[SOLVED] 9900K overheating because of the NZXT H510 case ?

[Zesty59]

So I just got my 9900K and I'm currently cooling it with a dark rock pro 4, I'm running it at 4.8 all core with a -1 AVX offset @1.255 vcore. In cinebench (multicore) i'm at around 80c, the same in Aida and 95c in Prime95 (small fft). Im wondering if these are usual temps. I've seen people with much better temps than mine,

GPU - 3060ti
Mobo - Prime z370-a ii (ii model has a better VRM and I checked my VRM temps are fine and I havent throttled)
RAM - Vengeance LPX 16gb @3000mhz
Case - NZXT H510 (Possible problem)

So the H510 airflow is pretty bad. Front intake is almost non existent so i'm using 2 exhaust fans (the default setup). I'd like to avoid buying a new case so I considered modding the front panel and mounting two intakes there. The thing is I removed my side panel during testing and my temps barely changed so Im not sure more intake would help me much. Does anyone have any idea if what im experiencing is normal and if it isnt what I can do to fix this?

 

[Phaaze88]

The H500 was designed with negative pressure in mind - you know, exhaust > intake. Trying to fight against that design by adding front intake fans would either change little, or make thermals worse.
Negative pressure chassis aren't bad or unusual, there's a problem with this particular chassis: how much available space there is for exhaust and intake. It's very limited.
The higher the power consumption is with your chosen hardware, the more the cooling is going to struggle. If it were just the intake side that were restrictive, you could probably work with it somehow, but the exhaust is also restricted.
It's a double whammy.


I also believe your cpu's settings may be a little too aggressive for the cooling you have. The Cinebench and Prime95 results you posted are proof of that.
Cinebench is more of a test of how stable the cpu's settings are. The load changes too much to be a cooler test.
Prime95(small FFT, all AVX options off) tests the strength of the cooling. While some consider it to be unrealistic, the settings in parenthesis are close to what thermals you may see running a real world app that does make use of AVX instructions.[Even though you turn off AVX in the options... weird, I know.]

The dual tower cooler is on par with 240mm AIOs. These are ok with the 9900K at stock with some negative voltage offset, but if your settings are too aggressive, I could see it being easy to overwhelm either.
The settings that are often too aggressive are:
-AVX offset. 0 or low values like -1 and -2 demand higher power consumption and higher thermals out of the cpu when AVX is encountered.
-LLC, or load line calibration. If the VRMs are air cooled, there's no need to go higher than the mobo's medium setting. The higher the setting the hotter the VRMs and the cpu can get.
-Vcore.

 

[Zesty59]

The H500 was designed with negative pressure in mind - you know, exhaust > intake. Trying to fight against that design by adding front intake fans would either change little, or make thermals worse.
Negative pressure chassis aren't bad or unusual, there's a problem with this particular chassis: how much available space there is for exhaust and intake. It's very limited.
The higher the power consumption is with your chosen hardware, the more the cooling is going to struggle. If it were just the intake side that were restrictive, you could probably work with it somehow, but the exhaust is also restricted.
It's a double whammy.


I also believe your cpu's settings may be a little too aggressive for the cooling you have. The Cinebench and Prime95 results you posted are proof of that.
Cinebench is more of a test of how stable the cpu's settings are. The load changes too much to be a cooler test.
Prime95(small FFT, all AVX options off) tests the strength of the cooling. While some consider it to be unrealistic, the settings in parenthesis are close to what thermals you may see running a real world app that does make use of AVX instructions.[Even though you turn off AVX in the options... weird, I know.]

The dual tower cooler is on par with 240mm AIOs. These are ok with the 9900K at stock with some negative voltage offset, but if your settings are too aggressive, I could see it being easy to overwhelm either.
The settings that are often too aggressive are:
-AVX offset. 0 or low values like -1 and -2 demand higher power consumption and higher thermals out of the cpu when AVX is encountered.
-LLC, or load line calibration. If the VRMs are air cooled, there's no need to go higher than the mobo's medium setting. The higher the setting the hotter the VRMs and the cpu can get.
-Vcore.

Thanks for the detailed reply. After some tinkering with fan curves I've managed to improve my temps a little. Do you have any idea what kind of temperature reduction I could see if I modified the case? For example cutting part of the side panel out and then mounting two good quality 120mm fans as opposed to using the tiny vent already there.

Also you mention VRM cooling, I'm not doing anything beyond using the pre applied heat sink to cool the VRM. I was worried about this when I got this chip (being that this is a z370 board and some z370 VRMs are pretty awful). I use hwinfo64 to monitor the VRM temps, I believe the sensor is called VR VCC Temp. To my understanding this is actually an estimate based on other sensors and not a direct reading from the VRM. I've never seen the value exceed 74c which I was shocked with, I expected to be seeing at least 90, especially when I let the chip turbo to 5ghz all core (which it can do at the cost of nearly melting my heatsink). Perhaps this value is incorrect or my double exhaust is pulling so much air from around the VRM area its actually cooling it well? If they're reading incorrectly I'm worried I'm actually burning my motherboard.

 

[Phaaze88]

The H510 has both limited intake and exhaust options.
Trying to cram more air in the side isn't going to work well when the heat still can't be removed effectively.

Some Z370s can work with a 9900K just fine. Unfortunately, there isn't a list out there, therefore resorting to finding out the hard way, or trying to compare to the worse Z390 boards, because some of the cheaper ones don't do well with it either.
Plus, one of the advantages of an air cooler is that they provide more direct cooling over the VRMs than an AIO would've otherwise have done. I don't believe you're burning your motherboard at all.

 

[Zesty59]

The H510 has both limited intake and exhaust options.
Trying to cram more air in the side isn't going to work well when the heat still can't be removed effectively.

Some Z370s can work with a 9900K just fine. Unfortunately, there isn't a list out there, therefore resorting to finding out the hard way, or trying to compare to the worse Z390 boards, because some of the cheaper ones don't do well with it either.
Plus, one of the advantages of an air cooler is that they provide more direct cooling over the VRMs than an AIO would've otherwise have done. I don't believe you're burning your motherboard at all.

Thanks for the information, if I moved my bui)d into a case with much better airflow should I expect much better cooling with current cooler? Also are there any cases you'd reccomend?

 

[Zesty59]

I looked at some cases and I'm considering the p400a (specs say my cooler wont fit but there are multiple pictures and people online saying it does with a few mm to spare). I'd have 1 rear and 1 top exhaust with 3 front intake.

 

[Phaaze88]

Thanks for the information, if I moved my bui)d into a case with much better airflow should I expect much better cooling with current cooler? Also are there any cases you'd reccomend?

1)Yes.
2)I'd rather you pick something(s) you like first. It is something you're going to see often, after all, not me. I, and others are going to have our bias towards some brands.


P400A: This chassis does not support top mounted AIOs, so IF you were to take an interest in an AIO later down the road, a top mount wouldn't be an option.
Aside from that little bit, the chassis is fine.