Best Overclocking Solution For i9 9900k

lousyworm1480 · Oct 26, 2018

So I need help finding out what the best water cooling solution is for the new i9 9900k that I am going to get. I'm fairly familiar with the hardware but since this is going to be my first build with water cooling I am a complete noob at water cooling. I have quite a few questions so thanks in advance.

- Is the Asus - ROG MAXIMUS XI CODE the best motherboard for overclocking and if not which one is the best one

- What is the best 360mm AIO water cooler

- Is it worth getting a 420mm AIO (Alphacool Eisbaer 420)

- What is the best water cooling kit with copper heat sink and a thick radiator

- If I choose not to go with a kit what is all the components I would need to make a custom loop

- What is the best and thickest 360mm radiator

- Is die sanding worth it

- Is there an in-depth guide for specifically deliding the i9 9900k

So my budget would be somewhere around the 200-250$ mark for water cooling. That's ok if the answer to my questions go over my budget I just need to know that stuff so I can make the decision if I'm going to cut corners on anything else to afford it. If you have any build suggestions (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ywh3jy) my budget is 3200$ max for the whole thing that would be great if you could help with that as well. Once again thanks!

mdd1963 · Oct 26, 2018

Unless you get a miracle sample 9900K, they seem to have very little headroom left...; most reviewers have gotten to 84C even at stock clocks/no power limits in BIOS, but, with MCE on and all core at 5 GHz, 95C seems to be the new norm. (With 95 Watt TDP limit in place, I've seen one sample do 4.2 GHz all core, and another do surprisingly better at 4.6 GHz.) 5 GHz all core seems to be about 167 watts or so...

TIme for the new aftermarket low cost external chilled fluid units....

Unless you are willing to delid (now take 3-4 hours because of sanding/razoring off the solder remnants, sanding, etc) ot get 5-7C lower, probably best likely to give the earlier fantasies of one month ago of all-cores at 5.2 GHz action an early burial....

rubix_1011 · Oct 26, 2018

A lot of questions here and many of 'which is the best' kind of questions really are subjective, depending on who you ask.

- What is the best 360mm AIO water cooler

From what I have tested, currently the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R RGB

- Is it worth getting a 420mm AIO (Alphacool Eisbaer 420)

Please define 'worth it' in your terms. What is 'worth it' to you?

- What is the best water cooling kit with copper heat sink and a thick radiator

Again, very subjective and not likely you'll find someone who has tested every single one. I've tested a few. EKWB and Alphacool each have some very good kits, as does Koolance, Swiftech, XSPC, Magicool, etc. Most of this is dependent upon how thick you want your radiator, what pump you want to use and if you like the block and components in the kit.

- If I choose not to go with a kit what is all the components I would need to make a custom loop

pump, radiator, fittings, blocks, reservoir, tubing

- What is the best and thickest 360mm radiator

There are some in excess of 85mm in thickness.

Most of these questions could be answered by some Google searching and looking up topics. It sounds like you have a lot of research ahead of you. I would recommend the watercooling sticky thread linked in my signature.

lousyworm1480 · Oct 26, 2018

rubix_1011 :

Ok, so I going to start off by saying thanks. To answer some of your questions what I mean about is it worth it for the Alphacool Eisbaer 420 is, would it be better than a high-end 360 AIO water cooler. Also to rephrase the next question, in your opinion what is the best water cooling kit with a thick 360mm radiator. You seem to know a lot about watercooling. I have one more question. If you were in my position what would you do to get the VERY best results (not worrying about budget) and what would be all the parts you use? Thanks!

rubix_1011 · Oct 26, 2018

I haven't worked with the Alphacool Eisbaer products, so I don't know anything about them, but would expect it to work as well as most great AIOs.

I have been custom watercooling for over 16 years, but by no means to do I know everything. I would strongly recommend (again) to read through the watercooling sticky and pick up some concepts and understanding of what you would need to know.

The biggest difference between an AIO cooler and a full watercooling setup (kit or custom) is really the amount of attention and purpose needed in order to setup what you want. AIOs are meant to be a simple, plug and play cooler for the average user. Most watercooling loops require more planning, configuration, design and understanding...especially since you need to know how to build, fill and maintain it over the course of time whereas an AIO does not require maintenance.

bigjake240000 · Nov 2, 2018

lousyworm1480 :

-In a recent demo of the 9900k they pushed it to a 6.7 on all 8 cores using liquid nitrogen on an asus hero mobo. Is the code better? Maybe, but if the hero can push it to 6.7 on nitrogen whats the code good for? But really if you're aiming for over kill why not go one step up and get your hands on a z390 formula that has built in mobo water blocks.

-Most aio's are pretty close to equal, you have a larger difference in pastes used, push or pull or both set ups on the rad.

-I dont know and have the same question myself is a 360 rad overkill for an overclocked (5ghz all 8 cores 24/7) 9900k with a push pull set up? Is it not enough? When a rad is able to bring the liquid back down to room temps before pumping out and to the cpu is when its enough. Some people would then push their cpus further then.

-Best water block and cooler? Jaystwocents channel on youtube actually did a video of this question exactly. They purchased a 19 USD copper water block off of amazon and it ran with in 1 C of their 80 USD block. As for rads as long as its copper then its all up to preference. Size- Length and width, one set or 2 sets of fans also take a factor, will it fit?

-Is die sanding worth YOUR effort. Yes it will yield results, But its going to void the warranty on a hard to get 9900k is going to take hours of your time. And to top it off if you screw up you have no processor and are out 600 bucks. Is there a guide? youtube it.

According to your budget you dont have anywhere near the funds for custom water cooling. A gpu block is 150-200, each fittings is 8-12 bucks and you need 6 fittings for just 1 card 1 rad and 1 reservoir. To get a reliable pump and res you're looking at 100-150. Rads run for 50-100 also. None of this is RGB or color coding. You could do it for 300ish if you're buying the cheapest of the cheap. going with a 240 rad, a non pwm pump with no res and not exactly reliable like the d5's, but only 2 or 3 companies make gpu blocks so unless you have a mill at home you're looking at 200 for a 2080 ti block still then 50 bucks into fittings. Remember if it leaks you're just screwed if you don't catch it, great way to fry a $1500 card.

Another thing to point out is conductonaut will corrode any aluminum it comes in contact with so make 100% sure that the aio you are looking at comes with a SOLID copper or nickel block. Not nickel plated Not copper plated. This thing is in the heart of your machine if it goes it takes the entire ship with it.

I see on your list you have the 9900k at 530, that's a good joke, GFL finding one for 530. Same with the GPU. If you're on a strict budget you're already over it. No You've blown by it by a lot. You're listed at 3k Not including the thermal paste, the premium on the parts you want, and last but not least Taxes and shipping.

Lastly for some one looking to overclock that's some pretty tame ram you have on your list and 16 gigs really isn't enough for anyone, you want to be looking at 32 gigs and your mobo should be able to automatically clock your ram to 3600 (if the ram is rated for it). It would really suck to have a 400 mobo, 600 cpu, 1500 gpu and get bottle necked on ram.

You may want to look at getting something closer to the asus e-gaming mobo, I doubt it can overclock as high as the hero or up but it can overclock and in reality with out massive cooling you wont be able to push your chip very far. And unless you plan on gaming on a 4k monitor in 4k there really is no reason to have a 2080 ti when an overclocked 1080 ti is almost just as good. **Note: I'm only suggesting this because you said you're on a max 3200 budget**

Another thing to point out is your 850 watt psu. A minor overclocked 2080 ti 9900k 2 sticks of ram an rgb mouse and keyboard with an aio and a high end mobo you'll be pulling on average 800 watts is what the calculators are spitting out seeing how 850 is the max rating for you're chosen psu you may want to bump it up to 1000.

Then after all this one last great question. What kind of peripherals do you have? Do you even have a monitor capable of running 4k 60 hz? or 1440p at 120 or 144 or 165 hz? If your screen isnt running above 60 hz then having 80 FPS in cod is pointless. If your screen isn't capable of matching your cards performance then you're just wasting money

rubix_1011 · Nov 2, 2018

-I dont know and have the same question myself is a 360 rad overkill for an overclocked (5ghz all 8 cores 24/7) 9900k with a push pull set up? Is it not enough? When a rad is able to bring the liquid back down to room temps before pumping out and to the cpu is when its enough. Some people would then push their cpus further then.

This is a deceptive question/answer as liquid delta-T is obviously different than coreTemp delta-T. You'd need more than a single 360 to run lower than a 5C delta-T on coolant temps, likely closer to 3x360s to manage this...maybe 2x360s with great fans.

-Best water block and cooler? Jaystwocents channel on youtube actually did a video of this question exactly. They purchased a 19 USD copper water block off of amazon and it ran with in 1 C of their 80 USD block. As for rads as long as its copper then its all up to preference. Size- Length and width, one set or 2 sets of fans also take a factor, will it fit?

Be careful with how much stock you put into his YouTube video content - there is a lot of inside detail from people working with and around him, that much of the data provided is done so for the sake of getting clicks on his channel.

Also to note - Yes, you can buy cheap watercooling hardware, including very cheaply made blocks. HOWEVER - do you value the money spent in hardware bought that you are attempting to cool with it? If you've spent $1000 or more for quality components like CPU, memory, power supply, motherboard, etc, but you go with a very cheaply made set of cooling blocks, you risk losing all of your hardware if failures occur. Companies like Swiftech, EKWB, Alphacool, Koolance, etc, have extensive testing and R&D for components they build. That $18 Ebay CPU block is likely designed off of a 1998 Maze 4 block and simply soldered together without thermal load testing, heat zone and flow evaluation or mounting and compression testing.

Just think about it when you decide to go cheap with water - it ends up often being *more expensive* if you end up with leaks or failures. I would be willing to bet that any company on Ebay that is selling these cheap blocks is not going to provide any form of hardware warranty. I do know that quality watercooling companies do have clauses that can help you with hardware loss due to failure in their products.

bigjake240000 · Nov 2, 2018

rubix_1011 :

What I meant was if your room has an average ambient temp of around 65F no matter how amazing your set up is unless your phase cooling you're not going to be able to go lower than 65F as the coolant comes out of your rad. That would be more or less optimal temps and my question was is 360 enough to do that? is it too much, just enough, or is it overkill?

rubix_1011 · Nov 2, 2018

Your theory is correct, but a single 360 is not going to be able to get you to that point, unfortunately. You would either need to lower the thermal load getting added to the cooling loop (lowering clock speeds) or add radiators to increase surface area. You can also increase flow rate of the coolant and increase airflow over the radiators which will also help.

Here is the conundrum:

The faster the flow rate, the less thermal load coolant picks up as it travels over a cooling block (ex: CPU or GPU). Also, the faster the flow rate, the less time coolant stays in the radiator to allow thermal conduction between coolant and radiator and convection between radiator and air (via fans).

Now, if you slow the flow rate, coolant spends more time over thermally loaded blocks, absorbing more thermal load. It also spends more time in the radiator to dissipate heat (conduction and then convection).

This is why watercooling coolant delta-T is always a product of:

Thermal load (total) produced, in watts
Thermal dissipation capable by the radiator field, in watts
Airflow volume able to move through the radiator (CFM)
Coolant flow rate through the loop (liters or gallons per minute, or converted to hours)

Easiest way to impact coolant delta-T is to add more radiators and fans to the cooling loop.

lousyworm1480 · Nov 2, 2018

bigjake240000 :

lousyworm1480 :

-In a recent demo of the 9900k they pushed it to a 6.7 on all 8 cores using liquid nitrogen on an asus hero mobo. Is the code better? Maybe, but if the hero can push it to 6.7 on nitrogen whats the code good for? But really if you're aiming for over kill why not go one step up and get your hands on a z390 formula that has built in mobo water blocks.

-Most aio's are pretty close to equal, you have a larger difference in pastes used, push or pull or both set ups on the rad.

-I dont know and have the same question myself is a 360 rad overkill for an overclocked (5ghz all 8 cores 24/7) 9900k with a push pull set up? Is it not enough? When a rad is able to bring the liquid back down to room temps before pumping out and to the cpu is when its enough. Some people would then push their cpus further then.

-Best water block and cooler? Jaystwocents channel on youtube actually did a video of this question exactly. They purchased a 19 USD copper water block off of amazon and it ran with in 1 C of their 80 USD block. As for rads as long as its copper then its all up to preference. Size- Length and width, one set or 2 sets of fans also take a factor, will it fit?

-Is die sanding worth YOUR effort. Yes it will yield results, But its going to void the warranty on a hard to get 9900k is going to take hours of your time. And to top it off if you screw up you have no processor and are out 600 bucks. Is there a guide? youtube it.

According to your budget you dont have anywhere near the funds for custom water cooling. A gpu block is 150-200, each fittings is 8-12 bucks and you need 6 fittings for just 1 card 1 rad and 1 reservoir. To get a reliable pump and res you're looking at 100-150. Rads run for 50-100 also. None of this is RGB or color coding. You could do it for 300ish if you're buying the cheapest of the cheap. going with a 240 rad, a non pwm pump with no res and not exactly reliable like the d5's, but only 2 or 3 companies make gpu blocks so unless you have a mill at home you're looking at 200 for a 2080 ti block still then 50 bucks into fittings. Remember if it leaks you're just screwed if you don't catch it, great way to fry a $1500 card.

Another thing to point out is conductonaut will corrode any aluminum it comes in contact with so make 100% sure that the aio you are looking at comes with a SOLID copper or nickel block. Not nickel plated Not copper plated. This thing is in the heart of your machine if it goes it takes the entire ship with it.

I see on your list you have the 9900k at 530, that's a good joke, GFL finding one for 530. Same with the GPU. If you're on a strict budget you're already over it. No You've blown by it by a lot. You're listed at 3k Not including the thermal paste, the premium on the parts you want, and last but not least Taxes and shipping.

Lastly for some one looking to overclock that's some pretty tame ram you have on your list and 16 gigs really isn't enough for anyone, you want to be looking at 32 gigs and your mobo should be able to automatically clock your ram to 3600 (if the ram is rated for it). It would really suck to have a 400 mobo, 600 cpu, 1500 gpu and get bottle necked on ram.

You may want to look at getting something closer to the asus e-gaming mobo, I doubt it can overclock as high as the hero or up but it can overclock and in reality with out massive cooling you wont be able to push your chip very far. And unless you plan on gaming on a 4k monitor in 4k there really is no reason to have a 2080 ti when an overclocked 1080 ti is almost just as good. **Note: I'm only suggesting this because you said you're on a max 3200 budget**

Another thing to point out is your 850 watt psu. A minor overclocked 2080 ti 9900k 2 sticks of ram an rgb mouse and keyboard with an aio and a high end mobo you'll be pulling on average 800 watts is what the calculators are spitting out seeing how 850 is the max rating for you're chosen psu you may want to bump it up to 1000.

Then after all this one last great question. What kind of peripherals do you have? Do you even have a monitor capable of running 4k 60 hz? or 1440p at 120 or 144 or 165 hz? If your screen isnt running above 60 hz then having 80 FPS in cod is pointless. If your screen isn't capable of matching your cards performance then you're just wasting money

Ok, to start off I would like to say thanks for your help and there are a few things I need to clear up. The first one being is that I'm not going to water cool my GPU. I'm not sure why, however, I think it's going to be out of my budget anyway. With that being said what do think would be a good price for a custom water loop. The next thing is, is that I'm going to be gaming at 2k 165 Hz, which is why I need to overclock my CPU so my GPU does not get bottlenecked. I was looking at the blog post on PCPP (https://pcpartpicker.com/blog/156/geforce-rtx-2080ti-benchmarks) and if you look at the DOTA 2 benchmarks, the fps does give two shits no matter the resolution. The other thing is, I think 850 watts is going to be more than plenty. I was talking on the PCPP discord and they were saying how it measures everything at full load 100% of the time, however, it does not include overclocking so maybe. I think 850 watts is going to be fine. Ram. I didn't really want to cut corners with anything else so I ended up cutting corners on the ram. I strongly agree with you that 32 would be better, however, it's not really within my budget. OR I could take a step down to a 970 EVO and get 32 gigs of ram (It would be somthing along the lines of https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VGcwHh). What would you recomend.

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Best Overclocking Solution For i9 9900k

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rubix_1011

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