Question Cooling 9900k with Dark Rock pro 4

[Apache3348]

Hello everyone.
So I´m currently cooling my stock running 9900k with a Dark rock 4 pro and I´m getting weird temps.

Idle: ~40°C
Cinebench R20: ~87°C
XTU Stress test 5min: ~ 70°C

I´ve seen people online with this setup getting <30°C Idle and <65°C Load on this.
My case is the Lian Li PC011. I have all 9 fans used of which all are LL120, except for the bottom 3, which are Pure Wings 2.

How can I improve the temperatures, especially in load?

 

[rubix_1011]

What are your ambient room temps?

Are you going to be only benchmarking the CPU and not using it for daily use?

Also:

Airflow / Fan / Cooling / Overheating - How to test, steps to resolve

This could be caused by a few different things, please don't automatically assume 'the cooler is not working' without also checking if the case airflow is sufficient.

Remove the side panel of the PC case. Orient a house fan (desk or box style fan) to blow air into the case, directly over components at the highest setting.

This will represent a case with the best possible airflow possible. For reference, the fans I am providing as examples would look like the items below (just to clarify for anyone who might want reference)

Re-test as you have normally done - play games, run benchmarks, etc. to get to where temperatures were normally seen to be higher than they should. Normal room temperature is usually between 20-24C or 68-75F. Please note that every air or liquid cooler operates as a product of delta-T over ambient, meaning that if the PC is operational (simply turned on), it is impossible for the CPU to display a temperature below ambient room temperatures. If it is, this is likely a bug in software temperature reporting either from the desktop UI or the BIOS reading it incorrectly.

With the fan running at full speed, if temperatures drop by 5-7C or more, case airflow is one major issue to contend with. You will need additional fans or better fans for your setup in order to optimize air in and out of the chassis. This might even require consideration for a new PC case or leaving the side panel partially open during sessions of heavier computing until these items are corrected.

If your temperatures remain relatively the same (difference less than 1-2C), then you likely have an issue with the cooler in question (if CPU is hot, CPU cooler, if GPU is hot, GPU cooler). It would be good to then approach the next steps by thoroughly cleaning the cooler with compressed or canned air and ensuring there are not large blockages in cooling fins or on fans, etc. This might require the cooling fans to be removed from the heatsink or radiator to ensure there is not a buildup of pet hair, dust or even carpet fibers which can trap additional debris. Please ensure the PC is turned off and unplugged during this process to prevent unwanted startup to keep fingers safe from fan blades or accidental shorting if you happen to drop a screw onto other components during fan removal.

Removal of the cooler and re-application of thermal paste & re-seating the cooler can also be beneficial once cleaning of the cooler is ruled out by retesting the steps above.

 

[RodroX]

9 fans.... wow, I wonder how is it posible to geta good air flow with 9 fans.

I would just test with 3 intake fans in the front (or side panel, cause they are mounted on the side), 1 outake at the back panel and another one on the top-rear panel.

 

[Apache3348]

9 fans.... wow, I wonder how is it posible to geta good air flow with 9 fans.

I would just test with 3 intake fans in the front (or side panel, cause they are mounted on the side), 1 outake at the back panel and another one on the top-rear panel.

Well, I have the 3 on top & bottom running parallel on the same speeds while the 3 on the side are kinda just going at 10% right now (They are for a radiator that´s not present, which is another story). So I should have a pretty steady flow from bottom to top.

 

[Apache3348]

What are your ambient room temps?

Are you going to be only benchmarking the CPU and not using it for daily use?

Also:

Airflow / Fan / Cooling / Overheating - How to test, steps to resolve

This could be caused by a few different things, please don't automatically assume 'the cooler is not working' without also checking if the case airflow is sufficient.

Remove the side panel of the PC case. Orient a house fan (desk or box style fan) to blow air into the case, directly over components at the highest setting.

This will represent a case with the best possible airflow possible. For reference, the fans I am providing as examples would look like the items below (just to clarify for anyone who might want reference)

Re-test as you have normally done - play games, run benchmarks, etc. to get to where temperatures were normally seen to be higher than they should. Normal room temperature is usually between 20-24C or 68-75F. Please note that every air or liquid cooler operates as a product of delta-T over ambient, meaning that if the PC is operational (simply turned on), it is impossible for the CPU to display a temperature below ambient room temperatures. If it is, this is likely a bug in software temperature reporting either from the desktop UI or the BIOS reading it incorrectly.

With the fan running at full speed, if temperatures drop by 5-7C or more, case airflow is one major issue to contend with. You will need additional fans or better fans for your setup in order to optimize air in and out of the chassis. This might even require consideration for a new PC case or leaving the side panel partially open during sessions of heavier computing until these items are corrected.

If your temperatures remain relatively the same (difference less than 1-2C), then you likely have an issue with the cooler in question (if CPU is hot, CPU cooler, if GPU is hot, GPU cooler). It would be good to then approach the next steps by thoroughly cleaning the cooler with compressed or canned air and ensuring there are not large blockages in cooling fins or on fans, etc. This might require the cooling fans to be removed from the heatsink or radiator to ensure there is not a buildup of pet hair, dust or even carpet fibers which can trap additional debris. Please ensure the PC is turned off and unplugged during this process to prevent unwanted startup to keep fingers safe from fan blades or accidental shorting if you happen to drop a screw onto other components during fan removal.

Removal of the cooler and re-application of thermal paste & re-seating the cooler can also be beneficial once cleaning of the cooler is ruled out by retesting the steps above.

Thanks for the profound answer! (Is that a copy/paste text?)
My room temps are around 20-21°C, so relatively cool. I do know that the CPU won´t go past ~27°C and I did test the temperatures with different combinations of panels.
1st: Without everything
2nd: Just the top panel
3rd: Just the front glass
4th: Both
(Because of space issues with the Cooler, the side panel cannot be mounted right now.)

I compared the results for idle, load and peak while running a stress test and they were all relatively the same (+/- 3°C, which I consider in the margin of error). Sorry, but I wrote them down in windows editor and forgot to save it.
Cleaning the cooler wouldn´t make a lot of sense for my situation as it´s not even a week old (Yes, it´s mounted correctly).

 

[RodroX]

Well, I have the 3 on top & bottom running parallel on the same speeds while the 3 on the side are kinda just going at 10% right now (They are for a radiator that´s not present, which is another story). So I should have a pretty steady flow from bottom to top.

Ok so basically if your DRP4 cooler is facing to the back of the case like it should, blowing the hot air out (check this pic https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rSMVRXmbj9mZgqtgXnQtZ9-480-80.jpg) then your 6 fans in the top and bottom are messing up the air flow really bad.

Airflow:

Fresh air coming in from the front ---> DRP4 cooler ---> hot air exiting out to the back and the top of the case.

Something like this: https://linustechtips.com/main/uplo...37_4.jpg.e7a2b3380918df381cf8025c7bcc692c.jpg

Also the problem is that your 3x front (side) fans are doing nothing at all. In fact if your going to have them runing at 10% I would just turn them OFF completely and save the wasted energy.

 

[geofelt]

A very good looking case.
First of all, I think your temperatures are ok.
9900K is a hot processor so the usual standards may not apply.
At idle, with 20c. ambient, I think you could do a bit better, more like 30-35c.

Since you have 3 120mm possible intakes on the bottom, I think I would make that my primary intake.
Since those can be filtered, your parts will stay cleaner.
Whatever air that comes in the bottom will exit somewhere, taking component heat with it.
Three exit fans at the top are really more than you need. One is sufficient to direct the airflow out the top.
If you have excessive exit capability, it will tend to draw in unfiltered air from other openings.

The normal orientation for a cooler is to draw in air from the front of the case(which you do not have) and to send the hot cpu air towards the back.
Question... Can the DRP4 be rotated 90 degrees so the hot air is directed towards the top?
That would give you a more direct airflow path.

 

[RodroX]

The 3 posible intakes at the bottoms are nice, but what will happend if he has a long and bulky GPU in the middle of the airflow path to the top of the case?

 

[Phaaze88]

The 3 posible intakes at the bottoms are nice, but what will happend if he has a long and bulky GPU in the middle of the airflow path to the top of the case?

Not a real issue. The NH-D15S is awesome for chimney setups.
I have mine oriented vertically, and I get slightly better temps that way as opposed to the traditional.

The OP would have to move their gpu to a different slot to do that with a DRP4.

 

[Apache3348]

A very good looking case.
First of all, I think your temperatures are ok.
9900K is a hot processor so the usual standards may not apply.
At idle, with 20c. ambient, I think you could do a bit better, more like 30-35c.

Since you have 3 120mm possible intakes on the bottom, I think I would make that my primary intake.
Since those can be filtered, your parts will stay cleaner.
Whatever air that comes in the bottom will exit somewhere, taking component heat with it.
Three exit fans at the top are really more than you need. One is sufficient to direct the airflow out the top.
If you have excessive exit capability, it will tend to draw in unfiltered air from other openings.

The normal orientation for a cooler is to draw in air from the front of the case(which you do not have) and to send the hot cpu air towards the back.
Question... Can the DRP4 be rotated 90 degrees so the hot air is directed towards the top?
That would give you a more direct airflow path.

Yes it can. I also thought about that, however my GPU is kinda in the way because the DRP4 is huge. So it´s not possible to fit it upright. But I certainly agree that it´d improve airflow.

 

[Apache3348]

The 3 posible intakes at the bottoms are nice, but what will happend if he has a long and bulky GPU in the middle of the airflow path to the top of the case?

The air between the GPU and Cooler gets kinda hot, but not like super hot, just warm.