Typically, processors of the same series have very similar wattage requirements. Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 all require ~65w. Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 require ~90w.
As a result, wouldn't it just be more efficient to undervolt a Ryzen 7 and use an affordable low-noise cooler on it (i.e. Be Quiet Pure Rock Slim) rather than to buy a Ryzen 5 and spend money/energy giving it premium cooling and possibly overclocking it?
High-end cooling vs. High-end processor?
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Derek Semeraro
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kinkinkijkin
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Re: High-end cooling vs. High-end processor?
TDP specs are usually set around one number; the ryzen 5 actually has a significantly lower usage than the ryzen 7, but the spec says they have the same usage. This is counter-intuitive for people depending on exact numbers to be published but is fairly convenient for preventing people buying 30w coolers (do these even exist anymore?) for a cpu that has a chance of hitting 40w momentarily, and provides a reasonable margin for error considering that bad-bin CPUs can reach higher-than-average usages.
in any case, any cooler rated for a 65w cpu will do more than fine on a cpu rated for 65w. Pure rock slim is rated for effective cooling at 120w. I'm currently using the 30w higher pure rock with a 95w cpu and never see temps go above 60c, with the fan turned off until it reaches 60c, so really, pure rock slim plus a 65w-rated cpu should be completely fine and you shouldn't worry about getting "premium cooling" for these CPUs, especially if you have a 120w cooler available to you.
Note that even overclocked by 1ghz, I've never heard of a lower-spec AMD cpu, even bulldozer, exceeding their TDP spec. The pure rock slim will do absolutely fine, and might even do it semipassive with good case airflow.
in any case, any cooler rated for a 65w cpu will do more than fine on a cpu rated for 65w. Pure rock slim is rated for effective cooling at 120w. I'm currently using the 30w higher pure rock with a 95w cpu and never see temps go above 60c, with the fan turned off until it reaches 60c, so really, pure rock slim plus a 65w-rated cpu should be completely fine and you shouldn't worry about getting "premium cooling" for these CPUs, especially if you have a 120w cooler available to you.
Note that even overclocked by 1ghz, I've never heard of a lower-spec AMD cpu, even bulldozer, exceeding their TDP spec. The pure rock slim will do absolutely fine, and might even do it semipassive with good case airflow.
Re: High-end cooling vs. High-end processor?
To what i seen Ryzen is not so hard to cool off, while Intel is using thermal paste, AMD remain solder, i have even seen Ryzen Threadrippers being cooled by Aircoolers (not quietly but still i didnt expect them to be able to sustain on pure air considering the tdp). AMD dont seem to be great overclockers though, not sure how good undervolters would be, but to me this is not a factor to chose the CPU, get the CPU you need according to the tasks you will be doing, i expect Intel is going to put some fight on Coffee lake with their 6 cores and i hope AMD as their binning process get better, probably a revised version might come out with better OCing, but as it is right now, its a nice time to build.