# Air cooler for Ryzen 5800X



## ORLY (Apr 19, 2021)

Hello there, I'm thinking of buying a 5800X CPU, but I will need a cooler for it.
Everybody knows that coolers have troubles dealing with Ryzen 3000 & 5000 since those processors' cores are really small and they manage to get red-hot faster than they manage to pass the heat to the cooler. Moreover, they're located in a specific way which also makes them harder to cool.
I can buy a Noctua NH-D15, but is it worth it when it comes to cooling a 7 nm processor? I mean, it's not as efficient with it as it is with 14 nm processors because of the cores size.

I don't plan to manually overclock my CPU, but if my CPU cooler is able to also manage something like a 5900X - it will be a pleasant bonus, but it's not a must, especially if my CPU cooler won't be expensive. But again - I can spend the price of a Noctua NH-D15 if it's absolutely worth it.

So please help me choose. Thank you for your time.


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## Night (Apr 19, 2021)

Have you considered Arctic Freezer II 240 mm AIO? It costs the same but it's going to do a better job at cooling, it also performs better than most of other AIOs at same sizes. I found it for $100 on Amazon, same as NH-D15. You have to be careful about fitment though, it probably has the thickest radiator of all AIOs (38 mm thick). I'd suggest an AIO over air cooling for 5800X because of its 105W TDP. Also pretty sure it can keep 5900X cool as well.


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## milewski1015 (Apr 19, 2021)

What is worth it for you can't be decided by us. You could spend less money and get something not as good as the NH-D15, but it might come at the cost of higher thermals and noise levels. What are you using the system for? If it's workstation-focused and you're planning on hammering it with sustained multicore workloads all the time, than opting for a more expensive cooler is probably the way to go. If you're just building a gaming rig, you could probably get away with something a little more budget-friendly since you're likely not putting as much load on the CPU. It's worth noting that AMD's boost algorithms take advantage of cooler temperatures. The cooler your CPU is, the higher it will try and push the frequency. 

I agree with Night. The Arctic Liquid Freezer line is a great bang for the buck option when compared to other AIOs. In terms of pure cooling potential, an AIO takes longer to reach steady state and keeps temperatures lower than air coolers. However, that tends to come at the cost of greater potential for failure (leak, fluid evaporation, air in the pump, etc.), whereas with air coolers, all you really have to worry about is the fan failing, which is easily replaceable for a lot less money. 

We don't know what case you have, what your motherboard clearances look like, how tall your RAM is, etc., so it's difficult to make a recommendation.

Fill out your system specs here to make everyone's life a little easier: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/account/specs


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## toilet pepper (Apr 19, 2021)

I'm using the 5800x and an ID-Cooling SE234 and it gets to 90C at auto. By default, these processors really like to be cool and boost until they get to 90C then throttle the clocks from there. I just fiddled with Curve Optimizer and the PPT/EDC to make it decent.

I cant compare it to an AIO since I cant fit one in my case but I guess it will be heaps better.


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## Mats (Apr 19, 2021)

If you want to save some money without getting lower performance you should check out Zalman CNPS20X. $20 lower in the US, €15 lower in europe.











						Zalman CNPS20X Review - The Noctua Killer?
					

Zalman looks to KO the juggernauts of the air-cooling world with their CNPS 20X. Using a fancy 4D stereoscopic corrugated fin design along with their unique dual-blade spider ARGB fans, they are not only looking to deliver on performance but visual style as well.




					www.techpowerup.com
				






GN is trying to downplay it due to some old beef they've got going on with Zalman (who is the one to blame), but the numbers don't lie (even though GN's verdict basically does). It's high performing cooler.


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## GerKNG (Apr 19, 2021)

ORLY said:


> Hello there, I'm thinking of buying a 5800X CPU, but I will need a cooler for it.
> Everybody knows that coolers have troubles dealing with Ryzen 3000 & 5000 since those processors' cores are really small and they manage to get red-hot faster than they manage to pass the heat to the cooler. Moreover, they're located in a specific way which also makes them harder to cool.
> I can buy a Noctua NH-D15, but is it worth it when it comes to cooling a 7 nm processor? I mean, it's not as efficient with it as it is with 14 nm processors because of the cores size.
> 
> ...


you can basically put everything you want on it.
the problem is not the amount of heat. it's the insane density and awful heat transfer from the cores.
the mass of a heatsink is almost irrelevant. (my 5800X runs at 85°C with a 360 AIO and a small 120mm tower cooler)

but just don't buy any asetek AIO for a Ryzen CPU (convex coldplate and IHS makes barely any contact)
CoolIt AIOs are pretty decent or a NH D15. (for headroom with overclocking. a 5800X can pull almost 200W)


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## oldwalltree (Apr 19, 2021)

Shadow Rock 3 is rated for 190w and is half the price of the D15. Check it out!


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## damric (Apr 19, 2021)

I run my wife's 5800x with an old Cooler Master TPC-612. With stock mobo settings it turbos up to 4.85GHz and runs about 70C during AVX FPU stress tests in a crowded Phanteks P400A. During her 4K Vahalla game it runs around 50C. She's getting a 360 AIO this week so we'll see if it improves, but I doubt it.


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## ORLY (Apr 19, 2021)

milewski1015 said:


> However, that tends to come at the cost of greater potential for failure (leak, fluid evaporation, air in the pump, etc.), whereas with air coolers, all you really have to worry about is the fan failing


That's exactly why I want an air cooler.

Although it's not that much about money saving for me in this particular case (I can spend those 100 US dollars if needed), AFAIK air coolers can be more or less equal at their mediocrity when it comes to handling a 7nm processor, so if it's only about 1-2°C (at full load) and I can save some bucks - it's not the worst of ideas not to pay for an expensive cooler. I mean, it's more about price-to-performance for me and I don't want that much to overpay for only a slight win.

As for how I use my PC - it's for entertainment, including games. And since I'm not an overclocker, I will be OK with AMD's auto-overclocking features (what are they called - PB2? XFR2?).


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## jesdals (Apr 19, 2021)

I used the Noctua D15-SE before my artic 360 setup - but if you have the space - the Noctua D15 is great and will performe at par with the small AIO


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## AsRock (Apr 19, 2021)

A lot of cooler for around $60 ( Funa2 )





						Scythe | CPU Cooler | Fuma 2 | United States
					

The successor of the Fuma cooler, FUMA 2 is designed with new concept and inspiration. Utilize dual Kaze Flex 120 fans with the Reverse Airflow concept, FUMA 2 offers up to 15% cooling performance than the previous version.




					www.scytheus.com
				




Don't get me wrong the NH D15 is a worthy cooler and able to keep my 3900X under 90c using Cinebench continuously running ( ambient being 31-33c ) it will give you a possible headache which is how close to the video card it be, how ever there is the Noctua NH-D15S  version which leans further way from the GPU but only has one fan for about the same price.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2021)

The new Frost Commander 140 from Thermalright is worth considering imo. Its got a silly name but it is a serious cooler. It outperforms my Le Grand Macho RT which directly compares to D15 in the TPU review, except I was using a TY-143 on mine. I don't think there any reviews on it yet, and I got mine from Aliexpress. I also own a True Spirit 140 Power, and I will never use both of those coolers on my 5600X again..


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## milewski1015 (Apr 19, 2021)

ORLY said:


> That's exactly why I want an air cooler.
> 
> Although it's not that much about money saving for me in this particular case (I can spend those 100 US dollars if needed), AFAIK air coolers can be more or less equal at their mediocrity when it comes to handling a 7nm processor, so if it's only about 1-2°C (at full load) and I can save some bucks - it's not the worst of ideas not to pay for an expensive cooler. I mean, it's more about price-to-performance for me and I don't want that much to overpay for only a slight win.


Agreed. Maybe I'll get an AIO one day just to give them a try but with so many of them being significantly more expensive for only a couple degrees cooler, it's often just not worth it when adding that on to the limited lifespan. Not to mention my 2600 doesn't need an AIO by any means - the Dark Rock 4 I have on there now is more than enough.



ORLY said:


> As for how I use my PC - it's for entertainment, including games. And since I'm not an overclocker, I will be OK with AMD's auto-overclocking features (what are they called - PB2? XFR2?).


I'd take note of @weekendgeek's comment. Looks like the NH-D15 is only just keeping the multicore temps in check, and that's after dropping down to a 95W TDP mode. Granted, you won't be hitting the CPU like that when gaming, but I would guess that letting PBO and all that do their thing at 125W you'd be seeing higher than the reported 55-65C temps while gaming. Obviously there are other factors that come into play like case airflow, CPU cooler fan speed, ambient temp, etc. That said, you mgiht be able to get away with one of the midrange coolers like the Mugen 5, Shadow Rock 3, etc.


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## Selaya (Apr 19, 2021)

Do note that the Fuma 2's fans max out at rather low RPMs - while they're great for being silent it does mean that you lose the on-demand extra performance should you need/want that. Otherwise it is a great dual stack cooler. Something to keep in mind.


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## milewski1015 (Apr 19, 2021)

Selaya said:


> Do note that the Fuma 2's fans max out at rather low RPMs - while they're great for being silent it does mean that you lose the on-demand extra performance should you need/want that. Otherwise it is a great dual stack cooler. Something to keep in mind.


Thank you. I see a lot of people recommending the FUMA 2 without mentioning this caveat. However, given that OP isn't going to be overclocking and will likely be hanging around or sitting below the advertised 125W TDP of the 5800X, the FUMA 2 should be adequate.





You can see here the FUMA 2's fans are running at 1170 RPM and are maxed out (product page specs both fans at max 1200 RPM), while the NH-D15 still has approximately 500 RPM of headroom to play with (NF-A15s top out at 1500 RPM) to further increase performance. Granted, this is on a ~200W heat load which the 5800X shouldn't be anywhere near left to its own devices.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2021)

All cooling reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. You may get better results, or you may get worse. It depends on your setup and environment.


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## Selaya (Apr 19, 2021)

Actually the 5800X would probably behave the same if not worse since it still has higher thermal density than a 200W OC on a 3950X.


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 19, 2021)

5800X is the hottest running chip in the entire Zen 3 lineup, so good cooling is preferred.

If you want to go air cooling, a NH-D15 performs about the same as a 360mm AIO. Also comes with a tube of NT-H1 paste, 6 year warranty, free socket mount upgrades, quiet fan, and quality customer support. I'd say the premium is worth it, talking from experience. I can't recommend the Fuma 2 here as, while it is a great value for money cooler performing as good as the NH-D15 sometimes, once you start putting it on hotter and hotter chips, it starts to lose performance due to its size limitations.

If you want to go AIO, I can only recommend Arctic's Liquid Freezer II 280mm/360mm. Arctic recently extended the warranty to 6 years, and the radiator is 38mm thick as opposed to 25mm of most AIOs. The fans on it are also super good and quiet, and it is great value for money.

Of course, make sure you have clearance for either, and that your case is ventilated properly.


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## Selaya (Apr 19, 2021)

Yeah, no.
The biggest bottleneck of the FUMA 2 are by far its slow fans. The tower, while small doesnt contribute all that much to it. You can clearly see it performing quite competitively during noise-normalised tests. However, once you try to jam up the RPM you'll find that there's no headroom left so you're stuck at the 1,200 RPM cap there.


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## jboydgolfer (Apr 19, 2021)

i really like my new Noctua NH-U12A . its dead silent, & very capable. i can OC my 11700k over 5Ghz & it manages to stay under 75c


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 19, 2021)

Selaya said:


> Yeah, no.
> The biggest bottleneck of the FUMA 2 are by far its slow fans. The tower, while small doesnt contribute all that much to it. You can clearly see it performing quite competitively during noise-normalised tests. However, once you try to jam up the RPM you'll find that there's no headroom left so you're stuck at the 1,200 RPM cap there.


Guess I must've remembered it wrong, all I recall is the Fuma 2 not performing well on hotter chips.


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## neatfeatguy (Apr 19, 2021)

I'm rocking a Noctua NH-U9S with my 5900x.

When I'm transcoding the temps flirt with 90C. When heavy gaming the temps sit around 80C.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2021)

My last two coolers are great with older style CPUs.. and they do ok with 7nm but the CPU can still get pretty hot when overclocking. This new one handles it no problem.. If guys are worried about 125w over 8 cores, try 130w through 6 

Its the same cores, more power, less cores.. I know how hot these can get


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## milewski1015 (Apr 19, 2021)

Vanny said:


> Guess I must've remembered it wrong, all I recall is the Fuma 2 not performing well on hotter chips.


Yeah, they're agreeing with you, just pointing out that it's the low speed of the fans that are the issue, not the smaller tower size. 

100% fan speed at ~200W instead of noise-normalized like I shared earlier:




NH-D15 runs 5C cooler. Whether that increase in noise (up to 44 dBa vs. the 34 dBa of the FUMA 2) and price is worth it is up to the buyer.


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## Lindatje (Apr 19, 2021)

An 5800x here with a Dark Rock Pro 4 and is not going to pass 77C with cinebench R20/23.
With gaming it is ~56C. All stock out of the box.


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## toilet pepper (Apr 19, 2021)

I've been watching this guy because of my NR200p build and he has a roundup of coolers for the 5800x.


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 19, 2021)

milewski1015 said:


> Yeah, they're agreeing with you, just pointing out that it's the low speed of the fans that are the issue, not the smaller tower size.
> 
> 100% fan speed at ~200W instead of noise-normalized like I shared earlier:
> View attachment 197413
> ...


I run my NH-D15S at 1100 rpm max. Keeps my 3900X at ~63C in the most demanding games, and about 75C in Cinebench. Makes the cooler almost inaudible (though Noctua fans make a pleasant noise) so it's a good balance. I can see why noise would become a problem at higher TDP than the locked 142W though.


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## Roy Makay (Apr 16, 2022)

damric said:


> I run my wife's 5800x with an old Cooler Master TPC-612. With stock mobo settings it turbos up to 4.85GHz and runs about 70C during AVX FPU stress tests in a crowded Phanteks P400A. During her 4K Vahalla game it runs around 50C. She's getting a 360 AIO this week so we'll see if it improves, but I doubt it.


I have this TPC612. What temperatures did you get? Did you notice any difference between the TPC 612 and the new 360 AIO?


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## damric (Apr 16, 2022)

Roy Makay said:


> I have this TPC612. What temperatures did you get? Did you notice any difference between the TPC 612 and the new 360 AIO?


The AIO works well, at least for her normal gaming workloads keeping the transient temperature in check. I'll have to run the same tests to see a comparison and I'll get back to you. I also have a TPC-812 on one of my other Ryzens, and two other Ryzens under custom water loops lol.


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 16, 2022)

Air Coolers, 

Thermalright ARO-M14O/G, True Spirit 140. Scythe Mugen Max, Ashura.

Maybe DeepCool 140


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## Taraquin (Apr 18, 2022)

toilet pepper said:


> I've been watching this guy because of my NR200p build and he has a roundup of coolers for the 5800x.


Interesting to see the DRP4 outperform D15. Seems D15 is not able to handle the rapid heat build up s good as many other coolers.


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## Roy Makay (Apr 18, 2022)

Taraquin said:


> Interessante ver o DRP4 superar o D15. Parece que o D15 não é capaz de lidar com a rápida acumulação de calor como muitos outros coolers.


Cooler Master MA612 seems to be a good single tower.










Can it handle a 12700k or 9500x without overclocking?

Would using a dual tower be overkill?

I see a lot of reviews using the NH - U12A.


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## freeagent (Apr 18, 2022)

Thermalright FC140 is an awesome air cooler. You can find them on Amazon, but if not there is a lot on AliExpress.


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## Taraquin (Apr 19, 2022)

Roy Makay said:


> Cooler Master MA612 seems to be a good single tower.
> 
> View attachment 244013
> 
> ...


Not sure, but it seems like U12A performs excellent on Zen 2 and 3, although GPU is worse off. It often outperforming larger coolers that should perform better like D15 on Zen2\3. Seems it can soak up a lot of concentrated heat fast.


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## Athlonite (Apr 19, 2022)

R7 5800X here too using an Cryorig R1 Universal along with a coupe of tweaks to the PPT/EDC and an all core 4775MHz clock I runs 75c on CB23 multi so basically any decent 140mm cooler will do if you also teak the PPT/EDC settings right and lower the stock voltage a wee bit because it's set way to high.
feel free to check out this thread right here on TPU

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...-3-chips-pbo-settings-temperature-fix.283776/

it's very informative and the teaks actually work well


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## bug (Apr 19, 2022)

I know this isn't what you have asked, but my 12600k is basically the same as a 5800X and it only takes a cheap Arctic Freeze 34 to cool.
Idk whether you already have the motherboard or what prices you can get for parts tho.

Keep in mind a 5800X, while hard(est) to cool, will work just fine with "stock" cooling. It just won't boost as high and it will throttle earlier.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2022)

bug said:


> Keep in mind a 5800X, while hard(est) to cool, will work just fine with "stock" cooling.


There is no stock cooler for anything after a 5600X


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## bug (Apr 19, 2022)

freeagent said:


> There is no stock cooler for anything after a 5600X


Hence the quotes 
I meant cheap, no frills cooler.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2022)

bug said:


> Hence the quotes
> I meant cheap, no frills cooler.


I’m not sure how well that will work, a cheap bottom of the barrel cooler. I have an older Le Grand Macho RT on my 5600X. That cooler on older hardware was the best cooler I had ever owned. 32nm no problem, 22nm was a bit warmer, and with 7nm it struggles. I can still run near it’s limit, but with 7nm it gets warm at the top end.


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## bug (Apr 19, 2022)

freeagent said:


> I’m not sure how well that will work, a cheap bottom of the barrel cooler. I have an older Le Grand Macho RT on my 5600X. That cooler on older hardware was the best cooler I had ever owned. 32nm no problem, 22nm was a bit warmer, and with 7nm it struggles. I can still run near it’s limit, but with 7nm it gets warm at the top end.


And that's exactly what I said: the CPU will be a bit constrained thermally. But it will work, modern CPUs are that smart.


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## TheCzar (Apr 19, 2022)

For the 5800x i can only recommend a dual tower air cooler, 
Thermalright PA120: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Review | Overclock.net
Thermalright FC140
Deepcool AK620
and finally Scythe fuma 2 rev. B.
depending on your budget and case size can go either  of these dual towers.


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## The red spirit (Apr 19, 2022)

Alpenföhn Brocken 3. Or basically the biggest hunk of metal that you can find as cheap as you can.


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 19, 2022)

freeagent said:


> I’m not sure how well that will work, a cheap bottom of the barrel cooler. I have an older Le Grand Macho RT on my 5600X. That cooler on older hardware was the best cooler I had ever owned. 32nm no problem, 22nm was a bit warmer, and with 7nm it struggles. I can still run near it’s limit, but with 7nm it gets warm at the top end.


The ARO M14G is a Macho Cooler, handles the 5800 flawlessly and max stock boost is only 100MHz difference from the 5800X.


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## freeagent (Apr 19, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> The ARO M14G is a Macho Cooler, handles the 5800 flawlessly and max stock boost is only 100MHz difference from the 5800X.


Hmm.. well I have some new TIM waiting for me at home, maybe I will give it a fresh smear this weekend.


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 20, 2022)

freeagent said:


> Hmm.. well I have some new TIM waiting for me at home, maybe I will give it a fresh smear this weekend.


I used Kryonaut but i wouldnt be surprised if mx4 and AS5 do well


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## freeagent (Apr 20, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> I used Kryonaut but i wouldnt be surprised if mx4 and AS5 do well


I am using AS5 right now., I might have went a bit thin.. this weekend I will slap some SYY-157 on. It’s fairly cheap and works pretty well.


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 20, 2022)

freeagent said:


> I am using AS5 right now., I might have went a bit thin.. this weekend I will slap some SYY-157 on. It’s fairly cheap and works pretty well.


I got in habbit of twisting hsf when i put them on


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## Mussels (Apr 20, 2022)

As someone who's tested this: quality 120mm air coolers (and bigger) will actually work just fine for stock speeds, or PBO if tweaked
I used a be quiet dark rock slim while my water loop was out (it's on my 3700x normally) and it did the job just fine, and quietly.


Any noctua or be quiet! dark rock, will handle it fine.


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## Taraquin (Apr 20, 2022)

Mussels said:


> As someone who's tested this: quality 120mm air coolers (and bigger) will actually work just fine for stock speeds, or PBO if tweaked
> I used a be quiet dark rock slim while my water loop was out (it's on my 3700x normally) and it did the job just fine, and quietly.
> 
> 
> Any noctua or be quiet! dark rock, will handle it fine.


Dark rock slim performed good on 5600X, changing to a D15 only improved allcore speed by 50-75MHz. Going from Wraith stealth to DRS improved allcore speed by over 200MHz


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