Best cooling solution for i9-9900K

J

jeg20029

n00b
Joined
Mar 23, 2020
Messages
8
Hello, I am looking for a new cooler as my cooler that I have right now is not doing the job. My cpu is OC @ 5GHZ @ 1.3 volts and temps when benchmarking are 95+ degrees. At idle it's anywhere from 55-60 degrees. The cooler that I have right now is the H115i pro platinum from Corsair. Will a 360mm AIO benefit this situation? I don't feel comfortable leaving it as is because the pc is on 24/7. I was hoping that someone could help me with this issue.
Thanks
 
My initial thoughts:

1.) That's definitely too high for idle.
2.) What benchmarks are you running? If your running a benchmark with AVX instructions with no AVX offset, that's a relatively normal temperature.
3.) Yes. You can benefit from a 360 AIO if its a good one.
 
Dan_D said:
My initial thoughts:

1.) That's definitely too high for idle.
2.) What benchmarks are you running? If your running a benchmark with AVX instructions with no AVX offset, that's a relatively normal temperature.
3.) Yes. You can benefit from a 360 AIO if its a good one.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response,
So the AVX offset that I am currently on is 0. I had it at -3 but the cpu was not hitting 5GHZ. In fact, it was a little bit lower than the factory turbo speed. If I were to get a 360mm cooler which cooler do you think is optimal for quiet but cool performance?
thanks
 
Agreed with Dan thats way too high for idle high 30s low 40s should be idle unless your ambient temp is 38c, I would reseat the cooler and reapply thermal paste
However I disagree about the 360mm AIO giving you noticably better cooling.

Fact of the matter the 9900k runs really hot, 90c+ is super common running stress tests especially running 5.0 with no AVX offset.
Check this post here: https://hardforum.com/posts/1044534570/
He's got a custom loop with a 360 rad and its still 90+ during stress tests

I have the H110i GTX which is the older model of your same 280mm cooler.
I had the same experience and due to cooling limitation and comfortably I opted for 5.0Ghz with a 2 AVX.
Set this way I don't exceed 70c during normal workloads, and stress tests max out in the mid 80c.

Additional thoughts:
1) What mode is your pump set to? (Set it to performance, it should be reporting about 3k RPM if you have corsair link installed)
2) What fans are you using? Are they set to run 100% all the time or are they temp based?
3) You have a 280mm aio currently, a 360mm aio is only going to give you about 5% better cooling (it only has about 9% more volume by area depending on the depth) not worth the replacement cost IMO.

Edit:
Just saw your note about quiet but cool performance.
So for my setup I have the pump run at full (3k RPM), its barely audible by itself with nothing turned on in my case.
The fans I have as a push/pull, the two pull fans are low 800rpm silent fans that run 100% all the time.
The push fans are the default corsair ones that are temperature controlled and only turn on when CPU hits 60c.

Its almost 0 audible noise but the faintest whisper except when gaming when I have my headset on anyway.
 
Last edited:
Spartacus09 said:
Agreed with Dan thats way too high for idle high 30s low 40s should be idle unless your ambient temp is 38c, I would reseat the cooler and reapply thermal paste
However I disagree about the 360mm AIO giving you noticably better cooling.

Fact of the matter the 9900k runs really hot, 90c+ is super common running stress tests especially running 5.0 with no AVX offset.
Check this post here: https://hardforum.com/posts/1044534570/
He's got a custom loop with a 360 rad and its still 90+ during stress tests

I have the H110i GTX which is the older model of your same 280mm cooler.
I had the same experience and due to cooling limitation and comfortably I opted for 5.0Ghz with a 2 AVX.
Set this way I don't exceed 70c during normal workloads, and stress tests max out in the mid 80c.

Additional thoughts:
1) What mode is your pump set to? (Set it to performance, it should be reporting about 3k RPM if you have corsair link installed)
2) What fans are you using? Are they set to run 100% all the time or are they temp based?
3) You have a 280mm aio currently, a 360mm aio is only going to give you about 5% better cooling (it only has about 9% more volume by area depending on the depth) not worth the replacement cost IMO.

Edit:
Just saw your note about quiet but cool performance.
So for my setup I have the pump run at full (3k RPM), its barely audible by itself with nothing turned on in my case.
The fans I have as a push/pull, the two pull fans are low 800rpm silent fans that run 100% all the time.
The push fans are the default corsair ones that are temperature controlled and only turn on when CPU hits 60c.

Its almost 0 audible noise but the faintest whisper except when gaming when I have my headset on anyway.
Click to expand...
The pump speed is set to the extreme on the icue software with the fans on the quiet mode I am using the ML 140 fans that came with the cooler I most likely switch them out for some noctua fans. Since the temps for an i9 are like that I will most likely change the fans and keep the cooler. I had one question with the AVX offset at 2 on your pc how where you able to achieve the 5 GHZ overclock the problem that I am having with my cpu is that it is just sitting at the stock turbo speed.
 
You need to double check the cooler seating and bios settings. Dan is right idle is way too high, it should idle in the 30s.
 
jeg20029 said:
The pump speed is set to the extreme on the icue software with the fans on the quiet mode I am using the ML 140 fans that came with the cooler I most likely switch them out for some noctua fans. Since the temps for an i9 are like that I will most likely change the fans and keep the cooler. I had one question with the AVX offset at 2 on your pc how where you able to achieve the 5 GHZ overclock the problem that I am having with my cpu is that it is just sitting at the stock turbo speed.
Click to expand...
You likely need to turn off/disable speed stepping, it clocks the cpu down when not in heavy use to save power and heat, turning it off the cpu runs the CPU at 100% boost (or OC) all the time.
Thats probably why you're not seeing the 5.0ghz, its also why your processor probably isnt overheating/temp throttling, as noted you need to fix that idle temp problem first.
 
Spartacus09 said:
You likely need to turn off/disable speed stepping, it clocks the cpu down when not in heavy use to save power and heat, turning it off the cpu runs the CPU at 100% boost (or OC) all the time.
Thats probably why you're not seeing the 5.0ghz, its also why your processor probably isnt overheating/temp throttling, as noted you need to fix that idle temp problem first.
Click to expand...
I did some more digging around my pc and found that I didn't plug in one of the 8 pin CPU connectors as my motherboard the aurous z390 master has two 8-pin connectors. I turned it back on and now it is idling at around 50 still but the max temp that it hit this time was the high 70s to mid-80s whereas before it was doing 93c plus. I have no clue if this fixed anything but I just realized how much of an idiot I am.
 
Causation does not imply correlation, plugging that in should have no bearing on your temperatures.
If you're idling above 40c with no workload redo the thermal paste still.
 
Spartacus09 said:
Causation does not imply correlation, plugging that in should have no bearing on your temperatures.
If you're idling above 40c with no workload redo the thermal paste still.
Click to expand...
alright I will redo it as it is still using the pre-applied thermal paste that came with the cooler
 
Don't take this the wrong way, did you remove the plastic sheet that protects the pre-applied thermal paste?
 
Spartacus09 said:
Had to ask, seen it before, and probably wont be the last time.
Click to expand...

While there are no stupid questions (and I ask enough of them around here) having installed a new corsair AIO recently, you can not screw it in with the plastic still on it as it covers the holes in the mounting bracket (at least for my model, the H100i pro)
 
I put a noctua dh double tower with 2 of the new Sterrox plastic noctua beige 120mm fans in my wife's computer and it has worked well for the past 7 months two weeks and counting. edit, it is z390 with 9900k 32gb ram and a 2080ti it works well
 
Wade88 said:
I put a noctua dh double tower with 2 of the new Sterrox plastic noctua beige 120mm fans in my wife's computer and it has worked well for the past 7 months two weeks and counting. edit, it is z390 with 9900k 32gb ram and a 2080ti it works well
Click to expand...
That might be the best air cooling, we're looking for best overall though.
With a overclock thats based around the AIO/custom water conversation.
 
jeg20029 said:
The pump speed is set to the extreme on the icue software with the fans on the quiet mode I am using the ML 140 fans that came with the cooler
Click to expand...
fans set at low might be part of the prob. set a custom fan curve. start it with a 25% flat line until 60c then max at 80c. see if that helps at all. but i do agree that a 360 or custom would be better.
 
pendragon1 said:
fans set at low might be part of the prob. set a custom fan curve. start it with a 25% flat line until 60c then max at 80c. see if that helps at all. but i do agree that a 360 or custom would be better.
Click to expand...
So by playing around with that, I managed to get to idle around 35-40 c is that still considered too high. If so I have basically tried everything that 360mm aio do you think I should go for?
 
jeg20029 said:
So by playing around with that, I managed to get to idle around 35-40 c is that still considered too high. If so I have basically tried everything that 360mm aio do you think I should go for?
Click to expand...
sounds fine for idle. whats max temps now? and what did you mean by "benchmarking" in your op?
 
jeg20029 said:
My max temps are 85-93 still and by benchmarking I meant that I ran the cpu at 100% using cinebench
Click to expand...
this is about right for a 280, theyre toasty chips. as far as deciding on a 360 thats up to you. try using it for what you normally do, not benchmarking and see what the max temps are like. if youre not happy, upgrade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top