Ryzen 9 3900X: Wraith Prism RGB Stock Cooler vs. 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler

Julio Franco

Julio Franco

Posts: 9,099   +2,049
Staff member
Yeah, I’d definitely buy a better cooler for a 3900X, a $500 CPU. Call me vain but I don’t like the look or the noise of the wraith cooler. And besides, there’s something awesome about buying a better cooler. I actually use a Noctua NH-D15 with custom industrial grade Noctua fans. It’s a lot quieter than my previous H110i as I can have the top of my case covered and there’s no pump noise. The performance is more than good enough. I also think it looks better, especially with those mod tops on it. Not good value at all though once you add the custom parts.

I actually think it’s a bit of a shame that the excellent R5 3600 only comes with the wraith stealth. The wraith stealth is quite poor imo and Steve’s review stated the chip was hitting a thermal limit with it.
 
Would be stupid from AMDs part to give you a cooler that will not let the CPU stretch its legs and give you the maximum performance.
 
How exactly does AutoOC for PBO work? What does it change compared to PBO alone? What can we set using this function? Increase clock target? Increase power budget? I can't find any good explanation for this function.
How does it differ from ZEN+ implementation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stark
mat9v said:
How exactly does AutoOC for PBO work? What does it change compared to PBO alone? What can we set using this function? Increase clock target? Increase power budget? I can't find any good explanation for this function.
How does it differ from ZEN+ implementation?
Click to expand...

here you go :
1. https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/sense-mi
2. Gamers Nexus: “Precision Boost” is not an abbreviation for “Precision Boost Overdrive,” it’s actually a different thing: Precision Boost is like XFR, AMD’s Extended Frequency Range boosting table for boosting a limited number of cores when possible. XFR was introduced with the first Ryzen series CPUs. Precision Boost takes into account three numbers in deciding how many cores can boost and when, and those numbers are PPT, TDC, and EDC, as well as temperature and the chip’s max boost clock. Precision Boost is enabled on a stock CPU, Precision Boost Overdrive is not. What PBO does not ever do is boost the frequency beyond the advertised CPU clocks, which is a major point that people have confused.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3491-explaining-precision-boost-overdrive-benchmarks-auto-oc
 
yeeeeman said:
Would be stupid from AMDs part to give you a cooler that will not let the CPU stretch its legs and give you the maximum performance.
Click to expand...

If there were legs to stretch...
"There is no manual OC headroom with Ryzen 3000." -Hallock (AMD)
"He couldn't reach max boost with $500 custom water cooling." -De8auer talking about a friend
"I don't recommend using the box cooler even if you run the chip at stock." -Gamers Nexus
 
hahahanoobs said:
When a $255 6T i5 is as fast as the competitors' $500 24T "flagship."
Click to expand...
WTF are you even talking about? The $500 3900X is on average about 30% faster than the $485 9900K and within 5% in gaming. If you literally only game tho, you shouldn't bother with either. You should get the $200 3600, which outperforms your precious $255 i5 chip in gaming and for less money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stark and Clynt
Shadowboxer said:
Yeah, I’d definitely buy a better cooler for a 3900X, a $500 CPU. Call me vain but I don’t like the look or the noise of the wraith cooler. And besides, there’s something awesome about buying a better cooler. I actually use a Noctua NH-D15 with custom industrial grade Noctua fans. It’s a lot quieter than my previous H110i as I can have the top of my case covered and there’s no pump noise. The performance is more than good enough. I also think it looks better, especially with those mod tops on it. Not good value at all though once you add the custom parts.

I actually think it’s a bit of a shame that the excellent R5 3600 only comes with the wraith stealth. The wraith stealth is quite poor imo and Steve’s review stated the chip was hitting a thermal limit with it.
Click to expand...
Given that my 1600 came with, spire is it?, I can imagine a number of users just switching their 1600's out for a 3600 and using the 1600 cooler instead.
Its what I plan to do, I wonder if it will actually make any difference, the 1600 is a 95w chip and the 3600 is 65w.
 
I'm sorry but this test is completely pointless if you do not show temperatures. or talk about the noise difference between the two coolers.
Unless you have been living under a rock you should already know that ryzen 3 doesn't overclock well so any highend cooler is a complete waste.
 
You guys keep saying you're going to show off temps (some of your graphs are even labeled as "temperature") but I just see Fan RPMs.... This is a pretty disappointing test, it doesn't show any good empirical data. RPMs can be high with temperatures low for a multitude of reasons.

Please show the real data.
 
grumblguts said:
So only reason is if you need a dead silent pc. stock cooler upgrade isnt worth upgrading.
amazing.
Click to expand...
I'd like to say you're right... but they didn't even show the actual temperatures. Just Fan RPMs and clock speeds which doesn't really tell me much in cooler performance. They don't even have the right data points for their graph labels. But it has already been proven that AIO/Liquid Cooling has marginal cooling efficiency improvements over air cooling.
 
When you test a 360 CLC on a consumer chip that has zero OC'ing headroom, and then turn around and say the enthusiast class 9900K is hot.....
 
What I'd like to see in these cooler tests is how an one type of cooler affects the other components nearby (VRM, etc) compared to the other.
 
If I reduce the maximum temperature from almost 90 degress down to just over 70 degrees, will the CPU last longer? That, even more than quieter operation, is what would tempt me into getting a fancier cooler: now that the 3950X is announced, and a fancy cooler is recommended for it, I was wondering if the stock cooler was barely adequate for the 3900X as well, but apparently not.
 
darendt said:
Name 1 con.They beat Intel at everything including price.
Click to expand...
-AMD took too long to make moves (still waiting for them to complete the Navi lineup)
-no IGP (bad for OEM sales)
-low all core boost
-poor overclocking
-doesn't satisfy typical to hard core enthusiasts
-all Ryzen chips are within 10fps of each other (from 12 to 32 threads)
-AMD 3600, 3700X, 3800X are not faster than a high clocked 4 or 6 core from Intel (no HT) for what average consumers do on a PC.
-the 3800X
-the 3600X
-memory compatibility
-my X470 had 15 BIOS updates released before I bought it. Still wasn't Ryzen 3000 ready.
-"need" fast memory to get the most out of it people keep saying
-I don't feel AMD has hit a homerun yet. they've only tickled the market
-what happens if Intel has a strong 7nm product
-what do the EPYC purchase orders really look like?
-what will Zen look like 3 years from now
-AMD needs to be consistent for more than a couple years in a row
-AMD marketing
-etc etc etc
 
Last edited:
Interesting article, I missed it at the time. I just ordered a discounted 3900X + Asus ROG Strix B550-F and I’m still debated about the cooler.
The Wraith could be a decent solution (it’s for free after all !) but I think I will opt for the Dark Rock 4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

TechSpot
  • Locked
AMD Ryzen 7800X3D vs. 7900X3D vs. 7950X3D: Gaming Benchmark
2
Replies
28
Views
525
Squid Surprise
Squid Surprise
TechSpot
CPU Cache vs. Cores: AMD Ryzen Edition
2 3
Replies
50
Views
768
Strawman
S
TechSpot
Is Your Older Ryzen CPU Fast Enough for the RTX 4080?
2
Replies
42
Views
502
scavengerspc
scavengerspc

Latest posts

Back