PC Cooling Upgrade (Hardware Check Help?)

Self-Service PC & Hardware
#1

I think I need to upgrade the cooling on my PC. I bought it about 1.5 years ago, it’s a cyberpower pc (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/reviews/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-rtx-2070-8gb-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-white/6315148) and it’s running about 75-80c for the cpu with spikes to 85. The GPU also runs in the 80ish range. The only changes I’ve made to the pc have been to add 2 16gb sticks of corsair dominator ram and a new 2tb SSD drive.

I’ve tried to do my research, but hardware scares me and I’ve never done this before. The pc has a Ryzen 7 2700 in it. I think I know what I should buy, but I’m not positive and can’t afford to be wrong, so could somebody tell me if I’m doing stupid stuff here or if I’m on the right track?

I want to add this: Noctua NH-D15 for the cpu cooler. I also have an open fan “spot? slot? big whole on top?” so I thought I’d add a Noctua Ultra Silent 140mm Fan to that slot.

I assume I’ll also need to buy a splitter since I’m adding a new fan, and the AM4 CPU heat sink bracket, unless that’s something I’d already have?

Have I provided enough info to tell me if I’m buying the right stuff? I don’t know what kind of motherboard or case I have, hopefully it’s in the best buy link if it’s needed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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#2

the big noctua’s are excellent heatsinks provided your case has plenty of clearance for it with its height of 6.5 inches , they are bloody huge contraptions and the only heatsink/fan combos i have found that can match my custom watercooling setup (which cost a lot more than the noctua)

a couple of things to note beforehand is make sure your memory is low in profile and i think dominator ram is quite tall so rather than installing the first fan on the front of the first heatsink you may be as well to mount that fan on the second heatsink , that fan can also go on the front heatsink but being 140mm size it would then need to be lifted above your ram and likely not fit your case as the link shows a fairly generic case which tend to be quite narrow in height with a 120mm fan on that rear fan mount at the back of the case

if you add an extra fan above in the roof of the case then there should be a spare fan header on the motherboard to plug that fan into and as heat rises it is a good idea to help out in addition to the rear case fan

in summary yes the noctuas are excellent but when installing it look carefully at how it is fitting with regards the fan placement as the setting most people use possibly wont work in your case with dominator rams height … if this is the case then simply move the heatsinks front fan to the rear of the heatsink and clip it on exactly the same way as the other fan fits but DO check the fans orientation as i get people fitting fans the wrong way round … make sure the fans frame is pointed to the rear of the airflow as an exhaust , setup well with good thermal paste like arctic silver 4 it will drop temperatures well down on what you have now … i’d guess a good 15 degrees drop

get it in black

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#3

Besides your cooler what is the size of the case and the design? You can have the most decent cooler but if the case has poor airflow it will do no good.

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#4

I’ve had a look at the spec from the link , it looks like a gigabyte motherboard , it doesn’t list it in the spec you have to expand on the q&a and the model is listed there, I think its a micro board from what I can tell with 2 hybrid fan headers, is the board fairly small in the case?

From the pictures on the link are the case fans side mounted, ie where the fan takes air in?

I can’t find what type of case it is, otherwise I would suggest using pc part picker to see if the noctua is compatibile, my gut reaction although I could be wrong is it might be a bit big either to clear the ram or with regard to height.

All is not lost though I think Noctua do other lower profile fans.

I think you wil lhave to do a bit of research before pressing the buy button…

Whats the current air configuration . is air coming in through the side fans and exhausting out the back?

What fan headers are currently being used? If you get the motherboard model number off the link and google it it will take you to motherboard website from there I think theres a picture of where the two fan headers are , from this you can see what fans are currently plugged in where and from this you can ascertain with splitters what configuration of fans to go for. Also worth finding out how many fans (amps) each m/board header will support

Finally what air fan will fit… don’t worry if the noctua’s too big there are plently of other options that will do a better job than the fan you have, its also worth looking into if your current case fans are any good as these can be changed fairly cheaply, sometimes its not just the air cooler that sits on top of the cpu but also the fans provide the air into the case and then the fans exhausting out that matter as well to create good airflow, also sometimes the case can be the limiting factor also with greagrd to air flow

I’ve just upgraded my pc and had to do alot of research regarding what would fit what woudln’t…it’s all part of the fun!.

Hope above helps

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#5

Wow, thank you all so much. I really appreciate the detailed responses,

is the board fairly small in the case? Yes, it does look small.
The fans are side mounted in the front. I don’t know if they’re intake fans or not though. In doing my research today, I saw some mention that the pc ships with a “negative pressure” setup, with all fans blowing out? I need to open it up and see which way they’re installed, and switch them if necessary.

As for the RAM, it is pretty big. Don’t know why I bought stuff with lights.

You guys have given me enough information that I understand a little better what I’m looking for, I’ll go do some more research. Thanks again!

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#6

Also, Google Artic Accelero Extreme IV for your video card, check the fitment to see if it’s right for yours, then enjoy a GPU that runs flawlessly at 70c at full load. All smaller games/software runs around 60c at full load.