AMD 7900 non x

[mitch247]

Has anyone got a 7900 non x up & running? I'm interested in how the temps are with these. I'm wondering if one of these would work out in m-atx htpc/gaming rig. Any info on idle/load temps with what cooling solution, that sort of thing.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Tetras]

I think it'll be fine, but you could try eco mode if you have problems.

If you haven't seen it, there's a section on thermals in this review:

Crazy Good Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU Benchmarks & Thermals

Sponsor: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste (on Amazon - https://geni.us/JMVNtOE ) & Hydronaut for water cooling (Amazon - https://geni.us/Fsray )This re...

www.youtube.com

 

[mitch247]

I think it'll be fine, but you could try eco mode if you have problems.

If you haven't seen it, there's a section on thermals in this review:

Crazy Good Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU Benchmarks & Thermals

Sponsor: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste (on Amazon - https://geni.us/JMVNtOE ) & Hydronaut for water cooling (Amazon - https://geni.us/Fsray )This re...

www.youtube.com

Thanks for the link. I have been searching the web for info & had seen that video. I'm more concerned about temps around idle. Theoretically they should be low for this chip. That said I noted that the 7800x3d's were also meant to be very efficient but I am seeing reports of idle temps of around 40-50c (aside from the ones blowing up!) which is a little disconcerting. The build I am trying to put together needs to be cool & quite for HTPC duty but have the abiity to switch up a few gears for gaming. Idle temps (which would be pretty close to htpc draw) between 40-50c is as far as I'm concerned a deal breaker. I guess these are new enough for not that many people to have them & post reports on them yet.

 

[mickyflinn]

Thanks for the link. I have been searching the web for info & had seen that video. I'm more concerned about temps around idle. Theoretically they should be low for this chip. That said I noted that the 7800x3d's were also meant to be very efficient but I am seeing reports of idle temps of around 40-50c (aside from the ones blowing up!) which is a little disconcerting. The build I am trying to put together needs to be cool & quite for HTPC duty but have the abiity to switch up a few gears for gaming. Idle temps (which would be pretty close to htpc draw) between 40-50c is as far as I'm concerned a deal breaker. I guess these are new enough for not that many people to have them & post reports on them yet.

Why do you need A 12 core CPU for gaming and htcp machine ?

 

[mitch247]

Why do you need A 12 core CPU for gaming and htcp machine ?

I want to get the most longevity out of the cpu as poss. In my experience getting the most capable & newest cpu I can afford at the time generally means I don't need to update for quite a stretch. I'm still running an i7 2600k in my existing set up. That aside it also needs to be able to game at 4k without making ten tonnes of noise & I kinda of want the avx512 support for emulation. I'd rather have something that has more clout than I need so that I can run it without the fans having to ramp up to loud levels.

 

[mickyflinn]

I want to get the most longevity out of the cpu as poss. In my experience getting the most capable & newest cpu I can afford at the time generally means I don't need to update for quite a stretch. I'm still running an i7 2600k in my existing set up. That aside it also needs to be able to game at 4k without making ten tonnes of noise & I kinda of want the avx512 support for emulation. I'd rather have something that has more clout than I need so that I can run it without the fans having to ramp up to loud levels.

Understandable but usually doesn't work out like that, 8 cores will be relevant for gaming for a long time. If it was me with your requirements I would looking at a 7700 and maybe undervolting it.

 

[mitch247]

Thanks for the advice. I'm just having a look at the spec for the 7700 now. What's the reasoning for the 7700 over the 7900?

 

[t2na]

Thanks for the advice. I'm just having a look at the spec for the 7700 now. What's the reasoning for the 7700 over the 7900?

It's cheaper and you won't see an equivalent % benefit in gaming going from a 7700 to a 7900 for the cost difference between the two.

 

[FredFlint]

I want to get the most longevity out of the cpu as poss. In my experience getting the most capable & newest cpu I can afford at the time generally means I don't need to update for quite a stretch. I'm still running an i7 2600k in my existing set up. That aside it also needs to be able to game at 4k without making ten tonnes of noise & I kinda of want the avx512 support for emulation. I'd rather have something that has more clout than I need so that I can run it without the fans having to ramp up to loud levels.

That what I do, get the best CPU I can at the time, even if you upgrade later, you can sell it. I run a 7950X using ECO 65W and it runs cool. It idles at 28-30C and < 65C in most games. It still boosts to 5.775Ghz which is what gets it the hottest. With most all core loads, it stays < 50C. I do have a AIO 360mm but I used a Ryzen wraith prism cooler for a few days and temps where almost the same which was a surprise, it was louder though.

 

[mitch247]

It's cheaper and you won't see an equivalent % benefit in gaming going from a 7700 to a 7900 for the cost difference between the two.

I’ve just finished reading about the 7700 & the 7900 on techpowerup. The amount of wattage used by each in different processes is pretty much even stevens. The 7700 may have a lower wattage use in single thread but the 7900 has a lower wattage draw in multi-thread. Either would do what I want performance wise. I get what you are saying about the extra cost though.

My concern here really revolves around operating temps, mainly whilst performing low level tasks like watching films/tv which on my existing set up is barely anything above idle.

 

[mitch247]

That what I do, get the best CPU I can at the time, even if you upgrade later, you can sell it. I run a 7950X using ECO 65W and it runs cool. It idles at 28-30C and < 65C in most games. It still boosts to 5.775Ghz which is what gets it the hottest. With most all core loads, it stays < 50C. I do have a AIO 360mm but I used a Ryzen wraith prism cooler for a few days and temps where almost the same which was a surprise, it was louder though.

Thanks for sharing your temps. The last AMD chip I had was a bulldozer & that thing would keep your home warm in winter.

I don’t mind running a chip in eco mode if it gets me to around 30c on minimum fan rpm.

What cooling solution do you run & what rpm or fan % are you using to keep that 30c temp?

 

[FredFlint]

Arctic Freezer ii 360mm, min = 600rpm but I cannot here it when it’s at 1200rpm. Also have 2 * 140mm intake fans at 800 rpm and a 140mm exhaust on the back of the case at 600rpm.
This is after 30min of Dying Light 2:

 

[mitch247]

Arctic Freezer ii 360mm, min = 600rpm but I cannot here it when it’s at 1200rpm. Also have 2 * 140mm intake fans at 800 rpm and a 140mm exhaust on the back of the case at 600rpm.
This is after 30min of Dying Light 2:

Much appreciated. I'm going to dig a little further into the 7700 vx 7900 this evening & go from there. Out of curiosity, non cpu related, does your vrm & chipset normally hang at that temp level or is that just where you've come out of playing a gane?

 

[FredFlint]

The VRM sits between 40 - 50C and the chipset 55-63C. The VRM would probable get hotter if I increased power but its at 65W so never seen it > 48C. Chipsets alway get hot but dont move much, 10 mins after power up its ~55C and it does not move much.

 

[mitch247]

I've been out of the game to long! My mobo temps sit around the 30-35c level. It is over 10 years old. I guess this is where we are now, more wattage & more heat. Is this typical of all modern mobo's or are things any different on the Intel side?

 

[eddiew]

are things any different on the Intel side?

Yes, they pull even more watts Ryzen 7000 with a 65 watt eco mode really does take the crown for performance per watt this year.

Another point in favour of the 7700 over 7900 is if you're playing games designed for 8 cores (console ports?), then the 7700 has those all on one CCX. With the 7900, you have 2x CCXs with 6 cores each, so you'd get some cross-CCX latency involved and it may actually perform worse than the 7700.

 

[mitch247]

Yes, they pull even more watts Ryzen 7000 with a 65 watt eco mode really does take the crown for performance per watt this year.

Another point in favour of the 7700 over 7900 is if you're playing games designed for 8 cores (console ports?), then the 7700 has those all on one CCX. With the 7900, you have 2x CCXs with 6 cores each, so you'd get some cross-CCX latency involved and it may actually perform worse than the 7700.

Thanks eddiew. I have been playing with the idea of the 7700 as like you said it does have some advantages.

Right now I think I am going to hold fire on anything until this situation with AMD & overheating chips plays out. I very much doubt the 65w chips are effected by what’s going on but I’ve waited 12 years to update, what’s another couple of weeks or months in the grand scheme.

I’m also a little concerned now by motherboard temps. Seeing fredflint’s mobo temps in the post above reminded me that the cpu is not the only thing I have to worry about generating heat.

A motherboard generating 60c of heat is not going to be ideal in something that needs to be very quiet when on HTPC duty.

I’ll have to start reading up on the available motherboard options & see what I can find.

That aside I would like to thank everyone who took the time to reply to my post & provide info. It’s very much appreciated & will hopefully help me make the right decision, cheers.

 

[eddiew]

I very much doubt the 65w chips are effected by what’s going on but I’ve waited 12 years to update, what’s another couple of weeks or months in the grand scheme.

AMD's current statement is that it relates to EXPO settings and memory overclocking, whereby the motherboards are supplying extremely high SoC voltages (1.4v and above) to a part of the CPU. I've seen Buildzoid's recent thoughts on this on his youtube channel and his opinion is that your 10-20w of SoC is not enough power to cause the chip to physically bubble. He doesn't think you can generate those kinds of temps (200 degrees+) without involving the vcore rail, which could well be delivering 200+ watts under peak loads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP-PqRduunw for the full thing. I do think it's interesting to see how this plays out, and indeed I am glad I haven't get got a 7800X3D on my desk. Only time will tell.

A motherboard generating 60c of heat is not going to be ideal in something that needs to be very quiet when on HTPC duty.

I’ll have to start reading up on the available motherboard options & see what I can find.

It is utterly normal for VRMs to be 60-80 degrees. This is their happy range, and they aren't really unhappy until you pass 100 (although 90 is usually the sign of a poorly designed board). Temps will depend on load, and a smaller CPU can't draw as much from them.

Techspot did a good write up on the X670 range VRM thermals: https://www.techspot.com/bestof/amd-x670-motherboards/ where the absolute premium boards hit 56 degrees on the VRMs - and the very worst hit 76. The good news is that zero boards are worrying, but indeed the ones that push 76 are sending that heat somewhere, i.e. into the case. I think they did their testing with a 7950X, and a 7700 would probably take at least 10 degrees off. I'd be surprised if anything on the planet runs below 40.

That said... if you build in an "airflow" case that reviews well and does its job, what you tend to get are 140-160mm fans spinning very slowly to the point where they are practically inaudible. General consensus these days seems to be that you are better with good airflow and slow fans than trying to wall the case off with sound dampening materials.

Obviously smaller cases are harder to vent because they may not have space for big fans, and the ITX boards all seem to have VRM fans on them which are probably small and whiny. If I was building a quiet HTPC myself, I'd probably settle on a micro ATX board and a case such as the Pop Air Mini: https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/pop-mini-air/rgb-white-tg-clear/

(Indeed I was very tempted to do my next build this way, but I think I've talked myself into going regular ATX and waiting for the Fractal North to become available.)

Also bear in mind that what gets reported as "motherboard temperature" may not be (and probably isn't) VRM temperature. You're likely reading ambient case temperature. My z370 + 8700k are 5 years old and can probably generate as much heat as a modern build (peak 220 watts on the cpu, pushing 90 degrees under Prime95), but the actual case temperature read by the thermal probe is more like 40 degrees under normal gaming with a 3060 gpu. And this is a case with really bad ventilation

 

[mitch247]

Yeah the existing build is in a fractal design node 804. Lots of fans set to lowest rpm. Bits & bobs have been updated over the years but the mobo, cpu & ram are about 12 years old. Still works flawlessly. Whisper quite. Only niggle is it doesn't have enough grunt for emulation, that & I'm getting the itch to upgrade.
The amd situation now sounds like all am5's may be at risk which is not good.

 

[jigger]

I've been out of the game to long! My mobo temps sit around the 30-35c level. It is over 10 years old. I guess this is where we are now, more wattage & more heat. Is this typical of all modern mobo's or are things any different on the Intel side?

The temps chips run at has changed greatly. Measured die temp and power use are barley related today.

AMD’s desktop parts are probably the equivalent of a sub 10 watt flagship quad core i7 from a decade ago.