High temps on custom system

[nightmarevoid]

I just built my first custom loop, but I'm having an awful time with my temps. I have a 120mm x 45mm radiator only cooling a ryzen 3700x. With my fans pinned at 100% I'm still getting 80 degrees C when playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare. At idle I'm still seeing around 50 degrees, which is where I was when I was still using the wraith cooler. I'm pretty disheartened by this. Could this be caused by a bad thermal paste application on the CPU block? the parts are:

 

alphacool 120mm x 45mm

phanteks glacier Copper/nickel block

phanteks glacier 220 reservoir

DDC pump running at 100%

3/8x5/8 tubing

thermaltake PurePlus fans.

 

radiator is on an intake fan

[Moonzy]

did you remember to peel the plastic?

how bout thermal paste?

 

how tight is the mount?

[nightmarevoid]

18 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

did you remember to peel the plastic?

how bout thermal paste?

 

how tight is the mount?

Yes I peeled the plastic.

I used the phanteks paste and I applied the amount I usually do, but maybe it wasn't enough.

The mount is as tight as I could get it, and I tightened in a cross pattern.

[SavageNeo]

6 minutes ago, nightmarevoid said:

Yes I peeled the plastic.

I used the phanteks paste and I applied the amount I usually do, but maybe it wasn't enough.

The mount is as tight as I could get it, and I tightened in a cross pattern.

well its only 120mm loop and wraith cooler is decent so the results are pretty much expected.

 

wait so you say that in gmaing yor cpu is 80c, not in 100% load? well something iw wrong then

 

[Deli]

Higher ambient temp in summer? A 120mm rad is small for a 3700X. I got a 240mm rad for 3600. And it does 75C. So 80C for 3700X seems normal.

[Mick Naughty]

Use a real radiator. Not sure how they build came to be but it wasn’t made with that system in mind. 

[Iliyria]

Isn't the rule of thumb to use 120mm per device in the loop plus 1 spare? So if you are 1 device (CPU) shouldn't it be 240mm and if 2 devices are connected 360mm.

[nightmarevoid]

Okay, to address a few critiques I'd like to clear some things up
 

for starters there is no more room for radiators because I'm vain and decided to use the phanteks evolv shift air for my case, so I can't really brute force it.

I don't think the single radiator is the issue because it's much thicker than a regular radiator, and as Linus himself has pointed out longer fins don't mean you get better temps. I decided to opt for wider fins which are closer to the source rather than longer ones. I decided to use water cooling because the best cooler I could fit in my case was the OEM wraith prism, but it would spin up like a hair dryer when I performed the smallest actions no matter how I tuned the fan (in COD it would cause my desk top vibrate).

People cool these chips using single radiator AIOs which use cheap aluminum radiators and mixed metal blocks all the time. I figured all of my stuff being copper put me at at least some kind of advantage. That may be hopeful, but I do still feel that it is a valid idea.

To my own fault I definitely forgot to mention that I have a 15% overclock. probably the reason for jumpier temps.

 

In truth I think my issue may be the thermal past application or the fan not being optimized for static pressure. Thicker radiators do have less dense fins, but I doubt it's enough to make a difference in this scenario. I'll replace it with a good SP fan from Noctua first and see what happens. Thanks all for the replies. I probably should have been more forward about my unique setup and its limitations.