7700k w/ AIO Cooling

[Mkdd18]

Hello fellow enthusiasts,

 

I would just like to ask for your opinion regarding about AIO Cooling. Currently i have a 7700k OCed to 4.4ghz cooled by a Corsair H100i v2 using Arctic Silver 5 w/ Push/Pull config w/ Corsair's SP120 (The first model) and im just a little bit concerned about my temps lately. My temps at idle usually go for 35*C~45*C on idle and spikes around 81*C~83*C but averages and stays around 73*C+- whenever i play PUBG or stressing the system.

 

Now my questions are, should i consider replacing something to get better and lower temps?

 

Are there any other fans better than the Corsair SP120 for watercooling? with RGB maybe, yes, no? lol. Aside from Noctua's since the only available color in my place are the brown ones. And having a black/white build, that would not fit perfectly. lol

 

Should i consider replacing my thermal compound?

 

Would you also consider upgrading to custom watercooling to get better temps?

 

P.S.

Delidding will be my last resort. lol

 

Btw, I'm currently residing near the equator (PH) so yeah, temps here are sometimes crazy.

 

Here are the specs of my rig:

Case: (White) NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case

Mobo: ASUS ROG STRIX Z270H Gaming

CPU: Intel Core i7 7700k @ 4.4GHz

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 Liquid Cooler (Push/Pull Config)

RAM: GSkill Ripjaws V 32GB 4x8GB DDR4 3200

PSU: Antec True Power 750w 80+ Bronze

VCard: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4G 256Bit

 

 

 

[ManuKnife]

Honestly, they're some of the best temps you can get on a 7700k. I had one at stock clocks which sat at 81c in games, despite being cooled by a Kraken x61 w/ Noctua fans.

 

TLDR; not really much you can do aside from de-lidding, that's what I did and dropped my temps by ~25c.

[WereCat]

The temps are fine. You really need to delid or use very aggressive fan curve to get better temps.

SP120 are not bad fans, they are just loud.

[Mkdd18]

21 minutes ago, ManuKnife said:

Honestly, they're some of the best temps you can get on a 7700k. I had one at stock clocks which sat at 81c in games, despite being cooled by a Kraken x61 w/ Noctua fans.

 

TLDR; not really much you can do aside from de-lidding, that's what I did and dropped my temps by ~25c.

Based on the opinions that i have been getting lately, it looks like delidding would be the best option. lol

[PETRGangKing]

A little bit better fans may make a difference, but a only by a matter of a degree or two. For a 7700k with factory TIM, those temps arent bad. the only way you are going to see a big decrease would be to get it delidded. Silicon Lottery will do it for $40, they reseal the IHS after replacing the stock TIM with thermal grizzly conductonaut, and they warranty the processor from any damage caused during delid. 

[Mkdd18]

17 minutes ago, WereCat said:

The temps are fine. You really need to delid or use very aggressive fan curve to get better temps.

SP120 are not bad fans, they are just loud.

Well, i just usually leave the side panel out in terms of fan curve. As for the fans, are there any RGB Fans that are at par with the SP120 or better?

[PETRGangKing]

Btw, love the twinfrozr graphics card! I had two of the 980 ti of that graphics card, up until a few weeks ago.

[WereCat]

Just now, Mkdd18 said:

Well, i just usually leave the side panel out in terms of fan curve. As for the fans, are there any RGB Fans that are at par with the SP120 or better?

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/NDmxFT/corsair-sp120-rgb-3-pack-wcontroller-520-cfm-120mm-fans-co-9050061-ww

 

[PETRGangKing]

Yeah , the rgb versions of the sp120 are probably going to be the best RGB static fans you will find. The only ones I would really recommend in an upgrade would be the Noctua slim 120mm, or the EK Vardars, neither are RGB though.

[Guest]

80C is the comfortable temp for overclocking, anything exceeding 90C+ isnt stable. As for a reduction in temperature, reapplying the thermal paste will decrease temps only by a couple of degrees, delidding will drop the temps of the CPU further more. With a custom watercooling loop, there is more maintanence required and you will be spending more money on the watercooling parts.

[Mkdd18]

8 minutes ago, PETRGangKing said:

A little bit better fans may make a difference, but a only by a matter of a degree or two. For a 7700k with factory TIM, those temps arent bad. the only way you are going to see a big decrease would be to get it delidded. Silicon Lottery will do it for $40, they reseal the IHS after replacing the stock TIM with thermal grizzly conductonaut, and they warranty the processor from any damage caused during delid. 

Actually i have someone who can delid this. Im just not yet sure yet if i should go with that route at this point. lol Yeah the MSI Twinfrozrs are a beast! Never had a problem with them.

[WereCat]

Just now, Mkdd18 said:

Actually i have someone who can delid this. Im just not yet sure yet if i should go with that route at this point. lol Yeah the MSI Twinfrozrs are a beast! Never had a problem with them.

 

Deliding is worth it IMO. (This is on air cooling).

[Mkdd18]

3 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

80C is the comfortable temp for overclocking, anything exceeding 90C+ isnt stable. As for a reduction in temperature, reapplying the thermal paste will decrease temps only by a couple of degrees, delidding will drop the temps of the CPU further more. With a custom watercooling loop, there is more maintanence required and you will be spending more money on the watercooling parts.

Hmmmmm, actually i have been thinking lately if i should also try re-applying the thermal paste.

And yeah, with regards to custom waterloop, thats the hassle of it. So i guess right now i just have to try the other things that i can do with what i currently have. lol

[PETRGangKing]

1 minute ago, Mkdd18 said:

Actually i have someone who can delid this. Im just not yet sure yet if i should go with that route at this point. lol Yeah the MSI Twinfrozrs are a beast! Never had a problem with them.

Neither did I, they had fantastic thermal performance for an air cooled card.

[PETRGangKing]

I agree that delidding is worth it. Ive had mine delidded and at a 5.1ghz overclock and a custom loop, under 100% load I get an average temp of 54 and a max temp of 64.

[Mkdd18]

10 minutes ago, WereCat said:

 

Deliding is worth it IMO. (This is on air cooling).

Daaaaaamn, lol

 

Just a little more push then maybe ill be going for that route. hahaha For now ill just try re-apply first the thermal compound to see if i can get any difference. 

[Zyndo]

1 hour ago, Mkdd18 said:

Snip

a de-lid on a 7700k would only help to serve your build.... but 4.4GHz is seriously LOW for a 7700k on a 240push/pull AIO. What is your voltage at? You should be able to get significantly higher frequencies on your current setup without a de-lid. De-lid's are the kind of thing you should be looking at if you're trying to push over 5GHz, and you're not even remotely close to that threshold.

Everyone here is jumping on the "7700k is a hot chip" bandwagon... and it IS a hot chip... but at your current frequencies the chip isn't your limiting factor, its your settings. with your setup you should easily be in the 4.7-4.8GHz range. Until you get there you shouldn't be looking at a de-lid since its really not going to do anything for you if you're running the wrong settings anyway.

[Mkdd18]

9 minutes ago, Zyndo said:

a de-lid on a 7700k would only help to serve your build.... but 4.4GHz is seriously LOW for a 7700k on a 240push/pull AIO. What is your voltage at? You should be able to get significantly higher frequencies on your current setup without a de-lid. De-lid's are the kind of thing you should be looking at if you're trying to push over 5GHz, and you're not even remotely close to that threshold.

Everyone here is jumping on the "7700k is a hot chip" bandwagon... and it IS a hot chip... but at your current frequencies the chip isn't your limiting factor, its your settings. with your setup you should easily be in the 4.7-4.8GHz range. Until you get there you shouldn't be looking at a de-lid since its really not going to do anything for you if you're running the wrong settings anyway.

Actually the original frequency was 4.6GHz before i pulled it down to 4.4GHz hoping for the temp to drop a bit.

[Zyndo]

Just now, Mkdd18 said:

Actually the original frequency was 4.6GHz before i pulled it down to 4.4GHz hoping for the temp to drop a bit.

frequencies don't really change temperatures all that much, its significantly more dependent on voltages. what is your voltage at?

[Mkdd18]

Just now, Zyndo said:

frequencies don't really change temperatures all that much, its significantly more dependent on voltages. what is your voltage at?

Hmmmm, ill get back to you on that one when i get home in an hour. lol

[Zyndo]

Just now, Mkdd18 said:

Hmmmm, ill get back to you on that one when i get home in an hour. lol

okay..... well maybe try a remount, bump up your fan curve a bit, and then get your frequency as high as you can get it while stable and report back with frequency voltage and temperature after a 30-60 minute burn test.

[chris cooper]

Mine sits around 75-80 degrees at 4.9ghz, with a Kraken x62 at 50% constant fans.  The 7700k is a hot one, true, - but your not really pushing it that hard. Like already mentioned I consider delidding to be an extreme mod, for pushing it past its limits.

 

I would check all the settings related to the cpu voltages in the bios and manually tweak setting them.  I spent some time playing with the core, system agent and VCCIO voltages and different levels of LLC.  I found this ROG of gamers guide very helpful. https://rog.asus.com/articles/guides/the-kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/

 

But again at frequency I would start at the basics (thermal paste, cooler etc) as you are seeing a lot of heat.

 

 

[Mkdd18]

1 hour ago, Zyndo said:

okay..... well maybe try a remount, bump up your fan curve a bit, and then get your frequency as high as you can get it while stable and report back with frequency voltage and temperature after a 30-60 minute burn test.

 

1 hour ago, chris cooper said:

Mine sits around 75-80 degrees at 4.9ghz, with a Kraken x62 at 50% constant fans.  The 7700k is a hot one, true, - but your not really pushing it that hard. Like already mentioned I consider delidding to be an extreme mod, for pushing it past its limits.

 

I would check all the settings related to the cpu voltages in the bios and manually tweak setting them.  I spent some time playing with the core, system agent and VCCIO voltages and different levels of LLC.  I found this ROG of gamers guide very helpful. https://rog.asus.com/articles/guides/the-kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/

 

But again at frequency I would start at the basics (thermal paste, cooler etc) as you are seeing a lot of heat.

 

 

Currently moved it up to 4.6GHz, CPU voltage is currently set at 1.328v. Haven't changed anything yet aside from the core frequency.

[Zyndo]

52 minutes ago, Mkdd18 said:

 

Currently moved it up to 4.6GHz, CPU voltage is currently set at 1.328v. Haven't changed anything yet aside from the core frequency.

So you changed the frequency and the voltage is still on its stock regulation? the stock voltage profiles are seriously overestimated to make sure that systems are as stable as possible on as many chips as possible in as many conditions as possible so that all chips can hit their rated frequencies given enough cooling. However these voltage profiles are not really indicative of what a normal chip would need in a reasonable situation for most people. They are severely overcompensated for the fringe cases and careless users around the world so that those people do not have issues either.

For example my 6700k on "stock" voltage and frequency settings will run 4.0GHz, boost to 4.2GHz, and easily peak at 1.5v+ with temps topping out to high 80's with my H100i V2 and stock fans/profiles. Merely locking the frequency to 4.0GHz and setting the voltage to 1.225v makes my 6700k never break 60C with the fans running at their lowest setting and being nearly inaudible.  I'm sure I could easily get the load voltage lower If I wanted to with voltage offsets, LLC, and whatnot, but with temperatures being so low already I kinda don't really care lol.

If you're having thermal issues, monkey around with your voltage not your frequency. odds are you're capable of attaining higher frequencies with similar voltage amounts if you start inputting manual controls and settings for it. Voltage is the biggest determination of heat, not frequency, so if you're having heat issues you need to address your voltage. Frequency isn't irrelevant, and it DOES contribute to heat generation, but compared to voltage its kind of insignificant.

[Mkdd18]

Just an update. So i have tried turning the XMP Setting off in the bios and good enough the auto boost setting kicked in making my core frequency locked at 4.5GHz and temps at a relatively reasonable figure even while gaming ang stressing the CPU. I am now more concerned about the timings of the RAM, since basically it should be at 3200MHz, since XMP is off, it was just configured at 2133MHz. I am now trying to find ways on how i can configure it back to 3200MHz without stressing the CPU voltage so temps could stay at a reasonable figure. 

 

P.S.

 

Temps only managed to peak around at 78*C i think but stabilizes around 59*C~63*C.