[SOLVED] Aftermarket cooling for system?

[FrontlineChief]

Do I need to change/upgrade my cooling after getting high temps after enabling DDR4 XMP profile?

I just recently clocked my DDR4 G.Skill 32gb ram from their base 2.2 GHz to 3.2 GHz through the XMP profile, and it jumped my CPU temperature up about 5 to 7 degrees. This is causing my CPU to hit an average of 86 degrees at average to high usages in game. Some games, like Battlefield 4 for example, will hike the CPU temp to 89 degrees and sometimes stay there.

I recently completely cleaned my PC of dust from every crevice and from my radiator, as well as new application of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste in what I thought was my best application of thermal paste yet.

Do I need to upgrade my case and cooling system for better airflow, or is there something I can do to keep the 3.2 GHz clock and still get reasonable temperatures?

PC Specs:
Intel Core i7-6700k @ 4.2 GHz
Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 7 MoBo
GTX 1080ti
G.Skill DDR4 32gb Ram at 3.2GHz
Corsair 500R White case
Corsair H100i V2 at max pump and fan RPM

 

[Lutfij]

Mind sharing the model for the ram kit you have? Are you on the latest BIOS update for your motherboard? The 500R has more than adequate airflow for your system. Which version of Windows 10 are you running?

 

[FrontlineChief]

Windows 10 Version is 1903 or 10.0.18362 Build 18362 (I don't know which one is the version you need to be honest)

Ram is listed as G.SKILL 32GB (2 x 16GB) Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 3200MHz Model F4-3200C16D-32GVK on Amazon

My BIOS version is F7 (Amercian Megatrends Inc) from 3/11/2016 (Probably the issue, no?)

Let me know if this is the correct info, I'm trying to get better with PC knowledge so I may need more explanation if I can't answer correctly. 😀

 

[Karadjgne]

You should not be hitting 60°C at that cpu speed, with that cooler, regardless of xmp settings.

I'd start with making sure all the motherboard chipset drivers are as current as possible, pcie, Intel management, audio, Lan, USB, Sata etc.

Then I'd clean and repaste the pump, dust out the pc, emphasis on the radiator. Just how old is that H100i v2?

 

[FrontlineChief]

The H100i is 3 years old as of now. I will do everything you say hopefully tomorrow but I have to say. the Inside my of PC is quite clean since I just dusted and reapplied paste about a month and a half ago. I also might have a radiator fan issue because in the past few days, one sounds like it is rubbing something or loose.

If I get to it tomorrow, I'll post an update as soon as I can! Thanks for the suggestions, everything helps.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ah. Well that would be important info to know. So you might not have done a good enough paste job, which happens, might not have a good reseat or could simply be that there's an issue with the fan leaving the radiator semi-passive.

 

[FrontlineChief]

Honestly, I dumbly thought its was the rear 240mm fan, because that fan spins are 80% speed because the Rad pipes slightly touch it, but that has been a thing since I got the rad, back when I had much lower temps then now.

If it is a busted fan, is there any higher quality fans I should get to replace it, because after looking at the recent reviews of the H100i, the quality control seems to crap for both the fans and the rad. It seems I got lucky with it lasting this long. Of course, if the reviews aren't just loud unlucky situations

 

[Karadjgne]

Not the rad. There's only 5 or 6 companies that actually manufacture rads and they'll all use pretty much the same standards. So that Corsair rad is identical to one found on Evga etc. It's the fans themselves, and the ratio of static pressure to cfm at any given rpm that determines the real differences in temps. But capacity is quite a different metric to ability.

Phanteks PH-F120MP, Noctua A12x25, Corsair ML120 Pro, Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12, Scythe Gentle Typhoon, Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC 2000, NZXT Aer are all good rad fans. Straight up plain fans top rgb/argb in ability.

 

[FrontlineChief]

Oh sorry, I meant pump not rad, forgot they are separate. When it comes to cooling with today's' tech, would you recommend air-cooling with a Noctua like system, or are AIO's in mid towers recommended? I am getting constantly more and more worried about my AIO's pump failing or worse, and I hear the Noctua DH-15 is not only really good at cooling, but quite as well.

 

[Karadjgne]

Well a lot depends on how you look at things. For instance a 120mm AIO runs about 140w capacity. As do many aircoolers. On fact the Corsair H60 has identical temps and ability to the CoolerMaster Hyper212 evo. Aios and aircoolers get the exact same result, cooling of the cpu, they just go about it in a different method.

There are real (not word of mouth, passed down bs) advantages and disadvantages to both methods. Most cases have at least 1x 120mm fan port, and will fit an aio. Many cases are too small for decent size aircoolers. Air cooling has 1 moving part, the fan, while an aio has 2, the fan and pump so chances of failure go up. Both systems use liquid, there's liquid inside the heat pipes of an aircooler which will eventually break down and the heatsink become far less effective. That just takes far longer than with an AIO which averages @ 5 years.

Some just look at value, aios cost more. Well they do. However, those same ppl forget that the rad comes with 2 fans, as does most cases and with an aircooler, you'll be purchasing usually 2 more fans.
So yes, an $80 NH-D15 is cheaper than a $120 240mm AIO, but add on 2x rgb fans at $30 each to get the same affect, it's really overall not cheaper.

Some ppl claim noise, and compare Noctua fans on the NH-D15 to aios in general, bogus move, it's the fans themselves that make the noise. If you stuck corsair 2800rpm SP120's (h100i) on a NH-D15 heatsink it'd be horrifically loud. Put NF-A14x25 (NH-D15) fans on an H100i aio, it's next to silent.

So choice of aircooler or aio becomes, in the end, nothing more than a personal thing. You can get same volume, same temps, same everything either way, just a different look.

There's only 1 advantage to aios that aircoolers cannot counter or match. Capacity. There isn't an aircooler built that's large enough to match a 280mm/360mm in sheer capacity. The largest big air towers reach 250-280w. A mediocre 280mm aio starts at @ 300w and 360mm start @ 350w. And go up from there. That's a huge benefit to HEDT cpus that TDP 140w, or the i9 9900k which can reach 250w at 5GHz. It's not the temps themselves, it's the capacity to keep workable temps under any load condition.

Cooler choice is easy. It's as easy as choosing the right vehicle. If you tote a heavy trailer, you need a 1 ton pickup, not a sports car. If you race, you pick a sports car, not a 1 ton pickup. Whether those choices are dodge, Ford or Chevy or Corvette or Ferrari is up to you to decide.

So is it a heavy job, or is silence a priority, budget, extra fans, rgb, looks etc etc etc. Find the right vehicle needed, then narrow down to what fits the needs. Personally I prefer a slightly oversized aio, minimal fan speeds, good temps, no huge block of aluminium blocking the window. Some prefer aircooling, cheaper, more variety, and extra fans aren't a consideration. Just take into account what actually fits in your case, no point going with a Deepcool Assassin III if you have tall ram and only 160mm of case clearance or a 280mm rgb aio if your case only fits 240mm max.

 

[FrontlineChief]

This is all exactly the information I needed to hear, thank you so much!

In terms of my AIO fans, the link below is a video of them going to max rpm's with a slightly weird noise coming form the right one. The noise you hear in the background is my Laptop, but that quiets down and shortly after the AIO fans speed up to max.

https://imgur.com/sSkZIzG

View: https://imgur.com/sSkZIzG


Do they sound like one is off? The Corsair software says fan RPM is maxed, but doesnt give a whole lot more information besides that.

https://imgur.com/a/b6fFBW2

View: https://imgur.com/a/b6fFBW2


Here is what the thermal paste spread looked like. Looks thin to me, what do you think?

 

[Karadjgne]

That's bad bearings. The right fan is not spinning the same speed as the left, I can see that looking at the emblem.

I'd replace both fans with new as there's no telling how long before the left fan goes out too.

You can't tell about rpm. There's only 1 tach/speed wire connected to both fans on the splitter, so only 1 speed is read. Run the fans at max, then swap the splitter wires and run max again. That'll give you both fans speeds. There'll be a difference.

 

[FrontlineChief]

Alright, I'll most likely will order 2 ML120 pro's for Monday. Unfortunately my brain must not have been working because I threw out my old thermal paste since I owned it for a while, so I have to run to the store. It seems the only thermal paste i can pick up today is TM30 or XTM30 from Corsair, are then any good compared to Artic MX-4?

 

[Karadjgne]

Yeah, if you look, it's thinner on one half. When you drop the pump on, start all 4 thumbscrews until they touch, then do an X pattern tightening only a few turns then move on to next. Repeat that X over and over until all are tight.

 

[FrontlineChief]

So I just got the PC back up and running, and most of problem was no doubt the way I put on the Paste. I'm getting 29-37 degrees browsing, and about 70 avg degrees in games that would have me over 85 degrees. I still ordered 2 new fans and better thermal paste, but so far so good. Thank you so much, I'm glad I made an account to post this!

 

[Karadjgne]

Welcome. Temps should drop with those fans, they are very good.

For pastes I prefer Noctua NT-H1, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut or Gelid Extreme GC. There's not much difference between best and worst pastes, 5-6°C but those are basically the top 3 pastes, and very easy to use/clean up and unlike some won't dry out for @ 8-10 years even under heavy heat usage.

My 2 personal pc's I've repasted only one, once, simply because I changed coolers and have owned both for 7 years now.

 

[FrontlineChief]

I decided on Artic Mx-4, but I might cancel that for one that you recommended.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's also one on the Gelid vrs Kryonaut

 

[FrontlineChief]

I think I am going to go with Noctua*, the question is should I do pea size, or spread? 😀

 

[Karadjgne]

Pea.

 

[FrontlineChief]

Phew, glad I was doing one thing right with this build. Well, the fans come tomorrow afternoon, so I'll report temps after I install. Once again, thank you so much!!