Advice on air or water setup

[GreenChile]

Hello everyone. I am getting set to build a new 3770K gaming rig and could use some advice about the cooling. Quick list of parts I will be using.

Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1)
MB: ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
CPU: i7 3770K
Memory: G Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2X4GB)
PS: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750W
HD Main: Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW480A3K5 2.5" 480GB (SSD)
HD Data: Western Digital WD Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM
Video: MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670

I was planning to buy the new NZXT Kraken X60 for the cooler. However after receiving the Extreme 4 MB I see it has holes for a 775 cooler which would allow me to reuse my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme in a push/pull fan configuration.

Do you all think I can get much better temps from the Kraken or will the Ultra 120 work just as well? I plan to OC as far as I can while maintaining reasonable voltage and temps. Thanks.

 

[Vectronic]

Water or Air? for i7-3770K to 4.5GHz

If you aren't overclocking, go with whatever one you like the looks of better, or whichever one is more quiet... or flip a coin.

If you are overclocking, go with the X60.

 

[GreenChile]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like it may be worth it but I think I will see how high I can get on air before pulling the trigger on the X60.

 

[x2ezx]

If you are overclocking, go with the X60.

The I7 3770k run hot, with my Antec 920 4600mhz at 1.3, 80 celcius on prime.

 

[BrightCandle]

An overclock is limited by one of two things - thermally or voltage, you have to stop when you hit the peak on one or the other. Almost all Ivy Bridge CPUs hit a thermal limit on the stock cooler before they hit a voltage limit. However a decent after market air cooler will allow you to push up into the 1.35 V range, which is arguably as high as you ought to go unless you are suicide benching. High end air will do the job.

You do get less power consumption with a cooler CPU, and in theory at least you need a lower voltage to achieve the same clock speed. In practice it doesn't make a great deal of difference as the prebuilt water loops are only slightly better than the high end air setups. I suspect the cooler you have will likely be good enough to achieve a decent overclock but you might be thermally limited before voltage. But really that is more about Ivy Bridge and its stupid thermal paste problems and not really the fault of your cooler not coping. Delidding and applying your own paste would solve that problem as well as the heat issues.

 

[Liquid_Static]

The x60 is definitely the better choice if overclocking.

 

[fyb3r]

Watercooling will trump air all day when it comes to maintaining cooler temps while overclocking.

 

[Zevvo]

At those speeds, you'd definitely want to go water. Like before, the X60 will be perfect.