New AIO. Unimpressed with temps

[5GigsOrBust]

First some background info: I live in Texas, which has the same average temperature as the sun. Until recently, I found water cooling unnecessary. But this summer is hot, so I wanted to try something different. I switched from the Hyper 212 black, which somehow managed to keep a 5 GHz + 8086k below 70c under full AVX load, to a Cooler Master ML240 AIO. I noticed a few things that I'm not thrilled about. For some reason, the max CPU temps are a few degrees higher under load than they were with the hyper 212, about 5-10 degrees F usually. The idle temps are about the same as the Hyper 212, which is less than impressive for a 240 aio. Under Cinebench load, it gets up to about 75c. Running the pump and fans faster obviously helps, but I don't get why the cooling performance seems slightly less than the Hyper 212. I have more than enough case ventilation, and the radiator sits up top drawing in fresh air. I have reinstalled the cpu block, and it is mounted correctly. My only idea is the coldplate, which has ridges on it for some reason, I'm sure that tanks performance. I'll probably lap it down or something at some point. Now I know there are many variables involved in this, but under the same conditions, the 240 seems to run a bit warmer than the 212. Has anyone else experienced this going from air to water? I understand that the CM ML240L isn't the best AIO, but it theoretically should perform better than a hyper 212. I'm not new to PCs, but I am new to watercooling. Did I just get a bad unit? Please help me understand. 

 

System details:

Intel i7 8086k @ 5.2ghz, 1.295 Vcore, -1 AVX. Delid with liquid metal

Asrock Z390m itx/ac board

RTX 2070 Super

CoolerMaster ML240L with EK Vardar 3000 rpm fans

Random mid tower case with good ventilation and 3 decent case fans,  2 intake 1 exhaust

Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound

 

[dizmo]

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/james-dawson/cooler-master-masterliquid-ml240l-v2-rgb-cooler-review/5/

 

Honestly, looks like it's about what you can expect from that AIO.

[Bartholomew]

4 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

radiator sits up top drawing in fresh air.

Actually, if these are intake, it is drawing heated air from radiator into the case, at the same time battling the rise of hot air. Try changing these to exhaust, and have cool air drawn in from front by front intakes.

 

7 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

coldplate, which has ridges on it for some reason, I'm sure that tanks performance.

Do you have pics? 

[Moonzy]

5 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

the radiator sits up top drawing in fresh air.

6 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

3 decent case fans,  2 intake 1 exhaust

so 2 front intake, 2 top intake thru the radiator, and 1 rear exhaust?

might be airflow config issue

 

try running with the side panel open, see if temps improve

also, is the top panel restrictive for airflow?

[5GigsOrBust]

7 minutes ago, Bartholomew said:

Actually, if these are intake, it is drawing heated air from radiator into the case, at the same time battling the rise of hot air. Try changing these to exhaust, and have cool air drawn in from front by front intakes.

I ran it like that yesterday and the temps were even worse. I'm thinking the radiator was drawing in warm air from the gpu.

3 minutes ago, Bartholomew said:

 

Do you have pics? 

Attached image below.. Its not my exact one but its the same model with the same exact ridges on the coldplate. The ridges are deep enough to be clearly visible

[5GigsOrBust]

9 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

so 2 front intake, 2 top intake thru the radiator, and 1 rear exhaust?

might be airflow config issue

 

try running with the side panel open, see if temps improve

also, is the top panel restrictive for airflow?

Open side panel helps gpu temps, but not cpu. Top panel is mesh and I don't run a dust filter on it either

[5GigsOrBust]

11 minutes ago, dizmo said:

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/james-dawson/cooler-master-masterliquid-ml240l-v2-rgb-cooler-review/5/

 

Honestly, looks like it's about what you can expect from that AIO.

That's what I was afraid of

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

Open side panel helps gpu temps, but not cpu. Top panel is mesh and I don't run a dust filter on it either

is the mounting pressure enough? ie did u screw it down enough?

[5GigsOrBust]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

is the mounting pressure enough? ie did u screw it down enough?

Yeah I thought that was the problem, so I reinstalled it and all 4 screws are bottomed out

[Moonzy]

Just now, insert_comical_name_here said:

Yeah I thought that was the problem, so I reinstalled it and all 4 screws are bottomed out

probably just a bad cooler then...

[Bartholomew]

2 minutes ago, insert_comical_name_here said:

Attached image below.. Its not my exact one but its the same model with the same exact ridges on the coldplate. The ridges are deep enough to be clearly visible

Ah, thats a lot less serious than what i imagined that doesnt look to bad and should be overcome by paste.

 

Sounds like youve explored most options; im gonna go with the others that this about it with this cooler.

 

[Mondas42]

Just now, Moonzy said:

probably just a bad cooler then...

I had one of these for my Ryzen 9 3900X and like the op I wasn’t impressed with the temps achieved with it. Swapped it for an Air cooler and much better. Not too impressed with the CoolerMaster AIO.

[5GigsOrBust]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

probably just a bad cooler then...

Yeah probably. Just gonna lap the coldplate and see if that helps.