WC is keeping my VGA cool, but CPU is too warm, need advice.

I'm looking to get some input/suggestions into what I need to do differently with my WC setup.

Info about my system (in order of water loop):
Swiftech MCP655 pump
3x120 rad (push & pull fans)
AMD Phenom II 955be on a Swiftech Apogee GTZ
GeForce GTX 295 on a Swiftech Epsilon
XSPC Passive 250mm Reservoir

Everything is still running at stock speeds & voltages (tho I do want to OC).
Room air is usually ~24c & the air going thu the rad is ~28c.

When I 1st put this setup together I wanted to clean the cpu wb really well since I was re-using from my last setup, so I used a dielectric degreaser to clean the cpu & wb, and did the same for the vga wb & gpus.
Opps.
My temps were terrible:
cpu (core temp) was 50c idle & 60c load (prime95), with water temps only reaching 35c (in-water probe).
vga was 56c/58c (gpu1/gpu2) idle & 70c/90c load (furmark), water reaching 38c.

So after re-reading Arctic Silver's directions, I realized the degreaser was a no-no.
I took everything back out & cleaned the cpu, gpus, & water blocks with AC's ArctiClean. I also decided to try a new thermal paste: IC Diamond 7 Carat.

Now, temps are MUCH better for my video card. The CPU temps & a little better, but doesn't really leave much room for OCing.
CPU now at 43c idle & 56c load, with water reaching 36c.
VGA now at 42c/43c idle & 59c/61c load, with water reaching 44c (water picking up heat MUCH better for the vga).


So, what gives? Video card temps I'm very happy with, and still lots of room for OCing. The CPU now stays within safety limits, but not by much, and I don't dare OC it at those temps.
Did I ruin my CPU wb with the de-greaser?
Please let me know if you guys have any thoughts, TIA.

-Bionic

36C seems quite warm for the water, what fans do you have on the res, how much air are they moving?

markp1989 said:

36C seems quite warm for the water, what fans do you have on the res, how much air are they moving?

Click to expand...

SilenX IXP 120mm fans, ~72cfm

also, post your WC gear setup. Lets hear what you are rocking.

to the forums.

How is your setup configured? The CPU should get the coolest water first.

It sounds like your water isn't moving very well, if both blocks are that warm and you're water temp that high.
First I'd check for tubing kinks, and then for trapped bubbles in the radiator by tipping the system and thumping the rad with your knuckles.
Next, I'd perform an inspection inside the pump & rotor, looking for things that don't belong.
After that, I'd be tempted to look inside the water block for obstructions, and maybe clean out the pins with a toothbrush and ketchup...yeah, ketchup. While in there, look for anything else that might be blocking the water.


You've got some decent equipment, but something doesn't sound right.
And to the forums!

it could be your processor naturally runs higher . I know the 9850B run high like that .

but that is a Phenom I

With that PII and that GTX295 all dumping heat into your loop, it makes me wonder if you aren't a=on the marginal side for the radiator you are using. The temps you stated, do they start out from a cold machine and climb very quickly to those temps or do you notice a slow and steady rise until they level out there. I'm thinking that 1 triple rad might not be giving you quite enough surface area to keep your temps down where you want them. What make and model is your radiator? If it's a Swiftech triple rad, then you can get a stackable Swiftech to mount with it if you don't have enough radiator for the heat dump.

One other thing that might be giving you problems is actual true airflow through the rad with those Silenx fans. That company is well known for putting erroneous cfm and noise ratings on their fans (lower cfm and higher dB than they state). If you have access to some different and more powerful fans, try them on the rad instead of those Silenx ones and see if that makes a difference in temps.

I have a 940BE running at 3810 and I see temps in the low to mid 40's on it. That's a cpu only loop and using a TC PA160 with 1 Panaflo M1A fan. The PA160 is at least as good as most double 120 rads. But I would hesitate to add a waterblock on the 9800GTX+ in that rig without doing something better for heat exchange. I'm pretty sure your processor is a 120+ watt TDP unit and that 295GTX has got to be dumping at least a couple hundred more watts of heat into the loop.

the water in my cpu only loop gets to 36C if i have no fans on the radiator, that whats making me think that the rad needs more air flow.

are you running case air through the rad, or using ambient air?

I am having a similar thing happen too
my CPU under load hits max 50*
but my GPU hits 49* under load

my GPU use to hit 70* easily before water set up
CPU is the same with my old WC set up that was crap, I was expecting the HK 3.0 To lower it more

@ric:
Think about this for a second: Your CPU hit 50+C before WITHOUT your GPU in the loop with the "crap" block, no? Now it hits 50 C WITH the GPU in the loop. I'd say thats a pretty impressive improvement on the part of the CPU block, considering you're dumping close to 200W (not sure on that number for the 275) of extra heat into your loop, and you're still getting good temperatures with your CPU.

@op
It does sound like you've perhaps reached the limit of heat that your current rad can dissipate. It may be worth trying out a second rad, or at least get some better airflow through the rad. Yate Loons are great and inexpensive. The GTX 295 almost needs a rad to itself...

iLoki said:

@ric:
Think about this for a second: Your CPU hit 50+C before WITHOUT your GPU in the loop with the "crap" block, no? Now it hits 50 C WITH the GPU in the loop. I'd say thats a pretty impressive improvement on the part of the CPU block, considering you're dumping close to 200W (not sure on that number for the 275) of extra heat into your loop, and you're still getting good temperatures with your CPU.

@OP
It does sound like you've perhaps reached the limit of heat that your current rad can dissipate. It may be worth trying out a second rad, or at least get some better airflow through the rad. Yate Loons are great and inexpensive. The GTX 295 almost needs a rad to itself...

Click to expand...

Yeah I am stoked that the GPU dropped 30* on load (it hit 80* before the OC and now that i have it under water i overclocked it . i have to work on it more though its not 110% stable.) i can run 3dmark for a while no problem but when i get in a game it will randomly restart
The CPU was around 40* before on the crap set up. 50* isnt high though

muddocktor said:

With that PII and that GTX295 all dumping heat into your loop, it makes me wonder if you aren't a=on the marginal side for the radiator you are using. The temps you stated, do they start out from a cold machine and climb very quickly to those temps or do you notice a slow and steady rise until they level out there. I'm thinking that 1 triple rad might not be giving you quite enough surface area to keep your temps down where you want them. What make and model is your radiator? If it's a Swiftech triple rad, then you can get a stackable Swiftech to mount with it if you don't have enough radiator for the heat dump.

One other thing that might be giving you problems is actual true airflow through the rad with those Silenx fans. That company is well known for putting erroneous cfm and noise ratings on their fans (lower cfm and higher dB than they state). If you have access to some different and more powerful fans, try them on the rad instead of those Silenx ones and see if that makes a difference in temps.

Click to expand...

Rad is a swiftech.
My idle temps level out within about 3 mins of turning on the machine.
I have wondered about my fans too. They are very quiet, but the airflow doesn't seem to be what I think it should be. I think I will try some stronger fans & see what happens.

markp1989 said:

the water in my cpu only loop gets to 36C if i have no fans on the radiator, that whats making me think that the rad needs more air flow.

are you running case air through the rad, or using ambient air?

Click to expand...

I am running case air throw the rad, but in my defense the rad fans have almost direct access to room air via openings I have cut into the case near them. I have an air-temp probe by those fans to watch the temps & it's usualy about 26c so not too warm.


I think I'm going to try some stronger fans & re-seating my cpu block again. Then I'm going to run a cleaning through my system & try just running dist. water. Currently I'm using FluidXP Nano, and it's awfully thick & tends to leave stains & residue, I wonder if it's hurting my cooling power.

I'll let ya know how it turns out. Thanks all.

BionicM said:

Rad is a swiftech.
My idle temps level out within about 3 mins of turning on the machine.
I have wondered about my fans too. They are very quiet, but the airflow doesn't seem to be what I think it should be. I think I will try some stronger fans & see what happens.




I am running case air throw the rad, but in my defense the rad fans have almost direct access to room air via openings I have cut into the case near them. I have an air-temp probe by those fans to watch the temps & it's usualy about 26c so not too warm.


I think I'm going to try some stronger fans & re-seating my cpu block again. Then I'm going to run a cleaning through my system & try just running dist. water. Currently I'm using FluidXP Nano, and it's awfully thick & tends to leave stains & residue, I wonder if it's hurting my cooling power.

I'll let ya know how it turns out. Thanks all.

Click to expand...

i have a similar set up, i have radiators in the case and they have mesh they can get air from

i am using scythe fans here are the specs
Scythe KAZE-JYUNI "SLIP STREAM" 120mm Case Fan - SY1225SL12M - 1200rpm
Air Flow 68.54 CFM
Noise Level 24.00 dBA

I've been wondering about that nano stuff, but I'm not willing to spend $40 per bottle on it.

I stick to distilled water with a biocide.. I recently used a UV Dye but I think I'm gonna stay away from that one in the future.

iLoki said:

I've been wondering about that nano stuff, but I'm not willing to spend $40 per bottle on it.

I stick to distilled water with a biocide.. I recently used a UV Dye but I think I'm gonna stay away from that one in the future.

Click to expand...

as the res is aluminum he will be to an anti corosive, or a t-line insted of the res to avoid corrosion

Sounds like you might be fighting both a mounting issue and a rad surface area/airflow problem. You have a good plan to check everything though with the remount and higher pressure fans. The Yate Loon Medium fans are a good choice for the Swiftech Rad of yours and are reasonably priced. With your temps rising rapidly from startup sounds like the mount on the wb isn't good for some reason. And the reason I am thinking that your present rad setup is due to what I've recently seen on a Q6600 system of mine that I added an 8800GTS 512 to the loop on. After I added the vid card to the loop, my processor load temps have gone up on average of average of 3-5 C, with the machine crunching Seti with the CUDA apps installed also. Seti with CUDA loads the processor to 100% on all 4 cares and CUDA loads the gpu too and the addition of the vid card to the loop made the average temp rise a bit.

muddocktor said:

Sounds like you might be fighting both a mounting issue and a rad surface area/airflow problem. You have a good plan to check everything though with the remount and higher pressure fans. The Yate Loon Medium fans are a good choice for the Swiftech Rad of yours and are reasonably priced. With your temps rising rapidly from startup sounds like the mount on the wb isn't good for some reason. And the reason I am thinking that your present rad setup is due to what I've recently seen on a Q6600 system of mine that I added an 8800GTS 512 to the loop on. After I added the vid card to the loop, my processor load temps have gone up on average of average of 3-5 C, with the machine crunching Seti with the CUDA apps installed also. Seti with CUDA loads the processor to 100% on all 4 cares and CUDA loads the gpu too and the addition of the vid card to the loop made the average temp rise a bit.

Click to expand...

WOW thanks for posting this!
I have that processor and I had that video card!
I didnt think my CPU would rise because it was going through 5x120 radiators
but it has gone up slightly