[SOLVED] Crashing and throttling due to high GPU temps

[BlenkoChenko]

Hey! This is my first post on any forum, so I am very, very sorry for any mistakes.

Ever since I built my first PC, I have experienced multiple crashes and throttling due to high GPU temps (85-90, past 90 it shuts down). My GPU is an MSI Gaming X RX 470. I believed adding more fans would solve the issue, as I believed it to be connected to the airflow in my case. However, upon installing both a top and side mounted fan, I am experiencing the exact same temperatures. This situation is very frustrating, as I am not PC Hardware savvy, as this is my first experience building a PC.

My specs are: I5 7400, RX 470, 8gb DDR4 ram

I am extremely thankful for any and all advice, this is a very frustrating situation. Again, sorry for any errors!

Pictures of the inside of my case:

https://imgur.com/a/jyG2q78

View: https://imgur.com/a/jyG2q78

 

[extreme_noob]

Perhaps try reapplying thermal paste on the gpu.

 

[popatim]

You have to consider where/how the case is getting cold air from, how is hot air getting out, as well as preventing hot air from looping around and getting sucked right back in (instead of cold air)...
I've know people to put PC's into closed cabinets on their desks and wonder why they overheat.

This then leads to airflow thru the case.
Which one do you have, which fans do you have, where are they located, blowing in or out?

 

[BlenkoChenko]

Perhaps try reapplying thermal paste on the gpu.

I believe that is what I will try next, very concerned with messing up though. Do you know of any other options before I do so?

 

[extreme_noob]

I believe that is what I will try next, very concerned with messing up though. Do you know of any other options before I do so?

What popatim said. You should consider where and how the fans are positioned and where the air coming in comes from.

 

[BlenkoChenko]

Which one do you have, which fans do you have, where are they located, blowing in or out?

Thank you very much for your help. I am very new to this so I do not yet understand the dynamics. I installed two new fans along with the two pre-installed case fans. One is mounted on the top as exhaust, while the other is mounted to the bottom of the side panel as an intake.

Picture of my case (Deepcool Tesseract SW) and fans (Corsair 120mm) :

https://imgur.com/a/JoUe8zr

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/JoUe8zr

 

[extreme_noob]

Thank you very much for your help. I am very new to this so I do not yet understand the dynamics. I installed two new fans along with the two pre-installed case fans. One is mounted on the top as exhaust, while the other is mounted to the bottom of the side panel as an intake.

Picture of my case (Deepcool Tesseract SW) and fans (Corsair 120mm) :

https://imgur.com/a/JoUe8zr

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/JoUe8zr

That seems like a good configuration

 

[Karadjgne]

Wow. (moment of stunned silence).
Wow...

Honestly, I think you need to start over. As in unplug everything, and start from scratch. I'm sorry, but that's beyond Chaotic and well into omfg what a mess!

And that means unplugging that **** side mounted fan too.

First you need to plan. Get a good picture in your head of how air is supposed to move. It needs to be a nice, clean flow from low-front to high rear.

So what fans are in front, is there any blockages like hdd cages in the way (yes, there is) and how can they be removed if totally unnecessary.

That's intake. Now exhaust, you have visible a rear fan, that's good. You also have a top fan that needs to be stuck next to the rear on top, not in front.



Your pc shouldook something like this. A lot like this. See the wiring? That's planning.

Air in, air out, nice smooth flow. Takes the heat with it.

Only when you can actually control the airflow, and use its properties, then worry about temps. I'd not be surprised if just fixing your flow and cleaning up that wiring nightmare and eliminating blockages to flow doesn't also go a long way to fixing temps too.

 

[BlenkoChenko]

That seems like a good configuration

Wow. (moment of stunned silence).
Wow...

Honestly, I think you need to start over. As in unplug everything, and start from scratch. I'm sorry, but that's beyond Chaotic and well into omfg what a mess!

And that means unplugging that **** side mounted fan too.

First you need to plan. Get a good picture in your head of how air is supposed to move. It needs to be a nice, clean flow from low-front to high rear.

So what fans are in front, is there any blockages like hdd cages in the way (yes, there is) and how can they be removed if totally unnecessary.

That's intake. Now exhaust, you have visible a rear fan, that's good. You also have a top fan that needs to be stuck next to the rear on top, not in front.



Your pc shouldook something like this. A lot like this. See the wiring? That's planning.

Air in, air out, nice smooth flow. Takes the heat with it.

Only when you can actually control the airflow, and use its properties, then worry about temps. I'd not be surprised if just fixing your flow and cleaning up that wiring nightmare and eliminating blockages to flow doesn't also go a long way to fixing temps too.

Yes, it was my first ever build, and I was very confused as to how I should route cables. I watched and read numerous guides yet very few people explain how to do it, they simply pass over it, saying it is easy. If this will improve my temperatures, I would be happy to do so, yet the lack of any results whatsoever from the addition of the other two fans deters me.

I will spend some time rearranging soon, it may be a while, I will report soon.

 

[BlenkoChenko]

Ok. So I managed the cables, and the entirety of the case is empty apart from what is shown in the link images. I also removed the unused hard drive bays, and cleaned the dust out of said areas. This resulted in a 1-2 degree improvement. my GPU temps are now 83-88, only occasionally reaching 90.

Pictures of case post cable management:

https://imgur.com/a/sDkRwfO

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


Although this can be considered an improvement, my problem is still not solved. However, I believe we can now determine the cause of the issue to be the GPU itself (possibly the thermal paste/pads)? Again, I am not hardware savvy at all, thank you for all of the help so far.

 

[Karadjgne]

Wow, waaaay better. And yes, it does help, you reported hitting 95°C, and now it only hits 90, so that's a start.

OK then. Now I'm looking at the first pic (now that I san see 😉) and I don't see any front fans, unless there's one hidden behind that lower hdd cage. Fortunately, you have (or should have) an unused fan that used to be attached to the side panel. The perfect spot for that is on that empty space where the upper hdd cage used to be.

Does the lower cage move? Is it removable? Is there a fan in front of it? Could you move the hdd to the upper cage, remove the lower and mount a fan down there instead? That would provide a huge amount of air, blowing to directly under the gpu, where the gpu fans can use it.

And I'd move that top fan as far back as possible, above the cpu cooler. Because that's where most of the gpu exhaust will go, right up that side panel and collect at the top.

A fan works differently than expected. When a blade moves through air, it creates a low pressure area behind it, the byproduct of that movement being the compression and subsequent movement of air in front of it. Get enough blades spinning and you create a vacuum in front of the fan. Nature abhors a vacuum, so air in the surrounding space will move to fill that lower pressure area. As a fan is constantly creating this vacuum, air is constantly moving to fill it. It might take a while, but eventually air from the front of the case will start to move too and thats where intakes become important. They don't just force cooler air into the case, they provide new air at a higher pressure, which will move to fill a lower pressure area faster.

Without intakes, the exhausts will move air from the nearest available source, very close to the fan itself, where the lower pressure is strongest. So you need the intakes to be the stronger source, and create a river of air from front to back.

So a low mounted front fan, pushing cooler air at the gpu fans, would be ideal as currently they don't get much of any decent flow, so end up not being very efficient. And temps go up as a result.

Rome was not built in a day. So far you've not done much but clean up the mess, and temps have dropped. Once you optimise airflow, they'll drop further. Then it's on to software and settings (per game if needs be) and temps will drop more again.

By the time you are done, not only will you get somewhat of an education in airflow, maximizing and customizing your pc, but you should be gaming @ 65°C ±, and not seeing much more than that unless you change things

 

[BlenkoChenko]

Wow, waaaay better. And yes, it does help, you reported hitting 95°C, and now it only hits 90, so that's a start.

OK then. Now I'm looking at the first pic (now that I san see 😉) and I don't see any front fans, unless there's one hidden behind that lower hdd cage. Fortunately, you have (or should have) an unused fan that used to be attached to the side panel. The perfect spot for that is on that empty space where the upper hdd cage used to be.

Does the lower cage move? Is it removable? Is there a fan in front of it? Could you move the hdd to the upper cage, remove the lower and mount a fan down there instead? That would provide a huge amount of air, blowing to directly under the gpu, where the gpu fans can use it.

And I'd move that top fan as far back as possible, above the cpu cooler. Because that's where most of the gpu exhaust will go, right up that side panel and collect at the top.

A fan works differently than expected. When a blade moves through air, it creates a low pressure area behind it, the byproduct of that movement being the compression and subsequent movement of air in front of it. Get enough blades spinning and you create a vacuum in front of the fan. Nature abhors a vacuum, so air in the surrounding space will move to fill that lower pressure area. As a fan is constantly creating this vacuum, air is constantly moving to fill it. It might take a while, but eventually air from the front of the case will start to move too and thats where intakes become important. They don't just force cooler air into the case, they provide new air at a higher pressure, which will move to fill a lower pressure area faster.

Without intakes, the exhausts will move air from the nearest available source, very close to the fan itself, where the lower pressure is strongest. So you need the intakes to be the stronger source, and create a river of air from front to back.

So a low mounted front fan, pushing cooler air at the gpu fans, would be ideal as currently they don't get much of any decent flow, so end up not being very efficient. And temps go up as a result.

Rome was not built in a day. So far you've not done much but clean up the mess, and temps have dropped. Once you optimise airflow, they'll drop further. Then it's on to software and settings (per game if needs be) and temps will drop more again.

By the time you are done, not only will you get somewhat of an education in airflow, maximizing and customizing your pc, but you should be gaming @ 65°C ±, and not seeing much more than that unless you change things

Thanks for the help, that did it! My temps under the same instances are 67-74! I only ever reached 95 once, and I was never able to repeat the results. Managing my cables allowed for the removal and relocating of my hard drive bays, which I believed did the trick, along with moving the top mounted fan. I would like still to improve more, but I am unable to move the upper or lower hard drive cage, nor am I able to mount a fan to the upper part of the front panel.

Still, I am extremely, extremely thankful to you for solving my problem, thanks mate!

 

[Karadjgne]

If you have a 120mm fan, see if it physically fits in that spot above the lower hdd tray. If it does, velcro or zip ties I've even seen bread ties work. What the factory says is often not what's do-able, that's where case mods start. 😁

You can get air to move, it's just a matter of thinking how. As Rob Schneider is fond of repeating 'You can dooo it!'