Air cooler for Ryzen 5800X

[ORLY]

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.

 

[Night]

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.

 

[milewski1015]

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

 

[toilet pepper]

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.

 

[SL2]

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.

 

[GerKNG]

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.

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)

 

[oldwalltree]

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

 

[damric]

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.

 

[ORLY]

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?).

 

[jesdals]

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

 

[AsRock]

A lot of cooler for around $60 ( Funa2 )

Scythe | CPU Cooler | Fuma 2 | United States

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.

 

[freeagent]

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..

 

[milewski1015]

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.

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.

 

[Selaya]

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.

 

[milewski1015]

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.

 

[freeagent]

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.

 

[Selaya]

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.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

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.

 

[Selaya]

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.

 

[jboydgolfer]

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

 

[Deleted member 205776]

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.

 

[neatfeatguy]

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.

 

[freeagent]

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

 

[milewski1015]

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.

 

[Lindatje]

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.