Best AIO Cooler for Threadripper

I’ll keep an eye on the 2nd Gen Enermax TR4 360…not available yet from Newegg here in the US. Rumor is it’ll be in stock next week if you believe Enermax Sales Dept. My only reason for still getting the Enermax despite getting the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 is because I’m not certain the Noctua will cover the 1st PCIe slot or not…but, if my Enermax craps out on my I want an air cooler I can use whilst I RMA the cooler. I’ll run with 1 GPU on Noctua as a plan B…but I would prefer the Enermax simply work without the corrosion or leaks you read about with Gen 1.

I just finished installing a NH-U14S TR4 in an ASRock Taichi with an Asus 1070. It blocks the GPU in the first slot at +0mm offset, but doesn’t block it at +3mm/+6mm. I would only worry about it on the Zenith Extreme, since the first PCIe slot is closer to the socket on that board.

Does anyone know of some tutorial resources on how to “offset” a NH-U14S Air Cooler; preferentially some youtuber who figured that some newb pc builder (ahem, like your’s truly) might benefit from such a tutorial? If it’s not overly dramatic to setup an offset on a Gigabyte Designaire EX then I might just go for that vs stalking NewEgg for those 2nd Gen Enermax AIO’s that are slated to drop.

@eskur -Also, can you tell me if you installed the optional second 140 mm fan or if your offset option was at stock? And, if you punish your CPU, does the offset, stock or modified, affect thermal performance?

@eskur - Really, I think it’s awesome and rad that you took the time to contribute your experience to my thread. Thank you.

Sure, can’t beat first hand information and we TR users definitely need it.

The install wasn’t too bad, the only tricky part was at +6mm the upper mounting screws are mostly blocked by the cooler.

Heres what I did to install it:

  1. Applied thermal paste to CPU
  2. Placed cooler on socket at +0 offset, no GPU in first PCIe slot
  3. Threaded in all mounting screws, tightened them just until there was no slop
  4. Removed all offset screws,
  5. Slid cooler towards the top of the case to +6mm position
  6. Threaded & tightened offset screws
  7. Tightened lower mounting screws
  8. Tightened upper mounting screws at a 30 degree angle, taking care not to bend the bottom most fin of the cooler
  9. Attached fan

I plan to install a second fan, because why not. The Noctua fan is super quiet anyway. I haven’t really benched the system yet. Between the Antergos installer ISO being broken and patching the kernel to fix the SEV kernel/AGESA bug I have just been catching up on work today. I also need to get the other half of my ram. While the kernel was compiling (16 threads) I felt some slightly warm air. :fire:

Can I get a bit of information on that, or can you link a page about it. I’m new to linux, but learning, and can compile with the Windows linux subsystem. After doing an apt upgrade, hasn’t booted since and wondering if that may help (plus beats my go to until now of just reinstalling on that partition).

As to anyone wanting to talk settings on the taichi x399, been running that and a 1950X for a year, so can talk a bit on it or overclocking.

Basically you need to compile a kernel with CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_SP_PSP=n, and another patch if you plan on doing PCIe passthrough. More info here. You may need to use the fallback kernel in grub to boot, and then you can compile the kernel.

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I can confirm. I have 1900X in a Zenith Extreme with a Noctua NH-U12S TR4 (the smaller 120 mm version). And I had to adjust it a few mm to fit my graphics card in the first pci-e slot.
The Nh-U12s is plenty for the 1900x.

How about Be Quiet!’s soon to be released (hopefully) Dark Rock Pro TR4?

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12933/be-quiet-a-250w-threadripper

That’s the one that I’m currently waiting for anyway.

@backspace - That also looks compelling. I have to wonder if the ONLY reason why more 2950X reviews don’t exist from major heavy hitter reviewers is because it’s a “s” show for cooling the damn thing down to get the best performance it’s made for. The top solution now is going with a flawed 1st Gen Enermax or going full liquid which is both expensive and wrought with future drama.

The “build it once and just have it work” crowd has few options at this moment. We are all waiting for the cooler market to catch up with AMD before the Tariffs make it unobtainable anyways.

Truly, the tech industry is going to have to assemble in a big dark tower somewhere and all decide on a new country to manufacture from to get the prices to stabilize without the fear of tariffs slowing production and their bottom line (…in the US).

I await myself for what the next 60 days looks like.

New Egg now has the new “Enermax Liqtech TR4 II 360 Addressable RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler” in stock!

I’m picking it up and I’ll attempt to run it first…if it screws me over it’s Noctua as a backup as I RMA it. Here’s to hoping that, if it screws me over, it doesn’t ruin my other components in my case.

On the be quiet web-page is a Dark Rock Pro 4 Cooler already, but this isn’t compatible with TR4 in any way. Instead they refer to their Silent Loop + TR4 mounting kit bz007…

At the present there is no be quiet! cooler deliverable that is compatible with this socket.
For our Silent Loop models we offer a mounting bracket for an extra charge. We are happy to supply this to you on request. We charge €8.50 per unit.

We are not currently planning to offer a TR4-compatible air cooler.

I am not sure if I will buy those or to take a Enermax Liqtech TR4 II instead.

Maybe I should do that, too. ATM I am not convinced both water loops will last long.

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The enermax aios are are by far the best we are actually partnering with them at AVA direct because they’re so much better than the rest. Most AIO cold plates dont even cover enough of the chip.

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I just got the 280 and its performance is very, very close to the 360, which is very surprising. On the r6 though, with front mount, one weird thing, is you have to cover the bottom fan with a blank otherwise the hot air gets sucked back into the case. and an exhaust fan doesn’t make sense. And an intake fan doesn’t make sense.

Re: your Linus Torvalds Build:

What type of Noctua fans are you using for the Enermax Radiator? Followup question, “If I wanted equivalent Black colored Noctua 120 mm Fans for my Enermax radiator, what would be your suggestion?” Thanks in advance.

“thank you for taking time to contact the be quiet! Customer care.
We have no specific ETA now.
Only Info is still Q4.
Have a great day!
With kind regards”

And I still don’t trust those AIO solutions.

The new ones from noctua, the fancy ones with high static pressure. Are pretty cool?

To be honest there isnt much more surface area on 360

280x140 = 39200
360x120 =43200
240x120=28,800 So 240 to 360 is pretty big jump but 280v360 isnt that much of a gain

(I realize there difference is also multiplied by the thickness but still not a huge deal)

How big are the temp difference on the AIO 360 vs 240 or 280 do you have rought numbers on temp differences?

Haven’t tried a 2990 on a 280 but both are rated for 500w CPUs… 360 is a better fit for using noctua fans however.

A good quality rad even on the lower end should be fine, I realize custom loop rads are a bit better then AIO but here is HW labs 30mm rads (closes to size I would guess on AIO)
image

Be careful.