subn3t

Also, do you have any recommendations regarding swapping out the H100i stock fans (white LL)? Should I change them for ML or SP fans for higher cooling performance?

Thanks, could you expand on the ML vs LL fans? Stats for LL fan: 63 CFM / 3.0 mmH2O Stats for ML fan: 47.3 CFM / 1.78 mmH2O The LL fans seem to have higher airflow and SP? When you said front intake, you mean the intake not on the bottom, right? With a 3-slot card, I'll have like 1cm clearance between the fan and the GPU. Should I keep fans there or remove them entirely?

Here's my current configuration: I just ordered an EVGA 2080 Ti XC Ultra. Current card is an EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3. Since the 2080 Ti is (almost) a 3-slot cooler, there won't be much clearance between the bottom intakes and the 2080 Ti. The 280X already struggles with airflow. I've found that the bottom intakes help, but I'm not sure if it'd be better to let the 2080 Ti intake without the 2x120mm fans. I've heard that stacking fans can wear out bearings. I don't care about worn out bearings on replaceable LL120s, but I do care about the 2080 Ti cooler. Thoughts?

Thanks, I removed the dust filter from the top based on your recommendation

I am using firmware v3.08

First off, I can't thank c-attack enough. Without their thoughtful and detailed reply, I'm not sure I would have undertaken all this testing. tl;dr H100i RGB Platinum SE LEDs add 6.3C to the coolant temp. IMHO, this is probably due to the proximity of the temp sensor and the LEDs, and not representative of actual increase in coolant temp. * * * * * * * * * * Well, I'm back after several hours of testing. The results have been very interesting. I went through several stages of troubleshooting and made detailed notes at each stage. In summary, I went from 41.5C to 21.4 on the coolant temp by doing the following things: Fixing AIO fans and pump to their maximum speeds Removed top glass and dust filter Turned off all RGB in the system Even though I have no intention of running my PC like this, I was able to determine that there was likely nothing fundamentally wrong with the AIO, particularly the coolant temperature sensor. The lowest coolant temp I achieved tonight was 21.4, and the highest was 38.9C. The breakdown is as follows: Difference between 600 RPM and MAX on the fans: 7.2C Difference between "Balanced" and "Extreme" on the pump: 5.1C H100i's RGB: 6.3C Yep, the RGB on the AIO added a very fast 6.3C to the coolant temperature, and the temperature dropped just just as rapidly when the RGB was again switched off. The rest of the system's RGB appears to have no significant effect on temperatures. Given the speed with which the coolant temp rose and fell, I suspect that the LED heat didn't actually get transferred to the coolant, but that the coolant temp sensor picks up heat from the LEDs, leading to this 6.3C discrepancy. With the case reassembled, I turned off all the RGB and set the AIO fans to 1,300 RPM. (This seemed to be the sweet spot to my ears.) Coolant: 28.8C, CPU Core 32C I cranked the fans up to maximum and re-ran my stress tests. (Based on my data, I'll make my own fan curves. For now, I think it makes sense to stress test with max fans.) Coolant: 39.4C, CPU Core 71C IMHO, the 6.3C added by the AIO RGB is very significant and should be noted and/or fixed and/or accounted for in built-in fan curves.

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, I'll do another round of experimenting and troubleshooting after work and report back.

I've got a confusing situation with my new H100i RGB Platinum SE where the coolant seems to run hotter than the CPU itself. I zip-tied a temperature sensor to the inside of the case just as a sanity check, and here are some numbers I'm seeing: Case temp: 26.5 Coolant temp: 41.5 CPU Avg: 38 After 10 minutes of AIDA64 stress test: Case temp: 28 Coolant temp: 46 CPU Avg: 75 From what I can see, it looks like my case temp is about normal, and it looks like my CPU is about normal, if a little hot (though it's a 9900K, and they run hot). The coolant temp for the load readings strikes me as high, but the thing that really gets me is the sensor giving me 41.5 at idle. This causes the built-in fan profiles to be useless. I know I can make my own custom profiles, but given that this is a brand new unit, the coolant being 15C hotter than the ambient temperature makes me suspect that something is "off". Any ideas?