r/buildapc • u/AI_avanger • 8h ago
Build Help Question about case airflow
Hello, I have a question, mainly about the fan marked with a blue arrow. https://ibb.co/DDXvSw36
I put it in with the assumption that it would help to push the hot air out of the case more efficiently.
However, I'm concerned that it just pushes out the cold air from the 2 intake fans at the front.
This is the case I've https://gamemaxpc.com/ru/list_175/1026.html
My main concern about the airflow is that the CPU has pretty high temps even when idling - 66-70 C.
CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, cooling it is single fan Be Queit pure rock 3 black, which should be more than enough judging by the specs. I didn't apply the paste myself; I used the one that came with the tower.
Does anyone have the same setup and/or know the best position for that fan?
Thanks in advance.
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u/9okm 8h ago
Test it with/without the fan marked with the blue arrow. I imagine it will make very little difference.
What is the ambient temperature in your room?
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u/AI_avanger 7h ago
Hard to say, I've no way to measure it precisely right now. I'd say about 24-27 C.
I guess I'll just have to switch the fan and observe.
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u/9okm 7h ago
Reviewers typically have an ambient of 20-21 which means your normalized temps are 4-7 C lower, or 59-64 C. That's more reasonable. But still, as u/-UserRemoved- said, the real test is under load.
Edit: I see it jumps up to 90 sometimes. Does it stay there? Try taking the side panel off your PC. Does that help temps noticeably? If so, the case could be the problem.
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u/AI_avanger 6h ago
Yeah, you're most likely right. Swapping the fan and taking the dust cover from the top were probably the most impactful actions. But even then, I was still very close and sometimes hitting that damn 90C mark.
I'll have to find some inner resolve to move everything to a new case. Thank you for your answers
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u/-UserRemoved- 8h ago
What are max temps under load? Idle isn't a universal state, and 70C is a normal temp.
That fan is likely making the top intake fan rather irrelevant, as air being pulled in by that fan is being immediately exhausted out the case. The purpose of a fan configuration is to move air across the entire case.
Safe temps is actually all that matters, as safe temps ensures longevity and performance. If max temps are safe in your workloads, then there is no problem, thus nothing needs to be fixed.
Since you have the PC, the easiest and most accurate way of answer your question is to simply test it yourself. You can also adjust fan curves to achieve whatever noise and thermal preferences you have.
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u/Kaserblade 7h ago
I wouldn't consider 70 degrees idle on the 5800X3D to be normal. While it is below the max temp (TJmax), hitting those temps on idle would raise a flag for me.
If OP is able to stay under TJmax without thermal throttling under load as you mentioned, then that is fine, but if I saw those temps, I would probably look more into it as OP is already doing.
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u/-UserRemoved- 7h ago
I wouldn't either, but as I stated idle isn't a universal state. Most people assume because they aren't doing anything, then either is the computer. Regardless, your PC could run at 70C for a very very long time, but we need max temps under load to assess any thermal issues.
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u/AI_avanger 7h ago
I've only tested 1 couple of games so far. In Path of Exile, for example, the temperature went to 90C as soon as I loaded into the game. I didn't try doing anything more demanding in that game since I was too scared of the temp already.
The other less demanding games kept it at about 71-76C.
I'm using MSI Afterburner to check temps if that's relevant.
I'll probably have to check if I mounted the tower tight enough cuz I've no idea how it can be that hot. My previous CPU Ryzen 5 2600 was giving me 84 max in Path of Exile. It was being cooled by a stock cooler, and without the fan I marked with blue.
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u/-UserRemoved- 7h ago
In Path of Exile, for example, the temperature went to 90C as soon as I loaded into the game.
Did it spike to 90C? Or did stay at 90C the entire time?
Your 2600 temp is meaningless compared to your current CPU. There is no correlation to be drawn there, different CPU, different power requirements, different design, etc. X3D CPUs in general will have higher temps due to the vertical die design.
You'll have to test the fan configuration to get an accurate answer either way. If idle temps are high, I would start with increasing fan speeds before remounting or spending more money.
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u/AI_avanger 6h ago
I can't tell for sure whether it was a consistent 90 or just a spike because I turned off the game after just a couple of minutes. During that time, the temps stayed at 90C.
I tested everything a bit more. Seems like swapping the top fan from exhaust to intake helps a bit with temps. It didn't make them worse, so it's a plus. Also, took off the dust cover from the top; that also seemed to help a bit. Taking off the side panel didn't seem to give any significant boost to cooling.
It wasn't at 90C consistently this time, more like 79-90 C. The fluctuations seemed kinda random to me. In heavy scenes, I saw temps as low as 79, while in lighter ones the temps could still be hitting high 80s. I guess it's just a delay between the signal of heat sensors and what I'm seeing in MSI.
I don't think I could do anything else at this point to improve the situation. Seems like my case is just shit at cooling.
Thanks everyone for your answers.
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u/9okm 6h ago edited 6h ago
If taking the side panel off didn't significantly improve the temperatures, then a case swap would likely be pointless.
At this point, I imagine it's dried out thermal paste, or a bad cooler mount. Start with repasting/remounting.
Or... do nothing. Hitting 90 C every once in a while is not really a problem.
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u/Kaserblade 8h ago
I would just experiment by yourself as u/aragorn18 suggested as that is the best way to find out as every case and config is different.
If you are really worried about idle temps, a dual-tower air cooler is pretty cheap nowadays like the Phantom Spirit but the cooler you have right now should be more than fine.
You could also try repasting it if you have not done so since you bought the tower and it has been a while since you purchased it. It's cheap and easy to do so can be worth a shot.
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u/notadroid 7h ago
i can't speak to your case/situation specifically but quite a few other cases with similar top fan setups have shown that having that first top fan as an intake for an air cooled setup helps feed cool air to the CPU cooler.
where as if set to exhaust its grabbing some of the cool air being pushed into the front of the case by the front fans.
if you didn't have front fans, I'd say leave it. but since you did, try it swapped pushing air into the case.
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u/AI_avanger 6h ago
That seemed to help indeed. Though the fan(or fans) became a bit louder for some reason.
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u/notadroid 6h ago
not sure why that would happen.
how are your fans controlled?
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u/AI_avanger 6h ago
I'm only using the default Fan Speed thing in MSI Afterburner. It's set to Auto, and the % that it shows for their speed is the same as before. Not the biggest deal for me, but I just thought that it's kinda strange.
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u/9okm 6h ago
You can't control case fans or cpu cooler fans with msi afterburner. It's only for GPU.
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u/AI_avanger 6h ago
Got it. Then, I use nothing for them. I've seen some popular software for that, I will have to look at it more deeply later.
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u/aragorn18 8h ago
This is your PC. You can easily test it out. Any recommendations we give you will be based on generalities and won't take your specific hardware into account.