Heat issue?

[xanax]

I have fan in low front and top pushing air in. Top one is directly over RAM. Then, CPU fan pushes air to back, where fan at back wall sucks it out. Free flow in from bottom, PSU sucks also air from there and pushes it out from back. Free flow out top rear. Vents at transparent side panel let GPU cooling fan air out. CPU temp stays during gaming between 65 and 72, GPU rarely goes over 70.

Well, I messed around with the fan software some more and built a custom fan RPM profile. I played AH for awhile with it and am happy to report a CPU max of 65 and GPU max of 59 while playing for about 40 minutes in a Brewster getting blown to shreds defending a crowded field and town. The noise was actually tolerable.
I like the idea you have for the side panel vents letting the GPU out and will replace the plexiglass with the vented sheet metal side that came with the rig. Looking at the parts inside is exciting for only about 11 seconds tops anyways. Perhaps I'll use the plexiglass as a table for my coffee and pistachio nuts while I play.

I purchased the Noctua for the CPU and I'll install that tomorrow in hopes of lowering at least the sound some more. I thought I'd dread having a PC again but it's getting fun like it was in 2003.
 Ouch! my wallet just bit me.

[Eagler]

I water cooled my last build...if I can do it anyone can

Eagler

[xanax]

Personally I run my fans around 85% and it keeps everything cool. I crank it up until I can hear them and then turn it down a bit. Keeps the temps down and I don't hear it. When I leave it on auto it gets warmer then I'd like before it starts throttling them up.

Yup, same as my CPU and GPU fans are running 80% while the other 2 are at 66%, It's tolerable noise for gaming I suppose but for work I'll stick to the Mac. Games and cool stuff only on the PC, boring mundane crap on the Mac....I just made a new rule right there!

[hazmatt]

Not sure how your machine is setup but when I"m not gaming everything runs quiet.

When I'm about to fire up my games I run the EVGA precision software and it has all my overclock, fan settings etc configured. When I'm done gaming I close that program and everything goes back to auto mode.

[xanax]

Not sure how your machine is setup but when I"m not gaming everything runs quiet.

When I'm about to fire up my games I run the EVGA precision software and it has all my overclock, fan settings etc configured. When I'm done gaming I close that program and everything goes back to auto mode.

Yup, same, just grousing about game noise.
I have a feeling my CPU idle temp is high at 57, what's a normal idle temp with the fans running normal speed supposed to be?
I'd love to try this rig in the scenario tonight and run some tests after but I gotta head off to work.

[Bizman]

57 when idle? That seems high to me as well. Mine runs currently at 29, 17-10700K. Room temperature 20, motherboard 22C. The case is rather small, a DeepCool with three fans in the front and one in the back. Top and bottom free flow. It's the budget model without fan control and as stock it whizzed like a Sabre Jet, no kidding! So I modified the Molex power connector to use the 5 volt line from the PSU and now it's nice and quiet and still cool enough. The GTX 1660Ti starts to whine when I start a game but in normal use it's whisper silent. The CPU cooler is a SilentiumPC (changed their name to Endorfy), can't remember the name but it was some 50€. And it's on wheels, off the floor.

[GasTeddy]

57 is high. Mine runs also around 30 when browsing net but no 3D apps running. Like right now, 8 browser windows open, fans in auto settings and cat on keyboard tray.

[hazmatt]

I don't usually track my CPU but my GPU is 48C at idle and when I open my the EVGA precision software and it loads my gaming profile it goes to 26C at idle.

Got me curious. My CPU at idle is 34 with stock cooler.

[xanax]

I woke the machine at 0600 after getting off work and the CPU was at 50, GPU at 24 and case at 23. I took the fan and heat sink off the CPU and it looks like they put a large blob of paste near the middle and tightened the sink down in such a way to leave large portions of the right side of the chip without coverage. The left side had a puddle of paste squeezed out the side as well. I'll assume this can't be conducive to sound thermodynamics.

The Noctua shows that it's "out for delivery" on the the Amazon van so I might have a solution later today.

I could probably just re-use the current setup with new paste but this thing is a gaming rig so I may as well cool it better.

Again, I should have built it myself like you fellas did. I'd have gone the Eagler route perhaps and tried one of those Buck Rogers-type water cooling setups. I'd have also taken care when tightening whatever solution I chose to cool things.

[hazmatt]

That would do it.

I should probably get off my butt and get a better cooler then the stock one that came with it but it's working at the moment so I'm not sure I need to mess with it. Seems the GPU is generating much more heat then my CPU. Maybe I'll get one when I upgrade my cpu.

[Bizman]

I took the fan and heat sink off the CPU and it looks like they put a large blob of paste near the middle and tightened the sink down in such a way to leave large portions of the right side of the chip without coverage. The left side had a puddle of paste squeezed out the side as well. I'll assume this can't be conducive to sound thermodynamics.

There's some easy to remember instructions for the amount of paste and how to apply it. If the core is the size of your fingernail, a single drop the size of a rice grain in the middle is sufficient. It will spread when tightened. For the bigger cores of a square inch or more four or five similar drops will do. A bigger blob the size of a pea in the middle should also work. In any case spreading it by yourself is a no-no as you may end up causing a bubble. Wiggling while the bolts aren't fully tightened may do good for your mental hygiene but isn't necessary. Glass plate tests have been made to confirm that the paste really spreads if the amount is correct and the paste intact. A partial splotch tells that something wasn't up to the task.

[xanax]

The Noctua showed and it was easy to install. I did the single pea-sized blob as you described for the paste, Bizman.
Flew around a bit with the fans set to normal and eventually got into it with THESTIG for a good scrape. After dying I checked temps and the CPU never got above 71. Flew awhile with my custom profile which is the front fan and CPU at 75% and the temp topped at 63. In full on gaming mode my nephew then played a couple hours of AH and some other game he does and the temps peaked 57 in AH and 68 in the other game. At Idle the CPU sits around 35 in a case at 24. The GPU through the entirety never got pushed to any significant temps.
I think it’s good to go but I’m going to add a top exhaust fan and replace the other 2 with Noctua case fans as well.
I’m using an old bamboo stepping stool similar to Bizman’s sans the wheels as the bamboo is slotted.
I’ve yet to test with the cat lounging on or near it yet like Gas-Teddy but likely soon.
I’d upload a pic of the previous paste job but I’ve yet to figure that out.
Thanks for the advice fellas.

[Bizman]

Thanks for sharing, xanax! It's always good to hear things improve after having given advice.

Your temps may get even lower when the paste settles. Test after a week to compare with today's digits.

And I figure the noise level is a tad lower as well?

[GasTeddy]

[xanax]

Thanks for sharing, xanax! It's always good to hear things improve after having given advice.

Your temps may get even lower when the paste settles. Test after a week to compare with today's digits.

And I figure the noise level is a tad lower as well?

Most certainly lower as I discovered after removing the original cpu cooler and fan, it had a high-pitched whine that was missing with the new set. I imagine the noise will go lower with quality case fans as well.
Again, the lesson I learned was just to build rigs myself. Go see what other folks are doing for rigs in applications similar to yours and build based on that. Hazmatt told me that but I didn’t listen.

I’ll continue to monitor temps as it has become a weird little hobby.