High CPU Temps

[Gavster]

Now I have finished my build I have found that my CPU temps are unusually high, last night I did 30minutes of Destiny 2 and HWInfo reported 100 degrees max CPU temp and the same in PUBG although for the most part my Afterburner OSD was reporting 74-91 degrees but it had spiked to 100 degrees.

The CPU is around 36 degrees at idle which is 8 degrees higher that it was with my AIO and with the AIO it never got higher than 80 degrees. I understand that the monoblock is also cooling the VRM`s so this will add more heat to the system but I don`t think that this is causing my excessive heat.

During gaming my GPU was 50 degrees max and and the coolant was 49 degrees max which seems fine.

I think that the CPU being so much hotter than everything else in the loop points to the monoblock not making full contact with the CPU.

The system seems full bled now, no more bubbles going around the system and it seems that it is just the CPU that is the odd one out.

Any input will be much appreciated, it`s looking like a full strip to reseat the monoblock and have a look at the contact patch of the thermal paste.

Million dollar question, do I need new O rings or will these be ok for a second use?

 

[ANDARIAL]

cooling system parts list?

 

[pastymuncher]

Your coolant temp is very high, only 11 degrees away from the max most components and tubing are rated for. You are not trying to cool the cpu and gpu with only a single rad are you? Cpu block using the correct inlet and outlet? What components do you have and what is the loop order?

 

[Gavster]

Sorry for the late information but I`ve been extremely busy this morning.

The system is as follows;

Ek quantum kinetic 160 DDC
EK Z390 monoblock
EK 3080 FE water block
Black ice nemesis GTS 360 top rad
Black ice nemesis GTX 240 front rad
EK 14/10mm hard line tubing and fittings

My build thread is here https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/first-custom-loop-with-a-3080fe.18916643/

 

[Hewligan]

Okay, so it is almost impossible to diagnose from afar, but I would put £50 on it being an airflow issue. I cannot tell from your build photos whether you are actually in taking and exhausting air adequately. I had a dual 240mm setup in a case recently, one intake, one exhaust, and the temps were not great due to lack of actual airflow over the radiator fins. This was caused by inadequate ventilation in the case.

My recommendation would be to take front panel off and top panel off and see if they sorts the temps. If so, it is likely an airflow issue. If not, repaste the CPU.

Oh, and can you please confirm one radiator is set to intake and one is set to exhaust as that wasn’t visible to me in the photos.

 

[Gavster]

Okay, so it is almost impossible to diagnose from afar, but I would put £50 on it being an airflow issue. I cannot tell from your build photos whether you are actually in taking and exhausting air adequately. I had a dual 240mm setup in a case recently, one intake, one exhaust, and the temps were not great due to lack of actual airflow over the radiator fins. This was caused by inadequate ventilation in the case.

My recommendation would be to take front panel off and top panel off and see if they sorts the temps. If so, it is likely an airflow issue. If not, repaste the CPU.

Oh, and can you please confirm one radiator is set to intake and one is set to exhaust as that wasn’t visible to me in the photos.

Both radiators are set to intake, in hindsight the to radiator maybe should be exhaust.
I still think the main issue is the mono block as the CPU temps are way out of line with the rest of the loop and a quick Google finds lots of temp issues with mono blocks.

I'll remove the front and top panels and report back first.

 

[Hewligan]

You definitely need to vent air. If you have 480mm worth of radiators with fans all on intake, you are going to build up warm air inside the case, slowly raising the water temps. I would flip the top Radiator fans to exhaust, and try that.

 

[Hewligan]

Oh I see you have 5 intake and 1 exhaust. I would play around with fans and repaste. It should be an afternoon of tinkering to find a solution.

 

[Grim5]

Now I have finished my build I have found that my CPU temps are unusually high, last night I did 30minutes of Destiny 2 and HWInfo reported 100 degrees max CPU temp and the same in PUBG although for the most part my Afterburner OSD was reporting 74-91 degrees but it had spiked to 100 degrees.

The CPU is around 36 degrees at idle which is 8 degrees higher that it was with my AIO and with the AIO it never got higher than 80 degrees. I understand that the monoblock is also cooling the VRM`s so this will add more heat to the system but I don`t think that this is causing my excessive heat.

During gaming my GPU was 50 degrees max and and the coolant was 49 degrees max which seems fine.

I think that the CPU being so much hotter than everything else in the loop points to the monoblock not making full contact with the CPU.

The system seems full bled now, no more bubbles going around the system and it seems that it is just the CPU that is the odd one out.

Any input will be much appreciated, it`s looking like a full strip to reseat the monoblock and have a look at the contact patch of the thermal paste.

Million dollar question, do I need new O rings or will these be ok for a second use?

49c on coolant is very high. You need more radiators or better airflow mate get your coolant to 35c or less

 

[Gavster]

With the front panel off the max coolant temp is now 39 degrees, max GPU temp is 51 degrees and max CPU temp is 91 degrees after 30 minutes of gaming.
Better air flow is part of the solution as all the temps are lower but the cpu temp is way out of line with the rest so definitely a re seating job but the cynic in me still says the monoblock is causing the biggest problem.
On Sunday I will tear down and reseat the mono block and see how that works, the downside of monoblocks is it`s a mobo out to reseat and re-paste.

 

[D1craig]

from the last picture in your build post the top radiator is set to exhaust. the pretty side of the fans is where the air goes in. it has to be a paste or contact issue.

EDIT - and you have the if my understanding of the pump/res (cant find anything about it) is correct you have the correct inlet port on the mono block so it is definitly contact/paste issue. this sounds ridiculous and everybody suggests it and you think to yourself "what do you think i am some sort of imbecile" but maybe the block has some cover on the contact area you didnt remove?

 

[Grim5]

With the front panel off the max coolant temp is now 39 degrees, max GPU temp is 51 degrees and max CPU temp is 91 degrees after 30 minutes of gaming.
Better air flow is part of the solution as all the temps are lower but the cpu temp is way out of line with the rest so definitely a re seating job but the cynic in me still says the monoblock is causing the biggest problem.
On Sunday I will tear down and reseat the mono block and see how that works, the downside of monoblocks is it`s a mobo out to reseat and re-paste.

Yeah that's much better, but it's a good sign. If removing the panels drops temps that much it means you just need better airflow which can resolved in most cases with more fans or re configuring existing fans.
The CPU temp I think is a separate issue, its still stubbornly high, especially for Intel thats high. I'd try re-seating that block

 

[Hewligan]

Yeah, I agree with the above couple of comments. Dropping 10 degrees when you take a panel off shows you have pretty bad airflow issues. My guess would be you need to have a balance of intake and outflow of air to stop hot air slowly cooking your system, but your various photographs show fans in different configurations so hard to know what your current fan setup is.

Secondly, almost certainly a seating / paste / sticker not removed issue on the mono-block.

So two separate issues, but both should be resolvable for free (other than your precious time).

my GPU temps after cyberpunk tend to peak mid 40s. CPU is normally 70 (10900kf, mild over clock). Yours are too high.

 

[pastymuncher]

That top rad is set as intake not exhaust. In the last picture you can see the supports that holds the motor to the fan frame (the frameless side of the fan is the intake, the motor side the exhaust). That means you have both rads dumping heat into the case and only a single exhaust. All that heat geting trapped in the case is going to add to the water temp as well as making everything else warmer than it needs to be. That top rad needs the fans turning around so that they are exhausting the air from the case.

Is the loop order Pump>GPU>Top Rad> CPU>Front Rad>Res? If so the GPU inlet/outlet are the wrong way around, not that you can do anything about it without reversing the loop order and making some replacement tubing so that the correct inlet/outlet on the cpu monoblock would be used.

 

[Gavster]

So two separate issues, but both should be resolvable for free (other than your precious time).

my GPU temps after cyberpunk tend to peak mid 40s. CPU is normally 70 (10900kf, mild over clock). Yours are too high.

There was no visible sicker on the monoblock but reseating is a must and also swapping the fans on the top rad round.

That top rad is set as intake not exhaust. In the last picture you can see the supports that holds the motor to the fan frame (the frameless side of the fan is the intake, the motor side the exhaust). That means you have both rads dumping heat into the case and only a single exhaust. All that heat geting trapped in the case is going to add to the water temp as well as making everything else warmer than it needs to be. That top rad needs the fans turning around so that they are exhausting the air from the case.

Is the loop order Pump>GPU>Top Rad> CPU>Front Rad>Res? If so the GPU inlet/outlet are the wrong way around, not that you can do anything about it without reversing the loop order and making some replacement tubing so that the correct inlet/outlet on the cpu monoblock would be used.

Yes that is the loop order but according to the EK installation manual the inlets and outlets don`t matter but they are correct on the monoblock.

As you say the top rad fans need turning around and I`m going to add two more inlet fans on the bottom of the case as I have them lying around.

 

[Drumroll]

I would go reservoir/pump, GPU, Monoblock, top rad exhaust, front rad intake.
Used Monoblocks in the past, but there's too many contact areas to worry about, but shouldn't be an issue if supplied thermalpad are used (assuming EKWB haven't packed the wrong thickness) and correct pressure applied.
Despite EKWB saying that both ports can be intake, the waterflow follows a different path, at least for reference cards. One would start where the GPU die is, them go around Memory chips and other bits that need cooling, while the other would start on those secondary parts and then GPU die. Not a big issue, 1C or 2C tops, guessing, but more likely to be 1C, if any.
I bet my 2 cents on top rad.
Just a test, before changing anything:
Run something like Heaven and check how warm the air from the first rad after the blocks is.
Do the same for second rad.
You may notice that the first rad deals with most of the heat, while the second rad simply optimize the coolant's temperature.
As the second rad won't exhaust as much heat, that's the air you can use as intake.
Even if that air, from second rad is 2C or 3C above ambient, sure it will affect performance of first rad (that should be exhaust), but the same second rad will be working with fresh cool air, so can easily compensate for that previous few degrees Celsius.
Single rad is compromise, but for 2 or 3 rads, you want to exhaust most of the heat, ASAP, and use the following rads only to drop even further the coolant's temperature. They will bring air slightly warmer than ambient, true, but nowhere as hot as first rad.
The worst scenario would be first rad Intake and second rad exhaust. The second rad would work with much hotter air from first rad, crippling the second rad's performance.

 

[Gavster]

And now the mystery is no more




Next to no paste transfer on the monoblock, next time I will check before refitting the motherboard, something I should have done in the first place.

 

[MikeTimbers]

We all learn the hard way.

 

[Gavster]

We all learn the hard way.

Yes, at work I always say check twice build once but I didn't follow this and paid the price.

I don't mind though, it's my first attempt at a custom loop and there are always things that won't go right, that's how we get experience

 

[Hewligan]

Wow, that is BAD!!!!