Cooling system and fans for i9 7960 processor??

Grape_Brotherhood

Grape_Brotherhood

Member
Hi everyone, this is my first post here, so please pardon me if this has been answered before:

I'm preparing a PC Configuration for professional music production, and since the processor and the overall system will be almost always on and often under stress, my question is:

Will the following configuration be okay to cool the processor, or should I ask the PC Specialist builder to add any additional fans?

CASE: BE QUIET DARK BASE PRO 900 (has three default pre-installed fans, that I know?)
Processor: 16 Core Intel® CoreTM i9-7960X (2,8 GHz) 22 Mb cache
Motherboard: ASUS® ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME : DDR4, 6Go/s, CrossFireX/SLI, WIFI
COOLING SYSTEM: Corsair H115i PRO Cooler PCS Liquid Series (Watercooler system with fans)


RAM: 128 Go Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000 MHz (8 x 16 Go)
Graphic Card: POSTE DE TRAVAIL AMD RADEONTM PRO WX 2100 - 2 Go, 512 Streams, 2 mDP, 1 DP
Power supply: CORSAIR 1000 W RMx SERIESTM MODULAIRE 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA-SILENCIEUX

Will the Corsair H115i PRO Cooler be enough? I thought yes, since the case I chose also has 3 pre installed fans?

Do I need extra fans, and which ones available on the website you would advice?

Also, I couldn't pick any more fans on the system configurations, as it automatically prompts a message saying that there's not enough space (taken by the Corsair watercooling system).

But can I just add in the basket extrafans and ask the PC Specialist team to mount them additionally and ship the pc with them installed as well?

Thanks a lot in advance to anyone that can help me!!
 
polycrac

polycrac

Rising Star
I would hold off if you can. I'm no expert on music production but I think you might be able to get a better CPU for less. Have you looked at the other configurator options? This one:

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-overclocked/ would let you get hold of some very powerful kit, like the I9-9900k.

Again, I don't know how much RAM benefits music production but you have A LOT in that build!

I also think you might have overdone the fans a bit - especially with a CPU cooler dumping a lot off the heat from that item outside your case.

For those with more experience on the music side than me, it would help if you could post your budget. If you still have the build you posted above linking to it would help too (there is a 'post to forum' option after you click proceed (but before you click buy!)
 
Grape_Brotherhood

Grape_Brotherhood

Member
Hey thanks for your messages!

The RAM is a lot, because I'm going to load a lot of virtual instruments, which eat lots of RAM. Now I'd use half of it, but I'm looking at the future, as audio libraries are getting bigger and bigger every year!

Regarding the fans, I didn't add any, 3 fans are stock mounted by default with the only case that was in my budget and big enough for the watercooling system that I chose.

Question about the overclocked section: it's very interesting....I tried to re-do the configuration with same components, except the i9 7960 processor, overclocked from 2.8 to 4.5 GHz, and the price seems to be the same!

What does it mean? Is it possible that for the same price they'll build and overclock it for me? Or will I have to add manual work?

Also: zero experience with it....is overclocking safe? Will it void any warranty rights?

Thanks a lot again! :)
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
Grape_Brotherhood said:
Question about the overclocked section: it's very interesting....I tried to re-do the configuration with same components, except the i9 7960 processor, overclocked from 2.8 to 4.5 GHz, and the price seems to be the same!
Click to expand...
The actual overclocking is a minimal price difference, but they just disallow some of the cheaper cooling options (which you haven't chosen anyways)


Grape_Brotherhood said:
Also: zero experience with it....is overclocking safe? Will it void any warranty rights?
Click to expand...

The warranty includes the overclocking that they do, they overclock it as far as they can upto their specified values - so it's possible yours may not reach the maximum specified just because that's how the silicon lottery works - some can be overclocked further than others.

Though I wouldn't go for the i9-7960X anyways, its old tech now- go for the newer 8000 or 9000 series of intel chips: ie. the ones on this page: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-overclocked/
 
polycrac

polycrac

Rising Star
Overclocking can often be the same price (or even less for the I9-9900k and I7-9700k right now!) on PCS - I wish I knew why, but I'm glad it is the case.
Overclocking increases the wear rate on your CPU very slightly - normally by so little that the PC is obsolete by the time it actually matters. In return, your CPU runs faster. When PCS apply the overclock it is usually quite modest, well tested and is covered by the warranty. If you overclock it yourself and damage the CPU, that would void the warranty, but if you overclocked yourself and then say, there was a problem with the graphics card, unrelated to your overclock, that would be fine and still under warranty (this is how I've had it explained to me by a forum regular).

Overclocking aside, I was suggesting the I9-9900k as an alternative to to the i9-7960, which is a bit outdated now and kinda superseded by the I9-9900k. I believe the new I9 comes on cheaper motherboards too, so an even better deal. Some of the posts I linked to also used the 2700x from the AMD menu, which would be cheaper still.

RAM prices are quite high right now so it may not be the best idea to futureproof by buying extra for later use - up to you though.

I'm with you now on the fans - sorry, I misread and thought you were adding more. I'm guessing the three it comes with (two front and one rear) will be plenty - especially as the CPU cooler will have most of its heat dumped out the top with the two fans on the H115i's radiator. If you are not overclocking then a H100 would probably be fine too.

The power supply seems a bit excessive, I'd probably pick an 850WRMX. The case, too, is much larger than you'd need, if you wanted to save cash and space, you could.
 
Grape_Brotherhood

Grape_Brotherhood

Member
Hey many thanks!

CPU: I think I'm going to stay with i9 7960....more expensive, but many audio benchs seem to say all that it's the best for audio releated productions, plus it seems to support more ram and better handle multi core (and has more cores right?)

Heat/Cooler: I'm interested in the overclocking service at PC Specialist, so I'm gonna pay the 40€ more, thanks for the advice. I hope the Corsair H115i will be okay, will ask confirm to the builder.

Case: If I opted for a smaller, the PC Specialist configurator reported me it was too small for the cooler chosen. Plus, the Dark Pro 900 Be Quiet looks more clean to my easy than many others :)

Thanks again! Ufff....lots of work to pick the right config, I hope I'm done! (It's been 2 weeks now) :p
 
Grape_Brotherhood

Grape_Brotherhood

Member
Thanks a lot! Regarding the i9 7960 I replied also to another user in the previous post I wrote. Mainly, I need more RAM than 64 :)

Also, can I ask one more question? On the website, if I choose an M.2 PCIe kind of hard drive (the EVO 970) along with some other normal SSD drives, they say that it's "recommended" to use the M.2 Evo 970 as boot drive.

Is there any particular motivation of stability of the system ,beside the fact that it's a faster drive?

I mean, I prefer to boot Windows on the normal SSD drive, because I need the M.2 to load very heavy audio libraries that I use to produce music (the faster it reads, the less latency in the audio program and audio bottlenecks).

Will it be okay if I boot from the normal SSD and use M.2 to stream data?

Cheers!
 
polycrac

polycrac

Rising Star
re the M.2: It will work fine - it is only recommended because most users want their operating system on the fastest drive they can.

re the Cores: Yes, the i9-7960X has more cores/threads and seems to win out in a multi core test - (http://hwbench.com/cpus/intel-core-i9-9900k-vs-intel-core-i9-7960x) still, for that price it feels like there should be some alternative - like a threadripper or something... Anything! Once again, I don't know music production so if you've done your homework, go for it.

re the cooler: I think it might be that the H115i has a 280mm radiator, while the H100 has a 240 (much easier to fit in smaller cases). Cases are a personal aesthetic thing anyway - you have to get one you like the look of.
 
Grape_Brotherhood

Grape_Brotherhood

Member
Thanks again man!

Just for information purpose: The threadripper looked promising, but I heard that in music production is not a great one to use. Because it has slower audio-benchmark results for real time audio.
Since I need the machine now for working, at the moment, that I know, the i9 7960 is one of the best performance/price ratio. Hopefully I'm not wrong! :)

Thanks a lot!
 
polycrac

polycrac

Rising Star
No worries. Do keep checking this thread though, there are much smarter people than me on the forums. Your order will take a while to process and they might suggest useful amendments.
 
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