Question High Custom Water Loop Temps?

[Wizg1107]

Ryzen R5 3600
EK Velocity Copper Plexi CPU Block
240m Black Ice Nemesis GTS Ultra Stealth 16FPI Rad
Aplhacool 13mm OD HDC fittings
Alphacool 13 mm OD PETG
Thermaltake Pacific PR15-D5 Reservoir/Pump Combo
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX

So I just finished my custom water loop about a week ago and I'm actually kind of disappointed with my temps. CPU would sit around 51-52 at idle but when doing things like browsing it would go to 56-58c . Doesn't make a difference from the pump speed running from 60% to 100%. When gaming it would be at 70-80c. Temps you would get from an Air Cooler... Is there anyway to improve my temps? Other than aesthetics I really felt like I wasted my money..

https://imgur.com/a/rWjs8BX

View: https://imgur.com/a/rWjs8BX

 

[extreme_noob]

What are you using to monitor temps? 240mm slim is probably the bare minimum even for keeping the CPU stock, but it shouldn't be 50C idle.

 

[Wizg1107]

What are you using to monitor temps? 240mm slim is probably the bare minimum even for keeping the CPU stock, but it shouldn't be 50C idle.

Asrock A-tuning, GPU Z, MSI Afterburner + RivaTuner when gaming

 

[extreme_noob]

Asrock A-tuning, GPU Z, MSI Afterburner + RivaTuner when gaming

Well I dont know why your idle is so high. Maybe the fan or pump rpm is too low? Its not really anything worth fixing though, since idle temps dont really matter. But the load temps are pretty much what I would expect. Slightly lower than mid to high end air coolers, which is expected because many of those easily beat 240mm aios.

 

[Wizg1107]

Well I dont know why your idle is so high. Maybe the fan or pump rpm is too low? Its not really anything worth fixing though, since idle temps dont really matter. But the load temps are pretty much what I would expect. Slightly lower than mid to high end air coolers, which is expected because many of those easily beat 240mm aios.

Well the fans mounted into the radiator are from my old AIO cooler. I don't really know if it's static pressure or not and I was thinking about buying some. Will that make a noticeable difference?

 

[extreme_noob]

Well the fans mounted into the radiator are from my old AIO cooler. I don't really know if it's static pressure or not and I was thinking about buying some. Will that make a noticeable difference?

Probably within 3C. Is that front fan acting as exhaust?

 

[Wizg1107]

Probably within 3C. Is that front fan acting as exhaust?

Top is exhaust and front is intake

 

[extreme_noob]

Top is exhaust and front is intake

It really looks like the front is exhaust in that picture. Either way, I suggest you use two intake fans to bring in more air, especially to the gpu. Also, it looks like the m.2 ssd isnt screwed in in that image either.

 

[rubix_1011]

Let's start with what your pump speed is set to - can you let us know this?

What about fan speed?

What CPU block are you using? Is it a directional flow block? Can you confirm your reservoir shows coolant flowing freely into the top of it as it exits the CPU block?

From the image, I assume the PC is turned off because there isn't any coolant returning to the reservoir.

 

[Wizg1107]

Let's start with what your pump speed is set to - can you let us know this?

What about fan speed?

What CPU block are you using? Is it a directional flow block? Can you confirm your reservoir shows coolant flowing freely into the top of it as it exits the CPU block?

From the image, I assume the PC is turned off because there isn't any coolant returning to the reservoir.

Pump is running at 100% and my fan speeds are set at a fan curve at 35% until 65c as the fan speeds increase linearly up to 100%. I said before that I had a EK Velocity Copper Plexi. The arrows marked on top of the CPU block tells you which direction inlet/outlet is supposed to flow. Inlet on left and Outlet on right. As far as reservoir it's actually on. The flash is actually preventing you to see the coolant flow inside the inlet of the res. That's a mistake on my part as my phone camera isn't that decent.

 

[Wizg1107]

It really looks like the front is exhaust in that picture. Either way, I suggest you use two intake fans to bring in more air, especially to the gpu. Also, it looks like the m.2 ssd isnt screwed in in that image either.

I'm surprised you actually noticed the m.2 drive hanging off the mobo. Or maybe it's just not as discrete as I thought lol. Yea for some reason the Asrock Mobo never came with the screws for the m.2. Couldn't find anything to screw it. Yea I won't be able to add another intake fan in the front because my mAtx case doesn't allow enough space otherwise I wouldn't be able to fit the res because of the long GPU. One of the shortcomings of a small form factor build I guess.

 

[rubix_1011]

So, you are seeing flow back into the top of the reservoir, correct? (just wanted to confirm)

Is this a trickle or strong, steady stream?

 

[extreme_noob]

I'm surprised you actually noticed the m.2 drive hanging off the mobo. Or maybe it's just not as discrete as I thought lol. Yea for some reason the Asrock Mobo never came with the screws for the m.2. Couldn't find anything to screw it. Yea I won't be able to add another intake fan in the front because my mAtx case doesn't allow enough space otherwise I wouldn't be able to fit the res because of the long GPU. One of the shortcomings of a small form factor build I guess.

You can buy m.2 screws

Pump is running at 100% and my fan speeds are set at a fan curve at 35% until 65c as the fan speeds increase linearly up to 100%. I said before that I had a EK Velocity Copper Plexi. The arrows marked on top of the CPU block tells you which direction inlet/outlet is supposed to flow. Inlet on left and Outlet on right. As far as reservoir it's actually on. The flash is actually preventing you to see the coolant flow inside the inlet of the res. That's a mistake on my part as my phone camera isn't that decent.

So your fans are at 35% only until 65C? Might want to make that a bit more aggressive

 

[Wizg1107]

You can buy m.2 screws

So your fans are at 35% only until 65C? Might want to make that a bit more aggressive

I didn't want to ramp it up because the fan noise becomes noticeable after 40% and it would kind of ruin the point of a custom loop build in an acoustic sense, but one thing I noticed when gaming is that I would ramp the fan speeds to max and the temperatures would barely move. Which makes me think that these fans aren't pushing heat through the fins as efficiently. I'm thinking about getting a thicker/longer rad with new fans, but that's probably overkill for a CPU, but then again I'm not satisfied with these temps and if getting a thicker rad would improve my temps than I'd be willing to do it especially since I plan to add a GPU in the loop when I upgrade.( Probably going to upgrade to a bigger case)

Edit: I increased my fan curve speeds as you suggested and the idle temps didn't change at 50%

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Have you made sure the block is making proper contact? I know that would kind of suck to do with the hard tubing.

If you crank the fans to 100, what happens? Obviously you wont want to leave it like that, but see what happens for testing purposes.

You may also try just physically pushing on the cpu block while under a load, to see if it affects temps at all. Or tighten up the screws a bit.

Is the cpu at stock settings?

 

[Wizg1107]

Have you made sure the block is making proper contact? I know that would kind of suck to do with the hard tubing.

If you crank the fans to 100, what happens? Obviously you wont want to leave it like that, but see what happens for testing purposes.

You may also try just physically pushing on the cpu block while under a load, to see if it affects temps at all. Or tighten up the screws a bit.

Is the cpu at stock settings?

I didn't want to ramp it up because the fan noise becomes noticeable after 40% and it would kind of ruin the point of a custom loop build in an acoustic sense, but one thing I noticed when gaming is that I would ramp the fan speeds to max and the temperatures would barely move.

You may also try just physically pushing on the cpu block while under a load, to see if it affects temps at all. Or tighten up the screws a bit.

Good idea I'll try that that tomorrow. Also the EK manuel did instruct to apply thermal paste using the line/ credit card method which I didn't do. I used the pie method which is more common. Maybe doing it their way will be more optimal for heat transfer, but I don't know if it will be a huge difference.

 

[extreme_noob]

Also the EK manuel did instruct to apply thermal paste using the line/ credit card method which I didn't do. I used the pie method which is more common. Maybe doing it their way will be more optimal for heat transfer, but I don't know if it will be a huge difference.

It probably won't, but check to make sure the thermal paste is covering the whole IHS.

 

[Wizg1107]

So, you are seeing flow back into the top of the reservoir, correct? (just wanted to confirm)

Is this a trickle or strong, steady stream?

Yes the coolant is flowing into the reservoir. As far as the stream I really don't know how to tell. The surface of the coolant inside the reservoir is bouncing off fairly quickly if that helps. The pump is also running at max.