Help me decrease temps in ITX build

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by CPC_RedDawn, Aug 1, 2015.

  1. CPC_RedDawn

    CPC_RedDawn Ancient Guru

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    I recently built a ITX system for my bedroom as a sort of steam box/LAN gaming PC to save me lugging my larger PC to and from LAN's and to and from my bedroom when I want to lay back a play some games, watch tv, films, etc, etc.

    I went with:

    INTEL i5 4690K w/ Nocuta NH-D9L Cooler
    8GB 2400MHz Kingston Hyper X Savage RAM
    ASUS Z97I Motherboard
    GIGABTYE GTX970 ITX 4GB GPU
    SILVERSTONE 500W SFX-L PSU 80+ GOLD
    RAIJINKTEK METIS BLACK ITX CASE
    240GB KINGSTON HYPER X SDD (BOOT DRIVE)
    1TB WESTERN DIGITAL HDD (GAMES AND MEDIA DRIVE)
    NOCUTA NF-F12 PPC 3000RPM PWM FAN

    Here is how I have set it up.

    I have the rear Noctua fan as an intake as I set it up as out take originally as well as the CPU cooler. But this left the system being starved of fresh cool air and also dust being sucked into the case through the side panel vents due to negative air pressure in the case.

    The PSU fan does not spin until the PSU reaches 40C I believe and there is no way that I know of, of how to control it's speed.

    The PSU is mounted in the front of the case vertically and exhausts air out the case through the bottom.

    Here I made this picture to show you guys how its set up and what temps are like at the moment. They are not horrible temps, and the CPU is overclocked and fully stable at 4.4GHz with a very slight vcore increase.

    [​IMG]

    The system performs very very well so far, maxing out all games at 1080p 60fps that I own on steam. I use vsync as well as I am gaming with a controller mainly on this system also to try and help keep temps down on the GPU so it doesn't have to work as hard.

    I have raised the temp limit on the GPU to its maximum of 91C in MSI AB to try and avoid thermal throttling on the core clock speed. This could be turned down I know but I wanted to keep it from throttling down and hurting that 60fps mark.

    The CPU has Noctua NH1 thermal compound on it, I am going to use some on the GPU too to try and drop temps a little but that will only net me like 2-3C max if that.

    I chose the 3000rpm Noctua fan because its PWM and because it has the capability of running on such a high speed that when it hits that speed I will know instantly that something is heating up too high. After 5 hours gaming the system was still barely even noticeable.

    If you guys have any ideas how I could improve this build's temps let me know.
     
  2. Cartman372

    Cartman372 Maha Guru

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    This is one of the problems that can arise with a mini-ITX case. Also doesn't help that the video card is dumping all its heat inside the case. I think you would have been much better off with an OEM blower style cooler when it came to temps.

    I'd suggest trying to add more fans as one intake fan is clearly not providing enough airflow for the case. Should also look at trying to hook up an exhaust fan to help pull the hot air out.
     
  3. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    As heat rises, Id say adding intake fans at the bottom and exhaust fans at the top would help

    And if you have intake at the front, you need exhaust at the back to create a constant airflow

    Otherwise the hot air just gets circulated inside the case
     
  4. airbud7

    airbud7 Guest

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    To much intake, not enough Exhaust....
     

  5. CPC_RedDawn

    CPC_RedDawn Ancient Guru

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    Guys the case does not have ANY intakes.

    The only fan mount in this case is at the back of the case.

    The PSU sits in the front and that exhausts are out the bottom but only when PSU fan starts spinning as its not really getting hot enough for it to even start spinning.

    I may try and spin the CPU round and the rear fan so both are blowing out but then I have the issue that dust will get sucked in from the side panel vent holes. Also the fact that no fresh cool air is being brought into the case either as no where to have another fan as intake.
     
  6. Cartman372

    Cartman372 Maha Guru

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    Well then you're in quite the predicament.

    The only thing I can say is you've ended up with a subpar ITX case. Something like a Corsair 250D would have 10x better airflow and has more than one fan slot...

    You may be able to get away with having only exhaust fans but realistically you're not going to get the temps you want with only one fan moving air in/out of the case.
     
  7. CPC_RedDawn

    CPC_RedDawn Ancient Guru

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    True, but the 250D is around 28 litres total capacity where as this case is a mere 12 litres. I wanted a small case and this was only £35 as well.

    I had seen reviews of the case with basically the same components as the one I have built and they were getting temps of around 65C on the CPU and 67C on the GPU.

    I fail to see how that is even possible in this case.

    I may shop around and see if I can find something a little better with at least 1 intake and 1 out take.

    The 250D is a very strong option but it is far too big for what I wanted this build to be.
     
  8. CPC_RedDawn

    CPC_RedDawn Ancient Guru

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    Screw it just brought the 250D as I found it on sale for £55
     
  9. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Confused? lol
     
  10. Valken

    Valken Ancient Guru

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    You really have only a few options:

    a) Downclock and auto cpu/gpu speeds, and let it boost only on full load to cut down on heat.
    b) Bigger case with better air flow
    c) Watercool cpu and gpu but that will require you to have external radiators or bigger case.

    A is cheapest, B is slight cash injection, C costs the most.

    Just adding fans is only going to up the noise and cost a bit, so better to plan on a bigger case or better cooling system.

    I have a mid case and I hated the window fan (lit and a tad noisy) but endure it because it dropped my internal case temps by a LOT. I can actually touch my components without feeling it to be too hot (gpu and cpu pump).

    In anycase, at full load is what you want to focus on. The heat that is dumped out during full load won't matter which option you use. It will be the same in the room but at least you know the PC internals will be protected.
     

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