Analyzing Threadripper Thermals: Big Base Cooling Wins

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.