i5 4670k & Noctua NH-U12S OC?

[mazty]

Anyone have any ideas as to the potential overclocking an i5 4670k could reach when paired up with the Noctua NH-U12S? Also is the default Noctua thermal paste good enough to use or would a different paste (not wanting to use liquid metal) bring significant gains?

[meggiedude]

I have the same question - as I have just bought a Scan bundle with this chip included.

Was also looking at water cooling - so cheap alternatives air & water would be good also.

[meggiedude]

Also is the default Noctua thermal paste good enough to use or would a different paste (not wanting to use liquid metal) bring significant gains?

When it comes to this - I don't think different thermal pastes make that much of a difference. Maybe the odd degree.
I may be wrong - but that's what I believe

[nniitt]

Noctua thermal paste itself is a good one, maybe several degree worse than the best, but still a very good one.
Regarding the oc, you can expect 25% boost that's something reasonable.

[Scainer]

I have the u14s with an i7. I just fixed the stock voltage and went up to 4.2Ghz and had no issues. This produces 60c in OCCT
I haven't tried chasing higher overclocks but I guess if I went higher i'd have to increase the voltage, but 4.4 - 4.5 should be easy without a meltdown.
I believe the u12s offers better cooling with lower voltages and the i5 should be cooler, so just depends were you want to go.

Regarding the TIM from what I have read, under test the difference between salad cream and the best paste was only a few degrees, obviously the smell and longevity of using salad cream should be brought into question, but what i'm really getting at is the type used is less important than the amount applied. Just enough is better than too much.


Maybe it was mayonnaise

I remember reading a review ages ago which tested various thermal interface materials, & the differences between the expensive ones (like Arctic Silver) and more generic ones was pretty small...just a couple of degrees at best. The funny thing was, just for the hell of it, they tried using mayonnaise (yes, really!) as a TIM, & it actually out-performed some of the cheapest materials on test! Not that I'm suggesting you go down the condiment route of course, but it made me chuckle...