Antony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor @antonyleatherUS eBay seller
inspiredlaserdesigns
offers various
reasonably
priced grillesHowever, part of me is longing for some
movement here. Usually CPU cooler
manufacturers scramble to release
new products to coincide with big CPU
launches, and often some real gems
emerge from the mix of designs.
However, with core counts now
ranging from four to 16 on a single
socket, and with Threadripper 24 and
32-core CPUs sitting in the same socket
style as their predecessors, it’s likely
that many coolers designed for lower
core counts could now fall short of being
able to deal with these monster CPUs.
Thankfully, as far as AMD goes,
it’s moving to a 7nm manufacturing
process at the same time, so heat loads
and power consumption will drop
compared with previous generations
of CPUs. However, that doesn’t change
the fact that many of the Socket
TR4-compatible coolers that are still
available were designed with the Zen
and Zen+ 12 and 16-core Threadrippers
in mind, and not 32-core monsters.
We hope that AMD’s new socket
name will push some cooler
manufacturers to tweak their models
and packaging, but ultimately you’ll
still need to pay careful attention to
a cooler’s specifications in order to
check whether it can cope with your
CPU. Similarly, AMD isn’t equipping
the Ryzen 9 3950X with a cooler
for this reason – it expects owners
will want to use powerful cooling,
and is even releasing a list to advise
people which coolers work best.
It’s a strangesituation.Inthepast,
I’ve raved aboutwaterblocksbeing
transferrablebetweenmultiple
generationsofCPUsthankstosockets
staying thesame.However,while
that will saveussomecash,I alsolike
the innovationthatnewCPUsockets
bring to coolerline-ups,asit forces
manufacturerstostaycompetitive.Where arealltheradiatorgrilles?
This monthI setaboutcreatinga
radiator blowholeina PCcasewitha
sealed frontpanel(seep104).It’sbeen
a while sincewe’vedonea blowhole
guide, andI thoughta refreshwitha
modern caseandcomponentswasin
order. I’m verypleasedwiththeresult
too. This modwasrelativelyeasy,and
the MetallicGearNeoMinicaseI used
can now housenotonebuttwo
240mm radiatorsatthesametime–
one in the sideanotheroneinthefront.
This massivelyboostsitscooling
potential, andI’mnowquitetemptedto
push this greatcasetoitslimit.This
isn’t the firsttimeI’vedonethismod
witha Phantekscase.I cuta holein
theroof ofPhanteks’firstmini-ITX
offering – theEvolvITX.Phanteks
cases lookgreat,butthefrequently
sealed panelsdohamperairflow,
especially wherewatercoolingis
concerned.I knowPCmoddingisstill
aniche partofbeinga PCenthusiast,
but what reallystruckmewhenI was
working onthismonth’sguidewasthe
severe lackofradiator grilles available.You used to be able to get them in all
sizes and various colours, but I struggled
to find more than a couple of patterns,
even in the hugely popular 240mm size.
I can appreciate that there’s plenty of
cases with great water-cooling support
these days, but there are also lots of
cases with sealed panels, and these
cases actually look quite funky with a
modded panel and radiator grille, as this
month’s modding guide shows. I can
only assume it’s not a very common
modification now, although you can of
course make a grille yourself without
too much trouble.
You don’t have to be cutting a radiator
blowhole into your case to use a grille
either. They can also be used to sit on top
of fans in your case, or on a radiator, or
they can simply be used as an aesthetic
tweak to an otherwise plain case.
In any event, if you do fancy having a
go at this month’s modding guide, be
aware that UK stock of radiator grilles is
quite limited and that you might need to
look further afield to find a design you
like. I spotted a US seller on eBay called
inspiredlaserdesigns (ebay.co.uk/usr/
inspiredlaserdesigns), which offers
various reasonably priced grilles,
for example.
You could even get a grille custom
made for you using a local machining
service.However,atthatpointit
wouldbecheapertogetthecase
panelitselfmachine-cutwithvents
andholes, which takes the fun out of
doing it yourself.With their massive
heatspreaders,
Threadripper CPUs
require larger
contact plates to be
used on coolers