Analyzing Threadripper Thermals: Big Base Cooling Wins
by E. Fylladitakis on March 14, 2018 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- AMD
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Noctua
- ThreadRipper
- 1950X
- CPU cooler
Conclusion
AMD’s Threadripper processors certainly do not require liquid coolers to function properly at stock, even if the manufacturer recommends them. It may be that AMD had to recommend them because older cooler designs were designed for processors much smaller in size than the Threadripper and are incapable of providing adequate heat energy transfer rates, as their base does not make full contact with the processor’s lid. AMD probably foresaw that many companies will rush to offer adapters or modify their current designs to fit TR4 processors, even though their surface area was much greater than their AM4 counterparts. A partial surface contact greatly increases the thermal resistance of the whole setup, so very low resistance coolers were required to compensate for this. However, when a good air cooler is specifically designed for the TR4 socket, it can easily cope with the thermal requirements of the AMD Threadripper 1950X.
Noctua is one of the few cooler manufacturers that straightforwardly advise against the mounting of their older design on SP3/TR4 processors. As other manufacturers were openhandedly supplying adapters, this choice earned them a bit of distrust, as a few assumed that Noctua wanted to force their customers into buying new coolers. However, our findings today justify their choice and prove that Noctua did the right thing, regardless of any short-term consequences it may have had on the company's reputation.
Will using adapters on earlier cooler designs work? Yes, but their performance will be far from optimal and, depending on the size of the cooler’s surface area, they can also be dangerous for heavy load applications. High end air coolers and liquid coolers will be able to cope with the needs of the TR4 processor, but they will run hotter, or louder, or both, than their equal derivatives that were redesigned to properly cover a TR4 processor.
If you are upgrading from another platform/socket and are wondering whether to buy adapters for your cooler, our generic suggestion is “don't”. Even if you have one of the best air coolers, the performance impact is so large that even a significantly less expensive TR4-specific cooler is likely to perform better. Instead of spending time and money on adapters, just buy an appropriate cooler specifically designed for TR4 processors. When building a >$1.500 system, an extra $50 for an appropriate cooler can be easily justified. If you have a custom liquid cooling setup, just get another CPU block, one specifically designed for TR4 processors. The use of adapters makes sense only as a relatively short-term "bandaid" solution, for emergency cases and special situations only.
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iter - Friday, March 16, 2018 - link
Oh you are sorry for me, are you? Well that sure makes you better LOL. My life rocks because there are no spineless, fake people in it. Being a true human is a deterrent for folk like you, and that is a great thing I wouldn't change for the world, as people like you are mediocre, utterly boring and of no value whatsoever, and only fit in one place - circle jerks of similar individuals. So better save your sorry for your own sorry self. Now go find another mindless drone like you to pat eachother on the backs to create the illusion of self-worth you so desperately need. Maybe talk about gender self-identification and whatnot...Jedi2155 - Friday, March 16, 2018 - link
While you my have no fake people in your life I'm going to go out on a limb and say your circle of trusted individuals is quite small. It seems you may be limiting yourself on what you're willing to understand and respect on the basis of feeling superior to others.bobcov - Friday, April 6, 2018 - link
LostWander has a point which you have quite strongly validated through the wording of your post. His advice has merit.Arbie - Saturday, March 17, 2018 - link
Iter, did you forget your WccfTech password? That's the right place to warp general commentary into a personal attack chain.linuxgeex - Monday, March 19, 2018 - link
Agree. It's obvious to anyone that a CPU cooler only works when it's attached to the CPU. A cooler that is attached only to a portion of the CPU is intuitively only cooling the portion it is attached to.The article could have just said that. Instead they went so deep-dive on it that honestly it felt patronizing, and that's why I agree with your response. This article is completely over-written, one might even go so far as to characterize it as self-satisfied smart-ass rant... and don't get me wrong on that... some people actually enjoy participating in reading someone else's self-glorification, and have such small egos that they don't mind their time being wasted in the process, lol.
As for the "hate" LostWander is speaking of, that was in s/he/it's own mind. LostWander accuses you of hate only because they don't hear the sarcasm you are directing at the Engineers who suggested building and marketing the adapter which this article reveals to be so ineffective. Those individuals deserve your wry comments because they were fully aware of the shizzle they were encouraging consumers to purchase.
Instead, Lostwander is so defensive that s/he/it assumed that any negativity must be directed toward themself personally and so they jumped in to defend their ego by attacking you, and that is sad, especially given they believe they were delivering a message of acceptance.
eek2121 - Thursday, March 22, 2018 - link
I wouldn't say that. Prime95 small-ffts load gives me 45.5C on my Enermax TR4 AIO. That's more than 'marginal'. Furthermore, if you overclock to 4.1 GHz, it is likely you'll find the Noctua unable to keep the CPU temp below 68C. My Enermax has no problems doing so.romrunning - Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - link
"AMD’s Threadripper processors certainly do not require liquid coolers to function properly at stock"Can we add the performance of a liquid cooler to the charts to see how the air TR-4 cooler performs against it?
eek2121 - Thursday, March 22, 2018 - link
I can tell you significantly better then that noctua.mrpiggy - Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - link
'Cus it's all about that base, 'bout that base, no treble..SaolDan - Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - link
Chuckle