CPU performance decrease after switching cooler

[Nocmj1]

Hi everyone,

I recently switched out my Cooler Master 212 EVO CPU cooler for the Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO

Here is my build for reference:

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB SC GAMING Video Card 
Case: Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  

 

I haven't changed any settings, but my CPU performance seems to be worse since switching to the new cooler. For example, Cinebench R23 score dropped from 9625 to 9312.

 

CPU temperatures during benchmarks seem okay - they never exceed 65 C. I have also made sure to close all running processes before Cinebench runs.

 

Does anyone have an idea of why this might be? Thanks.

[Nocmj1]

Hi everyone,

I recently switched out my Cooler Master 212 EVO CPU cooler for the Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO

Here is my build for reference:

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB SC GAMING Video Card 
Case: Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  

 

I haven't changed any settings, but my CPU performance seems to be worse since switching to the new cooler. For example, Cinebench R23 score dropped from 9625 to 9312.

 

CPU temperatures during benchmarks seem okay - they never exceed 65 C. I have also made sure to close all running processes before Cinebench runs.

 

Does anyone have an idea of why this might be? Thanks.

[Mark Kaine]

well how much cpu / ram does icue use? 

[jaslion]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

well how much cpu / ram does icue use? 

It's not exactly known to be a efficient program and much like dragon center, nzxt cam, asus rgb hub thingy,... turning it off results in better performance.

[Mark Kaine]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

It's not exactly known to be a efficient program and much like dragon center, nzxt cam, asus rgb hub thingy,... turning it off results in better performance.

that's why I'm asking... I noticed mine uses about almost 1% cpu and a couple 100mb ram.... which is why I'm currently desperately trying to turn it off, but for some reason it doesn't 'save to hardware' anymore which initially worked...

 

But that's nothing compared to NZXT CAM that regularly used several GB! LOL 

 

I have a really old version of msi command center, now that thing is alright, it uses 0.1% cpu max and I never really notice it - but only use it to set fan curves, everything else it comes with is utterly useless / non functional

[Mister Woof]

CB scores can sometimes vary widely run to run, are these just one time situations or averages of mulitple runs. That's around 3% difference, which is a bit high for variance.

 

Have you checked your frequencies before and after during the test?

 

Perhaps the AIO pump isn't kicking in quick enough and early in the test the CPU throttles down briefly until the AIO can pick up? I know Ryzen is a little different thermally than Intel chips - Intel will be at max boost until it hits tjmax vs Ryzen I believe is scales depending on thermals even before tjmax.

[freeagent]

You might have had better contact with your 212, or your tim job was better. I'm leaning towards tim.. Maybe wipe it off and re apply. 

[Spotty]

Threads merged. Don't post the same post multiple times.

[Nocmj1]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

It's not exactly known to be a efficient program and much like dragon center, nzxt cam, asus rgb hub thingy,... turning it off results in better performance.

That's a good point, thank you for pointing that out. I don't run the the iCue software. Do you think that the RBG on the pump would dampen CPU performance that much?

[Nocmj1]

2 hours ago, freeagent said:

You might have had better contact with your 212, or your tim job was better. I'm leaning towards tim.. Maybe wipe it off and re apply. 

Thanks for the reply. I didn't know it was possible for a Tim issue to result in CPU performance dips with normal temperatures.

[freeagent]

38 minutes ago, Nocmj1 said:

Thanks for the reply. I didn't know it was possible for a Tim issue to result in CPU performance dips with normal temperatures.

Fair enough.

 

Since you removed your air cooler I have to assume you did not replace the air flow cooling your VRMs. Maybe those are getting warm.

[Nocmj1]

26 minutes ago, freeagent said:

Fair enough.

 

Since you removed your air cooler I have to assume you did not replace the air flow cooling your VRMs. Maybe those are getting warm.

Hmmm that's a good point. Can VRM temperature be detected?

 

I've got the AIO radiator with two fans as front intakes (wouldn't fit anywhere else) so I guess that could be possible?

[Mister Woof]

1 hour ago, Nocmj1 said:

Hmmm that's a good point. Can VRM temperature be detected?

 

I've got the AIO radiator with two fans as front intakes (wouldn't fit anywhere else) so I guess that could be possible?

Usually there's a sensor that HWInfo64 can pick up that may or may not be really accurate, depending on where the probe is located.

 

Air coolers have a couple of things going for them in regards to motherboard VRM cooling; there's a small amount of airflow byproduct of it being active cooling in that area, and also due to not having a radiator up front to heat incoming air/creating intake resistance due to the radiator.