Custom/After Market CPU Coolers...Needed at Stock Speeds?

[Forgotten031511]

FYI: System Specs in Signature

Just wanted to hear some thoughts on rather a customer CPU Cooler is needed on CPU's with stock speeds in large cases with good air flow...thoughts?

Always looking to upgrade the PC to make it last longer and perform better...

 

[Ecky]

Stock speed with good airflow? Stock cooler should work fine. Intel designs their stock cooler to be sufficient for stock clocks on their CPUs.

If you'd like an aftermarket cooler, the biggest consideration (IMO) is going with a brand that includes a high quality fan. Coolermaster's Hyper212 provides excellent cooling for a reasonable price, but unfortunately, it is also louder than Intel's stock cooler at idle and partial loads because the cheap fan that is included is noisy even at low RPM, and Intel includes an excellent fan with their stock cooler.

 

[madmatt30]

^ err no mate , no way would I ever consider the evo noisy at low or high loads , if you've found that you had a bad one.

 

[Ecky]

The EVO's fan has a lot of bearing noise at 800-1200RPM. Compared with a Yate Loon or Noctua fan, it's terribly noisy. However, your tolerance for noise may be much higher than mine, or you might have a lot more white noise in your room, which would make this irrelevant.

Point is, though, that Intel includes a fan on their CPU that is objectively quieter at the same airflow than most fans included with cheap aftermarket coolers.

 

[Forgotten031511]

I don't want anything cheep, if I upgrade to after market cooler I would get a good one.

Noise is not such a large deal as my CS Cosmos S case has sound dampening walls. I need to look at the lights to see if the PC is on, even in a dead silent room.

 

[Ecky]

The stock cooler is fine if not overclocking. If you you have a case window and are primarily upgrading for aesthetic reasons, you should choose one based on aesthetics, which I can't advise on.

 

[madmatt30]

What board are you actually using ?? While I don't dislike the evo (at its price point it's good) there are better coolers by raijintek & thermaltake at a similar price.

While the Intel stock coolers are fairly good you'll still see 70c temps under heavy loads (still well within spec) , with a half decent 120mm/140mm cooler you'll pretty much max out in the low 50's , which can only be a good thing.

Do you need an aftermarket cooler really - no

I personally don't use stock coolers full stop myself be they amd or Intel , I have virtually no tolerance for fan noise whatsoever

 

[Forgotten031511]

The stock cooler is fine if not overclocking. If you you have a case window and are primarily upgrading for aesthetic reasons, you should choose one based on aesthetics, which I can't advise on.

Thanks for the input, but PLEASE READ before posting. My case is in system specs and I also shared it is noise-proofed...no windows.

 

[Forgotten031511]

What board are you actually using ?? While I don't dislike the evo (at its price point it's good) there are better coolers by raijintek & thermaltake at a similar price.

While the Intel stock coolers are fairly good you'll still see 70c temps under heavy loads (still well within spec) , with a half decent 120mm/140mm cooler you'll pretty much max out in the low 50's , which can only be a good thing.

Do you need an aftermarket cooler really - no

I personally don't use stock coolers full stop myself be they amd or Intel , I have virtually no tolerance for fan noise whatsoever

My MB is the GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z97X-Gaming 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709

 

[RobCrezz]

Depends on the CPU.

With the higher end Haswell/DC cpus, I would still get a aftermarket cooler just because they have the potential to thermal throttle and have a lower potential performance when using the stock cooler. Where as with a good cooler it will not throttle giving you full performance even under heavy load.

 

[madmatt30]

Im in complete agreement with robcrezz , you get the same cooler with the 4690k as you do with the 4440/4460 which are clocked lower - while they will max out mid 60's , the 4690k will hit 70c+ under heavy load.
You have a great rig , sure that another $30 or so won't break the bank?
The raijintek themis & cryorig h7 would both be good choices with zero board interference & should see Max temps of around 55c.

 

[Forgotten031511]

Cost isn't an issue, I was just curious on the thoughts...I'll add a cooler shortly

Thanks!

 

[Ecky]

70-80c is a non-issue for these CPUs; they run at those temperatures for decades safely. Throttling does not happen until ~100c, and that's not not realistically going to happen in non-torture-testing situations, and generally not even then.

For what it's worth.