Question CPU Cooler for i7 9700K

[retab12332]

For i7 9700K, no overclocking, how is this cpu cooler for it, COOLER MASTER HYPER 212? What specs of the cooler do I need to look at?

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212S-20PK-R1-Contact-Silencio/dp/B07H25DYM3/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=be+quiet+cpu&qid=1608123740&s=electronics&sr=1-4

 

[Heartbreaker]

You can get by with a budget cooler if you don't intend to overclock. I would suggest this one as an alternative:

Amazon.com: DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX400 V2 Blue CPU Air Cooler with 4 Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan and Blue LED for Intel/AMD CPUs (AM4 Compatible): Industrial & Scientific

Buy DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX400 V2 Blue CPU Air Cooler with 4 Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan and Blue LED for Intel/AMD CPUs (AM4 Compatible): CPU Cooling Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

It's the Deepcool Gammax 400. Very similar to the Hyper 212, but with a more powerful fan, so a bit more cooling headroom if you need it, for less money.

IMO this is probably the best bang/buck cooler out there. I recently picked one up for a future build after a fair bit of research.

You really have to spend a LOT more money and get a significantly larger cooler to beat this one.

 

[retab12332]

You can get by with a budget cooler if you don't intend to overclock. I would suggest this one as an alternative:

Amazon.com: DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX400 V2 Blue CPU Air Cooler with 4 Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan and Blue LED for Intel/AMD CPUs (AM4 Compatible): Industrial & Scientific

Buy DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX400 V2 Blue CPU Air Cooler with 4 Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan and Blue LED for Intel/AMD CPUs (AM4 Compatible): CPU Cooling Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

It's the Deepcool Gammax 400. Very similar to the Hyper 212, but with a more powerful fan, so a bit more cooling headroom if you need it, for less money.

IMO this is probably the best bang/buck cooler out there. I recently picked one up for a future build after a fair bit of research.

You really have to spend a LOT more money and get a significantly larger cooler to beat this one.

May I ask what specs of a cpu cooler do I need to seek when matching it to a CPU? And also, the COOLER MASTER HYPER 212, is it like okay-ish or not good?

 

[Heartbreaker]

May I ask what specs of a cpu cooler do I need to seek when matching it to a CPU? And also, the COOLER MASTER HYPER 212, is it like okay-ish or not good?

Specs are all but useless for matching coolers to CPUs as there are no actual standards for watts produced or cooled. Your best bet is read many reviews.

Hyper 212 was a good cooler from MANY years ago, that offered good performance for the price back then.

Today it coasts on that past reputation and is not a good value.

You can get by with the Hyper 212. If you already have one, use it.

But why buy a cooler that costs more and performs worse than the Gammaxx 400. If interested in this class of cooler, the Gammaxx is the better/cheaper option.

 

[NickelPlate]

Hyper 212 is old but still works fine. My i7-9700k OCs to easily to 5Ghz at 1.35V and never gets much hotter than the mid 60s (celcius).

 

[Stuka87]

GN still shows the 212 being adequate for many CPU's.

And really, if you want to find which cooler to get based on sound levels and cooling ability, Gamers Nexus has arguably the best cooler reviews.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Specs are all but useless for matching coolers to CPUs as there are no actual standards for watts produced or cooled. Your best bet is read many reviews.

Hyper 212 was a good cooler from MANY years ago, that offered good performance for the price back then.

Today it coasts on that past reputation and is not a good value.

You can get by with the Hyper 212. If you already have one, use it.

But why buy a cooler that costs more and performs worse than the Gammaxx 400. If interested in this class of cooler, the Gammaxx is the better/cheaper option.

I could be off or mistaken, but Intel seems to top out its spec wattages at around 125W. Lesser chips could run at 95W peak. Someone said in a forum the other day that the were planning to build something with 35 to 65W peak thermal output. [What is the name of that spec? I'm having trouble with my memory lately.]

Anyway, the testers like (I think it was) Bit-tech Labs accumulate tests of dozens -- as much as a hundred -- of these coolers. They define a test bench with a processor of a certain spec maximum voltage and thermal wattage, and of course they increase that output (beyond spec) by specifying and configuring some overclock setting. All the units would have been tested for that thermal output, and they would measure the Tj's or the temperature sensors in each core under an identified stress-test program over some standard number of minutes.

Often, you might find a unit tested in one review with a select group of coolers, and those that you want to be there for evaluation are missing. So you go to another review with a similar test bench and rank-ordering of another group of coolers, which contains the cooler of interest and another cooler included in the first list. So the rank orderings together can confirm whether your cooler is better or worse than the third cooler in the other list.

And often, the comparison reviews include both AiO water-coolers and a variety of heatpipe coolers.

I've used the Hyper 212 -- more likely for some overclocked C2D processors. I think I'm using one for an i5-3500K chip, which is not overclocked. It's all fine. And IB was a departure from the practice of applying solder between the IHS and the core -- using some thermal paste concoction of Intel's. And thus there arose various incarnations of de-lidding processors or application of a liquid metal paste and then replacement of the IHS.

It all depends on whether you want to over clock, and to what limits.

 

[OlyAR15]

I could be off or mistaken, but Intel seems to top out its spec wattages at around 125W. Lesser chips could run at 95W peak.

Read Anandtech's10700 vs 10700k review, as well as the various articles linked in it. Your information is out of date. Of course, even the included stock cooler for the 10700 works, because the CPU will thermal throttle to protect itself.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Read Anandtech's10700 vs 10700k review, as well as the various articles linked in it. Your information is out of date. Of course, even the included stock cooler for the 10700 works, because the CPU will thermal throttle to protect itself.

Thanks for the reference. I found the article right away -- dated 21st of this month. Now I can see that I might want to build a Comet Lake next year. [Yes, I remember now -- the spec is called "TDP" or Thermal Design Power.]

I assume at this point, reminding myself to check later, that these Comet Lake cores don't have soldered IHS caps and can be improved with a Silicon Lottery de-lidding. And this reminds me how thermal power reached 200W in earlier generation i7 processors with over-clocking.

I had use for the Hyper 212 in machines for the family who don't care about over-clocking performance gains. Inclining toward a cooler like the TR Grand Macho is a love-hate proposition -- effectiveness versus size. I'll probably continue to love it and hate it in the future.