Exploring options to cool AM4 Ryzen 3k

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Don't think Prolimatech Megahalems will make an adapter kit so I'm looking for the best possible heat reducing heat sink. Could care less about the fan noise, I'll probably remove it and place a fan on my GPU aiming it towards the HS, RAM, VRMs.

My other option is to rebuild my custom loop. Seems the HK4.0 is a fantastic block and I'll probably go with that.

My case will be a Corsair, EDIT: 800D not the 900D, if I do a loop, if I go air cooled it'll be a Lian Li..

Thanks for your time

 

[PClark99]

I use an EVGA clc 240 and it works well and is a snap to install. If your case can fit it I highly recommend it.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Thanks, but I already have a custom loop with extra parts. AIO systems have gotten better I imagine but I went with a custom loop a while ago and having the loop + extra angles & parts for me is probably the best way to go for water cooling.

Thanks!

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you want a HSF I would recommend either NH-d15 or Dark Rock Pro 4. Custom water should do better though.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'm going to put those on my build list for Ryzen. My motherboard arrived last Tuesday (July 16th, 19') I'm currently backing up and rethinking the longevity for the AM4 socket for future CPU drop-ins. If the motherboard shows a delta between mainstream mb performance with overclocking then I might keep it but I haven't seen any reviews with the board yet, and it seems all Ryzen 3k chips are clocking about the same.

 

[Ajay]

Unless you are doing an all-core overclock with heavy loads, I think the NH-D15, based on what I’ve read/watched so far. I have the D15 on one of my overclocked hexacores and the load temps rock.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If I continue with the build it will be a gaming rig and I normally do an all core overclock when I overclock. Hyper Threading will be off, and it will be under windows ultimate performance profile

 

[Ajay]

If I continue with the build it will be a gaming rig and I normally do an all core overclock when I overclock. Hyper Threading will be off, and it will be under windows ultimate performance profile

Games don't stress all cores to their max, well maybe AOS does . So I still think you'll be fine with a D15. Good luck with your build! Oh, I recommend air cooling over AIOs because I've never had an air cooler die (even with 27x7x365 doing FAH-CPU). I've had two Corsair AIOs die on me, one was running 24x7, the other was not.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Some great suggestions, thanks! Depending on where the build goes an option to use the Prism cooler is still an option. I'm thinking about a PCIe drive instead of using my SATA drives so that will cut into the cost of things. I'm still not sure what CPU I'll be going with. Hmm

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What about cooling without overclocking? I finally picked up a Ryzen chip, the 3800X, and I'm wondering if I would need an aftermarket HS&F if I'm not overclocking it at all. I did pick up a NH-D15S but I'm having problems with the price match. I know it sounds funny that it's after the fact that I bought it but Micro Center told me they would price match $79.95, when I got home the receipt didn't match the price-match. I overlooked it because I was buying a few other things, besides the CPU, also while trying to do a money transfer on my phone at the counter so I could pay for it. So now I'm thinking do I really need a cooler for it?

 

[crashtech]

Man, if you already have a custom loop, it would seem a no-brainer to cool it that way. I mean, it's definitely more work, but not a lot of parts, just a block adapter and retention hardware.

But to answer your question, I think the stock cooler would work for things that aren't to CPU intensive.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Drove back tonight to return it and they realized I was right. They issued the difference from their price to the price match, so I'll be giving the D15 a test run. The cooling fins seem awfully flimsy compared to the MegaHalems. Pulling it out of the box the first time and the fins bent a little but I bent the back perfectly straight. How awful, lol. I still think, however that I'll just run it stock for now. No boost, no nothing, just a solid 3.9GHz on all the cores to get a baseline of the difference between my i7-970 and this 3800X. When I do begin to fiddle with it I'll start with the Memory and IF

EDIT: I am gonna use the 900D in-case I decided to go h20

 

[DrMrLordX]

@BTRY B 529th FA BN

Superior cooling may give your chip a better chance of higher/longer boost clocks in default operating mode.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

@BTRY B 529th FA BN

Superior cooling may give your chip a better chance of higher/longer boost clocks in default operating mode.

I'll eventually get into using boost and all that other Jazz I'd like to just get a comfortable knowledge of it's behavior without any of the added features CPUs do nowadays like Boost, the PBO thing, etc. I kinda want to see how cool it'll remain at a static 3.9GHz with the NH-D15. I ignored my temps till mid summer with my i7-970 and then seen my chip was > 70*c while gaming. I was a little surprised.

What's the cliff notes on things for Ryzen on Windows 10? Is Ryzen Master necessary? Is that Ryzen power plan necessary? What else is there?


Thanks

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'll eventually get into using boost and all that other Jazz I'd like to just get a comfortable knowledge of it's behavior without any of the added features CPUs do nowadays like Boost, the PBO thing, etc. I kinda want to see how cool it'll remain at a static 3.9GHz with the NH-D15.

I've seen reviewers do 4.2 GHz static with a 3900x on an NH-d15 (albeit with temps in the 80s), so 3.9 should be achieveable on a 3800x. My 3900x will do 3.9 GHz at probably 1.15v depending on the workload. 1.2v easily. It seems that 3800xs are binned a little better so you should see the same or better behavior out of a 3800x.

Boost behavior is much improved with AGESA 1.0.0.3ABBA, so depending on your workload, you may prefer default behavior to static. I think my gaming performance is now better using default (and some funny tricks with LLC and offsets), but my full MT performance is somewhat better with static clocks. I think an NH-d15 should at least get you to 4.2-4.3 GHz static which is where MT performance starts to pull away from updated boost behavior.

What's the cliff notes on things for Ryzen on Windows 10? Is Ryzen Master necessary? Is that Ryzen power plan necessary? What else is there?

Ryzen Master is not necessary, but it's very useful. Just be warned that if you use it to tweak any memory settings that it will lock out some settings in your UEFI. You will be unable to change them with anything but Ryzen Master until you uninstall Ryzen Master and reflash your UEFI. Ryzen power plans come with the chipset drivers (which you will want), and for my uses, the Ryzen Performance plan is the best. Most people have been messing with Ryzen Balanced, but if all you want is raw performance . . .

Anyway, just make sure you install the latest chipset drivers, and make sure you have 1.0.0.3ABBA as your AGESA version (check the UEFI, it should tell you). Set Ryzen Performance power plan and you'll be good to go. I can make recommendations on LLC settings later, though that may be board-specific.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I've dived deep with my power plans trying to eek out as much performance as possible with this old rig so I'll be looking very closely at what changes in the registry with their plans. From what I was reading before the old plan was causing monitoring software to increase the clock speeds, and thus the heat, of the core running the software due to the polling rate set in the registry so with the updated power plan the polling rate was reverted back to 15ms from 1ms, and if I'm correct it's back to the default window polling rate. So I'm assuming manually editing the power plans, namely the "Ultimate Performance" plan might just be the same as what AMD had originally intended.

I'm a guy who does everything from the bios. Are they calling the bios 'UEFI' these days?

 

[DrMrLordX]

I've dived deep with my power plans trying to eek out as much performance as possible with this old rig so I'll be looking very closely at what changes in the registry with their plans. From what I was reading before the old plan was causing monitoring software to increase the clock speeds, and thus the heat, of the core running the software due to the polling rate set in the registry so with the updated power plan the polling rate was reverted back to 15ms from 1ms, and if I'm correct it's back to the default window polling rate. So I'm assuming manually editing the power plans, namely the "Ultimate Performance" plan might just be the same as what AMD had originally intended.

A lot of the "OMG 1.5v/50C idle" stuff was a big misunderstanding. Your chip is generally not going to kill itself @ idle, even with the Ryzen High Performance plan. Fwiw I never really had problems with the behavior of my chip @ idle.

I'm a guy who does everything from the bios. Are they calling the bios 'UEFI' these days?

Technically we've been on UEFI since the FM2+ days, if not earlier. Motherboards don't actually use a BIOS anymore.

 

[aigomorla]

AIO systems have gotten better I imagine but I went with a custom loop a while ago and having the loop + extra angles & parts for me is probably the best way to go for water cooling.

YES...
CLC is always >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AIO.

They havent really learned or progressed anything in an AIO
They still mostly use Thin rads.
They still come with really bad fans.
They still have terrible flow due to the weak pump.
Most of them are even improperly Bleed, so it wrecks the efficiency of it, should you want to mount one horizontal with rad up top.

All they have done is make them more blingy with more LED's.

I still only recommend a AIO if and only if you have height clearance, or you have a nice spot up front to mount the radiator at.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Which orientation does the NH-D15 mount onto the plate? Seems one side is wider than the other.

EDIT: nm, looks like the oblong part should be on the top side which will direct the fan towards the "Exhaust" part of the case

 

[DrMrLordX]

@BTRY B 529th FA BN

The modern NH-D15 design - the "offset" one introduced with the NH-D15S - is set up to give RAM extra clearance. So try to get it to lean away from your RAM slots if possible. It's designed to push air towards the back of your case. You can flip it 90 degrees, but that negates the offset fin stack setup that grants extra RAM clearance.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

@BTRY B 529th FA BN

The modern NH-D15 design - the "offset" one introduced with the NH-D15S - is set up to give RAM extra clearance. So try to get it to lean away from your RAM slots if possible. It's designed to push air towards the back of your case. You can flip it 90 degrees, but that negates the offset fin stack setup that grants extra RAM clearance.

I think I have it mounted the best way. I've got the offset/oblong part on the top part of the motherboard and away from the first PCIe slot. Both sides offer substantial RAM clearance.

EDIT: and for the longest time I thought I had the 900D Obsidian, I have the 800D Obsidian. Just checked my order-list. Bought it back in 2009 Wish I would of bought the USB 3.0 front i/o panel back then, ooof

 

[DrMrLordX]

Oh okay. That's actually the default method. Yes, they also offset both the fin stacks "upwards" a bit for improved PCIe clearance. But if you look at it, it leans one way further than the other (left/right) to get the third fan away from the RAM sticks. Because you can mount 3 fans on the thing, which I have done mind you.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

It's also offset left to right? It seems even to me?

I'm currently not planning on using the single fan configuration with their fan. I don't think I've ever used the mounting brackets for use of a fan on any heat-sink. I might give it a try down the road but I'm going to see how well some fans sitting on the GPU card facing the HS and RAM work. I've got some old 140mm Cougar fans that are excellent 140mm Cougar It doesn't look pretty but it's just as effective. I broke out my old San Ace 38mm X 120mm fans a month ago cause it was too hot in my computer room and this is how it looks. Be warned, you can't unsee it, lol, but the cougars will make a cleaner look on the new build.

 

[DrMrLordX]

San Ace fans are beastly. Don't worry, I had two of those 3000 rpm industialPPC fans on my NH-d15 (plus the stock fan) and while it didn't look too bad . . . the noise, oh my.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

San Ace fans are beastly. Don't worry, I had two of those 3000 rpm industialPPC fans on my NH-d15 (plus the stock fan) and while it didn't look too bad . . . the noise, oh my.

Yeah they are crazy loud at full throttle. Fortunately I have a Nexus 4 fan speed 3.5" controller that I've been using and it's manageable without enclosing the case