want opinions for cpu cooler upgrade and fan placement after i replace my current case.

[eldraco86]

going to get the lain li lancool 216 or the fractal design pop air/pop air xl(leaning towards non xl pop air). currently have a ryzen 5 3600 with no manual overclocking. generally i can only spend $300 usd or less on the cpu itself and need it to last 5 yrs before i can safely and easily consider upgrading due to my income.

the 3 coolers i'm looking at are the noctua nh-u12a, be quiet! dark rock 4, and the new evga clx aio (will prefer it on the front for the pop airs). now i have 3x asus rog strix xf120 120mm mag lev fans in my case currently. they are not even a year old and would like to use them in the case too. now the reason i'm consider the evga clx aio is the lcd display and evga's rep and support (such as warranties). not comfortable going liquid cool due to the danger of leaking even though i know it's rare except when they are truly old. the lcd display is to display temps and such info without needing a program open on my second monitor or with an overlay when gaming.

now if i'm running the clx up top i'm going to eventually get corsair ml140 140mm mag lev fans or some 140mm noctua fans. now the 216's stock fronts are not going to be removed at all not even for an aio. may put a fan (preferably a 140mm) on bottom for intake in the 216. trying to stay positive air pressure in the case while trying to use all front, top, and rear fans mounts (bottom in the 216 is optional). now i want the 140mm as intake in the front and 120mm as exhaust in top and rear. now if i get the dark rock or the 12a will follow the same idea as the clx with fan setup.

while i am willing to just do front intake and rear exhaust with nothing else. i would prefer to use as many of the top mount as possible. i don't do manual overclocking and don't really ever plan too either. trying to get the best thermal performance possible without messing with the fan, gpu, or cpu settings. my gpu upgrade policy is the same as the cpu. although not planning to get intel due to there are reports of 12th and 13th gen cpus not running some much older games (which i do play occasionally like the first warhammer 40k dawn of war) due to there cpu design of using e and p cores.

now currently my pc is running the following parts besides the 3600 and xf120s.

evga supernova 750 gt 80+ gold fully modular atx psu
g.skill ripjaws series v 16gb dual channel 3200mhz cl16 ram
asrock b550 pro4 atx motherbroad
gigabyte gtx 1660 ti oc gpu
the wraith cooler that came with my 3600
for storage i have and use them as follow:
for boot up and non game programs a western digital black sn770 250gb pcie gen4 m.2
for game storage a crucial mx500 2tb 2.5" sata ssd
for storage of my music, video, and photo collections along with where i download mods before installing them in my games a 3.5" 7200 rpm seagate barracuda hdd

now all of that is at most 2 yrs old with the 1660 ti being the oldest which i got in the summer of 2020 after the lock down ended and we got the first stimulus check in the u.s. since some 1660 tis were under $300 then. my current case is a thermaltake versa h22 mid tower atx case. it get fit any of those coolers and has terrible cable management and airflow to the 216 and pop air. although to be fair to my versa i got it in 2015 when i originally got my pc built.

please fell free to give me your opinions and ideas. those are the parts i feel comfortable getting due to the rep and support as i mentioned already for evga. "SORRY I AM NOT CONSIDERING ANY OTHER CASES, FANS, OR COOLERS SO NO OTHER SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!"

[The Rt Hon. Sir_Sampie]

Now I understand you want the best thermal performance possible, but in my opinion your components are really not going to get hot enough to be worrying about fan placement that much, but good idea to maintain positive pressure.

The 3600 runs cool, especially without an overclock and I can't imagine the 1660ti gets super hot either as long as the case isn't overly restrictive.

Both the Noctua and Be Quiet cooler are more than enough for the r5 3600. I used to use the Dark Rock 4 cooler for my old 3700x and it was both silent and did a great job cooling the chip.

I don't know much about the EVGA cooler, but I'm sure it's fine too from what I've heard and experienced from other EVGA products, obviously do your own research.

If you are thinking of using the cooler for future CPU upgrades, maybe go with whatever has the best cooling capabilities. Some of the newer chips these days run hot so going with the best in regards to cooling might be sensible.

[eldraco86]

Originally posted by Samwise Gamgee:

Now I understand you want the best thermal performance possible, but in my opinion your components are really not going to get hot enough to be worrying about fan placement that much, but good idea to maintain positive pressure.

The 3600 runs cool, especially without an overclock and I can't imagine the 1660ti gets super hot either as long as the case isn't overly restrictive.

Both the Noctua and Be Quiet cooler are more than enough for the r5 3600. I used to use the Dark Rock 4 cooler for my old 3700x and it was both silent and did a great job cooling the chip.

I don't know much about the EVGA cooler, but I'm sure it's fine too from what I've heard and experienced from other EVGA products, obviously do your own research.

If you are thinking of using the cooler for future CPU upgrades, maybe go with whatever has the best cooling capabilities. Some of the newer chips these days run hot so going with the best in regards to cooling might be sensible.

as you said modern cpus are getting hotter. then ryzen 7000 series runs at 95 degrees but design without thermal throttling. so trying to get ahead of the problem when i get a new case. even then both the 3600 and 1660 ti usually don't break 70 degrees. and the hottest i've seen either get in the versa are in the low and mid 70s.

so a modern case will do better but since i'm most likely ugrading my cpu in 2025 at the earliest unless i can get a 5600x or 5800x3d for very good prices but very doubtful. when i build a pc or upgrade certain parts (such as the psu and mobo besides fans and coolers) i try to think about upgrade ability and prepare for future issues (like temps and power draw). i do this by watching reviews and see what trends with those thing show up.

[Illusion of Progress]

IMO the NH-U12A is a bit overpriced for what it is. It's a bit more expensive than either the NH-D14/15 or especially the Dark Rock Pro 4. IMO the NH-U12A makes sense only if you really want something small and are willing to slightly sacrifice cooling and noise but still keep it close in cooling performance to the top end air coolers. Unless the small size is important, I'd chose either of the other two. The Dark Rock Pro 4 is cheaper than the NHD14/15 and they are basically comparable (IIRC the latter might be slightly better at cooling whereas the former is slightly quieter but they're both basically comparable in both areas).

I went with the Dark Rock 4 Pro for my 3700X for the reason outlined above, it was slightly cheaper than the NH-D14, and I wanted quiet (plus I didn't like the looks of the Noctua and IIRC the all Black one either wasn't available or was even more expensive than the base one at the time making the choice easier for me). But you can't go wrong with any of the three really I suppose. Either would be more than necessary for something like a 3700X or even 3600X, so you can't really choose poorly here.

I'm not sure how the EVGA one compares.

[eldraco86]

Originally posted by Illusion of Progress:

IMO the NH-U12A is a bit overpriced for what it is. It's a bit more expensive than either the NH-D14/15 or especially the Dark Rock Pro 4. IMO the NH-U12A makes sense only if you really want something small and are willing to slightly sacrifice cooling and noise but still keep it close in cooling performance to the top end air coolers. Unless the small size is important, I'd chose either of the other two. The Dark Rock Pro 4 is cheaper than the NHD14/15 and they are basically comparable (IIRC the latter might be slightly better at cooling whereas the former is slightly quieter but they're both basically comparable in both areas).

I went with the Dark Rock 4 Pro for my 3700X for the reason outlined above, it was slightly cheaper than the NH-D14, and I wanted quiet (plus I didn't like the looks of the Noctua and IIRC the all Black one either wasn't available or was even more expensive than the base one at the time making the choice easier for me). But you can't go wrong with any of the three really I suppose. Either would be more than necessary for something like a 3700X or even 3600X, so you can't really choose poorly here.

I'm not sure how the EVGA one compares.

the u12a is being consider because of its size vs it's performance. and cpu coolers when i'm not building a whole new pc is a part i'm willing ignore price vs performance to a small degree. when i first looked at it, it was cheaper by about $10 than the d15. i'm not really looking for twin tower atm though since its very doubtful i'll ever get anything that would need it to make the weight worth it for now.

but you do make valid points. i could probably get away with the vetroo v5, the deepcool ak 400, or either the be quiet! pure rock 2 or dark rock slim. i believe it's best to splurge on your cpu cooler a bit when buying it alone.

[Guydodge]

front 2 or 3 fans 1 rear and a decent cooler is all thats needed for your specs
you wont really be generating much heat.just make sure your 1660 has breathing room
with todays games thats going to be the only real heat coming from your setup.

[Illusion of Progress]

If the NH-U12A is cheaper than the NH-D14/15 and you want small, then it seems like an attractive option. Looking them up when I made that post, I was finding a spread of something like $90 for the Dark Rock Pro 4, $100 for the NH-D14/15, and $105 to $110 for the NH-U12A.

I went with the Dark Rock Pro 4 since I wanted top end air cooling given modern CPUs run warmer (I was coming from a modestly overclocked 2500K and Xigmatech HDT 1283/Dark Knight that kept it ridiculously cool). My current CPU is a 3700X which is a lower TDP, but I didn't want to compromise and like you I was willing to over-buy for the single purchase. It sort of worked out because even with PBO on I see noticeable difference in temperatures (but none in performance), hence I have been leaving with that off on my 3700X. But if I want to use it and/or if I want to upgrade my CPU, I have the option. And right now my CPU cooler is silent and keeps the 3700X very cool.

If a 5700X or especially a 5800X3D is a possibility for you before moving on from the platform entirely (I'm in the same spot and considering one or the other, more so the latter)), I'd go with something more capable. Not saying it needs to be the Dark Rock Pro 4 or NH-D14/15 though, but keep in mind Zen 3 runs warmer too.

[emoticorpse]

See what your Temps are when you get the new case then think about this?

[eldraco86]

Originally posted by emoticorpse:

See what your Temps are when you get the new case then think about this?

not getting them at the same time don't have the money atm for it. my temps are good now but want to have a better cpu cooler for when i upgrade since i can no longer count on ryzen 5 cpus to come with a stock cooler. so i rather get a better one to safe while getting better performance. my get a 5800x3d next year (if i can find one since they are hard to find now) but not sure yet.

[pasa]

As on OT request, if you chose the pop air case, please write some small review here, that's the one I'm looking at as candidate few months ahead.

As for your plan, it's very confusing what you do and why. 3600 is a 65W cpu that works fine with its stock cooler. You should not replace it in the first place, esp. on tight budget. And if you really want to burn money, any basic 100W cooler should be fine that states it's better then the stock and is cheap. What is still a waste, if you want more performance, use the money to swap up the CPU. And bother with OC only if you have one with plenty of room for that and you really need it.

Someone may be interested in our recent accident with a cooler: my friend made new config on 7900X and a huge noctua cooler. Not sure the model, looks like NH-D14. 2 big fans, one in the middle, the other on the side. The latter could not be installed at the intended position. As on the wanted side it could not go down enough touching the RAMs. On the other side it would be opposite to the case fan, but even there no space due to the motherboard stuff with high cover.
So that fan goes higher by 1-2 cm, and that is just enough to not work with the side panel. So much for carefully checking the height that worked fine on paper. :)

[eldraco86]

Originally posted by pasa:

As on OT request, if you chose the pop air case, please write some small review here, that's the one I'm looking at as candidate few months ahead.

As for your plan, it's very confusing what you do and why. 3600 is a 65W cpu that works fine with its stock cooler. You should not replace it in the first place, esp. on tight budget. And if you really want to burn money, any basic 100W cooler should be fine that states it's better then the stock and is cheap. What is still a waste, if you want more performance, use the money to swap up the CPU. And bother with OC only if you have one with plenty of room for that and you really need it.

Someone may be interested in our recent accident with a cooler: my friend made new config on 7900X and a huge noctua cooler. Not sure the model, looks like NH-D14. 2 big fans, one in the middle, the other on the side. The latter could not be installed at the intended position. As on the wanted side it could not go down enough touching the RAMs. On the other side it would be opposite to the case fan, but even there no space due to the motherboard stuff with high cover.
So that fan goes higher by 1-2 cm, and that is just enough to not work with the side panel. So much for carefully checking the height that worked fine on paper. :)

i'm not looking at what the cooler can do for my cpu right now only. but for my next upgrade also. may upgrade this year to a 5600x or 5800x3d. but what more important upgrade wise is what comes on the am5 platform in the coming years. i'm looking at it as splurge or ove rspend now save later. the cpu cooler is one part i'm am comfortable doing this with due to how long they can last. sorry for not being clearer about things.

[pasa]

Originally posted by eldraco86:

i'm not looking at what the cooler can do for my cpu right now only. but for my next upgrade also. may upgrade this year to a 5600x or 5800x3d. but what more important upgrade wise is what comes on the am5 platform in the coming years. i'm looking at it as splurge or ove rspend now save later. the cpu cooler is one part i'm am comfortable doing this with due to how long they can last. sorry for not being clearer about things.

But in effect you do the opposite: you spend now that will not save anything later. Also not gain anything now. But tie up your resources and later limit your options.

Put the money to some actual good use. Or just stash it. When you finally get that next CPU, then is the proper time to buy the cooler that is optimal for that exact piece and fits the case you have at that time.

Being eager to just buy something for the buying sake is not economic.