VRM seems to get too hot to stay stable

[EvilKitty]

I have a Z97 K1ller motherboard with a i5-4690k and the VRM heat sync appears to get quite hot with a overclock (hits 50C at stock) i could feel the heat on the side panel

this temporary, very ugly, and loud fan i wedged in there after unplugging my top fan got the heat sync about 20C lower than stock despite a vcore of 1.2

*due to the fan i could not measure in the same place

i am guessing i can somehow/hopefully zip tie a 40x40x10mm noctua pwn fan to this and hope that fixes it, any suggestions on where or how to put it on the heat sync

i was thinking if i can get it right above the onboard nic it should force some air over the fins

Maybe the heat sync can be rotated 180 deg so the fins get air from the cpu cooler?

i could try using the top fan as a intake, but that sounds bad for air flow

 

and ideas?

[airdeano]

welcome to the Linus Tech Tips forums!

 

either you have no real flow to the CPU fan to allow the center fan (designed to cool VRM) to push air to the VRM and the rear i/o fan extracts the air 

or the speed of the center fan is ultra low not allowing proper amount of air to cool VRM.

possible the center fan is in backwards?

 

50° on VRM is not heavy at all, even at stock as the VCORE voltage is on AUTO (to compensate for all CPU) the overvoltage would cause this.

capture CPU voltage with CPU-Z and lower stock voltage (prolly in the 0.9-1.080v) will drastically cut the VRM voltage and thermals.

[EvilKitty]

Both noctua fan push air towards the rear of the case

the fans being at low RPMs is possible, but the cpu was only hitting 70C and that is with prime95 (FFT size of 1344)

* fans were on "standard" profile, normally i use silent cause i have been too lazy to customize them

 

the VRM heat sync is just a wall of metal on the side facing the cpu, all the fins are on the other side

[-rascal-]

As @airdeano stated, 50*C is not hot for the VRMs.

About double the temperature, 85*C, 95*C+ is when you shoulding an eye out on things.

 

Your tiny 40mm fan, and the 140mm fan at the top of your computer case are *FIGHTING* each other.

Try this instead...flip your top fan around so to blows air DOWN and INTO your case.

See if it lowers the VRM temperatures, and see how much impact it has on overall case airflow / temperature.

[airdeano]

as a NH-D14 user, the middle fan is important is many ways:

• draw the air through the dense fin stack in front (aided by the nf-p12)
• push air to the VRM heatsinks to aid in less system errors due to high voltage overclocks
• push air into the secondary fin stack

 

this is what your d14 looks like installed. the middle fan hangs down low for VRM air support:

[EvilKitty]

The top fan was unplugged for this test and i wedge the slim 70mm fan in there and to make sure it had room for the blades to move i wedge a part of a close pin between the top fan and the tiny fan

i do not have a 40mm fan on hand

 

the top fan was a royal PITA to install with the anti-vibration pins, that back corner is impossible to get to

 

i know 50C is fine for VRMs but if the heat sync is 50C that means the regulators are much higher than that

 

 

Yes, i have the center position fan low like that, that feature is one of the reasons i got a D14 cooler

[airdeano]

the VREG/MOFET are rated for 125° internally. there is not wear-n-tear for temp ops below 125°.

at 50° (128°F) is above body temp and easily touchable. 125° (257°F) is scalding to touch.

5 minutes ago, EvilKitty said:

i know 50C is fine for VRMs but if the heat sync is 50C that means the regulators are much higher than that

not always true. the heat could already be wicked away. and if using an infrared thermometer, the tolerance is abominable.

at 10.0" distance, you have a measure of 1.0" at target and at 5.0" distance, you have a measure of 0.50" at target.

[EvilKitty]

I measured it by sticking a thermal probe onto the heat sink, i have a multi-meter with this feature

[Himommies]

18 minutes ago, EvilKitty said:

I measured it by sticking a thermal probe onto the heat sink, i have a multi-meter with this feature

I don't know too much about cooling,so don't quote me on this,but it seems wrong to measure it from where the heat is coming out from

[EvilKitty]

I do agree, but if you know a better why that does not risk shorting something out

maybe i can measure it at the back of the pcb...

 

i think this board has a problem with its sata controller, sometimes one or both of my hdds disappear from bios and sometimes do not appear in the os

kinda makes my want to upgrade to a new platform but i want to upgrade from my 650 ti boost