Daft case question

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 08:51

Hi guys I currently use my old HAF X case, which is nice now ever I've got a 6900xt which was a very tight fit. I have fans front, side, top and rear. Would there be any benefit to moving to a different case? My gpu does get toasty, but I only run the fans at half speed due to the noise (that age old tradeoff).
Any advice appreciated, I don't actually have much in my case, a 3700x cpu and and dvd drive (which could get binned off).

mickyflinn · 17 Sep 2023 at 09:24

Have you tried undervolting your 6900xt

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 09:32

I've not, but I have underclocked it to 2ghz on the core (it was boosting 2.5). What makes it run cooler undervolting or underclocking or does it come out in the wash?

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:01

theone8181 said:
Hi guys I currently use my old HAF X case, which is nice now ever I've got a 6900xt which was a very tight fit. I have fans front, side, top and rear. Would there be any benefit to moving to a different case? My gpu does get toasty, but I only run the fans at half speed due to the noise (that age old tradeoff).
Any advice appreciated, I don't actually have much in my case, a 3700x cpu and and dvd drive (which could get binned off).

The 6900XT is pulling over 300w when gaming so it is going to be running hot at around the mid 70s to low 80s depending on case and airflow and your HAF-X case was one of the best case for GPU thermals so I don't think changing cases will make that much of the difference TBH if anything could make it worse.

Which version of the card do you have?

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:20

I got the Asrock version, phantom D I think. It was a steal on here. I've seen mid 90s when gaming, but that was me trying to run a modern game on my 1440p ultra wide with no fps cap. As a bit of a how longs a piece of string question, how much of a difference does fan speed make as I imagine it's almost logarithmic against speed. When I let it idle with no fans it's was 54 degrees, but running fans on low that drops to 34 degrees. I'm using the stock cooler on my cpu too, but don't think that should affect gpu temps.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:33

theone8181 said:
I got the Asrock version, phantom D I think. It was a steal on here. I've seen mid 90s when gaming, but that was me trying to run a modern game on my 1440p ultra wide with no fps cap. As a bit of a how longs a piece of string question, how much of a difference does fan speed make as I imagine it's almost logarithmic against speed. When I let it idle with no fans it's was 54 degrees, but running fans on low that drops to 34 degrees. I'm using the stock cooler on my cpu too, but don't think that should affect gpu temps.

Hmm, mid 90s is bit on the hot side

Do you have the side panel fan blowing into the GPU?

You could try bumping up the case fans to 75% to see if that helps and if the noise is acceptable to you.

What was your previous GPU in this case and how were the temps?

Craig_d1 · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:37

some of the newer fans out there can really push a lot more air for lower rpm's than before...might be worth a look if you worried about thermals

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:38

I think I've got the side fan on, might have to check that one. I had a 1080 before so a little bit different in terms of power draw :cry:

. I was slightly concerned the heatsink has been badly mounted, but not sure how to check it.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:54

theone8181 said:
I think I've got the side fan on, might have to check that one. I had a 1080 before so a little bit different in terms of power draw . I was slightly concerned the heatsink has been badly mounted, but not sure how to check it.

You mean the heatsink on the 6900XT? If that is the case then I would reapply some decent thermal paste like the MX4 onto the GPU as that can significantly reduce temperatures.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 10:57

Craig_d1 said:
some of the newer fans out there can really push a lot more air for lower rpm's than before...might be worth a look if you worried about thermals

What fans did you have in mind? I know the Arctic P12 fans are some of the best bang 4 buck low noise performers out there atm.

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 12:42

I've got some good thermal paste (might be mx4), it's on my to do list at some point.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 12:53

theone8181 said:
I've got some good thermal paste (might be mx4), it's on my to do list at some point.

Thats the first thing I would do before making a more drastic move like changing your case when it could just be the thermal paste

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 12:56

Yea just seems odd to be bad from the start.

CaNsA · 17 Sep 2023 at 13:01

Hi.

You mentioned you are running the fans at a lower speed due to nosie,which is understandable... I was doing the same thing for all fans in my case.

Different case, different gpu but I was having a similar issue.

I have solved it by increasing the intake fans to 75% and keeping the output fans at 50%.

My gpu is running much cooler, and the overall internal case temp has dropped.

Maybe something to do with the internal pressure leading to the availability of more air for the heatsink to use? I have no idea.

I'm not thermodynamic, airflow guy.
Just throne pondering.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 13:08

theone8181 said:
Yea just seems odd to be bad from the start.

Should have asked before but did you buy your card new or on the MM because if it was new then its highly unlikely to be the thermal paste.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 13:12

Also have you tried gaming on the GPU with the side panel off because if you get much better temps then it's an airflow issue but if the temps are more or less the same then there not much you can do besides trying all fans @ 100% to see if that makes a difference.

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 16:10

Good points. I changed the paste and its worse than be1fore :rolleyes:

. It's noctura stuff which I thought was pretty good. I used the 'buttered toast method' but I'm not sure if I put not enough on. Very frustrating. It was a new card.

Edit: side off made no difference. Seem to be getting upto 100 degrees now :eek:

so I've come off it for the time being.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 16:21

theone8181 said:
Good points. I changed the paste and its worse than be1fore . It's noctura stuff which I thought was pretty good. I used the 'buttered toast method' but I'm not sure if I put not enough on. Very frustrating. It was a new card.

Edit: side off made no difference. Seem to be getting upto 100 degrees now so I've come off it for the time being.

Sorry to hear it has made things worse mate - I have never had worse temps after reapplying paste on a GPU

Did you apply a thin layer and made sure the paste covered the entire surface of the GPU die?

theone8181 · 17 Sep 2023 at 16:38

I did I thin layer, I've redone it with a bit of a thicker layer and removed by top fan filter. I'm idling at 29 degrees which I'm happy with. I also tightened the X bit last not first this time. I don't know if the heatsink is possibly not flat.

So the filter looks like this and I'm quite embarrassed by it.

hdpcgamer · 17 Sep 2023 at 16:43

theone8181 said:
I did I thin layer, I've redone it with a bit of a thicker layer and removed by top fan filter. I'm idling at 29 degrees which I'm happy with. I also tightened the X bit last not first this time. I don't know if the heatsink is possibly not flat.

So the filter looks like this and I'm quite embarrassed by it.

Looks like it hasn't been touched for years

I'd also look at giving your case a general clean and make sure there are no dust build-ups on the intake filters if you have any and also the fans - that might explain why there is no air coming into the case.

Also double check that all the fans are working.