Should I undervolt, underclock my CPU and GPU?
Posted by Born_Bad_1294@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Thanks for reading.
Currently I own Ryzen 9 9950X + RTX 5070 Ti 16GB.
I live in a very hot and humid country and the temps have been going crazy as of late.
When I play games my GPU temps stay at 70-75C and CPU at 50-60C and I know that's normal. Problem is that when I do some production work and hammer my CPU and GPU at the same time, the CPU reaches 85-90C and sits there with no thermal throttling. The GPU stays under 80C even at 100% utilization for a long time.
I use a Lian LI GA 2 360mm AIO and the case is Lian Li V100R.
Should I undervolt/underclock my components and if yes, could somebody guide me or link a good guide/tutorial?
esJDog@reddit
Those temps are honestly still within spec for both parts, especially the 9950X. Ryzen 9000 chips are designed to boost aggressively until they hit thermal/power limits, so seeing 85–90C during heavy all-core production workloads isn’t unusual as long as it isn’t throttling or crashing.
That said, in a hot/humid environment, undervolting is actually a really good idea because you can usually drop temps and power draw with little to no performance loss.
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
I just want to prolong the life of my components and what better way than to lower the overall temps. Do you have a good guide/tutorial for undervolting?
TheKitler@reddit
Your components are going to become obsolete before heat kills them.
ProfessorLambda@reddit
That depends on what you want to do with it.
esJDog@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b3JUiK1aWU - CPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh1QsSCt4Xk - GPU
There's a ton of resources online. techquickie is always a channel I trust. Both videos are insightful.
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
Thank you very much
TheDarkrayne@reddit
Totally fine considering you're in a hot, humid country. I'm not in a hot country and the only difference is that my CPU tops out at 75-80 (9800X3D). You only need to be concerned if it's getting over 90 on cooler days, because it could start to hit 95 and throttle on hotter days.
More powerful, modern hardware is going to run hotter no matter what you do. More performance needs more power and more power generates more heat.
I'd just stop worrying about it tbh. Set Curve Optimzer to something like -20 so that it uses less power when it doesn't need "max" performance and forget about it all. The components can take the heat just fine. They are designed to throttle in situations where their "lifespan" might be affected, it's all automatic now. You don't need to micromanage it for that purpose.
LordxBeezus@reddit
Undervolting may help, but before you underclock would you be down to get some more air flow in your case? Whats your case fan setup like
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
I have the Lian Li V100R.
At the top I have the 3 AIO fans set as exhaust. The single rear fan is also set to exhaust. The 3 fans on side are set to intake. And there is a space below the GPU to add 2 more fans. Will adding those 2 fans help??
Because just below those fans, the shroud/space is blocked by the PSU and I don't think that they will pull much air from the bottom.
LordxBeezus@reddit
If theyre over the psu it wont make much of a difference. Depending on your rooms temp, another intake on the bottom may or may help more.
Which cpu temp are you monitoring?
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
Avg core temps, Avg CCD temps. Anything wrong with those?
I also changed the thermal paste 3-4 months ago and I clean my fans and case regularly so there is no dirt/dust caked up blocking the airflow
LordxBeezus@reddit
The reason i asked because i noticed people online tend to monitor different ones. For example, i monitor core temps (in system tray at least), so if i take a quick look and they are high, the other temps might still be within the manufacturers designated safe performance range. Could be the same for you especially if you aren’t throttling
Pyromancer777@reddit
Try to arrange your fans so that a single column of air is passing through the machine. Top exhaust + bottom intake, left side intake + right side exhaust, etc.
Also balance your fans so that there is nearly as much intake as exhaust. Too much intake and you get hot convection currents, too much exhaust and you get negative pressure with too little air to pull heat away from the chips
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
I see, Thanks!
Significant_Writer_9@reddit
Hammering it in summertime is going to make temps higher.
Air con, watercooling and undervolts will reduce temps but I wouldn't do that unless it is causing instability issues.
Born_Bad_1294@reddit (OP)
I see
Currently I am facing no crashes or instability, I just wanted to lower the temps to prolong the life of my components
Significant_Writer_9@reddit
Some people avoid using theirs in extreme heat. Some are unable to due to crashes...
I never have the issue because I went overkill on my cooler. The highest temp I get is like 60-70C in the hotspot in extreme heat, but I'm using cheaper components.