3700X ITX build high temps

Nick1881 · 3 May 2020 at 12:42

My 3700X temps seem higher since I upgraded from a 1060 to 2070S. My case is the Lian Li TU150.

I have Noctua NH-U12S cooler, Noctua NF-S12A front intake and rear exhaust, 2 x NF-A12x15 intakes in the bottom of the case. My GPU temps seem ok, adding the two fans in the bottom helped lots as they are blowing at the GPU and assisting the fans, the problem is my CPU.

Idle temps right now in my cool front room, no heating on it's probably 18 C in here, CPU minimum 40 but it seems to go up and down between 50-55, when folding on CPU and GPU it will hit 83C I have seen it reach 85 C.

Should I worry about these temps? I think it's an air flow problem as with the case side panel removed the temps drop.

I like that the system is silent on idle, but I'm going to stop folding. In game the fans spin up and seem to keep everything fine.

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 12:53

2070s is a higher tdp part than the 1060
not enough ventilation = higher air temp in the case = hotter cpu
don't forget that the bottom fans are blowing cool air to the gpu, but it's also blowing hot air from the gpu to the cpu cooler at the same time

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 12:55

different build config, but explains it well

Nick1881 · 3 May 2020 at 12:55

tamzzy said:
2070s is a higher tdp part than the 1060
not enough ventilation = higher air temp in the case = hotter cpu
don't forget that the bottom fans are blowing cool air to the gpu, but it's also blowing hot air from the gpu to the cpu cooler at the same time

Yea that's what I was thinking, I've added a more powerful hotter part to case that's heating up everything.

Would a better CPU cooler help, or more powerful front and rear fans, or is this just the drawback of SFF.

I love the size, my desk is so much better to sit at.

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 13:00

@Nick1881 the tu150 is a crappy ventilated case to begin with. if it was an atx case, it would've been slated by the tech media; but as it's an "itx case" (barely) it was given a free pass *shrug*.
what i'd suggest is turning your rear fan from an exhaust to an intake, and turning your front fan to an exhaust and go from there (ofc don't forget to turn your cpu cooler fan too).
your u12s is pretty decent already, i doubt any cooler that will fit inside will do much better

Nick1881 · 3 May 2020 at 13:09

Thanks @tamzzy

Finding a small case with good ventilation seems to be a problem, the other case I considered for a long time was the Phanteks Evolv Shift, as the footprint is smaller and the height makes no difference to me under my desk.

The new NZXT H1 looks nice but I don't want AIO and I already have a PSU, shame they don't sell it on it's own.

I might have a play with the fans, currently with the side panel off with folding on CPU & GPU, CPU temp is reaching 77 C and GPU only 63 C

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 13:11

Nick1881 said:
Finding a small case with good ventilation seems to be a problem,

should've went with the rvz03 (i have one

) it's half the size of the tu 150 and cools better

Nick1881 · 3 May 2020 at 15:44

tamzzy said:
should've went with the rvz03 (i have one ) it's half the size of the tu 150 and cools better

Looks are subjective, I prefer the TU150. The plastic on the RVZ03 puts me off, the other problem as with most ITX systems is that they can only fit low profile coolers.

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 15:54

Nick1881 said:
Looks are subjective

no doubt

Nick1881 said:
The plastic on the RVZ03 puts me off

silverstone do the ftz01-e with alumium fascia for the more refined user: https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?area=en&pid=771

Nick1881 said:
the other problem as with most ITX systems is that they can only fit low profile coolers.

http://www.cryorig.com/c1.php
can use this with a 25mm fan and still fit in. it's a top-down cooler, but 83mm isn't what i'd necessarily call "low profile"

tamzzy · 3 May 2020 at 16:01

tamzzy said:
what i'd suggest is turning your rear fan from an exhaust to an intake, and turning your front fan to an exhaust and go from there (ofc don't forget to turn your cpu cooler fan too).

in other news, have you tried this and see what your temps are?

Nick1881 · 12 May 2020 at 18:43

Well I've sorted it. I swapped the NH-U12 out today for a NH-D15. The temps have dropped so much I think I must have had a contact issue before, maybe not enough paste, I noticed it hadn't spread to the edges.

In reviews of these coolers there doesn't seem a huge difference, but my temps have dropped to a maximum of 69 C under full system load, playing COD:MW temps are low 60's. It's also quieter under full load as the fans aren't working as hard.