I recently upgraded my cooling from a Deepcool AS500 Plus to a Thermalright Notte Frozen 240, but I'm not seeing much of a difference in performance. My CPU, an i7 11700F on a B-650F ROG Strix motherboard, is still hitting around 60°C while gaming instead of the previous 65°C. After several hours, it stays around 63°C, whereas it used to reach 66-68°C. I mounted the radiator on top and connected the tubes at the bottom of the block because of RAM clearance. Even with the fans running at full speed, temperatures haven't improved much. Does anyone know what might be going on?
3 Answers
With your CPU temps being far below throttling levels, the difference in cooling becomes less significant. If you were at 90°C+, the AIO would shine, but at your current levels, better cooling isn’t really required. You had enough thermal management before going for the upgrade.
It sounds like your temps were already pretty decent with the old cooler. As long as your CPU isn’t overheating or throttling, a lower temp doesn’t really translate to a better performance. Your previous temps were manageable, so this upgrade may not be as impactful as you hoped.
It seems like you might have fixed a problem that wasn’t really there. AIO coolers don’t break the laws of thermodynamics—they work similarly to air coolers by transferring heat. Since your temps were already under 70°C, don’t expect massive changes. Plus, with a locked CPU and a low power target, you didn't need the extra cooling to begin with.
I guess I expected something much more noticeable. My friend's setup is way cooler, so that had me thinking I’d see a bigger drop in temps.
That's a fair point! In the summer, I was close to 80°C, but I heard that lower temps could help boost clock speeds. My friend's i5 14600F sits around 40-50°C with an Arctic Liquid Freezer 2, so I was expecting better results.