New build for 1440p gaming

[johnnypiper]

Yes, 1.35 is generally considered max safe 24/7 long term voltage. Understand that in suggesting this dx step I was intending it not to be a long term solution. So 36x sounds like a good starting point but I would go as high as you can get and be stable on 1.35 volts. You may be able to get more out of it than 36x. If you set the multiplier to 36x manually, see what the bios gives you for voltage when the voltage is left on auto. That might be helful.

Okay. I turn off the PBO then adjust clocks and voltage?

I decided to do a fresh Windows install. So far so good with no restarts. I almost wonder if modding some games had messed with the registry or something. Still getting DistributedCOM errors in the Event Viewer but from what I understand that's pretty normal.

 

[trents]

https://www.tenforums.com/performance-maintenance/107625-distributedcom-error-2.html

Pay particular attention to post #12 and following.

I would also check for Windows updates manually to make sure you have them all.

 

[johnnypiper]

https://www.tenforums.com/performance-maintenance/107625-distributedcom-error-2.html

Pay particular attention to post #12 and following.

I would also check for Windows updates manually to make sure you have them all.

Thanks once again, trents! Manually updated everything Windows had. The DistributedCOM are actually warnings and aren't the same as what's posted in that thread. I'll have to see if I can locate those registry entries and see if I can disable reporting. I've been able to get to 4GHz stable at 1.2v so far. I'm going to try Prime95 for stability testing as RealBench got my GPU memory junction up to 104C with the last stress test... From what I understand, that's not dangerous but a little too hot for my comfort. I'm going to get some more Noctua fans as money allows and go push pull on the CPU as there isn't much air actually going through the radiator that I can feel. The case fans that came stock are pretty bad, can't feel any air going out the back fan. Just wish I read the case specs a little better before buying fans as now I have three extra Noctua A14s... Temps on the CPU maxed out at ~60C under full load with the three Noctua 120mm in push configuration. Haven't had any random restarts since I reinstalled Windows last night which is good and gaming temps have been really good on the CPU and GPU. Running benchmarks and scores have gone up with the overclock as opposed to 3.6GHz at 1.2v that I was running as stock since the Windows reinstall.

 

[trents]

Several things.

First, Realbench does utilize the GPU and the CPU in rendering the test images. Most other stress tests do not, such as Prime95. I would also suggest you try out OCCT as a stress test. It has built in temp and voltage monitors.

Second, it's normal to not feel much air flow coming through a radiator or a case fan grill since these porous barriers "diffuse" the air flow. They are like baffles in an automobile muffler. Even if you go push/pull on the radiator fans you will not feel much difference if you put your hand in front of the radiator's exhaust fans. Radiator exhaust fans are starved for air because they can scavenge only the little air that is coming through the radiator.

Third, our assumptions lead to haste and waste. I removed the pull fans from my radiator this weekend just to test the difference it would make in temps. I was surprised to find that temps, both at idle and at load were maybe 1-2 higher than they were when using push-pull. One thing we need to realize is that these AIO water cooling systems are pretty much optimized from the factory. Push pull fan setups can help significantly with aftermarket radiators that are thicker and have higher fin density. Now that I have removed the pull fan from my radiator I have clearance for my longer video card again and my temps are essentially the same.

Fourth, Noctua's fans are consistently rated at the top of the list in customer reviews. They don't make bad fans. I think your expectations of how much exhaust air flow to expect to feel need adjustment rather than needing to replace the fans. The exception to that would be if the fans are not PWM. If then are not, I would replace them.

Fifth, if your vram is hitting over 100c I would look into whether or not the heatsink is making good contact. There has been a well documented problem with this with some of the 5700XT offerings but I wasn't aware of it with your particular card. But you should research it: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/rx-5700-xt-runs-hot.3498959/

There is also a thread on this form in the AMD video card section that discusses the problem with poor contact of the heat sinks on some cards. https://www.overclockers.com/forums...Strix-Fix-Another-Defective-Radeon-RX-5700-XT

 

[trents]

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Effects-of-Grill-Patterns-on-Fan-Performance-Noise-107/

Good read on the effect of fan grills on performance and noise.

 

[johnnypiper]

Several things.

First, Realbench does utilize the GPU and the CPU in rendering the test images. Most other stress tests do not, such as Prime95. I would also suggest you try out OCCT as a stress test. It has built in temp and voltage monitors.

Second, it's normal to not feel much air flow coming through a radiator or a case fan grill since these porous barriers "diffuse" the air flow. They are like baffles in an automobile muffler. Even if you go push/pull on the radiator fans you will not feel much difference if you put your hand in front of the radiator's exhaust fans. Radiator exhaust fans are starved for air because they can scavenge only the little air that is coming through the radiator.

Third, our assumptions lead to haste and waste. I removed the pull fans from my radiator this weekend just to test the difference it would make in temps. I was surprised to find that temps, both at idle and at load were maybe 1-2 higher than they were when using push-pull. One thing we need to realize is that these AIO water cooling systems are pretty much optimized from the factory. Push pull fan setups can help significantly with aftermarket radiators that are thicker and have higher fin density. Now that I have removed the pull fan from my radiator I have clearance for my longer video card again and my temps are essentially the same.

Fourth, Noctua's fans are consistently rated at the top of the list in customer reviews. They don't make bad fans. I think your expectations of how much exhaust air flow to expect to feel need adjustment rather than needing to replace the fans. The exception to that would be if the fans are not PWM. If then are not, I would replace them.

Fifth, if your vram is hitting over 100c I would look into whether or not the heatsink is making good contact. There has been a well documented problem with this with some of the 5700XT offerings but I wasn't aware of it with your particular card. But you should research it: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/rx-5700-xt-runs-hot.3498959/

There is also a thread on this form in the AMD video card section that discusses the problem with poor contact of the heat sinks on some cards. https://www.overclockers.com/forums...Strix-Fix-Another-Defective-Radeon-RX-5700-XT

The 104 temps aren't typical during gaming, RealBench did get them that high, though. During gaming I haven't seen them hit much past 70. I will look into the thermal pads and see what I can do. I think I can buy replacement pads? The case fans I was talking about are the stock fans that come with the case. They are kinda loud compared to the Noctuas. The two top exhaust fans are Noctua 140mm and they are definitely pushing some air out. The rear exhaust is a stock fan and it seems to be just trapping hot air on the fan, not feeling any air come out of the case from that fan. I'll keep the radiator on a push configuration as you suggest. Seems kinda dumb to spend 90 bucks on three fans to get a 1° difference if that. I was just worried about the case not getting enough intake. I'll likely just replace the stock fans with Noctua fans. They seem a lot quieter tha. The stock fans.

Also I see that you got yourself a 3700x? Last I looked at your signature it said you had a 2700x. How are you liking the upgrade?

 

[trents]

The 3700x runs much cooler than the 2700x. CPU temps are 15-20c less and mosfet temps are 20-25c less while CB R20 scores are about 18% better. The 2700x was a 105W TDP processor while the 3700x is a 65W processor. The 7nm fab as opposed to the 14nm fab makes a huge difference in all of that. At the same time I ordered the 3700x I also bid and won a EVGA 280mm AIO water cooler new in box estate sale. Got it for $70 plus shipping. But my temps are so much better with the 3700x that I don't need the EVGA AIO cooler now and it doesn't fit as well in my compact case anyway. I'll probably sell it. That's why I said to you, haste makes waste. I should have just gotten the 3700x and I would have been fine.

Yes, about the fans. Sorry I misunderstood. Yes, I would replace that stock case fan.

 

[johnnypiper]

The 3700x runs much cooler than the 2700x. CPU temps are 15-20c less and mosfet temps are 20-25c less while CB R20 scores are about 18% better. The 2700x was a 105W TDP processor while the 3700x is a 65W processor. The 7nm fab as opposed to the 14nm fab makes a huge difference in all of that. At the same time I ordered the 3700x I also bid and won a EVGA 280mm AIO water cooler new in box estate sale. Got it for $70 plus shipping. But my temps are so much better with the 3700x that I don't need the EVGA AIO cooler now and it doesn't fit as well in my compact case anyway. I'll probably sell it. That's why I said to you, haste makes waste. I should have just gotten the 3700x and I would have been fine.

Yes, about the fans. Sorry I misunderstood. Yes, I would replace that stock case fan.

Glad you're liking the 3700x, it's a good CPU. No biggie about the fan thing, you taught me about the push/pull radiator thing not being worth it. Good thing to know The way my case is set up, I can have the two 140mm fans as top exhaust with two 120mm bottom intakes and a rear 120mm exhaust. Currently using the stock fans for the bottom intakes and rear exhausts. Going to replace those with Noctuas. Have some things to take care of for my kids before purchasing more PC stuff. Priorities.... I'll likely trade out the 3 extra 140mm Noctuas to someone here once my post count gets high enough to use the Classifieds as they haven't even been opened yet.

Wonder if I'd have room to put heatsinks on the vRAM... That might be a good solution. Going to see if I can find anyone who has done that mod to this card. I know the silicon can deal with 110C+ but I'd rather keep the temps a lot cooler than that if I can.

I'm using this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF6R4C8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for a fan splitter running off the CPU fan header for the 5 case fans. I'm wondering if I shouldn't switch some of the fans to the case fan header on the motherboard. The splitter runs off SATA power from the PSU and maybe it's not delivering power to that rear fan.

 

[trents]

Glad you're liking the 3700x, it's a good CPU. No biggie about the fan thing, you taught me about the push/pull radiator thing not being worth it. Good thing to know The way my case is set up, I can have the two 140mm fans as top exhaust with two 120mm bottom intakes and a rear 120mm exhaust. Currently using the stock fans for the bottom intakes and rear exhausts. Going to replace those with Noctuas. Have some things to take care of for my kids before purchasing more PC stuff. Priorities.... I'll likely trade out the 3 extra 140mm Noctuas to someone here once my post count gets high enough to use the Classifieds as they haven't even been opened yet.

Wonder if I'd have room to put heatsinks on the vRAM... That might be a good solution. Going to see if I can find anyone who has done that mod to this card. I know the silicon can deal with 110C+ but I'd rather keep the temps a lot cooler than that if I can.

I'm using this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF6R4C8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for a fan splitter running off the CPU fan header for the 5 case fans. I'm wondering if I shouldn't switch some of the fans to the case fan header on the motherboard. The splitter runs off SATA power from the PSU and maybe it's not delivering power to that rear fan.

If the rear case fan is a 3 pin fan it will run full speed when connected to a four pin PWM fan header. If the rear case fan is a pwm fan itself then there may be disparity between it's rpm operating range and the other fans in the system such that when the other fans are on the quiet part of the PWM fan curve the rear case fan is running much slower than it could. Maybe it needs to be on it's own fan header so it can rev up a little more.

Be careful not to connect too many fans to one fan header so as to exceed the header's amp rating.

In general, it may be a good idea to separate fans of significantly different power ranges such that similar ones are on their own headers and have their own power curve. This is true both from a performance perspective and a noise perspective.

 

[trents]

Just for the giggles, with leaving everything on Auto except RAM frequency (OC 3200 to 3333) and setting a fixed core multiplier of 43x I was tentatively stable at 4.3 ghz with CPU temps of low 70's in CB R20. Vcore reported was 1.408. Of course, I'm not going to run it that way and have already put it back to stock but this is a pretty amazing chip compared to the 2700X which I couldn't get stable at 4.2 ghz.

 

[johnnypiper]

Just for the giggles, with leaving everything on Auto except RAM frequency (OC 3200 to 3333) and setting a fixed core multiplier of 43x I was tentatively stable at 4.3 ghz with CPU temps of low 70's in CB R20. Vcore reported was 1.408. Of course, I'm not going to run it that way and have already put it back to stock but this is a pretty amazing chip compared to the 2700X which I couldn't get stable at 4.2 ghz.

That's pretty sweet! Hopefully I can get a stable clock like that.

I went and took the Noctua 120s off of the radiator and replaced those with the stock fans. Put the Noctuas for case fans and my CPU temp actually went down. Running Prine95 blend right now and my CPU temp is sitting at 43C with the fans running on auto at 1140RPM. The GPU Memory Junction went down a few degrees as well. Might be worth it for you to use that AIO?

Editing...
Right after I posted the temp shot up to about 70C. It must have been reporting the temperature wrong for a little while there

 

[trents]

The problem with my case and using the 280mm AIO is that I would have to remove the hard drive cage at the front end of the PSU shroud. That would place the lower part of the bottom of the radiator exhausting into a cul de sac as it were and pushing the heated exhausted air toward my PSU.

Sounds like you're making do with what you have and have come up with what might be better ventilation than before. Those EVGA FX fans are beasts. The 140's create 4.3 whatever of static pressure. Not sure about the noise, however as I haven't fired them up yet.

 

[johnnypiper]

The problem with my case and using the 280mm AIO is that I would have to remove the hard drive cage at the front end of the PSU shroud. That would place the lower part of the bottom of the radiator exhausting into a cul de sac as it were and pushing the heated exhausted air toward my PSU.

Gotcha. I can understand your not wanting to do that.

Running another test with the stock fans using OCCT now. 4.1GHz at 1.2v. A little over 15 minutes in and the max the CPU die had hit is 53.8.

I did figure out that the noisy fan is from my PSU. I can hear it over everything else. Stinking coil whine... Though for sure that it was those stock case fans

 

[trents]

Coil whine is a bite! Harmless but annoying. I wonder if that is grounds for an RMA.

Edit: I might try the 280mm AIO. I'm not sure. I'm not using the hard drive cage anyway as my system drive m.2 is on the motherboard. I really don't need it as my temps are very much under control already.

 

[johnnypiper]

Coil whine is a bite! Harmless but annoying. I wonder if that is grounds for an RMA.

Edit: I might try the 280mm AIO. I'm not sure. I'm not using the hard drive cage anyway as my system drive m.2 is on the motherboard. I really don't need it as my temps are very much under control already.

I had looked at buying another PSU when I thought this one was dying and newegg isn't going to have another for 10-15 weeks... I'm just going to have to deal with it. Ran Cinebench and it peaked at 58.3. Running some benchmarks then going to bump it up to 4.2 and see how that goes.

Of course it's up to you about the AIO. I'd probably use it just for fun but seeming how it's new, you could probably get something you need in trade or some cash.

 

[trents]

Yeah, that's the thing. If I install it I loose the selling edge of new in box.

 

[johnnypiper]

Yeah, that's the thing. If I install it I loose the selling edge of new in box.

Wonder if it would work as a GPU cooler.... I watched a YouTube video where someone had mounted an AIO on a GPU. Can't remember which GPU or which AIO but it was pretty cool

 

[trents]

My 2700x just sold on ebay for $235, shipping included.

 

[johnnypiper]

My 2700x just sold on ebay for $235, shipping included.

Awesome! Glad you got some money back out of it.

 

[trents]

As far as using one of my AIO's for a GPU cooler, since I'm not into gaming much, I really don't need much of a GPU. MY Rx280 at stock is way more than I need already.