AMD A10 HSF upgrade advise

Bland_JamesBland

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
Messages
86
A10-7850K
GA-F2A88XN-WiFi
G.Skill 2133 Ripjaws-X
CM Hyper TX3
Thermaltake Core V1

Here's the dilemma. I've been using my TX3 on my A10 since after the new year. It's done great, and handled some gaming just fine. But being that I'm in Arizona and the PC is located in a corner of the house that gets a little warmer, I don't think the TX3 is cutting it any more. I've applied new paste a couple of times and still getting some throttle in games like Bad Company 2 (online full maps), Far Cry 3 and other FPS. Running at 1080p... I do 720p on FC3. But I think I'm having cooling issues. I just don't think this HSF is cutting it. I added a Cougar 120mm fan to the side of the case just as insurance along with the 200mm fan on the front still intact.

SO - for a budgeted upgrade, I'm thinking of getting a CM Seidon 120v. It can be had for ~$50, gets decent reviews. Any others out there you think I should consider? OR - is there a better heatpipe cooler out there that would do a better job? I'm limited in height to 140mm, and I have tall ram. Suggestions? Thanks guys.
 
Had a similar experience a year or 2 ago when I upgraded from a Hyper 212 plus. What I learned was that you might as well get the 240m. When I first upgraded I got a 120m Corsair and I ended up selling it because it had very minimal gains in cooling. At times the temps were the same as the hyper. Got the 100i and the difference was night and day. You gain a lot more performance with the 240m radiators than you do with the 120 ones.
 
Had a similar experience a year or 2 ago when I upgraded from a Hyper 212 plus. What I learned was that you might as well get the 240m. When I first upgraded I got a 120m Corsair and I ended up selling it because it had very minimal gains in cooling. At times the temps were the same as the hyper. Got the 100i and the difference was night and day. You gain a lot more performance with the 240m radiators than you do with the 120 ones.
While technically true in regards to the 240mm rads but to be fair, a lot of Corsair's 120mm CLCs do perform worst than the Hyper 212+ in general. It's really with the Corsair H80i that Corsair has a 120mm CLC that can outperform the Hyper 212+. Here's the thing: the Seidon 120V that Bland_JamesBland mentioned cools about the same as the more expensive H80i.

Bland, just stick with the 120V. There's really no air-cooling HSF that cools better than the 120V around that price range.
 
That's what I was thinking. Since this was a budget build costing less than $400, I didn't want to spend $100+ on an AIO cooler. And there have been no confirmed reports of a 240mm rad fitting in the Core V1 chassis... without hacking it up.

Thanks!
 
Got my Seidon 120v in today, forgot to get some cleaner to clean the CPU for install tonight, so tomorrow... but looking at the ridiculously skimpy manual... does the pump 3-pin go on the secondary mobo header (change the setting in bios to 12v voltage only)? I'd imagine the 4pin fan goes on the CPU header as thats what I want to speed up and down, and not the pump.

Thanks!
 
Pump connector goes on the CPU_Fan. The Fan for the pump goes on CPU_OPT or SYS1 if you don't have OPT.

Cleaner? You just need 91% (or better) alcohol and that's it.
 
Yeah I didn't have alcohol, I went and got some at the drug store.

In my Bios, header control is:
CPU_Fan (Normal, Silent, Manual, Disabled)
SYS_Fan (Normal, Silent, Manual, Disabled)

With manual giving you options .75 PWM value /*C - 2.50PWN value /*C

I thought you'd want the pump running 12v constant and the fan variable? I should have both on system headers set to Normal(auto)?

The manual just shows the 3-pin pump and 4-pin fan connecting to two headers, doesn't label either specifically.
 
Well the way I have it now Pump on 12v from the PSU, and fan to CPU set to normal... currently running Prime95 (max heat test). AMD Overdrive's Thermal Margin hasn't dipped below 40*c whith chrome running and Steam downloading FarCry3.

But I think having the pump on a mobo header might be good insurance if it fails. Thanks D-Man.
 
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