[SOLVED] i9-9900 non K running quite hot, with stock cooler.

[ATP1999]

I built a ITX PC for a change rather than an mATX or ATX. The case I have is a Node 202 (Wanted it to be small enough to take wherever I go). CPU is a i9-9900 non K.

Idle temps are around 35c/45c, When under load however they spike to about 70c/75c sometimes 80c. This is with the stock cooler with ARTIC MX-4, fans set to max speed in BIOS.

I've reduced the turbo speeds from 5ghz max to 4.2ghz max. But it still runs hot, I've been trying to find ways to cool it off but I don't wanna reduce performance.

I fear I may need to cut parts of the case to fit a better cooler as the highest cooler I can get is 68mm tall (When I remove the dust filter from the case), and 55mm tall (When I don't remove dust filter from the case).

Any suggestions as to what I can do is very appreciated, I would've went with a not so powerful CPU but I'm a game developer and programmer who likes to also game and I wanted a very small PC that was better then my current one. I'm very limited on space and can't really fit more fans in other then the CPU fan when I get the GPU installed.

SPECS:
Case: Node 202.
CPU: i9-9900 non K (w/ stock cooler)
GPU: None atm, going to get an RTX 2080.
Motherboard: Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi.
PSU: Corsair SF Series 600 watt.
RAM: 16gb 2667mhz HyperX DDR4 (Temporary, took 16gb out of my ATX PC).
Storage: 500gb NVMe + 1tb NVMe (WD Black).

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Those temps are actually a lot better than what I expected to hear you say. No need to worry about "sometimes 80c". That's not that bad at all considering it's an i9 with a stock Intel cooler.

I couldn't live with max fan speed though. That would be annoying.

The NH-L9i is short enough to fit.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.98 @ SuperBiiz)

 

[j3ster]

interesting the i9 9900 comes with a cooler? thats surprising lol anyways i was gonna point out a noctua cooler but someone already beat me to it.

 

[ATP1999]

Those temps are actually a lot better than what I expected to hear you say. No need to worry about "sometimes 80c". That's not that bad at all considering it's an i9 with a stock Intel cooler.

I couldn't live with max fan speed though. That would be annoying.

The NH-L9i is short enough to fit.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Thank you! I'm glad to see it's not terribly expensive like some others I've seen.

 

[BFG-9000]

Um, NH-L9i isn't much better than the stock cooler:

While the i9-9900 has a lower TDP of "65w," these ratings are now a polite fiction because that is at the 3.1GHz base clock.

80c is fine for a stock cooler in a cramped case. Set it back to stock and accept this temperature is perfectly normal nowadays--don't start to worry until it approaches 100c as that's when you know the heatsink should be cleaned.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Um, NH-L9i isn't much better than the stock cooler:

While the i9-9900 has a lower TDP of "65w," these ratings are now a polite fiction because that is at the 3.1GHz base clock.

80c is fine for a stock cooler in a cramped case. Set it back to stock and accept this temperature is perfectly normal nowadays--don't start to worry until it approaches 100c as that's when you know the heatsink should be cleaned.

They tested with an i5-4430... I mean, that doesn't really tell us the difference they would cool an i9. I'm curious now. Just looking at the dynamics of the L9i would tell me it will cool better than the stock Intel cooler. But again, I'm curious now..

 

[j3ster]

Noctua NH-L12S i believe is more powerful than the NH-L9i, but the op can opt for Corsair H60 or any equivalent AiO since the space is limited.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Noctua NH-L12S i believe is more powerful than the NH-L9i, but the op can opt for Corsair H60 or any equivalent AiO since the space is limited.

NH-L12S won't fit, but a liquid cooler is probably the best solution here.

 

[BFG-9000]

Well the i5-4430 is 84w and they got about 56c max on both heatsinks. Note it is only rated for ~73c

It's pretty difficult to find actual 9900 numbers, but the 9900k Turbos to the same 5.0GHz and draws about 170w there, so the 9900 should be about the same at max load. That's a tall order for any tiny ITX heatsink but at least it is rated for 100c max temperature, like a GPU!

Intel is notorious for using the same heatsink but only cranking up the fan (and noise) until it's just good enough to produce ~20c lower than the max rated temperature, so 80c is about right. Whereas with the NH-L9i the fan speed is 2540rpm max.

The NH-L12S looks really good but requires mods to fit on other Z390 boards:

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Well the i5-4430 is 84w and they got about 56c max on both heatsinks. Note it is only rated for ~73c

It's pretty difficult to find actual 9900 numbers, but the 9900k Turbos to the same 5.0GHz and draws about 170w there, so the 9900 should be about the same at max load. That's a tall order for any tiny ITX heatsink but at least it is rated for 100c max temperature, like a GPU!

Intel is notorious for using the same heatsink but only cranking up the fan (and noise) until it's just good enough to produce ~20c lower than the max rated temperature, so 80c is about right. Whereas with the NH-L9i the fan speed is 2540rpm max.

The NH-L12S looks really good but requires mods to fit on other Z390 boards:

The 73C you are referring to about the i5-4430 is referring to what Intel called the T-Case temperature, which is the max temperature allowed at the IHS (integrated heat spreader). The 100C of the 9900 is at the processor die. The i5-4430 should have the same or similar 100C max at the die.

 

[ATP1999]

NH-L12S won't fit, but a liquid cooler is probably the best solution here.

Honestly I may bite the bullet and get an H60 or H75, and if I need to I can cut some of the vent above the CPU out to make it fit. Perhaps the radiator under the vent and the fan screwed into the radiator through the vent so its sandwiching the case in a way and pulling hot air out.

When I set the turbo frequencies to stock, the CPU idles at 55c/65c and goes to over 100c when testing with userbenchmark alone, so I'm not sure an air cooler will do especially with the space restraints. If I go the H60/H75 route (which I believe may be necessary to use this PC the way I intend to), which do you guys think is better for the 9900?

I've only ever used the H150i for my ATX so I'm not to familiar with how these smaller ones perform. The H60 looks like it would be easier to install but if the H75 would be better then I will deal with finding a way to make it work.

 

[1LiquidPC]

Nice build specs. Anyways, the stock cooler is known to be awful for the 9900. Even in a standard sized case let alone ITX, it will throttle down and drop boost clocks under heavy loads. Its undersized for certain. Regarding H60, H75, I had an H60 on my old i7 980X 6C/12T on X58 and temps were a acceptable.

 

[ATP1999]

Ordering an H60, this is smaller then the H75 and shouldn't look terrible when mounted. Even though I selected a best answer, I will post the temperature difference once I install it so others in this situation can have an option to go off of.

Thank you guys for all your input.

 

[1LiquidPC]

Thanks for the update. Hope to hear back soon for an update. Though the H60 is on the smaller side and a 120mm based radiator/fan setup, it should still provide acceptable temps. Given your case have very limited options for cooler, I'm doubtful any cooler that "fits" will provide good temps overall.

 

[ATP1999]

Old Idle: 55c/65c
Old Underload: 100c+

New Idle: 35c/45c
New Underload: 62c (Max temp I saw)

I'm very impressed with this, everything about the CPU is stocked, did not underclock like I was before. Fan is set to max speed but is very quite. All that is needed now is to modify the case so I don't need to have the case open and radiator + fan on a box.

If anyone else has this same issue, I highly recommend modifying your case to make it fit, it's well worth it.

 

[1LiquidPC]

That's a big drop. More than I would have guessed. Glad to hear the update. Now you can fully utilize the speed you paid for in a great new PC build.