Safe temps/fan curves. . .

[Sober]

so i just recently got a prebuilt PC from a reputable company. .I love the computer and it runs all the game i want very well. This is the first PC ive had since 2016. So im very out of sync now, as opposed to 8 years ago lol. Im using an intel i3 13100f..a gigabyte B760 MB..16gb of ram, and an rtx 3050..

so my question is one i know alot of people probably bring up, and ive read alot of forums and feel like i know whats going to be said when i ask this..but this PC was a large investment..and i want to take the best care as i can of it..

and btw my cpu cooler is stock, but at some point ill move to a liquid cooler, but it wont be for a few months, maybe less.

SO under load, load being when download updates for games/playing specific games..ive noticed the cpu getting to 80c, or a bit under 80c. Normally its anywhere from 32C , like right now im looking at it and its 32c, with nothing going on beside google..with certain games itll b around 50-65c..i was just installing an 18gb update for this game..and it shot up to around 75c...this MB came with gigabyte control center installed so i can see fan curves, temps, memory info, overclocking stuff, etc...so the fan curves were automatically set up to run the fans at X speed when the cpu is at X temp...so the hotter it gets, the faster they spin..but im concerned becasue the fans go up and down sometimes pretty quickly to keep the temp at reasonable levels..and im concerned the the fans going up and down that the fans will wear out or soemthing. im NOT a tech guy, i love computers and hardware but im not very educated in all the specifics and etc..so please keep that in mind lol. So is it ok for the fans to jump around, speed wise? am i being paranoid?

[PDifolco]

1 minute ago, Sober said:

so i just recently got a prebuilt PC from a reputable company. .I love the computer and it runs all the game i want very well. This is the first PC ive had since 2016. So im very out of sync now, as opposed to 8 years ago lol. Im using an intel i3 13100f..a gigabyte B760 MB..16gb of ram, and an rtx 3050..

so my question is one i know alot of people probably bring up, and ive read alot of forums and feel like i know whats going to be said when i ask this..but this PC was a large investment..and i want to take the best care as i can of it..

and btw my cpu cooler is stock, but at some point ill move to a liquid cooler, but it wont be for a few months, maybe less.

SO under load, load being when download updates for games/playing specific games..ive noticed the cpu getting to 80c, or a bit under 80c. Normally its anywhere from 32C , like right now im looking at it and its 32c, with nothing going on beside google..with certain games itll b around 50-65c..i was just installing an 18gb update for this game..and it shot up to around 75c...this MB came with gigabyte control center installed so i can see fan curves, temps, memory info, overclocking stuff, etc...so the fan curves were automatically set up to run the fans at X speed when the cpu is at X temp...so the hotter it gets, the faster they spin..but im concerned becasue the fans go up and down sometimes pretty quickly to keep the temp at reasonable levels..and im concerned the the fans going up and down that the fans will wear out or soemthing. im NOT a tech guy, i love computers and hardware but im not very educated in all the specifics and etc..so please keep that in mind lol. So is it ok for the fans to jump around, speed wise? am i being paranoid?

Your temps are ok, but the Intel stock cooler is crap and noisy

Don't get an AIO, get a cheap $25 aircooler like an AK400, SE214 or Vetroo V5

[Sober]

12 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Your temps are ok, but the Intel stock cooler is crap and noisy

Don't get an AIO, get a cheap $25 aircooler like an AK400, SE214 or Vetroo V5

Really? An aircooler? Ive thought for the longest that an AIO was kind of the end all be all for cooling..now that you say that some air coolers do come to mind...

[PDifolco]

22 minutes ago, Sober said:

Really? An aircooler? Ive thought for the longest that an AIO was kind of the end all be all for cooling..now that you say that some air coolers do come to mind...

One thing to understand is that more cooling isn't always, or even often useful : you just need to keep the chip at non dangerous max temp (say less than 85C with a margin) with as low noise level as possible, that's all

Watercooling is needed/useful for high power chips (>200W) because water is better at moving heat away, and aircoolers struggle at that power level; they also allow high end cooling with reduced noise levels due to using fans on a larger surface (rad) than an aircooler

AIO disadvantages are higher price and reliability, because of the leakage risk and pump possible failure, needing a full replacement

On an aircooler the only part that can fail is the fans, which is rare and cheap&easy to replace

For a 13100 that is super low power, an AIO makes no sense, rather invest the money in a better chip, any half-decent 120mm cooler will be more than enough to keep it very cool, even the Intel stock one manages it (but with high noise due to the smallish fan)...

[Sober]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

One thing to understand is that more cooling isn't always, or even often useful : you just need to keep the chip at non dangerous max temp (say less than 85C with a margin) with as low noise level as possible, that's all

Watercooling is needed/useful for high power chips (>200W) because water is better at moving heat away, and aircoolers struggle at that power level; they also allow high end cooling with reduced noise levels due to using fans on a larger surface (rad) than an aircooler

AIO disadvantages are higher price and reliability, because of the leakage risk and pump possible failure, needing a full replacement

On an aircooler the only part that can fail is the fans, which is rare and cheap&easy to replace

For a 13100 that is super low power, an AIO makes no sense, rather invest the money in a better chip, any half-decent 120mm cooler will be more than enough to keep it very cool, even the Intel stock one manages it (but with high noise due to the smallish fan)...

That does make a lot of sense. I have noticed also when the cpu fan runs 75 percent or higher the noise level is .. I don’t want to say loud per say..but it’s definitely noticeable. On my old

computer

I had all the fans running at max and just didn’t care about the noise but that’s not the case anymore . I think I’ve seen some great quality Noctua coolers before. And I like how the air coolers and much more affordable 

[RevGAM]

To add on to @PDifolco's comments, your first move should be to get a better cooler. As they said, a good air cooler will be enough and will also reduce the ramping of the fans but if you've got the choice of having to replace a fan versus almost any other part of the PC, fans are almost always the cheapest to replace unless you buy the overpriced ones. Fans are very cheap to produce, costing dollars or even a fraction of a dollar. 

 

Where I diverge from their advice is on using an AIO. There is nothing wrong with choosing to get one instead of an air cooler unless you don't research to find a great one. As they said, AIOs have several failure points - but so do many other things because the more advanced something is, the more weak points there will be. A good AIO will outperform any air cooler and will be less likely to conflict with parts near the CPU. Take good care of it and replace fans when they start to fail. And be aware of the CPU temperature and you should be fine until the pump dies, the unit loses too much liquid, or there is some kind of physical damage. As long as you choose wisely, it may well last 10 years even if you buy one that can't be maintained. Now, some brands have had issues with either crud (metal shavings, rubber or plastic) building up, or biofilm clogging it because of substandard manufacturing processes that allow bacteria to get into the units at any point in the manufacturing process, etc. So, yeah, there are more risks than an air cooler.

 

A nice thing about a water cooler is that if you get a really good one it'll be more likely to be usable on a hotter CPU. Some inexpensive air coolers can, others can't. 

 

I hope that helps. 

[PDifolco]

2 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

To add on to @PDifolco's comments, your first move should be to get a better cooler. As they said, a good air cooler will be enough and will also reduce the ramping of the fans but if you've got the choice of having to replace a fan versus almost any other part of the PC, fans are almost always the cheapest to replace unless you buy the overpriced ones. Fans are very cheap to produce, costing dollars or even a fraction of a dollar. 

 

Where I diverge from their advice is on using an AIO. There is nothing wrong with choosing to get one instead of an air cooler unless you don't research to find a great one. As they said, AIOs have several failure points - but so do many other things because the more advanced something is, the more weak points there will be. A good AIO will outperform any air cooler and will be less likely to conflict with parts near the CPU. Take good care of it and replace fans when they start to fail. And be aware of the CPU temperature and you should be fine until the pump dies, the unit loses too much liquid, or there is some kind of physical damage. As long as you choose wisely, it may well last 10 years even if you buy one that can't be maintained. Now, some brands have had issues with either crud (metal shavings, rubber or plastic) building up, or biofilm clogging it because of substandard manufacturing processes that allow bacteria to get into the units at any point in the manufacturing process, etc. So, yeah, there are more risks than an air cooler.

 

A nice thing about a water cooler is that if you get a really good one it'll be more likely to be usable on a hotter CPU. Some inexpensive air coolers can, others can't. 

 

I hope that helps. 

For a rather noob builder on a budget, AIOs are often a trap : sure there's some good AIOs, but even good brands can make defective ones (they don't make them themselves for the most part...), and really good ones are usually expensive, say $100+, when you can get a good aircooler for $40

So the builder either get an unreliable cheap AIO for at best the same price than a good aircooler that may have worked best, or he spends a ton of money and loses performance by having to cheap out essential perts instead ..

How many builds lists did I see with an AIO costing more than the CPU !!