Looking for advice how to improve airflow

[vishy92]

Hey!

 

I recently upgraded my PSU and CPU cooler. I have a Fractal Focus G case.

 

I bought a Dark Rock Pro 4 and use it with a 9600k which is slightly overclocked. 4.9Ghz@1.3v (under load voltage). I have it paired with a MSI 2080 Super Gaming Trio.
My CPU temps are fine in synthetic benchmarks (around 75C tops), but when gaming, after like an hour or two my temps start to rise. Last night both my CPU and GPU reached 78C in games. Never saw my gpu go that high. My first thought was that the hot air might be getting trapped in the case and heating it up. I turn the hybrid mode off on my psu in hopes it helps a little, but I saw no actual improvement.

 

I have attached picture of my case. Ignore the cable management it has been sorted already:D

 

The 2 front fans came with the case Fractal Design Silent Series LL 120mm
Honestly I have no clue what model the back fan is off the top of my head, buts its an arctic pwm fan (max 1400rpm)

 

Any advice is appreciated

[Samfisher]

78c is nothing to worry about.

[JayBe]

If both front and top fans are intake fans and the one in the back is an outtake one, you should be fine in terms of good airflow.
Nonetheless, 78° peak isnt something you need to worry about. Thats totally fine. 
You need to start worrying about the temps if the temps are a) making your cpu/gpu throttle or b) reach the point where your pc turns off to prevent damage. And i doubt that 78° is doing either of those

[SavageNeo]

you can try to mount 2x fans for ehaust at the top. (if they fit)

[Dutch_Master]

1. Clean, and keep clean, your air-filters as well as the radiator(s). It seriously impedes airflow if they are dirty.
2. Make sure all fans are moving air in the same direction, from the fresh air intake to the warm air outflow.

[vishy92]

On 8/12/2020 at 10:27 AM, JayBe said:

If both front and top fans are intake fans and the one in the back is an outtake one, you should be fine in terms of good airflow.
Nonetheless, 78° peak isnt something you need to worry about. Thats totally fine. 
You need to start worrying about the temps if the temps are a) making your cpu/gpu throttle or b) reach the point where your pc turns off to prevent damage. And i doubt that 78° is doing either of those

I see. I dont have top fans lol. Just the outtake at the back and 2 intakes running 1100rpm in the front. The outtake is loud as hack above 1100 

 

On 8/12/2020 at 10:31 AM, Dutch_Master said:

1. Clean, and keep clean, your air-filters as well as the radiator(s). It seriously impedes airflow if they are dirty.
2. Make sure all fans are moving air in the same direction, from the fresh air intake to the warm air outflow.

I cleaned everything with compressed air when assembling the new cooler. I believe the fans are installed correctly. thanks for the advice

 

On 8/12/2020 at 10:24 AM, Samfisher said:

78c is nothing to worry about.

Yeah I was just worried, because it kills my OC headroom and considering the huge heatsinks on  both the gpu and cpu I expected better thermals. In general I have read post with people having much better temps with the same hw. Cpu fan kicks in 100% at 70C.

Edit: my gpu clocks down to 1900mhz at those temps:P! This didnt happen without the humongous cpu cooler before.

[JayBe]

5 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

I see. I dont have top fans lol. Just the outtake at the back and 2 intakes running 1100rpm in the front. The outtake is loud as hack above 1100 

Should be still enough. If you still want to improve on airflow, pump those Top intakes in.
And yes, if you only have on tiny outtake fan, you want that to run fast to get all the heat out as best as possible. And standard tiny fans on full speed are always loud

[SoulTribunal]

To reinforce what was said: That should be more than adequate cooling, 78C is perfectly fine under sustained load. More fans won't give you much improvement, just a bit of flexibility in terms of fan speed.

[Dutch_Master]

3 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

I cleaned everything with compressed air when assembling the new cooler.

Good!

3 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

I believe the fans are installed correctly. thanks for the advice

Trust is good. A thorough check is better

 

Just stating the obvious, but it's often the mundane things that are overlooked, so making someone stop and think about that is usually a good call.

[vishy92]

On another note I am willing to upgrade my case, if it helps with temps. I have been thinking about an upgrade for quiet a while now. Dont really like the cheap plastic sidepanel and the cable management cutouts. Any good recommendations with a reasonable price to performance and aesthetics?

[Samfisher]

P400A or an O11 Dynamic.

[vishy92]

1 hour ago, Samfisher said:

P400A or an O11 Dynamic.

I see thanks. The P400A is too small for the drp 4 and the dynamic is out of my budget. I see the meshify C mentioned a lot. Would that be a good upgrade over the focus G? Atleast I can setup 3 intake fans.

 

Nvm my 2080 would barely fit in a meshify C. RIP

[Samfisher]

30 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

I see thanks. The P400A is too small for the drp 4 and the dynamic is out of my budget. I see the meshify C mentioned a lot. Would that be a good upgrade over the focus G? Atleast I can setup 3 intake fans.

 

Nvm my 2080 would barely fit in a meshify C. RIP

The Cooler Master H500 Mesh maybe?  That can fit your cooler no problem.

 

You can refer to this list of CPU temps torture test on case airflow by GN.  Can start at the top and work your way down I guess

 

[vishy92]

4 minutes ago, Samfisher said:

The Cooler Master H500 Mesh maybe?  That can fit your cooler no problem.

I'll check it out thanks

[vishy92]

3 hours ago, Samfisher said:

The Cooler Master H500 Mesh maybe?  That can fit your cooler no problem.

 

You can refer to this list of CPU temps torture test on case airflow by GN.  Can start at the top and work your way down I guess

 

 

Hmm. I really like the P500A and its slightly bigger, than the 400. My only problem is they cost 230$ US here. Its really expensive considering the recommended msrp. Would that case be worth that amount of money?

[Samfisher]

14 hours ago, vishy92 said:

Hmm. I really like the P500A and its slightly bigger, than the 400. My only problem is they cost 230$ US here. Its really expensive considering the recommended msrp. Would that case be worth that amount of money?

It's really not much difference in performance, just the size.  Considering the P400A is around 100USD, paying more than double for that is...really not a good idea.

[narrdarr]

78c at 1.3v isn't bad. your OC might be able to increase maybe 200mhz without more voltage. so might be leaving performance on the table without extra heat. but thats neither here or there.

 

Your build choices make alot sense and i applaud you for that. you spent money on the important things and spent the least on thing that don't matter so much. it make sense.

although you have mid-high end parts that do required more air throughput/volume to remain cool. Your cpu cooler choice is great it just doesn't get the air it needs to be as effective as possible. The down side to picking a cheap(er) case with system in them that putt out more heat is it usually requires extra cost to get them up to snuff (examples: change of fans, adapters, and maybe some modding) and at the end of the day would cost almost the same as getting a case that fits the needs.

 

If you plan on sticking your current case for a while. I would recommend in changing the fans.

Arctic p12 PWM fans comes in packs of 5 for about 30$ depending on where you live. they check all the boxes too. High static pressure, high air flow, and quiet too. They are one the best fans you can get especially for the price.

 

They also make 5.25 to 3.5 adapters for between 5 and 10$ maybe cheaper if you look around a bit. But these would allow you to move your HDD's to the top in the 5.25 bays and add an intake fan into the bottom.. (might need to remove the HDD cage to do this. not sure how easy it would be for you just something to think about)

 

fan configs:

 

5 fans

2x intake*

1x bottom intake

1x top rear exhaust

1x rear exhaust

 

4 fans

2 x front intake*

1x top rear

1x rear

 

4 fans (optional idea to try)

2x front intake

1x top front intake

1 rear exhaust

 

3 fans

2x intake*

1x rear exhaust

 

3 fan (optional idea to try)

2x intake

1x top front intake

 

* If the top fan can shift up a bit i would do this.

------

If your planning on getting a different case:

noticed you mentioned the meshify C. It a great case i have one (pic in my profile). I'm not knocking on it, but i think these choice might be better a bit better

 

Cooler Master NR600 about 70$ (will need to get some fan for it. like the 5 pack i mentioned)

Phanteks Eclipse P300A about 90$ ( will also need fans. 2x 140mm should be enough)

Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance (price jumps around alot 90-140$) ( shouldn't need to by any extra fans)

Cooler Master MasterBox TD500 Mesh 100$ ( might want to buy 1 fan but may not need it)

 

 

 

 

[vishy92]

4 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

78c at 1.3v isn't bad. your OC might be able to increase maybe 200mhz without more voltage. so might be leaving performance on the table without extra heat. but thats neither here or there.

 

Your build choices make alot sense and i applaud you for that. you spent money on the important things and spent the least on thing that don't matter so much. it make sense.

although you have mid-high end parts that do required more air throughput/volume to remain cool. Your cpu cooler choice is great it just doesn't get the air it needs to be as effective as possible. The down side to picking a cheap(er) case with system in them that putt out more heat is it usually requires extra cost to get them up to snuff (examples: change of fans, adapters, and maybe some modding) and at the end of the day would cost almost the same as getting a case that fits the needs.

 

If you plan on sticking your current case for a while. I would recommend in changing the fans.

Arctic p12 PWM fans comes in packs of 5 for about 30$ depending on where you live. they check all the boxes too. High static pressure, high air flow, and quiet too. They are one the best fans you can get especially for the price.

 

They also make 5.25 to 3.5 adapters for between 5 and 10$ maybe cheaper if you look around a bit. But these would allow you to move your HDD's to the top in the 5.25 bays and add an intake fan into the bottom.. (might need to remove the HDD cage to do this. not sure how easy it would be for you just something to think about)

 

fan configs:

 

5 fans

2x intake*

1x bottom intake

1x top rear exhaust

1x rear exhaust

 

4 fans

2 x front intake*

1x top rear

1x rear

 

4 fans (optional idea to try)

2x front intake

1x top front intake

1 rear exhaust

 

3 fans

2x intake*

1x rear exhaust

 

3 fan (optional idea to try)

2x intake

1x top front intake

 

* If the top fan can shift up a bit i would do this.

------

If your planning on getting a different case:

noticed you mentioned the meshify C. It a great case i have one (pic in my profile). I'm not knocking on it, but i think these choice might be better a bit better

 

Cooler Master NR600 about 70$ (will need to get some fan for it. like the 5 pack i mentioned)

Phanteks Eclipse P300A about 90$ ( will also need fans. 2x 140mm should be enough)

Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance (price jumps around alot 90-140$) ( shouldn't need to by any extra fans)

Cooler Master MasterBox TD500 Mesh 100$ ( might want to buy 1 fan but may not need it)

 

 

 

 

Thank your for the detailed explanation! Im planning on changing the case in the near future, but right now im waiting until the Phanteks P500A releases here (October something) and at what price. Fortunately after getting in contact with the reseller, they confirmed the price to be close to its original 130$US price. Sometimes we get screwed over with prizes in my country.

 

In the meantime I have found 3x Purewings 2 140mm high speed pwm fans for 25$ used, but still under warranty. I'll give one of your fan configs a try. I dont think a bottom intake fits, but it would be nice. I'll try the HDD cage tip. Its been bugging me for quite a while now. Wanted to remove it earlier and just get an m.2 drive, but budget during the pandemic is rough. The plan: 2 x 140mm front intakes, 1 x 140mm top exhaust, 1 x 120mm.

 

Regarding the OC: Im new to overclocking, but I just couldnt break 5ghz even on 1.375v and after reading a few posts im not sure im comfortable going higher. Ambient temps are high this summer (around 28C) so that doesnt help much eighter. I just dont get how a lot of people can do 5ghz sub 1.3 volts. Maybe my chip is just bad or I just suck at OC:D A little bit of both probably.

[narrdarr]

2 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

Thank your for the detailed explanation! Im planning on changing the case in the near future, but right now im waiting until the Phanteks P500A releases here (October something) and at what price. Fortunately after getting in contact with the reseller, they confirmed the price to be close to its original 130$US price. Sometimes we get screwed over with prizes in my country.

 

In the meantime I have found 3x Purewings 2 140mm high speed pwm fans for 25$ used, but still under warranty. I'll give one of your fan configs a try. I dont think a bottom intake fits, but it would be nice. I'll try the HDD cage tip. Its been bugging me for quite a while now. Wanted to remove it earlier and just get an m.2 drive, but budget during the pandemic is rough. The plan: 2 x 140mm front intakes, 1 x 140mm top exhaust, 1 x 120mm.

 

sounds good.

2 minutes ago, vishy92 said:

Regarding the OC: Im new to overclocking, but I just couldnt break 5ghz even on 1.375v and after reading a few posts im not sure im comfortable going higher. Ambient temps are high this summer (around 28C) so that doesnt help much eighter. I just dont get how a lot of people can do 5ghz sub 1.3 volts. Maybe my chip is just bad or I just suck at OC:D A little bit of both probably.

thats ok

every chip is different, every mob is different, and combination is different. but may want to try a lower ram OC or no ram OC at all. but what you have right now is fine.

[vishy92]

45 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

sounds good.

thats ok

every chip is different, every mob is different, and combination is different. but may want to try a lower ram OC or no ram OC at all. but what you have right now is fine.

I havent noticed much differenc with XMP profile on or off. MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge. I will try 1.32v with lower ring and default memspeed when i get home. I'll definitely have to add more voltage I'm on already on a slippery slope with 1.3  Thanks for the suggestions