Yesterday i finally finished my R5 2600X m-itx build, my best system so far, but i know i’ll have cooling problems right from the get go.
Yesterday was the coldest day of the year here in my little city, we had 0ºC by the time i finished building the computer.
Right after i was finished with the software i launched the AIDA64 stress test and ran it for about half an hour.
Graphics card was great, never got past 43ºc, so was the PSU that didn’t even turn its fan on. The CPU on the other hand got a steady temperature climb and finally sat pretty at 83º on the diode, but it didn’t thermal throttle. The PSU sits right on top of it, so i tried it again with the fan turned on but that didn’t wield any improvements.
Its quite apparent i need a new cooling solution, the Wraith Spire is just no cutting it right now, i can only wonder what it would do in the summer under 38º of hot sun.
There’s only two routes i can go, either a 120mm AIO or an air cooler that doesn’t touch the PSU (80mm in height, max).
The 120mm AIO seems more plausible when i think about it, since the fan spot it would get mounted to doesn’t stand in the line of fire from the heat of the other components. The model would probably be a Corsair H80i V2 or an Arctic Liquid Freezer 120 due their thicker rads and push-pull fan configs. And since i’m talking about my CM 915R here, i would also afix a slim 120mm fan right next to the motherboard to exhaust the socket just a little bit.
What do you guys think? Should i go with the AIO or is there a better air cooled solution?
I think just getting the thermal transfer area away from the CPU area would be best. Which case is this in? Post a photo perhaps?
Just to ilustrate the “PSU right above the CPU socket” situation, this is how it looks like.
The picture was from when i was mocking up the parts, now the PSU fan faces up instead of down, and the PSU itself has changed, its a Tt Toughpower Gold now.
Its a CM HAF 915R, i posted a photo of the PSU situation just above.
Yeah it sure looks like it’s cycling air in the area until it reaches saturation. I’d definitely go with the AIO since I don’t think you’re going to find a short enough tower cooler that will do any good.
I just have to wonder, will the H80i make any difference in comparison with the H60, for example? It has a thicker rad and one more fan
A friend has the H80i and a 1700, and I’ll be at his house this evening. I can report what he sees under load (IIRC he’s running it at 3.8GHz all-core).
He got it specifically for push-pull config.
Oh here’s a good video:
Thats great! I would appreciate a lot if you could report how the H80i handles the heat, just to make sure its a worthy purchse.
Thanks a lot!
I’ll set a reminder in my phone otherwise I’ll forget 
He’s using a Fractal Nano S IIRC so that might play into results a little.
Its possible, but i think it shouldn’t differ much since i would mount the rad in a spot where it can get and extract a lot of air, that lonely part right in the middle of the case
Just beating the dead horse, but what would be the best choice, the CM MasterLiquid Pro 120 or the Corsair H80i V2? I’m biased towards the CM, considering the fact that my experience with Corsair products hasn’t been the best in the last 5 years or so.
I have the 240 Cooler Master model.
I would go for them since CM is cheaper than corsair and they actually make their own designs, rather than just using Asetek, like everyone and their dog.
I wonder if the rad thickness matters much, the Corsair is about 10mm thicker than the CM, its slightly cheaper here as well
Still haven’t forgotten… Just a few beers deep…
If you’ve got a preference for a model, go for it. I’m using the H100i V2 on my 6700k and it’s been fine for nearly 2.5 years.
I know it’s anecdotal and you should go with the model you like best. I believe both of them are rebranded asetek coolers anyway, so they should perform nearly identically.
Nope. Cooler Master make their own stuff. Why dafuq did my phone autocorrect stuff to stiff I have no idea.
Basically they design and manufacture their AIOs and since combining the pump and the CPU block in one is Asetek patent, there were quite a few lawsuits in the past to the point that AMDs Fury line was almost banned in US. They used Cooler Master cooler, that had pump/res/block combo. Now this cooler have separated the pump and the block in separate chambers, avoiding the patent and essentially making their own design.
A few hours ago i was goofing around and packing stuff i wasn’t going to use, then i found my Masterfan 120mm AF fan and decided to just mount it on the side of the case where the AIO will sit. That minor difference in airflow made the temperature drop by a 10ºc margin, so i can confirm that, like @Steinwerks said, the air around the CPU area is getting saturated with heat and messing up the temperatures. I went ahead and ordered the H80i V2 as well as a Scythe Slim Kaze Jyuni fan, which is all i can fit between the last fan slot and the PSU, to extract the heat around the CPU socket area, i think its going to work!
Sorry I didn’t get those results yesterday. Been busy seeing people 
That said I think that cooler will do a great job and the slim fan will help with the VRMs (certainly can’t hurt).
Its all good man, don’t worry about it, thanks for the tips and the video, it certainly helped me make the decision!
Flip that PSU around so it and the Wraith cooler are not competing for air. The PSU should be drawing outside air if possible or close to it.
Did you run AIDA64 with AVX stress test enabled? If you did then it will likely raise your temps 20c more than you would normally see, perhaps more. If you do not run AVX intensive tasks, then bench without it enabled to see realistic heavy workload temps.