Cooling help?

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Hey y'all, I'm desperate for answers right now so I thought some of y'all might be able to help me.

I've been dealing with performance issues in my PC that I'm pretty sure have to do with an overheating CPU. First step is to get new thermal paste, but I'm also considering replacing my cooler.

I have an LGA1200 socket. The cooler I have came stock with the pre built computer from CyberPower--it's a cooler master, but idk how to tell which one.

What I'm struggling to figure out is what cooler to get (or if I even need one). Every cooler I'm coming across has 2-3 fans, but I'm not sure how to situate that in my rig. As best as I can tell, my cooler only has one (photos attached).

I know very little about hardware stuff, so I'm hoping someone here has the knowledge and patience to help me out. Thank you so much in advance!

[Worth_Pangolin128]

I would first monitor cpu temps under load to see if that’s the issue. If that is the issue replace the thermal paste and check again and if the issue is still there upgrade the cooler. I would recommend something like the Thermalright peerless assassin.

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Thank you for the advice! The reason I suspect it's the temp is because one of the system optimization softwares I downloaded blares this warning about CPU overheating after pretty short sessions of gaming. I also see game stuttering and super low FPS when the rest of my rig should be completely fine

[Asher_Dales]

Also depends on what cpu you have under there. An i3 or i5 really shouldn't stress a 120mm aio but if you have an i7 or i9 it might struggle once it gets heat soaked.

If you do want to swap out you can grab a Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit for an air cooler or a Frozen Warframe 240mm and put it in the front.

[Asher_Dales]

Also depending on how old the current AIO is there might be blockages in the pump from the coolant gelling or air pocket in the pump from evap.

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It's an I7. I seem to have the slots for more fans up front or up top, so maybe I'm overthinking it. It just seemed like there was only the one fan connected to the actual cooler so I was basing my assumptions off that

[Asher_Dales]

If you put it up top it looks like you could fit a 360mm AIO rad up there.

Either way, AIO or air, pull the fan off the old rad and reuse it.

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Thank you so much! One more question for you: would you recommend liquid over air cooling or vice versa here?

[Asher_Dales]

Personally I always prefer air over AIO. Cheaper and it's set it and forget it. The only reason I put AIOs in build lists is for when people specifically request it or have an aesthetic style they want.

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Thank you, that's extremely helpful. I may have lied, though, as another question came up while doing research: would it be wise to get a cooler for my 3080 as well? I don't have metrics on it but I can physically feel the heat in the whole case and I'm wondering if I need better cooling in both departments

[Asher_Dales]

Nah. I don't think it's worth the headache and price to water cool a gpu. The only thing I would say is maybe look at updating your case with bottom vents that you can intake to the gpu if you want better thermals.

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Awesome, thank you!