Safe to reuse my heatsink/fan?

[Jerethi]

I am considering upgrading my Core i5-7400 to an i7-7700k. All of the units I've seen appear not to come with a cooling solution. So, I'm wondering if I can reuse my current heatsink/fan. Does anyone know?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Thunder 57]

I am considering upgrading my Core i5-7400 to an i7-7700k. All of the units I've seen appear not to come with a cooling solution. So, I'm wondering if I can reuse my current heatsink/fan. Does anyone know?

Thanks in advance!

You would need to remove any thermal paste and apply a new layer. Also, that stock cooler isn't designed to handle the 7700k so it may throttle some and/or run hotter than you'd like. There are good options out there that only cost about $30, maybe $40. The 212 is a common budget recommendation.

 

[yeshua]

I am considering upgrading my Core i5-7400 to an i7-7700k. All of the units I've seen appear not to come with a cooling solution. So, I'm wondering if I can reuse my current heatsink/fan. Does anyone know?

Thanks in advance!

Absolutely as long as the fan is in a working condition. Replacing a thermal paste will be necessary as advised earlier.

 

[Ottonomous]

If you experience any issues during thermal stress testing, give it a modest undervolt + underclock until you replace the cooler with something better

 

[Ottonomous]

You would need to remove any thermal paste and apply a new layer. Also, that stock cooler isn't designed to handle the 7700k so it may throttle some and/or run hotter than you'd like. There are good options out there that only cost about $30, maybe $40. The 212 is a common budget recommendation.

Second the 212. However if you're willing to sacrifice 3 degrees celsius for something quieter and 1/2 the price, try the Chinese Snowman

 

[Jerethi]

Thank you all for the helpful advice!

 

[UsandThem]

That stock cooler will struggle to cool a 7700k.

The stock cooler for the i5-7400 is one of those dinky all-aluminum ones that are rated for a 65w TDP CPU.

The 7700k is 95w and it runs hot.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1332-mainstream-intel-core-i3-vs-core-i5/page3.html

 

[Jerethi]

Is there a good likelihood that I'm going to have to upgrade my stock power supply?

 

[Ottonomous]

Is there a good likelihood that I'm going to have to upgrade my stock power supply?

550W would be safe, 650W is you're going to OC it a bit. This is assuming you have a high-performance GPU and a reliable brand as well.

 

[Jerethi]

I believe I have a 500W PSU. Do you think that will do the trick? I am using Intel integrated graphics, so no high-end video card.

 

[Thunder 57]

I believe I have a 500W PSU. Do you think that will do the trick? I am using Intel integrated graphics, so no high-end video card.

Sent from my MI PAD 4 using Tapatalk

I wouldn't worry about it. It's more about the quality of your PSU. What brand/model is it? 500W is plenty for your average computer with a mid range GPU. The fact that you are not even using one means you should be in great shape. Like I said though, the quality is more important than the watts.

 

[ehume]

I used a 460W fanless PSU from when I reviewed heatsinks. The PSU easily handled an i7 8700k OC'd to 5.0 GHz. That was with an iPU. So a 500W heatsink should be enough, as long as you don't try to run a dGPU along with your OC'd CPU.