Question My idle temps are on average 60 C and I cannot get them lower

Zphere

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Oct 1, 2023
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As the title suggests, I have higher idle temps than what I would like and nothing I tried has helped. I have seen online that some people have their CPU at 50 C on average. Below, you will find a picture of my computer where you can see how my fans, etc. are configured. I recently replaced the thermal paste and used Artic Silver 5 as it is the only thing I have on hand. This really did not make significant difference in temps. Would I be better off getting a better thermal paste solution + a 280mm cooler or is the 240mm sufficient? Do you have any other recommendations for bringing these temps down?

I have also added a screenshot of my current fan curve. I have been messing around with this and (obviously) running them at 100% does get my temps down a few degrees but is very loud, all the time. Do you have any recommendations for this as well? I know this is subjective and everyone can have a different answer. But is there a rule of them to follow when creating a fan curve?

PC: View: https://imgur.com/a/KdhDgHE

Fan Curve in L-Connect: View: https://imgur.com/a/OzBBIRn


Specs:
----------------------
CPU: Ryzen 9 7950x3D
AIO: NZXT Kraken 240mm
Case Fans: Lian Li SL 120 x9 - 3 on bottom (Intake), 2 on side pulling air through rad (Intake), 3 on top (Exhaust), 1 on back (Exhaust)
Case: Lian Li O11 Mini

Temps:
---------------------
Avg Temp: 60.7 C
Liquid Temp: 41 C
Ambient Room Temp: I have no thermostat to give a accurate answer, however, thermostat on the wall indicates 85 F for the entire house
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
I counted 9 fans.

Plus CPU and GPU fans.

Could be that the airflows are being counterproductive. Airflows fighting each in strength and direction.

Update (edit/markup) the image to show fan air flow directions and fan airflow rates.

My thought is that the airflows may be conflicting and actually limiting the amount of cooling air going through the case.

More fans does not necessarily mean more cooling.

Plus if the ambient room/house temperarture is already 85 F. then the "cooling air" will be less able to carry away excess/exhaust heat. Double check the wall thermostat reading using other known working and accurate thermometers.
 

Zphere

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Oct 1, 2023
19
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View: https://imgur.com/a/PxXVaIw


Updated image with fan flow direction. Fan RPM/Rate is based on the curve shown in the original post. All fans are on the same curve.
I counted 9 fans.

Plus CPU and GPU fans.

Could be that the airflows are being counterproductive. Airflows fighting each in strength and direction.

Update (edit/markup) the image to show fan air flow directions and fan airflow rates.

My thought is that the airflows may be conflicting and actually limiting the amount of cooling air going through the case.

More fans does not necessarily mean more cooling.

Plus if the ambient room/house temperarture is already 85 F. then the "cooling air" will be less able to carry away excess/exhaust heat. Double check the wall thermostat reading using other known working and accurate thermometers.
 
2 on side pulling air through rad (Intake)
rotate these so that the heated CPU air is exhausting out of the case.

the way it is setup all of the heated air is just pumping right back into the system.
3 on top (Exhaust)
i would also rotate the top-front & top-middle fans to be intake.
possibly even all 3 of them.
Would I be better off getting a better thermal paste solution + a 280mm cooler or is the 240mm sufficient?
a 240mm these days is usually recommended for very light usage systems that just want silence.

280mm can work, but you should expect louder noise for a gaming or other similar heavy usage system.

most newer higher-end CPUs require a 360mm AIO with some higher static pressure fans for a good balance of temperature and lower noise levels.
thermostat on the wall indicates 85 F for the entire house
this is very warm for an air conditioned house.

if you're in control of the thermostat,
i'd recommend ~76° minimum for overall comfort and to help some with electronic's temperatures.
 
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Zphere

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Oct 1, 2023
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rotate these so that the heated CPU air is exhausting out of the case.

the way it is setup all of the heated air is just pumping right back into the system.

i would also rotate the top-front & top-middle fans to be intake.
possibly even all 3 of them.

a 240mm these days is usually recommended for very light usage systems that just want silence.

280mm can work, but you should expect louder noise for a gaming or other similar heavy usage system.

most newer higher-end CPUs require a 360mm AIO with some higher static pressure fans for a good balance of temperature and lower noise levels.

this is very warm for an air conditioned house.

if you're in control of the thermostat,
i'd recommend ~76° minimum for overall comfort and to help some with electronic's temperatures.
I will give those fan orientations a test run and see how it goes. I'll also look into getting a 280mm rad in the future if I am still not happy with the results.
 
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Zphere

Prominent
Oct 1, 2023
19
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515
I will give those fan orientations a test run and see how it goes. I'll also look into getting a 280mm rad in the future if I am still not happy with the results.
View: https://imgur.com/a/UgvB3hB


I just got around to trying the fan orientation you mentioned. Top fans are now all intake and radiator fans are now exhaust. Idle temps did drop a few degrees and I am now averaging about 57 C.

Unfortunately, I cannot do anything about the ambient temps in my room/house so the next best thing is probably a better cooler. Do you think a better thermal paste could also lower temps by a few more degrees? If so, do you think Thermal Grizzly is a good option?