CPU, power consumption and heat

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Imentet

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May 28, 2014
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Hello

My current machine was probably the worst hardware purchase I've ever made (FX-8150 on a motherboard that can't handle it). It took a lot of effort to even get it to run stable (aftermarket cooler, more case fans/better airflow, direct VRM cooling) - and even more effort to attempt to bring the noise down a little (rebuilt into better case, higher quality case fans etc). But even then, it's very noisy under load.

I'm not too concerned with getting a lot more power, but I'm tempted to replace the CPU (and thus probably mobo and RAM) just to bring the noise down. Reading reviews, there's rarely much focus on power consumption. Is TDP any good as an indicator? for example, the FX-8150 has a TDP of 125W, while many of the newer intel CPUs are at 91W or 65W.
 
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LowlySkeleton
Ah, then you are probably experiencing what I am as well LOL. I have a X6 1055T overclocked on a cheap MB with no VRM cooling. My case fans are all on 100% like an attack heli in the middle of a war zone.

You normally SHOULD expect lower temps from a cpu with lower TDP; 125W TDP would theoretically mean 125W of heat being dissipated from the cpu at stock settings. Overclocking would make this expected heat output even higher.

It might also be worthwhile replacing that fan on the cpu heatsink; it might not be as nice as the actual 212EVO that it is trying to mimic. The reviews I see about it usually mentions how it is very loud at max speed. Here is a link to such a review: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aegir/6.html

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I don't see how replacing you motherboard CPU will make it any quieter. Are you using the stock cooler? What kind of fans do you have? If you want to upgrade I would consider Ryzan's new line up there r5 series was looking very good at its price point vs the i5
 
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LowlySkeleton

LowlySkeleton

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Aug 5, 2015
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Noisy is mostly dependent on the moving parts you have in your rig, namingly fans and HDDs.

If you want to it to be more quiet, replacing your MB+CPU+ram will do almost nothing for the noise, save for maybe a little bit of tiny coil whine from a cheaper motherboard.

Fans make noise due to the act of pushing air and the vibration of the motor. The vibrations are transmitted to the rest of your case, making it much more audible. You can try to dampen this vibration by replacing your metal mounting screws with rubber mounting "screws" like these: https://www.amazon.ca/Pieces-Rubber-Vibration-Flexible-Mount/dp/B00VRB3PJY/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00VRB3PJY&pd_rd_r=KSGD4W3NRW1GN0V5X7YH&pd_rd_w=rI4Mz&pd_rd_wg=hAgDj&psc=1&refRID=KSGD4W3NRW1GN0V5X7YH

To reduce the noise you get from the spinning fans, you would want them to spin a little slower. A fan spinning at 2000rpm will sound much louder than if it was spinning at 1200rpm. You can invest in a dedicated fan controller and plug all your fans into this instead of to the 3-pin headers on a MB or the PSU. However, you might want to make sure that running your fans at a lower speed would not greatly effect the thermals of your rig. If your rig was running really hot and needed those fans at their full 2000rpm, there is not much to do other than to either keep them loud or to buy fans that spin slower but still have a similar CFM.

You also might want enable AMD's Cool'n Quiet settings, to make your cpu run slower when its idle and to drop your cpu fan speed as well.

For the vibrations made by HDDs....well, its probably best to have as few HDD's as you can, since there aren't many ways to reduce their vibration.
 
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Imentet

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May 28, 2014
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Sorry wasn't really clear.

The FX-8150 draws a ton of power, produces a ton of heat and thus requires a lot of cooling. I'm hoping to find something that can provide similar performance while drawing less power and producing less heat.


Cooling setup (this threat kinda' ended up in the wrong subforum I guess):

Case airflow:
Fractal R4 case
2 x 140 mm front (intake)
1 x 120 mm bottom (intake)
2 x 140 mm rear+top-rear (exhaust)
(Mixed brands, all recommended on SPCR).

GPU is a Radeon HD 79xx. Old cooling design, so it doesn't exhaust out the back of the case.

PSU is bottom mounted.

CPU cooler is a Zigmatec Aegir (Hyper 212 clone). The fan (120 mm) is mounted to push (rear exhaust fan is quite close on the other side).
Also I had to add direct cooling to the VRMs (2x40 mm fans ziptied).

I can push the system (Prime95+furmark) with no stability issues and fine temps, but in terms of sound it basically goes vacuum cleaner mode. For gaming it's not quite as bad, but even playing something like Bioshock or Fallout 3, the CPU fan speeds up to annoying levels.
 
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Imentet

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May 28, 2014
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Thanks :)

The idea with replacing stuff was to get a CPU with a (much) lower watt requirement, which should lead to lower heat generation ... but that's probably simplifying things too much.

I already have al fans rubber mounted. There's pretty limited options for fan control on my motherboard, so right now most of the case fans are on a physical fan controller.

All 3 intake + 1 exhaust are set to fairly low speed full time (600-800 RPM each). CPU + the other exhaust are controlled by the mobo, which is set to allow a high temp before ramping up and to try to keep them as slow as possible.

I've been trying to find a balance ... if I slow down all the case fans too much, that seems to cause heat to build up in the case, making the CPU fan speed up more often. If I speed up the case fans then the whole thing is just loud all the time.

Come to think of it, it's always the CPU ramping up that really kicks off the noise. Maybe I need to get a look at that fan.
 
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LowlySkeleton

LowlySkeleton

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Aug 5, 2015
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Ah, then you are probably experiencing what I am as well LOL. I have a X6 1055T overclocked on a cheap MB with no VRM cooling. My case fans are all on 100% like an attack heli in the middle of a war zone.

You normally SHOULD expect lower temps from a cpu with lower TDP; 125W TDP would theoretically mean 125W of heat being dissipated from the cpu at stock settings. Overclocking would make this expected heat output even higher.

It might also be worthwhile replacing that fan on the cpu heatsink; it might not be as nice as the actual 212EVO that it is trying to mimic. The reviews I see about it usually mentions how it is very loud at max speed. Here is a link to such a review: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aegir/6.html

If you replace your overclocked-cpu with something that is better than it at stock, you won't need extensive cooling to keep the newer cpu cool and you won't be losing any performance. Depending on what budget you have, something within Ryzen 5 or 7 might be a good choice. Or you can go for an unlocked i7 build if you can afford it.
 
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