System Cooling

[SolSphere]

Okay. I'm buying (bought waiting on shipping) a new computer.
I'm buying a computer to play wow at the best graphics settings I can. Ambiguous statement really...
I've already put in over 1200, which is fine, and I'm willing to spend a little more in areas of cooling at this point. My last system could be used as a space heater, and it worries me for the life of such an expensive system. This is my first time spending this kind of money.. wait, no, I have a MacBook pro. This is the first time I've spent this kind of money for a hobby build (I type what I think, for humor some times).

Anyway. Here's what I've got (getting):

General Information
•CPU (Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I76700K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...)
•NZXT S340 Glossy White Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
•Motherboard (ASUS Z170-A LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard)
•CPU Fan (Noctua NH-D15 SSO2 D-Type Premium CPU Cooler, NF-A15 x 2 PWM Fans)
•RAM (16GB, DDR4, I don't remember the speed)
•Graphics Card (GTX, 1070)
•Power Supply (Corsair, 850 Watt)
•Garbage 10
•1920 x 1080 currenly, but I have a 43" 4K HD that I want to play on honestly.
•WoW Settings (7~10 (I hope for 10))

The kind of answers I'm looking for.
The questions I have:
Should I be using liquid cooling?
If not liquid cooling, does that listed item (from the MMO Build of the month) really compare?

I don't know much about heat management at all.

Thanks

EDIT: Added in the case

[0bsessions]

People pay way too little attention to other cooling factors beyond the CPU cooler. That one should be fine and while liquid cooling is nice, it's something you're less likely to want to mess around with if you don't know what you're doing.

From there, try to focus on getting a nice aluminum case with plenty of space inside and plenty of room for fans and be sure that your fans are set up to properly circulate (Front fans blowing into the case, rear fans blowing out) and make sure that there's a fan of some sort blowing air out at the top of the rear end of the case (Since heat rises, that will be your biggest problem area).

You would be shocked how often I've seen people build a case and then have all the fans either blowing in or out or, worse yet, just not even paying attention to which direction they're blowing (Tip, case fans generally have a little arrow that points in the direction it's going to blow).

I'd contend, to be honest, that proper fan setup and your choice of case is a lot more important than the cooler when it comes to heat management. I have a Hyper Evo 212, which is a $30 fan. I'm using a Radeon 280x and I overclock it, but my numbers stay well within safe range even on the more intensive games in my library on high settings at a minimum (I run WoW on 8 in raids).

[Akainakali]

General Information
•CPU (Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I76700K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...)

You are wasting your money getting the i7. Unless you are doing lots of heavily threaded work (video editing, 3 modeling rendering) the i5 is just as fast, especially once you overclock.

•RAM (16GB, DDR4, I don't remember the speed)

Memory speed is essentially irrelevant, it can have some marginal effects, but it isn't worth paying lots more money for really fast ram. Just buy the fastest that isn't dramatically more expensive.

The heat sinks on them are largely just for display as well, so it isn't worth paying lots of money for fancy heatsinks on the ram, unless you just like the looks.

•Graphics Card (GTX, 1070)
•Power Supply (Corsair, 850 Watt)

The PSU is WAAAYYYY overkill for this system. Given the highly power efficient Skylake chip and the 1070, you really don't need anything more than about 600-650w. Even SLIed 1070s would be fine with just a 650w.

•WoW Settings (7~10 (I hope for 10))

In fact at HD resolutions this is vast overkill. A 1060 is nearly enough to hit 60 fps wt maxed out settings in Crysis 3, a FAR more demanding game than WoW.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...Stream/12.html

A 1070 is not enough to max most games out at 4k resolutions, however with a game like WoW you can still hit well beyond 60 FPS even at 4k resolutions. If you do want good performance at 4k in most games, you are looking at the Pascal Titan X ($1200) or an SLI 1070/1080. Or you can wait 6 months for the inevitable 1080ti, which will have slightly worse performance (but higher when factory overclocked and with better cooling) than the Pascal Titan X at half or 2/3rds the price.

The kind of answers I'm looking for.
The questions I have:
Should I be using liquid cooling?
If not liquid cooling, does that listed item (from the MMO Build of the month) really compare?
Thanks

The Noctua D15 is one of the top air coolers, none of the All in one liquid coolers are dramatically superior, especially if you don't want fans howling like a banshee.

[0bsessions]

In fact at HD resolutions this is vast overkill. A 1060 is nearly enough to hit 60 fps wt maxed out settings in Crysis 3, a FAR more demanding game than WoW.

The 1070's a lot more powerful and only $100 more right now, though. It's probably the best bang for your buck out of Nvidia's three new cards. Sure, it's not going to give you a measurable performance increase in WoW, but it's probably safe to assume that he plays other PC games.

[SolSphere]

Akainakali

I know most of the system is overkill, But I'm not looking to upgrade anytime soon, and I will be playing other games, probably not at 4K. I will also be recording for my guild as well, which is the main reason I got the i7 instead. I originally started with an i5, but I had extra cash in the budget so why not. Overclocking I don't like. It's probably safe, but until I understand all the nuances of what it entails and I know it's safe, it's not happening.

This is my system right now. Last bits are out for delivery now, so not looking for pieces to buy, just wanted to know about the cooling.

Thanks guys.

[Lathais]

Akainakali

I know most of the system is overkill, But I'm not looking to upgrade anytime soon, and I will be playing other games, probably not at 4K. I will also be recording for my guild as well, which is the main reason I got the i7 instead. I originally started with an i5, but I had extra cash in the budget so why not. Overclocking I don't like. It's probably safe, but until I understand all the nuances of what it entails and I know it's safe, it's not happening.

This is my system right now. Last bits are out for delivery now, so not looking for pieces to buy, just wanted to know about the cooling.

Thanks guys.

Going i7 will not help other games, or WoW, or help in anyway really. Even with the recording of videos, if you are using OBS and then use either quicksync or NVENC encoding, it doesn't even use the CPU, so no real gains there either. Seriously, I record and stream on my system with no noticeable loss in performance.

It's totally safe. The K at the end of the CPU part number means that the CPU is unlocked and MEANT to be OCed. Unlike years ago where this was dangerous and could fry your CPU, CPUs now have built in protection to shut off before damage can be done. It is completely safe.

[SolSphere]

Going i7 will not help other games, or WoW, or help in anyway really. Even with the recording of videos, if you are using OBS and then use either quicksync or NVENC encoding, it doesn't even use the CPU, so no real gains there either. Seriously, I record and stream on my system with no noticeable loss in performance.

Well I have it. So too late now =)

It's totally safe. The K at the end of the CPU part number means that the CPU is unlocked and MEANT to be OCed. Unlike years ago where this was dangerous and could fry your CPU, CPUs now have built in protection to shut off before damage can be done. It is completely safe.

I was saying, I'm sure it's safe. But until I know, i.e. I've done my research on it, I'm not doing it. I know where to go to do it. But I don't know what settings should be changed based on what factors, etc. That's what I mean by my previous statement.

Also, thanks to everyone for posting your replies. System is running GREAT. I'm well pleased with my over-paid system =) Total came out to be about $1370 give of take a few $10 bills. Not including KB, Headset, mouse, nor monitor.

[Deleted]

I got a 6700K and a DH15 myself and its great. The DH15 is clearly the best Air Cooler, only Problem is your Ramsticks can't be too large, or the 2nd Fan won't fit.

[Lathais]

I got a 6700K and a DH15 myself and its great. The DH15 is clearly the best Air Cooler, only Problem is your Ramsticks can't be too large, or the 2nd Fan won't fit.

You can actually move the fan up to accommodate larger heatsinks, though still not all. Some of the heatsinks on RAM are pretty large, and pointless, so you can just remove them.

[Afrospinach]

I'd contend, to be honest, that proper fan setup and your choice of case is a lot more important than the cooler when it comes to heat management. I have a Hyper Evo 212, which is a $30 fan.

I would say this is totally legit. I saw a drop of nearly 10 degrees moving from a no name case with the side off to a CM HAF.

Additionally, when you scrap the stock cooler you lose a lot of air over the motherboard, especially if you go AIO. The VRM and North bridge will be very unhappy with a tower cooler and no case fans regardless of how cool the CPU is.

[Thunderball]

Why doesnt anyone pointing out that D15 doesnt fit this case?

[0bsessions]

Why doesnt anyone pointing out that D15 doesnt fit this case?

The case wasn't in the original post, as I recall. I believe he edited that in and I never noticed as much.

[Thunderball]

The case wasn't in the original post, as I recall. I believe he edited that in and I never noticed as much.

Ah, makes sense.

[simonlvschal]

Okay. I'm buying (bought waiting on shipping) a new computer.
I'm buying a computer to play wow at the best graphics settings I can. Ambiguous statement really...
I've already put in over 1200, which is fine, and I'm willing to spend a little more in areas of cooling at this point. My last system could be used as a space heater, and it worries me for the life of such an expensive system. This is my first time spending this kind of money.. wait, no, I have a MacBook pro. This is the first time I've spent this kind of money for a hobby build (I type what I think, for humor some times).

Anyway. Here's what I've got (getting):

General Information
•CPU (Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I76700K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...)
•NZXT S340 Glossy White Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
•Motherboard (ASUS Z170-A LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard)
•CPU Fan (Noctua NH-D15 SSO2 D-Type Premium CPU Cooler, NF-A15 x 2 PWM Fans)
•RAM (16GB, DDR4, I don't remember the speed)
•Graphics Card (GTX, 1070)
•Power Supply (Corsair, 850 Watt)
•Garbage 10
•1920 x 1080 currenly, but I have a 43" 4K HD that I want to play on honestly.
•WoW Settings (7~10 (I hope for 10))

The kind of answers I'm looking for.
The questions I have:
Should I be using liquid cooling?
If not liquid cooling, does that listed item (from the MMO Build of the month) really compare?

I don't know much about heat management at all.

Thanks

EDIT: Added in the case

there is no Need to go Liquid cooling it,s noise and sorta expensive. and often breaks down..

everything else in your system are fine. u can easily go down to a 650 watt Psu. and also keep the i7 do not go down to a i5. trust me. you will suffer Fps problems and various other things if u try and watch videos,streams or movies while playing cpu intens games like wow.

so Keep the i7 and do not go amd

[SolSphere]

Why doesnt anyone pointing out that D15 doesnt fit this case?

It actually fit.
When I opened the package yesterday I thought I was about to take a trip to the store... That heat sink is SCARY big. I didn't put the second fan on, I could, but it would be really close to where I sat my GPU. I could move the GPU down as well to accommodate.

So far the top of the case blows out cool air. The back fan blows out room temp ~ moderately warm air. I haven't really stressed the system though.

FPS remains well above 60. I've seen it dip below once, and it was very momentarily. Generally sits between 90-100 (capped at 100 by default haven't seen a need to change it).

My only concern right now is the air flow of the fan on the NH-D15. I put the arrows facing up to expel out the top of the chassis, but like I said, I only get cool air coming out the top. So I'm not 100% positive I installed that correctly, and I'll test that tonight (may as well move my GPU and install that second fan while I'm at it). It really is massive though!

The case wasn't in the original post, as I recall. I believe he edited that in and I never noticed as much.

Correct, it was not in the OP

I got a 6700K and a DH15 myself and its great. The DH15 is clearly the best Air Cooler, only Problem is your Ramsticks can't be too large, or the 2nd Fan won't fit.

Yes, the size of the cooler makes things tricky to install as well. I had to get creative. In my excitement I forgot to plug in the CPU power. I don't have tiny little fingers, and there was almost no spec to reach behind the CPU fan, and I REALLY didn't want to take it off since I had already put the thermo on... I got it in with the difficulty of threading a needle blindfolded.
My Ram is rigt under there. I got some PNY and they fit fine. Now adding another set of 16GB will prove to be another challenge. I don't really need anymore ram, but why not...

[Deleted]

you do not need a water cooling sytem!
i would buy a very good case. for example a fractal define r4 (thats what i have). get some extra fans an make sure you have a nice airflow. dont buy the cheapest fans because of the noise.
i have a big scyte cooler, but yours is fine as well.
in my case i have 8 Celisus temperature! you could cool a beer in there :-) my cpu never goes over 35-40 Celsius while playing wow.

[Lathais]

My only concern right now is the air flow of the fan on the NH-D15. I put the arrows facing up to expel out the top of the chassis, but like I said, I only get cool air coming out the top. So I'm not 100% positive I installed that correctly, and I'll test that tonight (may as well move my GPU and install that second fan while I'm at it). It really is massive though!

Usually, these are facing towards the back of the case, not the top.

[SolSphere]

Usually, these are facing towards the back of the case, not the top.

Yeah. With the way I was instructed to install the brackets, it cause it to be facing up. There is a fan directly above and one in the usual position on the back, so I think that part of it should be okay, no?

I was more concerned with which direction the air is flowing from the sink. I hope I don't have the fan blowing down onto my GPU.

I'm going to double check everything when I get home tonight. It ran perfectly, I wasn't monitoring temps, but like I posted earlier, I can feel the air flow. Certainly WAY lower than my replaced rig.

I'll include photos as well.

[Torched]

Noctua DH15 is a beast

[SoulForge]

Going i7 will not help other games, or WoW, or help in anyway really. Even with the recording of videos, if you are using OBS and then use either quicksync or NVENC encoding, it doesn't even use the CPU, so no real gains there either. Seriously, I record and stream on my system with no noticeable loss in performance.

It's totally safe. The K at the end of the CPU part number means that the CPU is unlocked and MEANT to be OCed. Unlike years ago where this was dangerous and could fry your CPU, CPUs now have built in protection to shut off before damage can be done. It is completely safe.

The statement about taking a performance hit is not true. You noticing will depend entirely on your settings for capturing and streaming.