Suggestions on a new cooler? Noctua NH L9i can't keep up with my new i7 7700k

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TraceofCakes

TraceofCakes

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Feb 26, 2017
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Upgraded my Mini-ITX build a few days ago - got me a shiny new i7 7700k in there.

I recently noticed that my temps while gaming have been pretty high, reaching near 80C in GTA V, or around 65C to 70C while running on only a 50% load with the top of my case OFF! I realize this is due to the low profile Noctua cooler I had set from when I was using my i5 4690 before I upgraded.

The L9i is only recommended for small form factor cases and CPU's with less than 65W of power usage. http://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i

Here's my current running build:
CPU: Intel Core i7 @ 4.20GHz
CASE: Thermaltake Core V1 Snow Edition
GPU: Asus DUAL-GTX1070-O8G
MOBO: ASRock Z270M-ITX/ac
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB


I'd like to get some suggestions on a new cooler.
I dont imagine myself overclocking this CPU - maybe a small clock ahead of the Turbo Boost that Intel applies, but nothing close to a 5ghz clock, or the like.

I'd like to see temps around 50C while gaming or 60-70 while on a heavy load, though I understand if with the Core V1 case, cooling is a bit more difficult.


I had my eyes on this Cryorig H7 - not sure if it'll fit the bill of what I want though: http://www.cryorig.com/h7_us.php
 
Solution
Ecky
The L9i may be used with 95w CPUs in some cases. 80c won't hurt your CPU, Intel rates it to 100c and there's evidence to support that even running above 90c, it will long outlast just about every other component. That said, you certainly don't have much overclocking headroom and the fan is probably screaming while you game.

If you're looking to reduce noise, you might consider an undervolt first, which would cost you nothing. It would also be safe to leave it alone. If you want better cooling, surface area is king, and bigger coolers have more of it. The H7 is a good value, but really you can't go wrong with any of Noctua or Cryorig's lineup.
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Justiceinacan

Justiceinacan

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Jul 19, 2016
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Other than short coolers like CRYORIG M9i, it seems you're limited to AIO's for high end cooling. Which isn't bad, but they're kinda expensive and have potential to leak. I'd suggest a corsair one, I'm told Thermaltake and NZXT have some good looking ones though.
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Feb 3, 2013
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The L9i may be used with 95w CPUs in some cases. 80c won't hurt your CPU, Intel rates it to 100c and there's evidence to support that even running above 90c, it will long outlast just about every other component. That said, you certainly don't have much overclocking headroom and the fan is probably screaming while you game.

If you're looking to reduce noise, you might consider an undervolt first, which would cost you nothing. It would also be safe to leave it alone. If you want better cooling, surface area is king, and bigger coolers have more of it. The H7 is a good value, but really you can't go wrong with any of Noctua or Cryorig's lineup.
 
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Solution
TraceofCakes

TraceofCakes

Prominent
Feb 26, 2017
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0
510
Thought I'd follow up with my solution - I did buy a new cooler, ended up going with a Corsair H90, will be here relatively soon.

If you're looking to reduce noise, you might consider an undervolt first, which would cost you nothing.
Click to expand...
I did end up taking your advice of tuning down the voltage, per se, Ecky.
I just disabled Intel's Turbo Boost to let it sit on the stock 4.2ghz which toned down the heat/fan noise a marginal bit.

Hopefully I'll get some more headroom to do some variable overclocking with my H90 when it comes in.
 
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