air cooling NH-D15 70°C Idle

[BigBlackHawk60]

Hey,

I recently bought a NH-D15 along with my brand new 3800X CPU and am getting insanely high temps when idle and underload it brutally throttles and reaches 95°C immediately.

 

I have tried replacing the thermal compound and re-seating the cooler several times. I took off the second fan due to RAM clearance but I don't think that's the issue.

 

Suggestions?

 

Here's a pic of me running cinebench and the temperature is at a Max and the CPU is throttling hard.

Edited November 21, 2019 by BigBlackHawk60

[Slottr]

What case? How much better is it with the second fan on there?

[trufret]

That is pretty weird. I am using the same cooler on a 3900X and even with all cores O.C'd at 4.3Ghz I wasn't getting to 90C even under synthetic benchmarks.  The lack of a 2nd fan will decrease performance a bit but that seems extreme.  Do you have poor airflow in your case, can you adjust the height of the 2nd fan so it clears the ram but still moves air over the fins?

 

What are your CPU core voltages at? Mine are at 1.35v

[Bombastinator]

Second fan is for noise reduction in some situations. It shouldn’t affect cooling much and those cooling levels says there’s a big big problem.  
uneven heat spreader or block?  They both have to be really flat for the cooling connection to be made.

 

If the case ventilation is bad enough heat buildup inside the case it could conceivably cause those numbers.  It would have to be 50c+ inside the case though.  The case would feel hot.

 

if the fan wasn’t actually spinning even though it is attached it might also happen.

[BigBlackHawk60]

I installed the second fan and temps are the same.

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

I installed the second fan and temps are the same.

Do either of them spin?  At that temp even a noctura fan is going to get loud.

[BigBlackHawk60]

2 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Do either of them spin?  At that temp even a noctura fan is going to get loud.

They are spinning but still quitely. I assume they are suppose to ramp up but they stay at max 1500 rpm

[Bombastinator]

Just now, BigBlackHawk60 said:

They are spinning but still quitely. I assume they are suppose to ramp up but they stay at max 1500 rpm

1500 rpm may be max.  It’s a lot for a 140mm fan.  120mm fans spin faster for equivelant noise and 1500rpm is fast for a 120mm.  If theyre spinning at 1500rpm they’re blowing air across the fins.  My money is on heat transfer from the cpu to the cooler.

[BigBlackHawk60]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

1500 rpm may be max.  It’s a lot for a 140mm fan.  120mm fans spin faster for equivelant noise and 1500rpm is fast for a 120mm.  If theyre spinning at 1500rpm they’re blowing air across the fins.  My money is on heat transfer from the cpu to the cooler.

I have taken the cooler off several times and re adjusted it. I have tightened the screws to the max. I'm lost at what to do

[porina]

Just checking, took off the protective sticker on the base of the cooler?

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

I have taken the cooler off several times and re adjusted it. I have tightened the screws to the max. I'm lost at what to do

If it’s a plate flatness issue it’s RMA or lapping.  I personally would go RMA over lapping.  Lapping is dangerous and voids warranties.

 

got a metal ruler?  Remove and clean the cpu and the cooler and check them for flatness

[BigBlackHawk60]

19 minutes ago, porina said:

Just checking, took off the protective sticker on the base of the cooler?

 

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

 

Lol.  Most important point!  Didn’t think of that one.

[BigBlackHawk60]

16 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Lol.  Most important point!  Didn’t think of that one.

That's not the bottom sticker. I have tried taking it off. It's the only non painted part of the heatsink

[porina]

I'm not sure about that pattern of paste left on there. I'd expect more spread, yet it seems to be more gloopy in the middle. If memory serves me correctly, there are various posts that fit onto the mobo frame to put the mounting bracket at the correct height. Could the wrong (longer) ones be fitted, thus the cooler is a little too high to make good contact?

[Bombastinator]

6 minutes ago, porina said:

I'm not sure about that pattern of paste left on there. I'd expect more spread, yet it seems to be more gloopy in the middle. If memory serves me correctly, there are various posts that fit onto the mobo frame to put the mounting bracket at the correct height. Could the wrong (longer) ones be fitted, thus the cooler is a little too high to make good contact?

I don’t like the paste pattern either. Thin on the outside big dollop in the middle.  It should look thin all the way across.

 

also noticing there’s a thinner spot bottom center.  Could be from a finger though.

[MartinKweh]

do the x shape on ryzen CPU. unlike intel, ryzen 3rd gen has multiple dies in it so you need more thermal paste spread all over the heat spreader. 

[For Science!]

2 hours ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

That's not the bottom sticker. I have tried taking it off. It's the only non painted part of the heatsink

Bad mount or mounting pressure for sure. 

[Falkentyne]

That's terrible mounting pressure.

If you applied a pea shaped dab right in the middle of the IHS and squeezed down, it should be covering the entire IHS with only the corners exposed (if even that) and there would be no such goop pileup in the middle.

 

Did you install the proper standoffs and AMD mount?

I believe there are two sets of standoffs and one is for Intel.  I remember seeing that in the manual.

[BigBlackHawk60]

Yea, I solved the issue. The mounting pressure was not enough and it was a bit lopsided since I tightened one screw more than the other. 

 

Thanks for all the help

[1van]

16 hours ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

Hey,

I recently bought a NH-D15 along with my brand new 3800X CPU and am getting insanely high temps when idle and underload it brutally throttles and reaches 95°C immediately.

It is typical for Zen 2 CPUs due to 7nm (high heat density), chiplet design, and uneven CPU heat spreaders. Some of these CPUs have their lids taller close to the edge then in the middle. It makes poor contact with the cooler.

The solution for some people was to machine/flatten their CPU IHS and the cooler base, but it voids warranty and not for everyone. It may sound strange, but you could get lower temps with a stock-like cooler which has a round pad in the center, and does not touch the edges.

 

UPD: I see it's solved, nice

[porina]

6 hours ago, BigBlackHawk60 said:

Yea, I solved the issue. The mounting pressure was not enough and it was a bit lopsided since I tightened one screw more than the other. 

Good to hear it is now fixed. What temps are you getting now?

[BigBlackHawk60]

4 hours ago, porina said:

Good to hear it is now fixed. What temps are you getting now?

I'm getting 65°C idle and 95°C. It seems a bit high but my computer is in the top floor and next to the main radiator of the house so my average room temps are around 32°C. So I'm not that surprised.

[Bombastinator]

32c Albedo kinda high even with warm room.  It should be lower.

[Falkentyne]

If you're in a room that is 32C, idle should be 40C.  45C absolute maximum.

 

Did you check the paste to see how it spread?

There is a really good way to check for balance.

Remove the HS and clean the paste, then apply a *rice sized grain* (no bigger!) to the very center of the IHS.  

Then quickly remount, screw in fully then instantly dismount.

 

If the spread covers half the area of the IHS or more, you have good pressure.  If it doesn't, you have a pressure or mounting problem.

 

Another way to test pressure is to politely bug these guys for a pressure paper sample for "Fujifilm Ultra Low Prescale."  They tend to send you one, but they expect you to be a company or business or something.  Just be polite and tell them you would like a sample for CPU heatsinks.

https://www.sensorprod.com 

 

If you don't feel like doing the bartering to get a free sample, you can buy the same size they usually send you, from https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Contact-Analysis-Heatsink/dp/B07CKHRKHQ/