The Voice
Honorary Master
Had a hard think about it, and with price increases having no end in sight, my AM5 upgrade is going to have to wait indefinitely. Was really feeling the bottleneck with my (now straight) 5070 Ti and 5600X, so figured I'd get the best out of AM4 while I could, and picked up the re-released 5800X3D 10th Anniversary edition.
Everything flew along, but couldn't figure out why temps were so high. Went through multiple tuning setups, PBO limits, custom curves, etc. Turns out it was just a "feature" of X3D chips because of where the cache is placed (directly on top of the chip, which creates a thermal blanket). But, most temps I was getting while running CineBench or other benchmarks (or even just gaming or idle) were just way too high compared to what other people were getting. 95C in CineBench is not good, especially considering the 5800X3D throttles at 90C, unlike normal Ryzen chips that can go up to 95C.
Anyway, it was around this time that my 5 year old AIO started sounding like an old mechanical HDD. Just chilling in WoW, and the temps went from 66C the first day to almost 90C when I decided I needed to do something a couple of days later. Turns out if was EOL, so did more research online for a replacement. The AIO I want for my AM5 upgrade, the Arctic Liquid Freezer III, simply won't fit because my RAM is too tall for the chonkier radiator. I'm going for lower profile RAM with the upgrade, moving away from RBG, so it won't matter then. Not keen on getting a different AIO just so it fits with the current build, either.
So, the other option was good old fashioned air. They sure have come a long way since I last used one, and there are just so many options. But, after all my research, it turns out that one of the absolute best on the market right now is also one of the cheapest. Enter this bad boi, the ThermalRight Phantom Spirit 120 SE:
This thing is YUGE, sure, but with my current curve, and cooler case temps (I reused the two Be Quiet! fans I had on the AIO, now configured as intake and exhaust at the top of my case), my CineBench temps are now 15-20C lower than before, which means my CPU can boost for higher and longer. Throttling definitely was an issue before, because with the new cooler my score went up by 400pts. Even idling is < 40C, where it was regularly pushing almost 60C. And the most amazing part of this cooler, apart from how cool and quiet it is, is that it only cost me £28...
Everything flew along, but couldn't figure out why temps were so high. Went through multiple tuning setups, PBO limits, custom curves, etc. Turns out it was just a "feature" of X3D chips because of where the cache is placed (directly on top of the chip, which creates a thermal blanket). But, most temps I was getting while running CineBench or other benchmarks (or even just gaming or idle) were just way too high compared to what other people were getting. 95C in CineBench is not good, especially considering the 5800X3D throttles at 90C, unlike normal Ryzen chips that can go up to 95C.
Anyway, it was around this time that my 5 year old AIO started sounding like an old mechanical HDD. Just chilling in WoW, and the temps went from 66C the first day to almost 90C when I decided I needed to do something a couple of days later. Turns out if was EOL, so did more research online for a replacement. The AIO I want for my AM5 upgrade, the Arctic Liquid Freezer III, simply won't fit because my RAM is too tall for the chonkier radiator. I'm going for lower profile RAM with the upgrade, moving away from RBG, so it won't matter then. Not keen on getting a different AIO just so it fits with the current build, either.
So, the other option was good old fashioned air. They sure have come a long way since I last used one, and there are just so many options. But, after all my research, it turns out that one of the absolute best on the market right now is also one of the cheapest. Enter this bad boi, the ThermalRight Phantom Spirit 120 SE:
This thing is YUGE, sure, but with my current curve, and cooler case temps (I reused the two Be Quiet! fans I had on the AIO, now configured as intake and exhaust at the top of my case), my CineBench temps are now 15-20C lower than before, which means my CPU can boost for higher and longer. Throttling definitely was an issue before, because with the new cooler my score went up by 400pts. Even idling is < 40C, where it was regularly pushing almost 60C. And the most amazing part of this cooler, apart from how cool and quiet it is, is that it only cost me £28...
