AIO vs Air Cooler
Posted by Lion_El_Jonsonn@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 25 comments
Looking for guidance.
I have the 9800x3d cpu with a be quiet dark pro rock 5. I main play star citizen and even after undervolting the cpu by 15 on all curves. I have a choice have super loud annoying noise or have high temps like 95 or 96c max temp average is lower like 75-85c.
I read so many claim that AIO leaks and the nightmare that is but I also recognise this is not a good solution the current setup i think the high temps on my gpu are caused by the air cooler tower also indirectly. What do you suggest to solve this? Thanks
AreMeOfOne@reddit
The 9800x3D is not a difficult CPU to cool. You can get by with a decent air cooler. There’s not much benefit to using AIO in your case other than looks and noise levels. If you can fit a 360mm radiator in your case, the fans won’t have to spin as fast which will result in an overall quieter system.
Personally I have been using AIO’s for nearly 15 years and have never had one leak on me. They’ve also all lasted at least 5 years. One even up to 7. Leaks do happen though as evidenced by posts on this subreddit. If you’re worried, just pick a good air cooler.
Posraman@reddit
X3D chips will run hot no matter what. It's how they're designed. However, if you go way overboard with the cooling and adjust the fan curves in addition to your undervolt, you can mostly mitigate this issue.
For example, I have a Fractal Torrent with a 7800X3D and a Peerless Assassin (I think) dual tower air cooler in addition to an exhaust fan. I have the fans all running much lower than stock profiles and at slightly different speeds. Both are important for noise reduction. However, make sure you let the fans ramp up if things start getting hot. I have very steep curves on my fans as I know what temps are normal for my PC. If things start to get warmer than usual, my fans will turn up pretty fast, though that never happens.
Even running at 100% CPU load, my PC is much quieter than stock. My CPU also tops out around 75°C-80°C vs 89°C. That is in benchmarks. In regular use, such as gaming, the PC is virtually inaudible. There have even been times where a game was left running while my monitor was off and I didn't realize it because the PC is so quiet.
Lion_El_Jonsonn@reddit (OP)
At what temperature do you trigger full speed on the fans? Thanks
Posraman@reddit
My fans will be at 100% speed at 100°C, but they will NEVER run at full speed. This is because my 7800X3D has a TJ Max. (max SAFE operating temp) of 89°C and will stop itself from getting hotter (thermal throttling.) My CPU cooler fans will be running around 50% speed at TJ Max.
Those low speeds are supplemented by my PC case fans. Since it's the Torrent, I have 2 huge 180mm fans pulling air in from the front. There's so much air coming in, my CPU cooler fans don't need to spin very much to get air through.
If you have a case with bad airflow, there won't be much you can do to lower the noise since the fans will need to spin faster to push air through. I specifically built my PC to run quiet.
Powerful-Ad2869@reddit
If u you use an Air Cooler and you still have high temps, its your Ambient temperature. Just get an AIO
eatingpotatochips@reddit
Maybe there's something wrong with your cooler installation, but 9800X3D using a Noctua NH-D15 gets to 86C under load.
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/25.html
All the big dual tower coolers are within spitting distance of each other, so you should get similar performance. It's also about as quiet as the D15, which is known for low noise levels. You could switch to AIO, but other than the largest AIOs, they don't give better performance than air.
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-4/6.html
prank_mark@reddit
Be Quiet Dark Rock sucks on AM5 for some reason
https://youtu.be/ltNDbgDDLPs
Lion_El_Jonsonn@reddit (OP)
Maybe i will have to switch to noctua then
prank_mark@reddit
I'd say a Phantom Spirit would be a lot better in terms of value. Nearly the same temperature and noise but for a lot less money.
eatingpotatochips@reddit
That explains OP's temperatures. It seems like an issue with the Dark Rock series rather than air vs. AIO. Might be an issue with how the cooler sits on AM5. We need Steve to do one of those socket pressure distribution videos...
JayyMuro@reddit
I have a 9950x3d and using same cooler which started as a test and worked so I kept it. Haven't throttled on any benchmarks at all. I prefer air anyway and don't have a glass case so it doesn't matter if it looked bad which it doesn't.
Matt0706@reddit
Do you have precision boost overdrive turned on in your bios? It prioritizes using as much power as possible all the time and is unnecessary.
Lion_El_Jonsonn@reddit (OP)
I have turned it on to reduce curve to reduce the cpu by 20. Pbo limits is on auto.
Matt0706@reddit
I think I did my undervolt without pbo and it the setting was something like negative voltage offset (MSI motherboard). I’m not sure what the difference is but I remember for stock vs PBO on, stock was significantly cooler.
621_@reddit
Send that piece of crap air cooler back and get a phantom spirit from thermalright and you’ll be alright
Born_Bad_1294@reddit
Good quality doesn't leak. They are tested rigorously and works flawlessly for 5-6 years.
The best one is the Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 360mm AIO for 99USD.
StunningPush8421@reddit
there are much better aios especially for the 9800x3d
Hawk7117@reddit
The dark rock pro 5 is one of the best, if not THE best air cooler on the market right now.
Could an AIO potentially help? It could marginally.
I think you have something else going on here though, that CPU should be running cooler without a doubt. Do you have any type of OC or PBO enabled on the CPU?
I would repaste and remount your cooler, my best guess is it is not making proper contact with the CPU.
Also it's worth asking about the fan setup inside your case. Unlike an AIO that vents the hot air right outside the case, air coolers are more reliant on having good case intake and exhaust. If you have the fans installed incorrectly or have an insufficient number that could easily lead to your Air cooler choking with 90c+ temps.
prank_mark@reddit
The Be Quiet Dark Rock line apparently sucks on AM5. Gamers Nexus still tests on AM4 and there it performs great, but on AM5 it's horrible. It's way worse than a Phantom Spirit or Peerless Assassin for example.
Here's a video from Hardware Canucks: https://youtu.be/ltNDbgDDLPs
Hawk7117@reddit
When I used one a couple of months ago to cool a 7800x3d I had no issues, it even out performed the Peerless assassin I had on hand by about 5c.
Can't say my tests have had anywhere near those results, I was idling around 25c with sustained loads pushing upwards of 55c. The peerless assassin was hovering around 65-70c if I remember right on my tests from December.
psimwork@reddit
Yeah this thread is something that made me raise an eyebrow as well. I have a 9800X3D under a Peerless Assassin, and have mine pretty aggressively on PBO, and I have no problem keeping my temps in-check.
If a DRP5 can't keep a 9800X3D cool, something is up.
LostTheElectrons@reddit
A 9800X3D should not require an AIO.
While AIOs are nice, they have more points of failure which makes them inherently less reliable than air coolers.
There might be something going on with your air cooler install for it to performing like that. It should be performing quite well.
prank_mark@reddit
Unfortunately you picked the wrong cooler for AM5. I love Be Quiet, but they somehow manage to perform horribly on AM5 chips. They get easily beaten by the Thermalright Peerless Assassin and Phantom Spirit which are less than half the price.
https://youtu.be/ltNDbgDDLPs
Huge_Valuable9732@reddit
the plus to air cooling is you know when its working and when its not
ficskala@reddit
Nah, only the lowest of low quality ones occasionally end up leaking, custom water cooling often does spring a leak, but AIOs are fine
Generally, not really, unless you don't get hot air out of your case quickly enough, or you have too much positive pressure in the case, causing pockets of stagnant air around the GPU area
Hot air naturally rises, so it's common for a GPU to heat up the CPU cooler, but the other way around is rare in a good setup, back when i had a dark rock pro 4 on a 5950x, and an NH-D14 on a 5800x3d, i had no issues with the coolers heating up the GPU, only reason i swapped to AIOs for both of these was because i was switching cases, and the air coolers wouldn't fit
What do you suggest to solve this?
Highly depends on what the actual issues are, is this caused by a bad fan, is it caused by stagnant air, is it caused by not enough case fans, is it caused by the case not providing enough airflow in general, there are a lot of things that can affect your cooling performance, first you gotta pinpoint the issue, and then you can try solving it
Which case is it, and how are your case fans set up right now? You can also check temperatures in general inside of the case by monitoring your motherboard temperatures
If your case+case fans config is good, then you can try stress testing individual components to check where the heat is coming from mostly, and see what you can do to eliviate the issues, for example, if the GPU is running hot, adding a bottom/side fan can help to disperse more air away from it, this is all dependant on the specific case though, so i'm not really sure what to recommend