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coyote
Adept I

3950x air cooling

I see that AMD recommends liquid cooling for the 3950x.

However from the comparison testing I've seen, aircolers such as the Noctua "NH-D15 SE-AM4" perform just as well as not just 280mm AIO's, but the most robust AIO's, so this recommendation surprises me, and I even wonder if aircooler manufacturers such as Noctua have a sound basis for legal action. 

Am I incorrect?  If I really shouldn't consider aircooling for a 3950xz please do let me know.

17 Replies
misterj
Big Boss

This is a User Forum.  An AMD employee almost never post here and I even doubt reads here.  Please contact AMD Online Support.  Enjoy, John.

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coyote, I moved to water cooling (AIO) several generations ago and will never go back.  My big problem is the BIG size of air coolers.  Enjoy, John.

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coyote
Adept I

Thank you very much for your reply, John, but I contacted AMD support at the same time I posted this.  I posted here also because I'm about to be a 1st time PC builder using a 350x and (see my 2nd paragraph) I honestly want to hear whether or not I'm correct that the best aircoolers are effective as any AIO.

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AMD's recommendations are just that, recommendations. You can use whatever you want. But when reputable review sites such as Techspot and TomsHardware show that even powerful closed loop coolers AT STOCK (no PBO) are struggling to keep the chip under 75*C in real world usage, the fact that Turbo frequencies are heavily dependent upon temperature, and the fact AMD doesn't list a thermal maximum (as of this post time) on the specifications page so you don't know, officially, what the maximum operating temperature is, if you want to risk your $750 chip on an air cooler, even though it may be listed as compatible by the manufacturer, feel free to, but AMD doesn't honor any warranty when the chip has overheated, and retailers don't accept any returns for lower than expected performance.

https://www.noctua.at/en/nh-d15-se-am4/?tab=cpucomp

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Thank you very much for your reply, black_zion, but my confusion is based upon seeing comparison testing that shows that the best aircoolers are just as good as the best AIO, and you really didn't address this.

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This article mentions that Air can be as effective as Liquid but Liquid is more efficient at removing heat:

https://www.gamingscan.com/liquid-vs-air-cpu-cooler/ 

3rd generation processors are much more different than 2nd generation processors and earlier. They heat up differently due to the way the chips are aligned inside the processor case.

See this previous AMD Thread about a User using a Noctua Air Cooler having high temps on a 3rd generation processor: https://community.amd.com/thread/244048 . Some of the Users explains the difference in the 3rd generation processors in how they heat up.

In your case, I would follow AMD recommendation in getting a Liquid cooler since they are more efficient at removing heat than air.  Actually this is the first time that I see that AMD recommends solely liquid CPU Coolers for one of its processors.

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black_zion, AMD did not initially list a Max Temps for Gen 3 processors.  Ryzen Master always listed it and AMD started including it in their specifications.  For some reason, the current 3950X specification does not have a Max Temps.  Here is the specification for the 3900X.  Enjoy, John.

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AMD  Specs show that the Ryzen 9 3950X has the same TDP as the 3900X (105 watts). Also since the 3900X has a Max Operating Temp of 95C that should be the same for the 3950X since it seems that all 3rd Generation Processors have the same Max Operating Temps of 95C.

I agree with you, If AMD Recommends a AIO CPU Cooler it would be best to go by their advice. AMD doesn't even recommend to solely use a AIO CPU Cooler for the 2nd Generation Threadrippers because in their list of recommended CPU Coolers it has both Air and Liquid CPU Coolers listed whereas for this 3rd Generation Processors it doesn't list any Air CPU Coolers.

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Remember the 2700 and 2700X though of the previous generation, the 2700X had a thermal max 10*C lower than the 2700, so it is possible the same thing could apply here, the 3950X may have a Tmax of 85*C as opposed to the 3900X's 95*C. As far as TDP goes, AMD "lies" as much as Intel did with the 9900k, they're both 145w processors at stock (no PBO).

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True, but if you noticed it seems like all 3rd generation processors have the same 95C operating limit.  It would be odd for this specific processors to have a higher or lower Max Temp. which is why I mentioned it.

So far I haven't seen any 3rd generation processor with less than 95C max temp. I might be wrong. but that is my impression.

Whereas 2nd Generation processors do have different max temps.

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Hi all,

Just purchased a 3950x and awaiting its delivery as well as my ASRock Creator Motherboard and I am mounting this all in a 3U high rackmount chassis which internally is approximately just over 120mm in height.

My issue is being able to water/aio or fan cool this cpu in my 3u chassis case, I'd prefer to go with AMD's advice about going AIO for this CPU but, I'm struggling to find a cooler apart from the Corsair Hydro Series H5 SF

My question is, can I use the

Hydro Series H5 SF to cool the AMD 3950x effectively? I am not overclocking the CPU and will run it with 64gb of memory, any help would be appreciated as I have approximately 120mm of height to play with in my 3u rackmount case.

Your help would be most appreciated!

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If it isn't on the AMD list of supported coolers it would be best to ask the manufacturer of the cooler if it is adequate for cooling that chip or not. You should ask their support department. If it isn't on the AMD list already they likely are not going to know. 

My best guess would be NO as Corsairs support page only claims compatibility up to AM3 with ZERO mention of AM4 platform support at all. 

That doesn't mean it can't as is or may need a new base plate etc.....

You need to ask Corsair support if this is a product you already have and want to reuse. If not I would look for a product that mentions support with AM4 and specifically this CPU too if possible. 

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Liquid-Cooling/Hydro-Series™-H5-SF-Low-Profile-Liq...

Good Luck!

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If you are wanting this for the low profile. Noctua makes a great low profile air cooler and it does claim support for the whole Matisse lineup Which is Zen 2/3xxx series.  You could fire off an email to make sure that Noctua says that yes it is adequate to support 3950, if interested. I prefer when they list all model numbers instead of families myself. 

https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9a-am4/specification

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The Cooler Master MasterAir MA620M is big but it an do the job. 

It has hardware for AM4

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coyote
Adept I

I was wrong, I will follow AMD's recommendation, and I have y'all to thank!

I'm sorry, I apologize to y'all and to AMD.

I dug into more comparison reviews, and I see that the best AIOs outperform the Noctua NH-D15.

I wouldn't be surprised if I could find an AIO on https://www.amd.com/en/processors/3950x-thermal-solutions that doesn't, but I'll not bother.

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suuperflie
Journeyman III

I just built a computer cooling a 3950X with a NH-D15 Chromax Black.  With PBO on I hit a max of 66C while live streaming gameplay so the gameplay and encoding for the stream are all on the processor.  I stream mostly World of Tanks, which is pretty CPU demanding.  Keep in mind when you're using an air cooler you need a case that has good airflow.  I have my setup in a Cooler Master Mastercase H500M.  I've seen benchmarks showing the NH-D15 on par and in some cases a little better than 280MM AIO's.  I have no complaints.

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