[SOLVED] Worried about 10850K thermals in h210

[Owla]

Hello All,

I have the NZXT H210. Anyone rocking a 10850k in this case? how are the thermals?
going to use the stock case fans that come with the case on default orientation for now.

• I'm eyeing a: i9 10850k paired with an NZXT Kraken x53 240mm Aio
• otherwise I'll just go i7 10700 if the i9 would be too hot.

Motherboard will be an Asus H470-i most likely.
Running it stock. No plans on overclocking at all. (I'd go for a 10900/10900f but they're way more expensive in my region)

 

[Phaaze88]

How well this is going to go will depend on what your gpu is.

You already know this chassis doesn't have good airflow, so the best thing would be not to have both a high power cpu and gpu in there.
It just doesn't allow enough air in and out to have manageable cpu + gpu thermals.

Do one or the other, not both, or you'll just have a bad time.

 

[Adam0ne]

I agree with Phaaze.

That case would be too tight. I have that case. I upgraded because my GPU didn't fit. It hit the bottom. I chose the H510i because I wanted a compact case. It's still tight. I took out the horizontal bar because it hits the GPU - it's off by a few mm.

I have a 10700KF, Z490i Ultra, 3060ti Master in it. I don't OC. My temps are good so far- around 25 ° to 28 ° for CPU and 27 ° to 30 ° for GPU.

If you still want NZXT, I would suggest you go with the H710i for better airflow. That one is good.

 

[Owla]

Thank you @Phaaze88 and @Adam0ne I'll either go with an i7 or run a cooler card. It's a build for adobe products so a high power GPU isn't all that necessary.

 

[Phaaze88]

Thank you @Phaaze88 and @Adam0ne I'll either go with an i7 or run a cooler card. It's a build for adobe products so a high power GPU isn't all that necessary.

An alternative is a blower, or turbo card - the cards with a single radial fan.
For example: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gG...0-super-8-gb-blower-video-card-vcg20608sblmpb
They don't get much love though, because they get noisy, and the fan has to be cranked up for the cooling to be effective.
The upside of these cards is that they draw in air and dump their heat right out the back, instead of adding it to the heat already in your chassis.

 

[Owla]

An alternative is a blower, or turbo card - the cards with a single radial fan.
For example: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gG...0-super-8-gb-blower-video-card-vcg20608sblmpb
They don't get much love though, because they get noisy, and the fan has to be cranked up for the cooling to be effective.
The upside of these cards is that they draw in air and dump their heat right out the back, instead of adding it to the heat already in your chassis.

I'm not a big fan of blower cards either. I was planning on pairing it with either a Zotac 3070 or one of the Evga 3070 models.
I'll be running a 970 as a placeholder for now though. PC part pickers shows total power draw to be around 430 W. My main concern was that the system would be way too bad at exhausting the heat. I would've honestly preferred a 5900x as that cpu is more power efficient. However I'm in dire need of a system and the 10850k is available.

 

[Phaaze88]

I'm not a big fan of blower cards either. I was planning on pairing it with either a Zotac 3070 or one of the Evga 3070 models.
I'll be running a 970 as a placeholder for now though. PC part pickers shows total power draw to be around 430 W. My main concern was that the system would be way too bad at exhausting the heat. I would've honestly preferred a 5900x as that cpu is more power efficient. However I'm in dire need of a system and the 10850k is available.

Understood.
Be aware that BOTH the intake and exhaust in the H200 are restricted. Some models do one or the other. This one does both, and really does not leave you with much to work with in regards to cooling if you want to put 'hot' parts in it.
The H500 series is the same deal, albeit a little larger. The H700 series gets around the other 2 by way of brute force; adding more fan mounts.
The priority of those models wasn't cooling: I have to admit, they look nice, but I'm a performance-first guy, so I'd would never use them.

The key to getting cooling to work effectively in the H200 and H500 is for the gpu to have as little influence as possible in there.
A)Blower: Already covered.
B)Hybrid, front mount: Yes, it does bring some heat into the chassis, but it's cooler. For example, 50C exhaust from the rad, going into the cpu cooler is still better than say, 70C or higher coming off of an air cooled card going into the cpu cooler instead.
C)Hybrid, rear or top mount: There are some limits to what this one can do, due to the 120mm rad.
D)Custom liquid: Not practical compared to the others, but I'm stating it because it fits here.

 

[Owla]

Understood.
Be aware that BOTH the intake and exhaust in the H200 are restricted. Some models do one or the other. This one does both, and really does not leave you with much to work with in regards to cooling if you want to put 'hot' parts in it.
The H500 series is the same deal, albeit a little larger. The H700 series gets around the other 2 by way of brute force; adding more fan mounts.
The priority of those models wasn't cooling: I have to admit, they look nice, but I'm a performance-first guy, so I'd would never use them.

The key to getting cooling to work effectively in the H200 and H500 is for the gpu to have as little influence as possible in there.
A)Blower: Already covered.
B)Hybrid, front mount: Yes, it does bring some heat into the chassis, but it's cooler. For example, 50C exhaust from the rad, going into the cpu cooler is still better than say, 70C or higher coming off of an air cooled card going into the cpu cooler instead.
C)Hybrid, rear or top mount: There are some limits to what this one can do, due to the 120mm rad.
D)Custom liquid: Not practical compared to the others, but I'm stating it because it fits here.

I see what you're saying.
Hybrid GPUs are extremely rare to find in my region so they're out of the picture. To be honest, I wasn't aware that cooling would be this much of an issue before I bought the case. I found it on sale and it's pretty much the perfect case in terms of looks and compatibility for me.
What do you think about limiting the 10850K PL2 wattage in the bios? like maybe around 200-210 W. My main concern with getting the i7 10700 is that when Rocket Lake releases soon I'll regret NOT getting a high end chip for Coffee Lake. Additionally there aren't any 10 core CPUs coming with rocket lake so that makes the 10850k even more appealing. I'm looking to build a system and just forget about it for the next 3-4 years.

Alternatively my current options are as following :

a. An i9 10850K with a PL2 limit set. (4.3Ghz + is good enough for me)
b. An i7 10700 with APE enabled.
c. 280 mm instead of a 240 mm aio.
d. Just replace the case entirely. (Least ideal solution)

Worth mentioning I'm never going above a 3070 for GPU, if I were to do so it would be wiser to get a bigger case.

 

[Phaaze88]

What do you think about limiting the 10850K PL2 wattage in the bios?

See how the cpu runs at stock first before tinkering with that. It's not like they're pulling that kind of power all the time now.

280 mm instead of a 240 mm aio.

280mm doesn't even fit in the H200.

Between a big air cooler and a 240mm hybrid, I'd suggest going with the 240mm with the fans set to pull - not push - air through the rad and into the chassis.
The gpu may run a bit warm as a result of changing the airflow in the chassis; the H200 and H500 are advertised for negative airflow, but as I mentioned before, there's a limit to what can be reasonably cooled that way.
You may see yourself having to lower the power limit on the gpu to keep it cool.

If you're not comfortable with using a hybrid, and opt for a big air cooler, it'll play out literally the opposite of the above scenario.

d. Just replace the case entirely. (Least ideal solution)

No harm in trying things out with what you already have. It may mean taking some compromises, but at least you tried it first.


TL;DR:
1)240mm hybrid on the cpu, pull intake. Gpu may need to have power limit lowered for more comfortable thermals.
2)Cpu air cooler. Gpu will be ok. Cpu cooling will be between a rock(gpu exhaust) and a hard place(lack of chassis exhaust). May need to tweak power limits on both devices.

 

[Owla]

280mm doesn't even fit in the H200.

I saw some people were able to fit the kraken x63 on the h210 but I'm not sure what compromises had to be made. https://pcpartpicker.com/b/qCb8TW || https://pcpartpicker.com/b/8mtgXL

No harm in trying things out with what you already have. It may mean taking some compromises, but at least you tried it first.

I might just do that instead. Worst case scenario is that I'll have to change my case to a bigger one.

I appreciate your help @Phaaze88

 

[Phaaze88]

I saw some people were able to fit the kraken x63 on the h210 but I'm not sure what compromises had to be made. https://pcpartpicker.com/b/qCb8TW || https://pcpartpicker.com/b/8mtgXL

It took me a minute, but I see what they did.
The compromise is less airflow, and ultimately, reduced cooling.
Because that chassis doesn't support tooling for a 280mm size rad, they were forced to install it through the fans - the chassis does support 2x 140mm fans in the front.
Anyway, they're forced to use push front intake, but they overlooked a couple things:
1)The fans are now smashed up against the solid panel, so now the air to go through the rad is reduced. That's one of the reasons I suggested you do pull intake in this chassis; gives your fans more 'breathing room'.
If the front panel was all mesh, it wouldn't have mattered as much.

2)There is some(minor) air pressure lost via air 'blowback' when doing push. Pull gets around this. It's the other reason I suggested pull.

Those folks believe they're being clever being able to fit a larger than specified cooler.

 

[Owla]

It's counter intuitive to think that a bigger cooler would be worse airflow, but I see what you mean.

So ultimately I think I'll just go with the Kraken x53 and experiment with different orientations. Worth mentioning that the Air conditioner will be directly blowing cold air to the chassis since it's fairly close to my setup area.

Since the 970 is not that power hungry I'll see how it fairs. I feel like it would give me a good idea on what to expect on a more power hungry card. If I find temps unacceptable I'll either hunt for a blower card or just replace the case entirely.
There is also the option of setting a power limit on the CPU as well if needs be.

Edit: I found this https://pcpartpicker.com/b/hMK48d Seems like temps are reasonable. Note that the build is using a 280mm aio. @Phaaze88

 

[Phaaze88]

It's counter intuitive to think that a bigger cooler would be worse airflow, but I see what you mean.

I mean, it's not like the cpu would be throttling or anything, but they've reduced how efficiently the cooler does its job.
Because it's a larger cooler - 280 Vs 240mm - they're kinda brute forcing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if a properly installed 240mm would outperform it.
A hybrid cooler relies on good airflow just like an air cooler does.

 

[Owla]

I mean, it's not like the cpu would be throttling or anything, but they've reduced how efficiently the cooler does its job.
Because it's a larger cooler - 280 Vs 240mm - they're kinda brute forcing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if a properly installed 240mm would outperform it.
A hybrid cooler relies on good airflow just like an air cooler does.

Thank you for your time Phaaze88

 

[Phaaze88]

Sure thing!