CPU Heatsink Opinions

[THE_EGG]

Hey peeps, I have a Corsair 280X case on order as my In Win 301 just isn't cutting for cooling . My PSU is getting cooked - almost too hot to touch. I've tried many different fan layouts and adding/removing case fans with limited improvements.

I currently use a Noctua D15S and have added a second F12 fan to the front of it for improved cooling however this will not fit in the 280X so I need some opinions.


I am currently looking at these 3 heatsinks. I'm not interested in using an AIO and I'm aware that the D15S outperforms the following heatsinks.

- Noctua U9S

- Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi

- BeQuiet! Dark Rock TF


I am leaning toward the Dark Rock TF as it seems to perform the best out of the 3 for cooling in reviews. However I am slightly concerned about how the airflow direction will work being a Top Flow/Downdraft cooler.


Out of these 3, which would you recommend?

 

[Vayra86]

The BQ Dark Rock TF just looks beastly, too, and its one of the beefiest topflow coolers you can get. If the price is alright with you, its hard to beat.

About airflow; topflow does that just fine, in fact, slightly better than towers because it also gets some nice breeze over your motherboard and most notably CPU VRM, and even some of it over the back of your GPU. The drawback of topflow is a smaller surface area for heatsinks, other than that, it has only advantages. With a smaller surface area come limitations in terms of rated TDP, and many topflow coolers also need somewhat higher fan RPM to get similar cooling performance. The BQ Dark Rock fixes that by adding more, smaller and more dense heatsinks underneath. For that, it sacrifices the low profile a TF cooler is usually picked for.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Before I gave my old personal computer to my nephew ,I bought a Cryorig based on the recommendation of another member here, i was VERY surprised at the quality,, especially after how low the price was. My vote is for Cryorig

 

[micropage7]

since you just list 3, vote for cryorig
actually i expect something with dual tower so you can max it by using 3 fans

 

[delshay]

If you are going down-draft I have both the DarkRock TF & the Noctua NH-C14S. The Noctua offers around 10c+ better performance over the Darkrock TF.

Do a search on this website as their also confirm Noctua is ahead http://www.frostytech.com/.

I find these type of heatsink performs best when you have side air vents, as it draws in it's own clean air from the side. I use this type of heatsink as it cools the memory & VRM at the same time on my classic PC.

 

[Komshija]

May I suggest Arctic Freezer 33 or Freezer 33 eSports One? They are excellent air coolers in the same class with Cryorig H7 and with very friendly price tag.

 

[phanbuey]

i like the temps of towers vs downdraft.

Especially once you close the case side panel a huge downdraft is just added weight and cost.

 

[John Naylor]

The 3 coolers you listed won't come close to the old Noc NH-D15S. If you had a heat problem then, it can only get worse.

Tho I'm lost as to how your CPU cooler makes your PSU hot

Your case has a Maximum CPU Cooler Height of 150mm

The Scythe Fuma has a height of 149mm and at $45 it equals of exceed the performance of the $90 Noctua NH-D15, Cryorig R1 Ulimate which are twice the price... It's full 10C better than your H7 option. With an extra 10C of cooling, to my eyes, the Fuma is a proverbial "no brainer".

It will have no effect on case cooling tho....

The case accommodates

Front: 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fan (1 x 120mm fan Included)
Top: 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fan (1 x 120mm fan Included)
Bottom: 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fan

As long as you have 1.5 times more intake (restricted air flow due to filters) fans than exhaust you will maintain positive case pressure. And no, I'm not talking about dust. lets say you go with (2) front and (2) top and each fan moves xx cfm

Intake Fans will produce (2) x XX cfm x 67% (33% intake restriction due to moderately dusty filters) = 1.33 XX
Intake Fans will produce (2) x XX cfm x 100% = 2.00 XX cfm

2.00 - 1.33 = 0.67 cfm coming in thru that rear case grille just above where your huge heat ouput GFX card is sitting so that hot exhaust will be sucked back into the PC.

If you fill all mounts... (2) Intakes at bottom, 92) Intakes at front and (2) exhaust at top ...

4 x 0.67 = 2.66 in and 2 x 1.00 = 3.00 out ... thet leaves 0,67 going out the back keeping GFX card exhaust from coming in

 

[cucker tarlson]

the problem is not the case, it' the psu. a quality 900w psu should never run hot in any case if all you've got hooked up to it is a 7700k and 1080Ti. That's not even half its power.

 

[FatLeeAdama]

It is sounding like a suspect PSU. Do you have another one you can test with? Also, it's starting to get warmer down under, isn't it? What are your ambient temps?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I've run both the Fuma and the Kabuto 3 on my Ryzen 1700 (65 watt TDP) that's running at 100%, 24/7. The Fuma kept it just under 50°C while the Kabuto tops out at 54°C. Best thing? I can't hear either one of them. I'm using the Kabuto because I like downdraft on systems running 100%, 24/7.

 

[THE_EGG]

PSU is OK (i thought it might be the PSU too) as I've tested it outside of the case - doesn't even get warm. The problem is that I only have 1 120mm exhaust fan which doesn't cut it and because of this, the hot air from the GPU and CPU can't escape well enough and is forced to go through the PSU. Changing my front fans to exhaust helped a little but then my SSDs/HDD became extremely hot (60C+). This is why I'm looking at a different case.

Great suggestion on the Scythe Fuma, but I can't seem to find it in Australia - I'll check with my industry contacts to see if it's possible though.

 

[THE_EGG]

Scythe is a negatory no suppliers

 

[jaggerwild]

Get a better cooling psu, an aio will only cool to ambient temps. So if the case is on fire so will the aio be.....