High temps and spikes - new AIO

[MVPernula]

Hey guys!

 

I recently downsized my PC.

Everything that used to be in my Fractal Design Define R6 was cramped into the neatly sized Meshroom S. (including my ATX motherboard, pretty cool to be honest)

This downsizing required that I change to an AIO (Corsair H100i RGB Elite 240mm) to properly cool my Ryzen 9 5900x for it all to fit.

 

Now though... Temps are acting weird and even though my AIO fans are on full blast (100%) I still can't keep my CPU from reaching it's throttling limit at 90c when gaming (despite it being on 30-60% utilization).

Even just hanging around in windows can cause rapid spikes in temps ranging from 42-78 in a single second.

Needless to say something's not right.

 

This downsize is recent, and I haven't had much time to troubleshoot yet.
These are my observations:

• I feel like the pump must be working, I can hear it whirring and feel water moving about in the tubes.
• The AIO die MUST be making contact with the CPU, I simply cannot tighten it any more without it feeling like I'm starting to bend something. I even gave it a little wiggle when installing it to make sure it was seated and made contact.
• Both fans are spinning and seem to be working as intended. RPM's are changing and reacting to my settings.
• And lastly: The CPU itself has been fine since I bought it. I have a hard time believing something in it broke/caused it to heat up more since I downsized it.

 

With that said I still haven't changed the thermal paste, and I used the pre-applied solution on the die that came with the H100i. Maybe it's dry/not making enough contact?

And yes, I removed the old compound before mounting the new AIO.

 

To me that seems like the logical next step - try new thermal paste.

Unless I'm missing something obvious?

 

Thanks!

[Likwid]

21 minutes ago, MVPernula said:

Hey guys!

Have you removed protective tape thats on cpu cooler die?

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/6525458153229--iCUE-RGB-ELITE-How-to-install-your-iCUE-RGB-ELITE-Liquid-CPU-cooler

[MVPernula]

7 minutes ago, Likwid said:

Have you removed protective tape thats on cpu cooler die?

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/6525458153229--iCUE-RGB-ELITE-How-to-install-your-iCUE-RGB-ELITE-Liquid-CPU-cooler

Lol god yes I hope I haven't missed that - but I'm very sure there wasn't any tape on there.

 

The way it looks (and the way I thought it was) is that Corsairs "protective tape" isn't, well, protective tape but rather that hard plastic cover.
That cover was removed when I changed the mounting hinges to AM4 on the pump/cooler die.

[Likwid]

24 minutes ago, MVPernula said:

Lol god yes I hope I haven't missed that - but I'm very sure there wasn't any tape on there.

 

The way it looks (and the way I thought it was) is that Corsairs "protective tape" isn't, well, protective tape but rather that hard plastic cover.
That cover was removed when I changed the mounting hinges to AM4 on the pump/cooler die.

Okey, would be hard to miss that cover.
The next step would be to check if the pump is not in quiet mode (I had seen posts about NZXT AIO having this problem). You need to check those settings on Corsairs software.

Usually, high-temperature spikes would mean a bad mount or water not going though the cold plate fast enough.

[MVPernula]

2 hours ago, Likwid said:

Okey, would be hard to miss that cover.
The next step would be to check if the pump is not in quiet mode (I had seen posts about NZXT AIO having this problem). You need to check those settings on Corsairs software.

Usually, high-temperature spikes would mean a bad mount or water not going though the cold plate fast enough.

I did try all different modes on the pump, but it was set on 'balanced' as default.

Neither quiet or extreme mode made a difference.

 

I don't know what normal coolant temps are, but they were in the high 40's - sometimes mid 50's.

At one point above 60c, which after googling quickly proves to be extremely bad. Could poor thermal paste cause this?
Thinking rationally that means the CPU definitely has contact with the die, but that it doesn't get cooled enough.

[Likwid]

6 minutes ago, MVPernula said:

I did try all different modes on the pump, but it was set on 'balanced' as default.

Neither quiet or extreme mode made a difference.

 

I don't know what normal coolant temps are, but they were in the high 40's - sometimes mid 50's.

At one point above 60c, which after googling quickly proves to be extremely bad. Could poor thermal paste cause this?
Thinking rationally that means the CPU definitely has contact with the die, but that it doesn't get cooled enough.

Okey, now we know that the pump is working and the liquid is heating up, now we need to check the fan speed. Can you set it up to run at max rpm and check if the same heat spikes happen?

[MVPernula]

1 hour ago, Likwid said:

Okey, now we know that the pump is working and the liquid is heating up, now we need to check the fan speed. Can you set it up to run at max rpm and check if the same heat spikes happen?

I'll definitely test more later, currently at work.

 

However, the fans were at max speed yesterday and still couldn't keep the temps down.

I had set a fan curve initially, but when the temps started going haywire I set them to 100% and it still didn't manage to keep the temps down.

[RevGAM]

Please post your specs and photos. If like to see how you put it together. You shouldn't be having those problems.

[MVPernula]

7 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Please post your specs and photos. If like to see how you put it together. You shouldn't be having those problems.

I will when I get home!

[MVPernula]

4 hours ago, RevGAM said:

Please post your specs and photos. If like to see how you put it together. You shouldn't be having those problems.

 

7 hours ago, Likwid said:

Okey, now we know that the pump is working and the liquid is heating up, now we need to check the fan speed. Can you set it up to run at max rpm and check if the same heat spikes happen?

Alright guys:

Ryzen 9 5900x

Gigabyte B550 Vision D

HyperX Fury 64GB
AMD RX 7900 XT Powercolor "reference model"

Cooler Master V850 PSU

Meshroom S chassis.

 

 

And images here:

https://imgur.com/a/pc-xJ5LEow

 

 

Besides that I've now also removed the heatsink to check if the thermal paste made good contact and can confirm that it does.

Reapplied new compound as well. My idle temps are currently around 44-52c idle with the occasional spikes up to 78c.

It's not the "slow" spikes I'm used to seeing on my previous DRP4, it can go between 44c from 78c in a second.

[RevGAM]

Thanks. The photos confirmed my suspicion. The positioning of the rad is smothering it. If you mount it externally on the side or back, it will do much, much better. If you can't, what options do you have?

[MVPernula]

23 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Thanks. The photos confirmed my suspicion. The positioning of the rad is smothering it. If you mount it externally on the side or back, it will do much, much better. If you can't, what options do you have?

Would you like to clarify? "Smothering it"

Putting it outside the case.. Feels like going backwards. I wouldn't call it an option.

I DID however just remount the fans as intake rather than exhaust, which seem to have improved the temps.

[RevGAM]

There isn't enough space for the fans to draw air past the mobo, through them and then through the rad.

 

Put the sides back on and see if the temperatures become worse again, which I would expect will happen. Personally, you could get the offset frame for AMD to improve temps some, return the Corsair and get a better AIO, and/or much swap in stronger fans (ex: Phanteks T30, SilverStone FHS120X, Super Flower Megacool, etc.), and perhaps undervolt your CPU.

 

If you go for the Arctic LF3 240, you'll get an offset frame that replaces the default mounting frame.

[Likwid]

9 hours ago, MVPernula said:

Would you like to clarify? "Smothering it"

Putting it outside the case.. Feels like going backwards. I wouldn't call it an option.

I DID however just remount the fans as intake rather than exhaust, which seem to have improved the temps.

You're basically trying to cool your cpu cooler with hot air from GPU, even when both GPUY and CPU cooler are in PULL configuration air around the case will heat up, to check if this is real issue I would suggest moving CPU cooler radiator outside the case and test again.

Can you maybe try to mount radiator as shown in case manufacturer site ?

[NorKris]

 

how can this choked thingy cool anythng

[MVPernula]

2 hours ago, Likwid said:

You're basically trying to cool your cpu cooler with hot air from GPU, even when both GPUY and CPU cooler are in PULL configuration air around the case will heat up, to check if this is real issue I would suggest moving CPU cooler radiator outside the case and test again.

Can you maybe try to mount radiator as shown in case manufacturer site ?

This setup would definitely be the best, but it wont work with an ATX motherboard.

If you check out the imgur link you can see that my motherboard goes as far out as the front fans in the picture you shared.

That build is made with an ITX motherboard.

 

The layout I've built with is the recommended and only way (as far as I know) to fit an ATX motherboard into the case.

6 hours ago, RevGAM said:

There isn't enough space for the fans to draw air past the mobo, through them and then through the rad.

 

Put the sides back on and see if the temperatures become worse again, which I would expect will happen. Personally, you could get the offset frame for AMD to improve temps some, return the Corsair and get a better AIO, and/or much swap in stronger fans (ex: Phanteks T30, SilverStone FHS120X, Super Flower Megacool, etc.), and perhaps undervolt your CPU.

 

If you go for the Arctic LF3 240, you'll get an offset frame that replaces the default mounting frame.

Alright! Thank you for clarifying.

 

As per recommendation I had placed the radiator fans as exhaust.

They're doing much better now as intake fans.

After I told you I did that yesterday the temps never exceeded 79c when stress testing.

2,5h of gaming left the liquid coolant at a stable 45,9c.

I'd say that's within reasonable margins!

 

The fans are set at a fixed speed on 70% now, seems to do the trick.

1 hour ago, NorKris said:

 

how can this choked thingy cool anythng

Quite well actually! At least after changing the fan orientation lol.

The bend looks worse than it is. 

Its tubes are pushed upwards, but I wouldn't say they're choked or bent in an unhealthy manner.

 

Then again, I'm not saying this is solved yet. I'll need to test it more.

Temperatures are improved significantly now at least.