Question Is this cooler enough for a 7800X3D?

[Chicken76]

The cooler in question is the Scythe Kotetsu Mark II Rev. B

I plan to do a new build in November and the CPU will probably be a 7800X3D, as the 9800X3D will probably not be out at the time.
Why this cooler? No other reason than the fact that I already have it, paid for it and it's brand new and sealed. I bought it for another build, but ended up not needing it in the end, and I can't return it.
I have used Scythe coolers before and they seemed to have decent performance, stay pretty quiet and be reasonably priced. However, this is a rather low-end model with only 4 heat-pipes. The 7800X3D is a 120W SKU and I don't expect the 9800X3D or 11800X3D 😎 to stray far from that TDP.
The intended purpose is to play games, and although the reviews show that in games it doesn't ...blow the fuse, if I occasionally have to transcode a video with Handbrake, will this cooler be able to keep the CPU at safe temperatures?
And another question for the owners out there, does it have an ECO-mode profile, and if so, is it toggle-able via software (Ryzen Master or something else) or is the trip to the Bios mandatory?

 

[mikeymikec]

Define "enough" - before 3-4 CPU generations ago, generally CPUs would turbo briefly and their temps get up to maybe 80C at the most. More recent CPU generations turbo until they hit a much higher thermal upper limit (say 95C, close to thermal shutdown) and then clock back the turbo speed until it's within the upper limit.

My 7800X3D has a Noctua NH-D15S HSF, my brother's 7800X3D has a Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2 HSF. Mine is happy to maintain a turbo of about 4.7GHz, his is happy to maintain a turbo of 4.5GHz. There's also the quality of the chip to consider, some will turbo better than others.

The TDP doesn't mean an awful lot, it hasn't done in a while. For example, the i9-14900KS is a 150W TDP chip, yet ~374W usage full load:

Intel Core i9-14900KS Review - The Last of its Kind

The Intel Core i9-14900KS reaches impressive clock frequencies up to 6.2 GHz, which yields remarkable performance in applications and gaming. However, this comes at the cost of serious power consumption, especially if you go beyond stock, where we saw over 500 W during testing.

www.techpowerup.com

You're also asking for people to guess what the thermals will be like for the 9800X3D; some of the 9000 series runs considerably cooler than the 7000 series.

Also the AM5 design is a little thermally-inefficient thanks to AMD opting for backwards compatibility for AM4 coolers, so the chip gets hot very quickly before the cooling system has a chance to absorb that heat. For example, with my 7800X3D the temp will spike very quickly and easily even with browsing-level everyday workloads.

If the ordering of parts for my brother's new PC hadn't been so chaotic and so therefore I would have known that we would end up with a larger case than he originally planned, I would have tried out the BQ! Shadow Rock 3 in his. He's only gaming whereas I do sustained CPU full-tilt stuff as well as gaming.

 

[In2Photos]

I think this video does a good job of showing what happens to performance of Zen4 CPUs (pre-X3D release but it is still valid) with different coolers.

 

[Chicken76]

Thank you for your answers.

I see now that the cooler I already have, although it will work with a 7800X3D and I'll be able to game and transcode, will keep the CPU from turbo-ing much, so some performance will be lost. And if that's the case, a 9700X will come close to it even with my modest cooler. (although X3D parts are supposed to be unparalleled in the game I use most of the time these days)

So either I save some money on the CPU (9700X is cheaper than 7800X3D where I live) and forgo buying a cooler, or I dig deeper in my pocket and buy the 7800X3D and a good cooler. Thank you again guys. Good thing Anandtech forums will still keep running, as the help you get here I haven't found anywhere on the ... Information Super Highway (dating myself here a bit hehe)

As an aside, 9800X3D is expected to be announced at CES 2025, right? (I'd rather not wait until Jan. reveal and Feb. availability. Not to mention the high initial prices, since it will probably be the king of the hill for gaming)

 

[hurricane501]

I ask yourself why buy a decent CPU then a turd cooler? And no i dont think it is AT ALL.

I have a £200 AIO and my 7800X3D reaches 80C half the time... so that potato cooler aint gonna cut it

 

[Chicken76]

I agree with you.
That's why I ended up with a heavily discounted 7700 (nox-X). It does surprisingly well in games compared with my previous 5900X, even with cheap RAM. And the temps are very decent with the cooler I mentioned above.