[SOLVED] Cooling advice for a 5900x NZXT build ?

[foxmeister89]

I have a 5900x/gigabyte 3080 build that tends to be on the hotter side when gaming (88-90)!

I have historically build with intel and my prior research did suggest the AMDs are warmer in general than their counterparts! For additional context I build during Aussie winter and didnt notice temps too concerning. Now we are in the middle of summer and the average temp is around 30 degrees I have obviously noticed by CPU temps increasing.

Currently using a Kraken X63 (top mounted) with 3x intake at the front and 1x fan exhausting at the back. Case is NZXT H710i (not renowned for its airflow I believe). Do you think moving the AIO to the front, possibly with a push/pull and adding additional fan(s) at the top would make a difference? Any suggestions appreciated.

Please note I am 99% confident in the thermal paste application and my idling/general use temps are never a concern. Only seeing 90c when gaming under exertive conditions. Max graphics etc

 

[Darkbreeze]

Top mounted, but, is it configured as intake or as exhaust? Because if it's in the top of the case and it's configured as intake, that is likely counter productive and ought to be changed either to exhaust or move the radiator to the front (Which is much the preferred configuration) and configured as intake.

Some may disagree, but I'm going to say that your temps are seemingly not typical even for the platform, which does tend to run a bit warmer than some traditional platforms. You have a very decent cooler, for an AIO, and I'm pretty confident that your saturated temps should likely be at least moderately lower than what you are seeing. Something seems to be off, and IMO it's fairly probable that it's the configuration, not the hardware.

 

[Phaaze88]

Case is NZXT H710i (not renowned for its airflow I believe). Do you think moving the AIO to the front, possibly with a push/pull and adding additional fan(s) at the top would make a difference?

Best you test and find out yourself, but something tells me front intake(pull) might have an edge. Perhaps also turn off PBO if you have that enabled; it's similar to enhanced turbos on Intel systems, but it needs some finer tuning.
Ryzen 5000 was also designed to pursue higher boost clocks even up to 90C, so you're still operating within the cpu's specs - personal comfort zones be damned.
The subpar airflow isn't ideal for AIOs. Open mesh panels are better for them. You can choke the radiator fans by 'stacking walls' and making it harder for those fans to move air in or out.
Air cooler is harder to choke, and would have an advantage here since it sits towards the center of the chassis.
Top exhaust, the cpu AIO has to cope with not just the cpu, but the heat from everything below it. Gpu typically has access to the coolest air.
Front intake, the cpu AIO has access to the coolest air, and the other parts get sloppy seconds... but the heat the cpu puts out is usually lower on average compared to the gpu.
There aren't many mainstream cpus today that can regularly push 200w+ under gaming loads. They are very efficient in comparison to gpus - some mid range are pushing, or starting to push, 300w(geezus!).
To add to this, most users are getting models that dump all their waste heat inside the PC.
It's too bad the aftermarket 30 series didn't really adopt the FE's split exhaust, as that was real nice.



TL;DR(sort of): 'meh' chassis airflow + cpu AIO top exhaust + 300w or higher gpu taking a dump in chassis while gaming + PBO-based overclocks + high performance power plans = cpu AIO:

Spoiler

Swapping the front fans and cpu AIO should lead to a little lower cpu thermals, but the Ryzen cpu will seek out a little higher clocks because of that, so the temperature difference might not be be that much because of it.
So test and see what happens.