Question Not sure if liquid cooling would fit in build

[bgo272]

Hey!
I want to get liquid cooling for my cpu, as it gets too hot even with normal cooling(happened to both of my ryzens -3600 and 5800x3d), but i'm not sure if ill be able to fit liquid cooling in, and if i do im not sure help.
Help would be appriciated.

https://imgur.com/a/MpTEqlR

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

 

[Eximo]

Not nearly enough information to provide an answer.

What chassis is that?

What CPU cooler is that? I would guess Cooler Master Hyper 212 or its like.

What are the rest of the hardware specifications?

Do you keep it under the desk like that? How do the intake fans get air?

 

[bgo272]

Not nearly enough information to provide an answer.

What chassis is that?

What CPU cooler is that? I would guess Cooler Master Hyper 212 or its like.

What are the rest of the hardware specifications?

Do you keep it under the desk like that? How do the intake fans get air?

I kind of gave up on trying to fix the problem so I left the details regarding the issue itself, since I'm just trying to get liquid cooling.

Anyways, the case is Antec P101 Silent.
Cpu cooling - pure rock slim
The currents specs are -
RX 7800 XT
Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Gigabyte B450M DS3H
2 SSDs
2 sticks of 16gb ram
ANTEC PSU 650W Neo Eco Modular 80+

I do keep it under the desk like that, I don't really have anywhere else to put it so there isn't much place for air, thats why i wanted liquid cooling.

 

[Eximo]

Well the pictured cooler has a Cooler Master logo on it, so not sure what to tell you there. Pure Rock Slim is pretty small though if that is what is in there, but the 5800X3D isn't all the hot a chip since the clock speeds are reduced to keep the X3D cache happy.

A case designed for silence isn't ideal for cooling. A solid front panel and then a full fan filter in front of your three intake fans. And you have shoved a pretty big GPU in there.

You should be able to fit a 240mm or 360mm radiator in the front of the case if you remove the drive cages, which may improve CPU temps, but may make GPU temps unacceptable. That would be something you will have to test.

 

[bgo272]

Well the pictured cooler has a Cooler Master logo on it, so not sure what to tell you there. Pure Rock Slim is pretty small though if that is what is in there, but the 5800X3D isn't all the hot a chip since the clock speeds are reduced to keep the X3D cache happy.

A case designed for silence isn't ideal for cooling. A solid front panel and then a full fan filter in front of your three intake fans. And you have shoved a pretty big GPU in there.

You should be able to fit a 240mm or 360mm radiator in the front of the case if you remove the drive cages, which may improve CPU temps, but may make GPU temps unacceptable. That would be something you will have to test.

Yea not sure about the cooler, you're probably right.

Anyways, my cpu reaches 80-85 celsius at about 60-70 usage , and it doesn't seem like I can properly fit a liquid cooler - so, If I understand correctly, I assume my options are:
1. Moving the PC somewhere else and see if it's getting hot
2. Switching to other air cooler, which might and might not work
3. Getting bigger case
(?)
I also didn't mention, I couldn't really figure out why my cpu rise to these temperatures, my assumptions are PC placement/poor airways, or a bad cooler.

By the way, I did fit a pretty big gpu there - I had to unplug my front USB sockets from the motherboard for it to fit in, so some things in my build are not really ideal.

 

[sitehostplus]

You can put almost any AIO in that bad boy if you're willing to do the mod work necessary, and don't mind having a radiator mounted on the outside of your case.

 

[bill001g]

You shouldn't "need" a water cooler. A cooler like you have should be able to keep up.

Try some simple things first. Try to run it with the side of the case off. If that works then you just do not have enough case air flow.

I would then repaste the current cooler, you are going to have to remove it anyway if you replace it.

Run cinebench and see if you actually hit a thermal throttle limit. Although it technically is a benchmarking tool what it is really good for is testing cooling.

So if it still has issues there are a large number of air coolers that will more than handle a 5800x3d. Many can keep the 7800x3d under thermal limits.
There are a huge number of good coolers so you can check the reviews. A very popular one is Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 which is under $40 but still is near the top of most comparison reviews.

If you just "want" a water cooler I suspect most will fit your case. I would avoid it they are rather costly and they have many more moving parts than a air cooler.

 

[bgo272]

You can put almost any AIO in that bad boy if you're willing to do the mod work necessary, and don't mind having a radiator mounted on the outside of your case.

Unfortunately, I don't think im knowledgeable enough to learn how to do this, and don't really have the time to.

 

[bgo272]

You shouldn't "need" a water cooler. A cooler like you have should be able to keep up.

Try some simple things first. Try to run it with the side of the case off. If that works then you just do not have enough case air flow.

I would then repaste the current cooler, you are going to have to remove it anyway if you replace it.

Run cinebench and see if you actually hit a thermal throttle limit. Although it technically is a benchmarking tool what it is really good for is testing cooling.

So if it still has issues there are a large number of air coolers that will more than handle a 5800x3d. Many can keep the 7800x3d under thermal limits.
There are a huge number of good coolers so you can check the reviews. A very popular one is Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 which is under $40 but still is near the top of most comparison reviews.

If you just "want" a water cooler I suspect most will fit your case. I would avoid it they are rather costly and they have many more moving parts than a air cooler.

Well, I don't think repasting is the issue, since it happened with both of my processors(the first came pre-pasted, and I pasted the current cpu). I ran Cinebench with the side case closed - 85-90 celsius, 90 most of the time, 754 points. With the side case removed - same score - 80-85 celsius, 83 most of the time.

I couldn't find the cooler you wrote about in less than 80 dollars, at amazon it was like 61 but i guess that's fine if it will do the job. I also not sure if it will fit, it seems pretty big.

 

[bill001g]

You don't have any problem with the cooler and different one is not going to make a lot of difference.

It seems your problem is the case. Since it will keep the cpu under the 90 degree limit with the side off the cooler is fine.

It really makes no difference if the temp is say 83 or 73 or even 63 as long as the cpu is not reducing the clocks because of a thermal limit it will run the same. Now if this was a different cpu you could overclock then sometimes you have to run it lower temp to keep it stable. Since you can't overclock the X3D chips it really makes little difference what the exact number is.

If you get the same score it might not be actually thermal throttling. hwinfo64 will actually tell you if you get thermal throttles.

So I guess you could get a different case. One with lots of mesh panels tends to be best. If the side panel is metal you could drill a bunch of holes if you want a free solution.

 

[bgo272]

You don't have any problem with the cooler and different one is not going to make a lot of difference.

It seems your problem is the case. Since it will keep the cpu under the 90 degree limit with the side off the cooler is fine.

It really makes no difference if the temp is say 83 or 73 or even 63 as long as the cpu is not reducing the clocks because of a thermal limit it will run the same. Now if this was a different cpu you could overclock then sometimes you have to run it lower temp to keep it stable. Since you can't overclock the X3D chips it really makes little difference what the exact number is.

If you get the same score it might not be actually thermal throttling. hwinfo64 will actually tell you if you get thermal throttles.

So I guess you could get a different case. One with lots of mesh panels tends to be best. If the side panel is metal you could drill a bunch of holes if you want a free solution.

I'm also afraid of what will happen in the summer, i'm not sure drilling holes would hold up in terms of keeping low temp - but it seems like the best solution right now, since getting a new case and transferring all of the parts to it seems like a headache and very time consuming. I posted this thread mainly to get good suggestions to deal with this issue, but it feels like I'm going down a rabbit hole. By the way - thanks for your replies!

 

[bill001g]

just leave the side off and claim you are one of those trendy guys using the open test bench style cases

 

[geofelt]

Liquid cooling is not a panacea.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, the difference is where the heat exchange takes place.
Your case has 3 front intake fans which should supply plenty of cooling airflow.
If you can, set the fans to run at their fastest speed(at the expense of noise).
I think you have(barely) enough space for intake and exhaust flow.
I think you would do much better with a good twin tower air cooler like the Noctua NH-D15S:
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification
There are cheaper units that are very good, but not quite as efficient or quiet.
I would start wit that before resorting to a case change.
The noctua has about the same cooling capability as a 240 aio.
To do better, you would need a 360 sized aio that the case can accommodate.
One negative would be that the heated radiator air would be used to cool the gpu.


A simple improvement to cooling would be to fit a slot cooler under the graphics card.
The purpose is to improve the cooling airflow under the graphics card fans:
https://www.newegg.com/startech-fancase-pci-slot-case-cooler/p/N82E16835230027

Another possibility might be to locate the case more remotely and power it on/off with a remote power switch of front panel extension.

 

[CelicaGT]

If you can't get fresh air in, and hot air out, no cooling device is going to work effectively. Take the money you were planning to spend on an AIO and purchase a replacement case designed for airflow. There's lots to choose from.

 

[geofelt]

In the event you want to change out the case, look at the Lian-Li Air-mini:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-000Z-00080
It is a top quality case and is only 400mm long compared to527 for your antec case. That gives you a bit more space front/back for airflow

 

[bgo272]

Liquid cooling is not a panacea.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, the difference is where the heat exchange takes place.
Your case has 3 front intake fans which should supply plenty of cooling airflow.
If you can, set the fans to run at their fastest speed(at the expense of noise).
I think you have(barely) enough space for intake and exhaust flow.
I think you would do much better with a good twin tower air cooler like the Noctua NH-D15S:
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification
There are cheaper units that are very good, but not quite as efficient or quiet.
I would start wit that before resorting to a case change.
The noctua has about the same cooling capability as a 240 aio.
To do better, you would need a 360 sized aio that the case can accommodate.
One negative would be that the heated radiator air would be used to cool the gpu.


A simple improvement to cooling would be to fit a slot cooler under the graphics card.
The purpose is to improve the cooling airflow under the graphics card fans:
https://www.newegg.com/startech-fancase-pci-slot-case-cooler/p/N82E16835230027

Another possibility might be to locate the case more remotely and power it on/off with a remote power switch of front panel extension.

First of all, i didn't know that, so thanks.
Second of all, it's already turned to max speed. I didn't mention it but i do not care about noise at all. Only performance.
I'm not exactly sure how twin tower air cooler would fit, as it seems like the ram sticks would block it.
Can you further explain please how the gpu is related to this whole topic? How would it be affected if I switch air cooler? And how putting the case more remotely supposed to help? You're suspecting the PC's location's playing big part in the overheating?

If you can't get fresh air in, and hot air out, no cooling device is going to work effectively. Take the money you were planning to spend on an AIO and purchase a replacement case designed for airflow. There's lots to choose from.

The more I read the more I lean towards this option. Seems like I have no choice.

In the event you want to change out the case, look at the Lian-Li Air-mini:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-000Z-00080
It is a top quality case and is only 400mm long compared to527 for your antec case. That gives you a bit more space front/back for airflow

Correct me if I'm wrong - but it being shorter but wider, with mesh on every side, supposed to be a big benefit for the airflow?

Thanks you all!

 

[geofelt]

I explicitly suggested the NH-D15s.
It is a high compatibility cooler with a notch to clear ram with tall heat spreaders up to 66mm high.
It is designed to run with a single 140mm fan. Check the diagram I linked.
The cooler has a large volume of cooling surface, comparable to the radiator on a 240 aio.
The cooler is 160mm tall which will fit in your antec case that allows 180mm, or the lian li air mini that allows 170mm.
When you have a strong graphics card, it will run hot. Most are designed to run at 80c. Graphics cards need cool airflow to maintain that temperature or the performance will be lowered.
Feeding a graphics card with warmed aio exhaust does not help.

The option to move the case to a better place is only to improve the availability of cooling air.

Your antec case has three 120mm intake fans. The surface area of those fans is approximately the same as the two 140mm front intake fans on the air mini. In the event you want to replace the front 140mm fans, and do not care about noise, Noctua makes some 3000 RPM fans that move a LOT of air.
Actually, shorter is better. The airflow past the components has a more direct path through the parts to be cooled

 

[bgo272]

I explicitly suggested the NH-D15s.
It is a high compatibility cooler with a notch to clear ram with tall heat spreaders up to 66mm high.
It is designed to run with a single 140mm fan. Check the diagram I linked.
The cooler has a large volume of cooling surface, comparable to the radiator on a 240 aio.
The cooler is 160mm tall which will fit in your antec case that allows 180mm, or the lian li air mini that allows 170mm.
When you have a strong graphics card, it will run hot. Most are designed to run at 80c. Graphics cards need cool airflow to maintain that temperature or the performance will be lowered.
Feeding a graphics card with warmed aio exhaust does not help.

The option to move the case to a better place is only to improve the availability of cooling air.

Your antec case has three 120mm intake fans. The surface area of those fans is approximately the same as the two 140mm front intake fans on the air mini. In the event you want to replace the front 140mm fans, and do not care about noise, Noctua makes some 3000 RPM fans that move a LOT of air.
Actually, shorter is better. The airflow past the components has a more direct path through the parts to be cooled

So - you think I should get the cooler before I switch case, and see if it handles the heat(punt unintended)?
Worst case scenario, I replace the case and left out with a good cooler anyways, right?

 

[geofelt]

So - you think I should get the cooler before I switch case, and see if it handles the heat(punt unintended)?
Worst case scenario, I replace the case and left out with a good cooler anyways, right?

That would be a smart thing to do.

 

[bill001g]

If it runs fine with the side of the case removed then that means your current cooler is good enough and it is just not getting enough air in from the case.

Replacing the cooler with one with larger fans might be able to force more air to come into the case but it all depends on the case. Then again if your case is very restricted no amounts of fans are going to fix it.

 

[bgo272]

If it runs fine with the side of the case removed then that means your current cooler is good enough and it is just not getting enough air in from the case.

Replacing the cooler with one with larger fans might be able to force more air to come into the case but it all depends on the case. Then again if your case is very restricted no amounts of fans are going to fix it.

I understand but what you and user geofelt saying seems contradicting - should I get the recommended cooler or not?

 

[geofelt]

The case is not restrictive from an intake airflow point of view.
It has 3 120mm intakes, and if needed, those fans could be replaced with faster(and noisier) units.
The concern is that the intake area appears to be close enough to the wall to
possibly restrict intake airflow.
That is the situation that could be relieved by a shorter case.
Looks to me that while not best, there is sufficient room to draw in fresh air to the front of the case.
One can test the restriction by temporarily moving the case out from under the desk.
And, if there are cats or kids in the house, you do not want an open case.

Regardless, a stronger cooler will certainly help.
If the results are insufficient, then another solution like a different case or case relocation can be looked at.

 

[bgo272]

The case is not restrictive from an intake airflow point of view.
It has 3 120mm intakes, and if needed, those fans could be replaced with faster(and noisier) units.
The concern is that the intake area appears to be close enough to the wall to
possibly restrict intake airflow.
That is the situation that could be relieved by a shorter case.
Looks to me that while not best, there is sufficient room to draw in fresh air to the front of the case.
One can test the restriction by temporarily moving the case out from under the desk.
And, if there are cats or kids in the house, you do not want an open case.

Regardless, a stronger cooler will certainly help.
If the results are insufficient, then another solution like a different case or case relocation can be looked at.

The current solution im using is leaving the case half-open by leaning the removeable side on the case so theres more airflow.
I think I will get the cooler you told me to and see if it helps.
One thing that bothers me - the cooler looks really big, and the current cooler is already close to the ram - won't the new cooler overlap with the ram? it seems like there won't be place for both

 

[ilukey77]

go a thermalright phantom spirit evo 120mm ram shouldnt be a issue with the dual tower ..
Ali express use pay pal cheap and will cool a 5800x3d like a champ no issues otherwise a 280 arctic freezer 2 or 3 would be just as good !!

 

[geofelt]

The current solution im using is leaving the case half-open by leaning the removeable side on the case so theres more airflow.
I think I will get the cooler you told me to and see if it helps.
One thing that bothers me - the cooler looks really big, and the current cooler is already close to the ram - won't the new cooler overlap with the ram? it seems like there won't be place for both

The NH-D15S is designed for one fan and has clearance for ram up to 66mm tall. Tests show minimal 2c. difference by adding a 120mm fan in front. Not much worth the effort.