I am considering switching from air-cooling to AIO for my AMD 7965WX. But I am wondering if it will fit properly and adequately cool a CPU for the TR5/SP6 socket.
I have been looking at the NZXT Kraken Elite 360mm and am wondering if it will work with my CPU. The product description on their site says:
… but I can’t find the “Threadripper bracket” listed anywhere on their site, and it only says TR4, not TR5.
Has anyone put these on a TR5 and have experience with effectiveness? Also, which mounting hardware do I need to get? (I’m using WRX90E-SAGE motherboard if that matters)
I am using it in a particularly high-heat environment with 2 RTX 4090s jammed in the case along with the CPU, so I really need to make sure it’s providing max thermal performance.
You always want to use a full-coverage cold-plate on any custom block or AIO block. The TR5/SP6 socket has the same fixing points as the older TR4/SP3 sockets. So you can use any of the AIO’s that say they work on the TR4 cpus. But still look for a full-coverage coldplate.
There is a slight difference in the mounting pressure needed for the TR5/SP6 cpus compared to the older TR4/SP3 cpus. You will need a bit more pressure applied to the AMD 7965 because of the greater amount of pins in the socket pushing back against the mounting pressure.
You can try some washers on the fixing points to apply more preload to the spring mechanism or whatever the AIO uses to mount the colplate.
None of the Asetek based AIO solutions with round coldplates should be considered as they only cover about 2/3 of the dies under the IHS.
You should look for AIO solutions that have large square or rectangular coldplates with the same or larger dimensions as the IHS of TR5/SP6 cpus. That is 70 x 56 mm.
I’d consider the LIQTECH TR4 II Series 360mm Liquid CPU Cooler or the Silverstone IceGem 360 or TOUGHLIQUID 360 ARGB TRX40 All-In-One Liquid Cooler
My 7965WX came with the bracket in the box with the torque wrench. I used the SilverStone XE360-4677 with the SP6 bracket that I bought off Ebay for $70. I haven’t overclocked, but it runs really quiet at full load.
I am seriously considering the Silverstone XE360-4677 because it does seem to be one of the only options out there that is actually made for this socket, and I’ve seen quite a few people recommend it.
All of the air cooling solutions I’ve tried seem completely inadequate.
But I am a bit concerned that the warranty for Silverstone is 1 year, and only covers their product. This lack of support/confidence in their product (compared to the 6 year warranty + damage coverage for other parts) from NZXT makes me hesistant to use Silverstone products.
If there were a leak, it would be catastrophic, potentially causing $10k in damage between the CPU, RAM and 2 GPUs that would be below the cooler …
Am I being overly paranoid? How reliable are Silverstone products? I really know nothing about this company.
Just to clarify, are you saying that the bracket that came with my 7965WX is not the right one for the Silverstone cooler? Had you tried any air coolers (like the Noctua / Arctic ones) before you went with the Silverstone? If so, how is its performance comparing to the air coolers?
I’ve been using cpu AIO’s and mainly gpu AIO’s for over a decade and I have never had one leak. Either they lose some of their coolant through transpiration through the tubing materials over 8-10 years and get vapor locked at the pump eventually or the cheap Asetek pump fails which almost all AIO’s use. Fastest pump death was just shy of one year and within the warranty period. I believe I’ve had 3 hybrid gpu failures in 10 years over about 20 or so gpus. So they actually hold up very well.
I’d have no hesitation using the Silverstone kit as it is one of the better non-Asetek designs using server quality parts and designs.
I still use hybrid gpus almost exclusively with Asetek pump hardware and haven’t had a failure in I think over 3 years. Moved exclusively to custom cooling for the cpus though because of the 24/7 full compute loads I run on them. Always at or over max TDP so temps are always high.
The AIO bracket that has always been packaged with Threadrippers cpus is for the round Asetek AIO pumps. You should never use a round Asetek AIO coldplate for a TR or Epyc IHS. The round coldplate only covers about 2/3 of the surface area and leaves the outer dies only partially covered.
Always use a full coverage coldplate for TR and Epyc TR4/SP3 TR5/SP6 IHS. It should be either square or rectangular of at least 70mm X 56mm dimensions for full coverage.
Thanks for all the info. This is why I’ve been so hesitant to get any of the AIO coolers that are listed on the compatibility list on AMD’s website - because when I looked into the size of their coldplate, it was always smaller than the heat spreader of the CPU.
If I was doing less CPU intensive, everyday loads this might be OK (but if I was doing that, I probably wouldn’t have spent this much $ on a CPU in the first place).
I have 900W worth of GPUs right below the processor + a 350W CPU, and am running very heavy ML/AI / rendering workloads, so I really need something that maximizes cooling by covering the whole IHS. I saw that Silverstone is releasing a new cooler for TR5/SP6 this June, so I’ll probably just wait for that.
Well the Silverstone Xe360-SP5 is already available at Amazon.
I’m sure that the TR5/SP6 version they announced for June is the EXACT same radiator/pump, hoses and fittings as the SP5 model, ONLY with the mounting changed out for the SP6 socket.
You could get the SP5 model NOW and the already available SP6 mount kit and not have to wait for June. The coldplate design and size is the same for the SP5-4677-SP6 with just the different mount kits changed out. The mount kits for all the different sockets are interchangeble for the coldplate as the screw positions on the coldplate are all the same.
I am running five distributed computing hosts with 2-3 gpus per host for whatever fits in the cases and motherboards allow. Two 64C Epycs and three 7950X hosts.
I’ve have as many as four gpus in server motherboards before when the gpus were only two slots wide. Doing AVX2/AVX512 and ML learning and molecular modeling along with a scattering of old astrophysics projects.
A constant 6kW power load 24/7 for the computing load which goes up to 10kW during the daytime when the A/C needs to be run.
The one included with the threadripper retail packaging is not for the Silverstone cooler. It is for the circular small cold plate Asetek coolers with the teeth on the side. I am sure Silverstone will release their AIO as an SP6 out of the box, but I didn’t want to wait.
I saw that I can get a conversion kit for TR4/SP5->TR5/SP6 … but I am curious why they would be releasing a new cooler for TR5/SP6 if the existing one was adequate?
I know that TR5 uses different mounting pressure (even though plates are same size) and I’m wondering if there are any other important differences between the existing and upcoming model that might lead to better cooling.
I’m probably just going to wait at this point, because it’s only a couple months away and I’m honestly very tired of swapping out cooling system. I’ve tried 3 separate air coolers so far, and don’t feel like taking my PC apart again and returning parts, until I can be sure it’s gonna work.
The only difference is now you have to order two separate parts. The stock Silverstone AIO for SP5/4677 and the mounting kit for TR5/SP6 and end up with a useless SP5 mounting kit leftover.
Or wait and order just one part, the new AIO just for TR5/SP6 and not have any useless parts left over.
As I have already mentioned before all the cooling parts are exactly the same across all models. Only differences are the mounting kits for the different socket types. The mounting kits are what supply the mounting pressure for the cpu into the LGA socket.
I’ve seen no mention that the coldplates are different between any of the models. The jetplate positions are central for both Epyc, Threadripper and Intel. No reason to have any offsets like what is beneficial for the desktop Ryzen cpus.
The coldplate dimensions of the Silverstone AIO is 118mm X 78mm. So factor in the dimensions of the cpu IHS you intend to use it for.
Just to remind you the size of the TR5/SP6 cpus IHS.
AMD’s sTR5/SP6 based processors. That is 70x56mm
If the Silverstone AIO is capable of cooling the Xeon Gold Sapphire Rapids cpus with a 800-900W typical power dissipation under load based on the review articles for those cpus, I’d think it entirely capable of handling the TDP of the new TR5/SP6 cpus.
Thank you all so much for all of the information you have provided. I think based on everyone’s comments/recommendations here, I am going ahead with the purchase of the Silverstone XE360-4677 with the TR5/SP6 mounting bracket.
I have two more noob questions related to this, having never used an AIO before.
My first question is regarding mounting location, given that I have two 450W GPUs generating a lot of heat. Should I mount the AIO at (A) the front of the case, replacing the 3 front intake fans, (B) at the top of the case, replacing the 2 exhaust fans there, or (C) mount it vertically in the location marked in this photo? As far as option C, there is an insert that I currently have removed that fills the space outlined and has 120mm mounting points, that I would be attaching the radiator to:
My second question is regarding power supply. I have two CPU fan headers, and one “Water Pump” header on my motherboard. That should be sufficient for me to power the device right? The reason I am asking is that my PSU has all of its ports utilized, and I noted from the manual for the XE360-4677 that there is a PSU power cable adapter included. I’m assuming this adapter is for people who don’t have a water pump header, but just wanted to make sure that I don’t need an open PSU port to use this AIO cooler.
Always best to take advantage of ‘chimney effect’ in case airflow. I’ve always put the primary radiator or AIO rad in the top of the case to exhaust rising hot air.
The front fans supply in the input cold air to the gpus and the AIO rad helps exhaust the heat from the gpus along with the cpu heat it is dissapating.
Here is the specs on the pump from its product page.
Pump
Motor speed
4000 ±10% RPM
Rated Voltage
12V
Rated Current
0.38A
Connectors
3 pin
The AIO or Water Pump headers on motherboards now days run at full +12V speed and are typically rated at 3A. The Water Pump header is perfectly adequate to power the pump directly without employing the provided molex to 3-pin adapter cable.
The fans are connected by a 3 to 1 splitter/combiner that connects to the standard cpu fan header. Each fan is rated at 0.25A. The typical non-AIO or non-Water Pump fan header is usually rated at nominally at least 1A so no issues there either.
From the your image, the cpu and AIO/Water pump headers are located at the top of the motherboard so mounting the AIO in the roof will make for easy and simple connections for power.
Looks like you have adequate clearance between the top of the case and the top of the motherboard based on the clearance still available below the top fans in the image. The AIO thickness will be 27mm for the rad + 25mm for the fans for a total of ~53mm.
You can see the connections image in the AIO manual online at its product page.
I would not mount the AIO in the side position. You would be short-circuiting the case airflow from front fans straight to the AIO right away and starving the gpus and VRM’s and memory modules of necessary airflow.
Mounting the AIO towards the rear of the case to take up the 3 rearward 120mm fan positions would be the ideal location. You always want good throughput on airflow with ideally equal amounts of air volume entering as leaving. Or slightly less leaving for positive case air pressure to decrease dust ingress.
Currently with your existing case fans, you would end up with 3 input fans and 4 output fans, not counting what little air escapes from the I/O plates on the gpus. You could try reversing the rear fan to input and see if the temps are better or worse. Sometimes that helps and sometimes it hurts depending how much rising air at the back of the case from gpu I/O plate exhausts gets re-ingested. Simple experiment to reverse the rear fan airflow to determine which is best for continuous steady state compute loads.
Yeah, the negative air pressure inside was a big concern for me about replacing the top fans, especially since the AIO fans are 2800RPM and the intake fans are only 1500rpm.
I have some space in the bottom of my case (where the PSU and SATA HDDs are) that I could mount an intake fan or two. Maybe when I mount the AIO up top, I’ll move the two exhaust fans there down to the bottom as intake fans.
I don’t want to reverse the back fan, both because I think it helps vent GPU exhaust heat and direct it away from the CPU/RAM, but also because that back panel is the only part of the case that isn’t coming through a dust filter. Thanks again for all your suggestions. I just placed an order for the AIO and mounting bracket, so I should be able to report back in about a week whether it was a good decision
