Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Cooling Processors quietly

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
ckellmeyer
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:01 am

Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by ckellmeyer » Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:08 am

After reading several forums on several sites, I am confused as to if i need to ensure that the CPU Heatsink fan i get is PWM or not. I will be using the 4670k and an ASUS Z87 pro or plus, and I plan to leverage the ASUS fan-expert2/4-way optimization and OC'ing from the 4-way opt. software. Not sure about any further OCing - but hope to get to 4.4 or 4.5 with that...

Certainly open to recommendations as well ($20-$50 maybe). i like the look of the NZXT respire T40 but don't think its PWM and thus should i look at others.

Thanks!

p.s. case is Fractal R4 or new NZXT H230...(if it matters)

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by Abula » Sat Jul 13, 2013 6:50 am

Welcome to SPCR!!!!

Overclocking is a like a lottery, its not just about the temps, but most of the time is the binning of the silicone, some will go to 5ghz most will not break 4.5ghz, with most able to do around 4.2ghz, but haswell do runs hot when overclocked, so excepting a 4.5ghz oc on Haswell i would invest on very capable cooler, the more you overclock the more you gonna need the fans to spin faster to maintain the temps, the better the cooler the less you going need the fans to rev up to dissipate certain amount of heat, so invest in a very good cooler, with good fans. I would go with twin tower heatsink like Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E, its one of the biggest twin tower coolers, even bigger than silver arrow, with two pwm fans (TY141/TY150), you can also go with Extreme edition that comes with 2400rpm fans, but to me its not worth it, as i will never take to those speeds as it will extremely noisy.

Around a $50 budget, i would go with Thermalright HR-02 Macho, it has been reviewed by SPCR Thermalright HR-02 Macho Quiet/Fanless Cooler and got the editors choice, you can even add a second fan later on if you feel the need. The problem that i see is your desire of 4.5ghz not sure how the HR02 will handle it with haswell runnign so hot, with that said, seems like Asus AI suite dynamically oveclocks, so temps might not go that high unless a super demanding program like Prime95 stress it. If you with HR02 and R4, i would grab a second Thermalright TY147 and place it on the back of the R4, move the included fan to the front, so you get positive pressure and with the TY147 will end up like push pull with macho, use headers CPU_Fan and CPU_OPT. The fans will look very nice imo as they will match the black/white theme of the R4.

Image

Btw the Fractal Design Define R4 shouldn't have any issues fitting either of the above, as it has a clearance of 170mm, not sure on the NZXT.

ckellmeyer
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:01 am

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by ckellmeyer » Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:33 am

Thanks and GREAT info. I have read that Haswell chips are a crap-shoot, so i wont get hung up on the exact number (guess i just read 4.5 alot of places). Really appreciate the help. Pulling this build together later this month i hope so will post back with results. And yes, i am striving for the white/black look which i think is cool and still stylish....

Thanks again, will be watching forums in the mean time.

cmthomson
Posts: 1266
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:35 am
Location: Pleasanton, CA

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by cmthomson » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:08 am

Since you haven't bought yet, I'd advise holding off a month or so on the CPU purchase. Each time Intel releases a new generation of CPU, their engineers work hard on improving the yield, and the second release almost always runs faster and cooler than the first, because they move the bell curve substantially. That is, the CPUs at the bottom of the curve are more likely to pass QA and get sold, which means the ones at the top of the curve (the K parts) also improve. When the first Core2 parts came out, this improvement was dramatic: 20% in some cases.

As for cooling, you only need a top-end cooler if you plan to overvolt substantially. (Power consumption increases as the square of the voltage, but is linear with the clock rate.) Some overclockers strive for the top clock rate by cranking up the voltage, which needs extreme cooling, but most limit the voltage bump to a few percent. Since Haswell is well under 100W TDP, pretty much any tower cooler will do the job.

cmthomson
Posts: 1266
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:35 am
Location: Pleasanton, CA

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by cmthomson » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:22 am

ckellmeyer wrote: i like the look of the NZXT respire T40 but don't think its PWM and thus should i look at others.
In answer to your original question, that fan is not PWM. All PWM fans are 4-pin, and this one is 3-pin. Also, the spec page quotes a 1300 RPM minimum speed which is LOUD AS HELL.

There are lots of other tower/fan combinations; some come bundled, others are sold separately. Take a look at the SPCR fan and heat sink pages. For a quiet rig, you want a fan speed 600-800 RPM.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by Abula » Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:48 pm

cmthomson wrote:Since you haven't bought yet, I'd advise holding off a month or so on the CPU purchase. Each time Intel releases a new generation of CPU, their engineers work hard on improving the yield, and the second release almost always runs faster and cooler than the first, because they move the bell curve substantially. That is, the CPUs at the bottom of the curve are more likely to pass QA and get sold, which means the ones at the top of the curve (the K parts) also improve. When the first Core2 parts came out, this improvement was dramatic: 20% in some cases.
While was the case with certain core 2 duos, and the LGA1366 like i7 920 with the d0 stepping, its not always the case, never saw a this happen on sandy bridge nor ivy bridge, there is a rumor of a 4771K but nothing is official or real as of now, my personal guess is there wont be any different stepping, until broadwell.

ckellmeyer
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:01 am

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by ckellmeyer » Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:01 pm

Thanks for all the good feedback , especially Abula! I took his advice and the systems is sweet. great airflow, super quiet! Used a Corsair TX650 which is nice an quiet as well...

VERY QUIET SYSTEM = VERY HAPPY ME!

Attaching a quick pic prior to final cable mgmt and another 8 gb ram as its was only $60....

Great site, great feedback. Thank you all!

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by Abula » Fri Aug 02, 2013 3:58 pm

ckellmeyer wrote:Thanks for all the good feedback , especially Abula! I took his advice and the systems is sweet. great airflow, super quiet! Used a Corsair TX650 which is nice an quiet as well...

VERY QUIET SYSTEM = VERY HAPPY ME!

Attaching a quick pic prior to final cable mgmt and another 8 gb ram as its was only $60....

Great site, great feedback. Thank you all!
Glad all work out well for you.

Would be nice if you have the time, to share some pics, and what temps is your setup running in load/idle.

ckellmeyer
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:01 am

Re: Should i get PWM Heatsink/Fan for 4670k/ASUS?

Post by ckellmeyer » Mon Aug 05, 2013 11:25 am

Here is the link to it at pcpartpicker. Be sure to read build notes as some parts weren't available in their selection lists (i.e. they don't list many things from Thermalright).
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/En4

Again, the pc in the pic was built for a friend. i have exact same parts for my own build that i am doing in the next week or so. Once i have that done, I will OC and report back on temps/speeds! I will try to take some more/better pics too.

For ~$1000, its quite a machine....

Thanks again...

Post Reply