I'm building a budget-friendly media server that's primarily going to serve as an office PC with an extra 1 TB drive. I'm planning to add either an RX 580 or GTX 1060 graphics card for movie playback and some light gaming, like Mario Kart, using a projector in a home cinema setup. For the processor, I'm considering either a Ryzen 5 1600 or 2600, as I think they'll do the job well enough. My main question is whether I should stick with the AMD Wraith Stealth Cooler that comes with the used CPU I got, or if I should invest about 15€ in a quieter top-down cooler that I find more visually appealing. Is it worth it?
2 Answers
Using the stock Wraith Stealth cooler is totally fine for your budget build! It’ll keep your CPU cool enough for what you plan to do. Since you’re putting together a media server and only light gaming, the stock cooler should work just fine—just be sure it’s installed correctly to prevent overheating!
If you want something quieter, you might consider a low-profile cooler. They often perform well and look nice too. Just make sure to slap an upgraded fan on it for better sound dampening! If you go that route, it could be worth the slight extra cost.
So you're saying the stock cooler might not be as quiet as I’d want?
Thanks! That helps a lot.