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Do I need water cooling?

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  • Water Cooling
  • Graphics Cards
  • CPUs
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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October 16, 2014 8:23:05 AM

Over the last year I have had a couple of major upgrades made to my PC.

First was to upgrade the Radeon HD 6850 to a HD 7970 card. I did this myself and everything seemed fine afterwards.

More recently I decided to upgrade the CPU from the FX-6100 to an FX-8350 (the highest CPU my motherboard, an ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3, can support). This job I had done by a local computer shop. They also fitted some additional fans to try and deal with the extra heat generated by the new CPU, I should add I also had to upgrade the PSU at the same time, I now have an 850w.

However when I got the PC home and started to actually use it to play games it sounded like the fans were working much harder than they should be so I installed Speedfan to check the internal temperature.

Under gaming load the CPU is running at between 65 and 69 degrees and the GPU at between 59 and 65 degrees. If I open the case the temperature drops by about 5 degrees for the CPU (between 60 and 65) and about 7 degrees for the GPU.

My PCs case is a Coolermaster Elite 310, it now has a small fan fitted into the front to suck air in
but there isn't that much ventilation at the front of the case for it to suck air through, it also has a fan in the normal position on the back and one on the side, just above the graphics card, both of these are sucking air out. I also think that the size of the graphics card is such (it only just fits in the case) that it effectively cuts off the upper and lower halves of the case from each other and this might me affected the efficiency of the air flow.

The case has no further slots in which to mount additional fans and so if I want to cool this thing down more I need to look at other solutions. I have seen several liquid coolers for both the CPU and Graphics card (sealed units, as opposed to those fed from an external reservoir) for about £50-£60 such as the Arctic Accelero Hybrid and the Corsair Hydro.

So now to (finally) get to my actual question, should I invest in a liquid cooling solution for my PC if so should I cool both the CPU and GPU or just the CPU, which liquid coolers would be suitable for the job? Or am I being overly paranoid and I can run fine at the temperatures I am now getting?

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October 16, 2014 8:58:18 AM

Temps are fine. If fans are too loud you can use Speedfan to get them running slower. Also MSI Afterburner allows you to set a custom GPU fan curve.

I wouldn't bother with custom/liquid cooler for a 7970. If you decide to overclock your CPU, a 120mm radiator AOI liquid cooler will make a good investment.

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October 16, 2014 9:00:59 AM

you need to get a different case. Even with an All in One water cooler there still isnt enough air movement in the case to help out. Look for a new case with good airflow and an aftermarket air cooler. Look at the cooler master 212 evo, very good for its price, or you could move up to a noctua D-14/D-15 cooler.


As for the GPU those temps are fine, i would stat to get concerned in the 80's, they will handle up to 95*c before the card will start to throttle itself and can run all the way up to 120*c
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October 16, 2014 9:41:29 AM

Melcior said:
Over the last year I have had a couple of major upgrades made to my PC.

First was to upgrade the Radeon HD 6850 to a HD 7970 card. I did this myself and everything seemed fine afterwards.

More recently I decided to upgrade the CPU from the FX-6100 to an FX-8350 (the highest CPU my motherboard, an ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3, can support). This job I had done by a local computer shop. They also fitted some additional fans to try and deal with the extra heat generated by the new CPU, I should add I also had to upgrade the PSU at the same time, I now have an 850w.

However when I got the PC home and started to actually use it to play games it sounded like the fans were working much harder than they should be so I installed Speedfan to check the internal temperature.

Under gaming load the CPU is running at between 65 and 69 degrees and the GPU at between 59 and 65 degrees. If I open the case the temperature drops by about 5 degrees for the CPU (between 60 and 65) and about 7 degrees for the GPU.

My PCs case is a Coolermaster Elite 310, it now has a small fan fitted into the front to suck air in
but there isn't that much ventilation at the front of the case for it to suck air through, it also has a fan in the normal position on the back and one on the side, just above the graphics card, both of these are sucking air out. I also think that the size of the graphics card is such (it only just fits in the case) that it effectively cuts off the upper and lower halves of the case from each other and this might me affected the efficiency of the air flow.

The case has no further slots in which to mount additional fans and so if I want to cool this thing down more I need to look at other solutions. I have seen several liquid coolers for both the CPU and Graphics card (sealed units, as opposed to those fed from an external reservoir) for about £50-£60 such as the Arctic Accelero Hybrid and the Corsair Hydro.

So now to (finally) get to my actual question, should I invest in a liquid cooling solution for my PC if so should I cool both the CPU and GPU or just the CPU, which liquid coolers would be suitable for the job? Or am I being overly paranoid and I can run fine at the temperatures I am now getting?

If the temps your checking are core temps then you are high as per Amd. The max core temp for your processor is 61.1 Degrees Celsius. That is package temp in Hardware monitor. If you are using the stock cooler on the FX 8350, it is not up to the task. An aftermarket air cooler will do the job.
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