Antec KUHLER H2O 920's temps v's GA Touch Bios, Core and Real.

[mescott]

Hi. Just set up a Z68X-UD3R-B3 with 16gb of ram and a i7 2600K CPU. I a bit uncertain about my CPU temps re the accuracy as reported by the 920, v's Core/Real temp and the PC Health Status readings from the Touch Bios. I have not OC'd at this point, although I have my memory using its XMP profile and Extreme performance enhance.

IDLE:
Touch Bios states: system at 37/38C and CPU at 28/29C average - case door is off as 920 protruding for Aurora fitting. GTX 480 is probably contributing to system heat at well. Case off and added fan, brought system temp down from 46C to aforementioned.

Core/Real temps average out at 32 - to 39C for the cores.

Antec software liquid temps state a steady 34.5 with the fan speed at 1187 RPM on average - just audible.

I have put Artic Silver on the 920 as I had to resit it, so it's probably still curing.

I am feeling pretty disappointed at the temps report by Core/Real given it's a water cooler. However, I like the Touch Bios temp and would have expected such a temp from using the 920. I'm not sure how to read the Antec's liquid temp?

How accurate is the temp being reported by the bios, v's the other temps? I suspect the Core/Real temps are probably more accurate but damn, I'm getting better temps running a stock intel air cooler with my i7 980x on my other computer - GAX58A-UD9, with an average of 33C at idle.

Any thoughts on this? 

Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

All these programs tend to be a bit out one way or the other and so without any good hardware tool for checking the temperture the best thing is to take an average of all the ones you have. Bare in mind that the i7s do run quite hot compared to many platforms and the Arctic Silver actually takes 200 hours to fully cure so you are probably a long way off yet.

I am not familair with the cooler in question the Kuhler H20 but it seems to be very much on a par with the Corsair H50 and that usually works quite well. How have you got the fan set up ?

Having the side off the case is not always a good idea as althjiough you allow a lot of air to get at the components it tends to just hang around(static) and so doen't actually provide a lot of cooling. With the side on, assuming that you have a proper fan system in your case it should funnel the cooling air past all the compnents cooling as it goes. It does obviously need to be optimised for best results though.

[mescott]

Hi. Thanks for replying. Yes, I'd like to put the case on, but the 920 gets in the way...I can have it 'somewhat' attached. System temps go up by a few degrees when it is on however, so it would appear that generated heat is not being effectively push out of the case.

I tried connecting the 920's fan/radiator to the upper case fan, but then the PSU frame didn't allow it to sit in there properly. I think it would be more effective in the upper section. The fan system is set up as recommended in a push/pull configuration.

What's a safe temp range for the system?  Should I be concerned if it starts heading towards the 50C mark?

Thanks

[TigetLi]

Hello Mescott,

Make sure that you are specific when stating or comparing temp read outs between various software. ( my system temp is 38 deg C, core 0 temp is 33 ...) Insure that you are comparing like temp readouts between software at a giving room temp and with your case and system in similar setup. The Antec software provides you with the coolant temp, it is not an accurate readout of your CPU temperature. The state of your cooler, that is the speed of your fan and water pump is also very significant. Follow this link and look at the 3.5 GHz overclock temp chart in this review of your cooler.  http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1590/7/  Note that under silent mode operation your CPU cooler lags most. However also note that it kicks butts when it is goes to extreme operation. As you can see it the temp read you get from cooler can only be compare in exactly similar system with only the coolers being interchange. All the test must also be done at a constant room temp. Comparing your temps in your new system to your temps in your old system has little value.

If you want to use the Antec software to control your CPU cooler, and have your water pump plugged into the CPU fan connector on your motherboard , make sure that you disable the CPU Fan Control option in BIOS. You do not want your BIOS and Antec software fighting over control of your cooler pump speed.

Max temperature are hardware specific. You will have to research your own. For example My i7 2600k CPU is max A 95 deg C and my Radeon 6990 @ 100 deg C. I aim to never reach these MAX temperatures and therefore limit myself to max temps 75/85 deg C CPU/GPU for benching at max utilization. 65/80 deg C CPU/GPU are my max temp for day to day ops.

Idle temps for CPU/GPU are basically as cool as you can get them within the environment you live in at the fan noise level you can tolerate. With my system and a room temp of around 22 deg C I look for low to mid 30 deg C for CPU and low 40 deg C for GPU at an overclock of 3.8 to 4.2 MHZ on CPU . One GPU core will be inactive and the other one tuned down considerably which allow me to select its associated fan to 30%.

As you gain experience you will build BIOS profiles to suit your environment, the risk level you are willing to accept and your planned activities. My BIOS and GPU profiles cover summer and winter 2D operation, 3D Gaming, and Extreme Benching.

Turn on the heat...

[mescott]

Thanks Tigetli

It would appear that my cores a running a little hotter than average on idle temps, if I can trust Core Temp's readout. I suppose I was keen to know about the accuracy of the Touch Bios readout, which measures it at - currently in idle - at 27C as opposed to: Core 0: 36C, Core 1: 31C, Core 2: 38C and Core 3: 37.

Given that it's a Gigabyte board and using their software, I was wondering whether other members found this large difference as well?

Cheers

[Dark Mantis]

The thing is what sensor is Touch BIOS using to get the reading of 27C ? Unless it is the same as the Core Temp ones which are actually part of the CPU then there is going to be a wide difference between them. I don't have TouchBIOS to check with so I am afraid I cannot be certain.

[mescott]

Okay thanks...maybe someone else might know?

Cheers 

[TigetLi]

Hello Mescott,

Touch BIOS version B11.0816.1 is on my system. It undereads CPU temperature By 8 to 9 deg C when compared to BIOS and other software temperatures. Do not use Touch BIOS CPU temp readout its inaccurate.

What are you comparing your CPU Core temps to when you say they appear to be high at idle?  Why do you think that your CPU Core temps shoulfd be in the mid to high 20?

What speed is your water pump running at when in quiet mode?

Post your temps and Computer settings at both idle and max. include cpu voltages and speed.

regards,

[mescott]

Hi TigetLi

What are you comparing your CPU Core temps to when you say they appear to be high at idle?  Why do you think that your CPU Core temps shoulfd be in the mid to high 20?

From research based on other users posting their temp results. It would appear on avg, that in idle - depending upon the type of heatsink being used, one should expect temps roughly in low to mid 30 deg C. my other computer is running a somewhat similar system - win 7 64 - with an i7 980x. Using the stock air HS which came with the cpu, my temps for all 6 cores range from 27 deg to 34 deg C. This is with ambient temps at approx 22 deg C.

I bought the 920 expecting better temps than 29 deg C to 36 deg C for its 4 cores.


What speed is your water pump running at when in quiet mode?

Speed of water pump is 2831 avg, in custom mode, which fan control for fan ramp is set at 22 deg C. This is a compromise between reasonabe temps and fan noise. Setting it to 'quiet mode' does not drop the pump speed, but does of course affect fan speed - 720 avg.


Post your temps and Computer settings at both idle and max. include cpu voltages and speed.

Idle: Temps range from 29 deg C to 36 deg C, with CPU voltage ranging from 1 to 1.2460V as computer goes through 1.596 to 3.492.

Max: Temps range from 51 deg C to 56 deg C with a custom setting - fan running at avg 1980. On extreme setting, I'm getting 47 deg C to 53 deg C. For a mild OC, this is actually quite good. Whilst I appear to get better idle temps with my i7 980X, when running max, top core temps are as high as  65 deg C.

This is actually the first time I tested running the system at max load, so I'm impressed at these results.

What's your take?

Thanks

 

[TigetLi]

Hello Mescott,

Eureka... you have it.  The true measure of a CPU cooler is that it allows you to safely reach your desire overclock speeds, 24/7 and max bench, at a noise level you are willing to tolerate.  It must also provide a safe idle CPU temperature at your desire overclock speeds, 24/7 and max bench, at a noise level you are willing to tolerate. Your CPU cooler does that very well at extreme settings and experiences reduce cooling efficiency at silent settings. Your present CPU temperatures are fine and well within the safe allowable operating range. Remember that your cooler is built to be most efficient at Extreme settings. Your idle CPU core temps are well within a safe operating margin. You cannot accurately compare your system's CPU temps to other systems because there are too many uncontrolled variables to yield usable data. Here is a test you can do on your own system to see how your own cooler performs at various cooler settings. It will also tell you what is happening to your PC case temp.

1- Place a temperature probe near the intake coolant hose of your radiator to measure the air temp at that location
2- Set your cooler to extreme settings
3- Let PC system idle for for 20 minutes and read and note the air temperature
4- Fire up Prime 95 on Small FFT Torture Test for 30 minutes.
5- With torture Test still running, read and note the air and coolant temperatures

Use the data gathered at step 5 above to calculate your Delta T - (Coolant Temp - air temp= Dt) and then compare your Dt to this:

2-3C Delta: extreme system
5C Delta: high performance system
10C: average performance system
15C: low performance system

Now repeat the above Delta T (Dt) test with your cooler set at silent setting and compare. Do the same for the cooler setting that meets your noise tolerance level. This will tell you your cooler efficiency at various settings. make sure that you used a good temp monitor software when testing your system at reduced cooler settings. Do not allow test to continue with temp > 80 deg C.

Note that Air-to-water delta is normally used for quantifying how much extra heat handling capacity your loop has, however a low delta is not necessary bad if it meets your desired safe operating temperature range and noise level. You want to have a low delta if you are planning to add many more components to the cooling system as low delta indicates available headroom.

Yon can also compare air temperatures noted at step 3 to those noted at step 5 to see what you airflow is like at or near your radiator.

Have fun,   

[mescott]

Thanks TigetLi for your most comprehensive testing ideas. I'll look forward to trying this at some stage in the near future...ie, when I get a temp probe.

I tried a quick boost OC last night to 4.2 and fired up Fry. This is actually quite a lovely system - easiest OC I've ever done...push a button. Anyway, on extreme setting for the 920, I was getting a 58-62 deg C range which is really quite good...just sound like a jet engine in my room although...but as you've said, the OC v's the noise level compromise.

The idle for this OC is now mid to high 30's at this OC, so that's a bit warm for day-to-day stuff.

Anyway, thanks again for your help and info.

Cheers

 

[TigetLi]

Greetings,

Mid to high 30 deg C for  CPU cores at 4.2 Gigs is safe for day to day. The upper temp limits at max CPU and/or GPU usage are the ones you must worry about. I use 70 deg C for the CPU and 80 deg C for the GPU.

have fun OCing...