Utter noob with cooling - fans being volatile

Lovejoy!

Lovejoy!

Lovejoy!

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10 Mar 2004
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Stourbridge, West Midlands
Hello all,

I'm very much a noob when it comes to paying attention to cooling and fan settings etc.

I've just built a new PC with a Ryzen 3700x, 2070 SUPER, MSI mortar max etc inside a Fractal define mini c case. I've just replaced the stock fans with 3 corsair 120mm RGB fans, and i'm using the stock cooler on the CPU.

The CPU is actually idling at about 55-60c which seems wild really. I've reapplied thermal paste and it actually seemed to make no difference at all.

The other issue I have is the fans are just being volatile; just spinning up and down at random times, even at the click of a link in Chrome, or at the first sign of any drive usage etc. What am I doing wrong?
I can use a custom curve in the MSI command center software but dropping the RPM on the system pumps the temps up on the CPU to mid-to-high 60s, even touching 70c.

I also downloaded SpeedFan as i'd used that before for a much earlier build I did, and strangely none of the fans are being picked up at all. All it sees is my hard drives.

Just a little disappointed as the noise and temps are putting me off actually using the thing currently :D

Any help will be very much appreciated :)
 
With regards to the fluctuating fan speed, I like to set a flat fan curve with vertical steps (hopefully that makes sense) so that the fans stay at a constant speed until a certain temperature is reached and then they jump up to the next speed. You've just got to avoid the step being around a common temperature to stop the fan switching between the two speeds. I find a constantly changing fan speed quite annoying. I also use the bios to set the curve rather that add on software.
 
i understand you, thanks. i'll give that a go later.

i'm definitely concerned by the high temps though. was (maybe stupidly) expecting lower temps, certainly at idle.
 
Lovejoy! said:
feasibly not on the latest one, i'll look at doing that when i'm back from work. :)
Click to expand...
Looks like the latest B450 Mortar MAX BIOS version at the moment (7B89v231 beta version) doesn't have the newest AGESA update (1.0.0.3 ABBA), so expect another BIOS to be released in the near future.
 
Define Mini C is a good case but the stock fans are terrible. I suggest replacing them with 2-pack of PH-F140MPs for £16.26.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/two-...140mm-fan-radiator-performance-bu-003-pt.html

Also suggest removing all PCie back slot covers to increase rear vent area around GPU thus improving front to back airflow in this area and lowering airflow temps going into both GPU and CPU.

You might find below link is to a basic guide to airflow and how to optimize case cooling.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...-i-put-my-temp-sensor.18564223/#post-26159770
 
i've picked up those (ever so slightly expensive) corsair ll 120mm rgb fans because a big directive of mine for this build was dabbling with lighting the case up. so i now have three of those around the case.

i will take out the rest of the back slot covers too, and take a look at that link. cheers!

should i be concerned about the high idle cpu temps?
 
Lovejoy! said:
what would this help with? :)
Click to expand...
In late July, we implemented a series of software changes that would help the processor ignore requests for voltage/frequency boost from lightweight applications. The goal was to make the processor more relaxed at the desktop, but poised to react for serious workloads. While many of you were happy with the effect of the software changes, some of you were still grappling with cases where the CPU was a bit overzealous with boost. We wanted to smooth those out, too.

Today we’re announcing that AGESA 1003ABBA carries firmware-level changes designed to do just that. The changes primarily arrive in the form of an “activity filter” that empowers the CPU boost algorithm itself to disregard intermittent OS and application background noise. Example test cases might include: video playback, game launchers, monitoring utilities, and peripheral utilities. These cases tend to make regular requests for a higher boost state, but their intermittent nature would fall below the threshold of the activity filter.

Net-net, we expect you’ll see lower desktop voltages, around 1.2V, for the core(s) actively handling such tasks. We believe this solution will be even more effective than the July changes for an even wider range of applications.
Click to expand...
https://community.amd.com/community...ios-updates-for-boost-and-idle-plus-a-new-sdk

I forgot to add that AMD also recommended updating chipset drivers to the latest version as well:
https://community.amd.com/community...te-5-let-s-talk-clocks-voltages-and-destiny-2
 
so!

i've removed pci backplates, done custom curves on fans etc and i'm still probably getting a little too high temps for my liking.

the CPU is idling at 45c currently. i have it clocked at 3800mhz and it's not boosting above this. i'd noticed by default it was boosting all over the place which is why my fans were having such a wild time. with my custom curve and this flatline clock, at idle my fans are fine. i have the fans spinning up quite significantly when the temps hit 70c and then 85-90c.

however, i still worried about temps. all it will take is some light usage (chrome, maybe some youtube action etc) and the temps really will get up. i've seen it hit 70c not doing much, and i dread to think what i hit when i'm getting into games. i will do a bit of a benchmark later to add evidence.

is the wraith cooler not good enough for the job? am i asking too much to get the temps lower? also was looking at doing some overclocking on this chip but DEFINITELY don't feel like i should in this situation. terrified i'm going to burn it out and just suffer from throttling.
 
yes i have! i was expecting to see changes but i didn't. certainly with the fans spinning up under low or no load. :(
 
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