Question about coolant temps

Hi

 

I am running H100i GTX paired with a 6700k 4.2Ghz adaptive 1.20v = 1.28v

 

My CPU temps hit around 74c in stress tests but I am worried about my coolant temps.

 

I started a game called Divinity Orignal Sin 2 very CPU hungry, I checked my temps CPU maxed at 65c but the h100i gtx was flashing white and red the coolant was hitting 45c. I was only on the game for around 1hour and a half.

Your coolant temp does seem to be high.

 

How is your cooler set up? What other fans are in play? How are you exhausting the waste heat from the GPU?

 

Here's the thing ... if the air that's being used to cool the radiator is warm, the coolant is going to be warm. That 1080 Ti can dump a LOT of heat into a system. If you are managing that properly, it'll increase the temperature inside the case. As most coolers are installed as exhaust, this increases the temperature of the air used to cool the cooler.

 

Right now, you're looking at one component in isolation. That won't get you very far. You need to look at it as a holistic thermal system and how you are managing the waste heat of multiple components.

While playing the game the 1080Ti is at 66c

 

Fan Set Up

Front Intake - 140m Air flow (Came with NZXT case)

Rear Exhaust - 120m Static Pressure (Came with NZXT case)

 

Top Mounted Radiator

2x 120m Akasa Piranha Static Pressure 1800RPM

Pushing though the radiator

 

Filter above the radiator on top of case > Attached image.

The filter above the radiator may hamper your performance slightly, but I suspect you didn't install it yesterday and thus it is probably not the source of the higher coolant temps.

 

45C is a bit high. How does this compare to other case temperatures? Motherboard, drives, and current GPU temp? It is quite possible to heat up your case with the GPU and raise the ambient temp of everything inside by a good bit. Easiest way to rule this out is with a standard CPU stress test. Don't run Intel Burn Test or Prime. Pick something else and let it go for 30 minutes (Intel XTU is free and an easy pass if your overclock is not thoroughly tested. AIDA 64 and OCCT are fine too.) If there is a cooler issue, the coolant temp and it alone will suffer and rise to the same level. If it is drastically lower, then we need to take a hard look at case fan management.

 

Another sign to look for is a coolant temp that rises slow, but steadily even when on the desktop. What is your idle coolant temp after boot or wake from sleep? A well working cooler will "turn on" to right at room temp and then warm up 4-7C over that in the next 10 minutes to a steady temp. If it boots to 25C but then climbs right to 35C, that would suggest a cooler issue as well. Difficulty reducing the coolant temp after the load ceases is another warning sign, however this also can be influenced by the warm environment problem and is not conclusive on its own. You should be able to drop most of your heat back to the idle starting coolant temp in 5-10 min. If you raise the case temp to 40C, you can't go any lower than that until the entire case cools down.

Well I was playing Divinity Original Sin 2 a bit, I noticed the fans where getting louder I checked the temps and saw the coolant at 45c Closed the game and started testing with RealBench.

Idle

CPU was 25c

Coolant was 28c

GPU was 37c

 

RealBench for 2 hours

CPU was 74c

Coolant was 40c

GPU was 66c

 

Realbench 2 hours without filters

CPU: was 71c

Coolant: was 37c

GPU: was 65c

 

But the strange thing is that when playing the game the coolant is a high temp than the benching software, I capped the fps from 144/72 fps and the coolant dropped to 38c

 

After looking at my case I don't think my fans are up to par the the front is 800RPM and Rear is also 800RPM stock fans

+3C on the filter (on) test seems about right and I will deduct that from the general expectations.

 

The thing with Real Bench is it has a GPU component as well and that, is what we are both theorizing may be your issue. A +15C coolant delta over idle is pretty high unless you are deliberately pinning your fan speeds down in the sub-1000 rpm region. It is about double what I would expect and the fact gaming temps are even worse suggests the GPU is involved. However, it may not be the only cause.

 

When you get a chance, run something like Intel XTU, AIDA (full blend - all boxes checked), or OCCT. 30 minutes is fine. A normal cooler with moderate fan speed will hit +6C coolant delta in about 5 minutes. After that is should hold relatively steady with perhaps some +1-2C gain long term, depending on fan speed. If this comes back with a +12-15C coolant delta, then there is an issue. A failing cooler will rocket up from the start, so if you hit +12-15C in 5 minutes, just stop.

 

Also, compare the gaming temps of other hardware in the case to the coolant temp. If you see 40C drive temps, 40C motherboard temp, and 40C coolant temp... it is probably 40C in the case and that is all you can do until that is addressed.

Here is my current layout, Both Rear and Front are connect to a fan controller set to 80%

 

 

All of my Drive,

SSD, 2 WD Black show between 30c idle - 33c Active

 

As for Motherboard it shows 12 sensors

#1 22c - 59c

#2 26c - 41.5c

#3 26c - 41.0c

#4 24c - 32c

#5 22c - 58c

#6 22c - 32c

#7 22c - 59c

#8 24c - 32c

#9 26c - 41

#10 0c - 127 (Bug)

#11 50c-50c

#12 21c-22c

 

 

I will download the Intel test from ROG and set it running tomorrow

Yeah, don't worry about the jibberish in the Link panel. Your Asus board has one MB temp sensor. If you know which one it is, then you can track it. Easiest thing to do is quit Link completely and use HWiNFO or HWMonitor to get the single value. That one should be very slow to change, up or down, although it too can be affected by high GPU heat.

Yeah, don't worry about the jibberish in the Link panel. Your Asus board has one MB temp sensor. If you know which one it is, then you can track it. Easiest thing to do is quit Link completely and use HWiNFO or HWMonitor to get the single value. That one should be very slow to change, up or down, although it too can be affected by high GPU heat.

 

Thanks for all the info,

Taking the filters off has taken the edge off the temps.

 

Do I even need to bother about coolant temp as long as the system CPU temps are stable it should be ok, also is there a set coolant temp?

 

I am going to clean the radiator on Saturday it's 2 years old and I bet there is a dust bunny sandwiched between the fan and the rad :)

Update

 

Played 1 hour of Divinity 2

CPU usage 53

CPU 60 c

Coolant 40.3

GPU 67

 

Played 1 hour 30m of Final Fantasy 15

CPU usage 83%

CPU 68c

Coolant 38.1

GPU 66c

 

How could the be possible lower Usage but higher temps

This is why I want to separate CPU coolant temps from combined CPU+GPU loads. I am starting to suspect what you really need is another intake fan to help push some more GPU waste heat toward the back, but the CPU only stress test should help determine if that is true.

 

Real Bench has a GPU component. Just run something easy and free like like Intel XTU for 20 minutes. It should be something like a +6-7C rise in coolant temp. If you see +15C, we know there is a cooler issue.

It seems to me that you are likely not exhausting your GPU heat efficiently. This is causing the internal case temperature to rise. As this internal case air is what's used to cool the radiator, its temperature does have a pretty significant impact on the ability to cool the liquid.

 

Your case supports up to 2 140mm fans on the front as well as fans in the bottom. Right now, you have far more exhaust than you have intake and that's probably not where you want to be. I would recommend adding at least 1, perhaps 2, more fans as intake.

I will run XTU tonight.

What fans would you recommend?

 

I have a 3pin fan controller or should I go PWM.

I my mind I was thinking this but I thought 200mm had good cfm.

I will run XTU tonight.

What fans would you recommend?

 

I have a 3pin fan controller or should I go PWM.

I my mind I was thinking this but I thought 200mm had good cfm.

 

Based on your diagram, you have 1 140mm fan on intake and 3 120mm fans on exhaust. Question: does your case get dusty quickly?

 

And keep in mine that CFM specs are at max RPM. You probably aren't running at max RPM all the time.

 

As for which fans ... what other requirements do you have for the fans? Are you fond of blinkenlights (as I am) or are you one of the heretics that forbids RGB fans? What's your budget for the fans? In general, I, personally, prefer PWM fans; you have better control over them and a wider RPM range. However, if you can't properly control them, it doesn't matter. So the availability of fan headers and control options is definitely a key consideration. You mentioned that you have a 3-pin controller ... how does this control the fan speeds?

Yeah, I made the comment based on the diagram and it's 1x140 depiction, but now that I look at your specs I know the 630 has a 200mm front intake stock. To that end, 200mm fans are a funny sort. You would think a large, slow turning fan would have good air volume capabilities and it does... when not facing any type of restriction. The problem with 200mm fans is they really drop off hard when faced with a filter, drives, or some other type of pathway restriction. All 200mm fans are very open, raked blades with little conical focus and low static pressure values. In terms of straight airflow, 2x140@900 will outperform any 200mm fan in all aspects, except probably noise.

 

Does that mean you should swap it for 2x140? Inconclusive. It would depend on what is in the drive bay area, how close the filter is to the fan inlet (literally the number of mm), and if there would be any benefit to you by having better direct airflow across that part of the case (m.2 drive, GPU, other drives, etc). I am also wondering what speed you generally run that front intake at. Right now I think Dev and I are both thinking your GPU waste heat plays a part in this and it is adding to coolant temp. If the XTU results come back hot too, then this is no longer relevant. If they are cooler by some measure, then we should take a look some airflow metrics (front, back fan speeds), try running with case door off to see of that improves things, etc. I think you also have a bottom fan mount point and placing a single 140 or 120 down there may be a better choice than a front swap.

@c-attack and @DevBiker

 

I am happy to report some good results from IXTU, I powered up from a cool boot and waited 2 hours before testing

 

Idle

CPU: 23c

GPU: 33c

Coolant: 25c

 

IXTU (1 Hours test, Temps did not move after 30 mins)

CPU: 62c

GPU: 34c

Coolant: 31c

 

So as you said the GPU my be killing my temps.

 

Dust:

Yes my system can be quite dusty after 1-2 month after a clean, I cleaned the filters on Sunday and the filter at the bottom of the case that has no fans had quite a bit on it.

 

RGB:

Yes like it but I had to remove the RazerHDK LED kit seemed very buggy and the software was buggy, LED would not turn off when the system was off when the USB and Molex was attached removed it from my system

 

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/912437527897870344

The dust also pretty much confirms that you have more exhaust than you have intake.

 

Positive pressure with filtered intakes will keep dust pretty clear of the system. You have negative pressure ... so dust is drawn into the system via vents and cracks and crevices.

 

So let's start with adding some intake and seeing how we can better manage that GPU heat.

So, High Air pressure going in the case = lower temp up to a certain degree

 

I have 2 configurations in mind

 

1:Replace Rear Exhaust and 2 Intakes

 

2:Replace Rear Exhaust and Install 4 Intakes but would the 2 near the bottom mess with the flow?

 

What Fans would be the best, I have been looking at to many different types:D ML, LL, HD, SP, AF it just the RPM I don't want a super loud system.

If you actually have 3 HDDs in the rack up front, going to 2x140 may have some benefit for both drive cooling and total intake volume. Regardless of the decision on the front, I think you want at least 1x140 in the bottom slot closer to the PSU.

 

Is this a real picture? Do you have 1080 Ti in SLI? If so, that would certainly explain where all the heat is coming from. That also changes the solutions a bit as well. Generally, you are going to want as much speed from the rear 140 exhaust as you can stand. If SLI, then I would want the drive caddy in the lower slot so the top 140mm fan can try and shoot the gap between cards. That has benefit for both the top GPU temp and general flow. I guess I had better wait to hear if this is accurate before I get carried away. It looks like just the one in the video.

First, check this out: [ame]

[/ame].

 

I would certainly agree with c-attack ... 1 140mm on bottom, 2 140mm on front. You also need to consider the balance and the source temperature for your fan curves. The default will be the CPU ... but this is irrelevant for our purposes because you are liquid cooled and the CPU's waste heat has no impact on the case internal temperatures. So you want to base your fan curves on a motherboard sensor or an add-in temperature sensor. If using a motherboard sensor, which one is always tricky.

 

There's another thread, curiously enough, from today, where c-attack and I are also going over airflow and trying to help another user with similar issues. It may be worth a review: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=175531.

Sorry I should have mentioned I just used the image as a as a template I only have 1 1080Ti Asus OC.

 

If I have the hard drives at the bottom of the case the rail system for the caddy block off the both 140mm vents.

 

 

I am looking at these

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/140mm-corsair-ml-series-ml140-pro-premium-magnetic-levitation-fan-black

The ML fans are definitely excellent fans. Good balance of static pressure and air flow and very quiet.

I think the ML140 is a good choice. Rather than a pure airflow design, it looks like you might do better with a more focused flow, particularly with drive cages and such. Make sure you have 4 pin PWM control on your motherboard (surely) and keep in mind you do not need to run those anywhere near the 2000 rpm top end. 900 might be a place to start (for load) and see if that does a better job moving heat out.

On Saturday I am going to teardown my system and give it a spring clean.

 

Remove all Hard Drive Bays

're install my SSD behind the Motherboard

're install my 2 Hard Drives in the DVD Drive Bays

 

Should I populate all 4 fan or just 3?

Just about to order everything I need :)

 

I have a total of 6 PWM connectors on my motherboard.

Three should be enough. Four won't hurt at all; you'll be able to get equivalent airflow at lower speed, which means quieter.