AIO Placement and overheating

fminus · November 20, 2015

Hey guys. I am having some trouble deciding which would be the best placement for my two NZXT X31 AIO coolers. Currently I have this case here[1] : Phantek Enthoos Evolv Micro Atx.

My current setup is as follows:

Two Noctua Nf-s12a 120MM with ULNA adapter running at 700RPM front panel as intake
Kraken X31 on back panel setup as exhaust connected to GPU 980ti
Kraken X31 on top panel as exhaust connected to 4790k
CAM software running both @ Silent profile.

Neither my CPU nor GPU are overclocked. Today my machine overheated and locked up while playing GTA. I have had problems before with the CPU overheating. I have reapplied thermal paste multiple times with no luck. Any recommendations of what the problem can be? Or perhaps a better fan arrangement??

Cheers

tomaatvk · November 20, 2015

I don't wanna be a b*tch but are you sure you applied thermal paste propperly and that the Kraken X31 is actually able to handle the heat of the 980ti. That card has a max power draw of around 250 watts which will get you some serious heat for a single 120mm radiator.

fminus · November 20, 2015

Haha. Don't worry about it. Thermal paste was applied properly. I even used "ArctiClean" to clean and prep the surface. I never have issues with the 980ti overheating, it usually hits around 65C on load. It's the 4790k that is giving me issues atm. I had an x41 on it prior, and it was still problematic. I do not know if there is a more thorough radiator placement, or perhaps i should mount both 120mm radiators on top and have a dedicated exhaust fan on the back.

yippy3000 · November 20, 2015

I have an H80 (also a 120 rad) on my overclocked 4790k as an exhaust and it has no issues. You really shouldn't be overheating the CPU in that setup unless one of three things is wrong:

1) Fans, either intake or on the kraken are not working (probably not as I bet you would have noticed)

2) The Kraken is not seated properly on the CPU. When I put my H80 on originally, there was a defect on the backplate that prevented it from fully seating. The mounting screws go into the backplate and there are permanent spacers to prevent you from over-tightening against the CPU. One of them was too long (several mm longer than the others) I filed it down and my temps dropped 7 degrees.

3) There is something wrong with your kraken (could be pump is dead/not getting power, has air bubbles hurting cooling)