 130w, so on paper it's barely better than the stock cooler. I'd suggest looking for something with more cooling surface and a higher wattage rating, such as the Hyper 212 EVO or Cryorig H7.

550w is enough watts but not all power supplies are created equal. A high quality 250w unit can put out 250w safely for years, whereas an offbrand 800w unit may go up in smoke after a few weeks with a 250w load. Brand and build quality tend to be a lot more important than the wattage rating on the side, which is really almost meaningless and a spec they can easily lie about or fudge.
 
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J

JoaquinAraya

Commendable
Nov 25, 2016
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1,510
But those coolers aren't top down right? After my search for a good cooler I saw many people having trouble with this motherboard without a top down cooler. Do you have any suggestions for a good top down? But thank you for the quick response. I have a Antec 550W Platinum power supply.

 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Feb 3, 2013
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After looking at specs for a bit, I'm sure it would be better than the stock cooler, and be quiet!'s TDP ratings are usually pretty conservative. You might also take a look at the Scythe Big Shuriken, but you're not likely to do better than the Shadow Rock LP at the same price. Noctua has a few coolers that would perform better, but at 2-3x the price, which is almost certainly not worth it.

EDIT: I think the Antec PSU will be fine.
 
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Solution
J

JoaquinAraya

Commendable
Nov 25, 2016
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1,510
Oké great, I made the same conclusion after some research and I wanted a second opinion. Thank you for that. I have one last question, do you have any idea how high I should clock the 8350 to get rid of the bottleneck?
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Feb 3, 2013
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Bottlenecks always exist or your framerate would be infinitely high. Overclock your CPU until you're getting the performance you want in the games you play, but be aware that you're probably not going to get more than 15-20% extra performance tops, which will generally equate to 5-10fps extra best-case, and probably less in many cases. Overclocking can help a little, but it's not going to radically change your experience.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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You won't be able to run a 8350 at stock on that board without throttling matey,so thats a a big no no from me!

By all accounts theres a little room to overclock the 6300 with the right cooler & that's what you should be looking at.

Look at the raijintek Pallas because it's simply the best blower style there is apart apart from a $80+ noctua.
 
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J

JoaquinAraya

Commendable
Nov 25, 2016
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1,510
Why would it throttel since it is a supported cpu of the motherboard? I have seen many people who say this, but the people who actually try this combination have no trouble at all? (for the most part speaking then)

 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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I'd say 99% of people who run an 8 core on a 970 pro or extreme asrock have problems , some may be total unaware if it , others bury their head in the sand & ignore it , the rest come to tons for advice on why theyre not getting the performance they expect & to see why theyre getting massive fps drops in CPU intensive games.

I've been involved in 30-40 threads with these scenarios & out of those maybe 2 people could actually run stable because they had heavily undervoltable chips.

Save yourself the insane amount of hassle it'll cause you.
Stick with the 6300, buy the Pallas if its available where you are.
You'll do 4.1/4.2 GHz with that combo & that's enough to push a 970 well on the majority of titles.
An extra 2 cores will gain you very little even if you could run stable.

Check my top (dark blue) SIG .
I've been running a 6300 with a 970 for 2 years+ & if anything it's the 970 on newer titles that is letting the side down.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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No problem mate , like I said been here before too many times to sit back & watch someone make the same mistake an many others.

If you can source the raijintek Pallas then buy it at all odds over the shadow rock lp.
It'll probably cost $10 more but that money gets you 10c lower temps, pretty much silent running,zero ram interference & absolutely sublime morherboard vrm set cooling which is what you neef more than anything else.

To put into context (my little Asus board is probably slightly better quality than your asrock but its still a 4 phase the same)

Prime 95 temps
CPU - 52c max
Vrm (measured with an infrared thermostat) -37c

Those vrm temps are insanely good , Ivthink yours begin to throttle at 50c , mine are good for 60c , I'm running 4.3ghz here & there's still a massive amount of headroom.
No other cooler around but the pallas would manage that.

 
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