Has anyone paired a be quiet! Dark Rock 5, or another single-tower air cooler, with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D? I recently replaced an AIO with a Dark Rock 5 for my 9700X and prefer air cooling. I'm considering using the same cooler for a 9800X3D, but I'm unsure whether it will keep temperatures under control. To clarify, I mean the single-tower Dark Rock 5, not the dual-tower Dark Rock Pro 5.
3 Answers
A good dual-tower air cooler should handle the 9800X3D easily. The Dark Rock 5 may work, but it has less thermal headroom than larger dual-tower models. It’s also fairly expensive compared with something like the Thermalright Phantom Spirit, which performs similarly for less money.
Most modern 120 mm dual-tower coolers have no trouble with the 9800X3D. One example is the Phantom Spirit 120 Evo, which can keep the processor below roughly 80°C during a full load while staying very quiet.
A smaller dual-tower cooler can also work well. With a sensible undervolt, one user reported load temperatures in the low 70s, so tuning can provide additional temperature and noise headroom.
The Dark Rock 5 does look better in some builds, though, and aesthetics can absolutely be worth paying extra for.