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Upgrading CPU Cooler for 12600k

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djslam21

Joined
Jan 4, 2025
Messages
84 (0.47/day)
with my old sistem I was using Noctua NH D-15 Choromax black ( for 12400f + b660m-a) Bought 12600k with z690 mobo. Is it worth going for Artic Freezer 3 or other AIOs for 12600k for Noctua will be enough?
 
The Noctua should be ok, PS120EVO is a damn good cooler, and way smaller. Thermalright also makes pretty good AIOs. I have a couple, and a bunch of their air coolers.
 
more than enough, I have a Noctua U12A on my 12600k with no issues and the CPU hardly pushes the cooler
 
12600K doesn't have a high power draw and it's designed to turbo to 100c. Don't see a reason why to go with a AIO unless it's just for looks.
 
djslam21 said:
Turbo to 100c?
is that possible with 3aaa games?
Click to expand...
Yes Intel designed for the thermal throttle to be 100c. It will either reach that target turbo or hit 100c. Only time Ive seen above 80 is with a tiny 90mm cooler... Or prime95 which isn't really a application for normal people.
 
The NH-D15 is fine.
You can overclock the 12600k to the moon with it.

12th gens flatness out of the box is bad.
So you rather have to take care of that than anything else.

The standard ILM will bend the cpu over time. So it gets worse not better.
A Frame helps to keep a new cpu as flat as possbile.
If you have installed a normal ILM you need months and a lot of heat cycles to "unbend" a cpu with a frame.

An AIO will not change your limit of around 5.3 Ghz allcore. And i had a LFII 420 AIO installed on an apex board at the time.
Mine is a bad bin and needs 1.42 for that.

Actually it is not overclocked and beeing cooled passively at the moment, which is on the edge of beeing possbile.
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why would you think that a mid range chip needs liquid cooling when you have one of the strongest air coolers on the planet?
you can buy a 30 dollar thermalright single tower cooler and still OC the CPU with thermal headroom.
 
D15 is still one of the best aircoolers to this day.
 
Doesn't seem necessary to me.... What do you use this cpu for? Gaming the noctua should definitely be fine and even for an all core workload... I mean its not like it has a ridiculous amount of threads like the 13900k/14900k and clock speeds are reasonable. I think it will be fine. If its not, maybe you could look into some less expensive methods like improving case airflow or reducing the wattage, or maybe double check that the contact with the cooler is tight with enough evenly spread paste to transfer the heat.
 
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you could probably go with a cheaper one then $110 air cooler, probably even something cooler master evo 212 that is 60 or so $ would probably be fine.
 
arbiter said:
you could probably go with a cheaper one then $110 air cooler, probably even something cooler master evo 212 that is 60 or so $ would probably be fine.
Click to expand...
OP has the Noctua already.
 
iameatingjam said:
Doesn't seem necessary to me.... What do you use this cpu for? Gaming the noctua should definitely be fine and even for an all core workload... I mean its not like it has the a ridiculous amount of threads like the 13900k/14900k and clock speeds are reasonable. I think it will be fine. If its not, maybe you could look into some less expensive methods like improving case airflow or reducing the wattage, or maybe double check that the contact with the cooler is tight with enough evenly spread paste to transfer the heat.
Click to expand...
for gaming mostly and I have Noctua NH d15

And of course I was so stupid bought DDR5 versionn :D
 
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