Need advice with overheating almost ready build.

[murkymurmur]

Hi!
I seek some help with my current build. I am by far not an experienced persion if it comes to mITXs so I went with was modified version of this one

MoBo: Asus Z97 Plus mini ITX
PSU: Silverstone 600W SST-SX-600-G
My relevant changes:
CPU: i7-4790K colled with:
Noctua NH-D9L and Noctua NF-A9 PWM
GPU: Gigabyte 980ti G1 (no water cooling)
HDD bracket : double 3,5 HDD (WD caviar green 2TB and 3TB)
2 SSDs

Was to add fan or two at the bottom as intake but haven't bought them yet and initial build runs made me think that they just won't be enough ( HDDs are very tightly packed and they are constantly between 45- 50 degrees celsius)

Should I switch card (if I still be able due to the shop return policy) to the 980ti reference with the rear exhaust and will it be enough with additional intake fan at the bottom of the case or is there any better solution for overheating in my system ? Some good single bracket slim water cooling for my 980ti or anything that could prevent me from returning already bought components.

Ideally I would like to keep two HDD drives if it's possible or at least one and use second in docking station.

Will love to hear your suggestions

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.


What are the other component idle and load temps when playing a demanding game?

[murkymurmur]

Hi

The temperatures are as follows:
IDLE:
HDDs: 40-45
CPU: 46-48
GPU: 59-60
Unigine Valley benchmark (set to ultra, 5 min duration ):
HDDs: 50-53
CPU: 70-74
GPU: 79-80

[edh]

For the graphics card I would suggest the Arctic Accelero Xtreme III. You can just about fit one of these in the M1. Remove the fans from the cooler and use 2 floor mounted 120mm fans fed from an adaptor running from the graphics card fan header for fan control. This is the best graphics cooler you can fit in the M1.

For the CPU you could try using a big top down cooler instead.

The hard disks I would have to put down to not getting hot air out of the case effectively as hard disks on their own don't get that hot. Perhaps consider ducting for CPU and graphics card exhausts?

Is it possible for you to post some pics as well?

[murkymurmur]

Here are some pics:

http://imgur.com/a/ItdGS

Never had any rear exhaust card so I don't really know how much it will reduce the overall temp inside my case. If switching cards is good solution then maybe it's worth sacrificing that 5 fps. In my case the whole backplate is very hot so I'm little sceptical of Arctic Accelero solution. Will also try to fiddle around a little with cable managment as right now it is definately not a piece of art

[edh]

The obvious culprit is that you're just not getting hot air out of the case properly. Look at the gap between the back of the CPU cooler and the case, no way that all of the heat from the CPU is going to go out of the back of the case. You could try moving the 2nd 92mm to the back of the case instead and see what difference it makes. Then use a bit of cardboard to duct between the heatsink and the rear fan.

Also as you have not installed fans on the bottom of the case you are just churning the same hot air round and round inside the case. Switching to a lower power card wouldn't be the best fix. Fixing the case airflow would be better.

[quest_for_silence]

Hi

The temperatures are as follows:
IDLE:
HDDs: 40-45
CPU: 46-48
GPU: 59-60
Unigine Valley benchmark (set to ultra, 5 min duration ):
HDDs: 50-53
CPU: 70-74
GPU: 79-80

I won't say it's clearly overheating, those temperatures seem in line with SPCR review, where the test bed was much less powerful (though we don't know your fan speeds).

As edh pointed you out, your setup lacks a proper heath exhaust and, I would add, maybe the computing power (and relevant heath) is too densely packed for the actual M1 cooling prowess on air (I mean, a full blown Core i7, a GTX-980Ti, 2 3.5" HDDs and 2 SSDs are maybe too much), whether personal expectations about cool temperatures were reasonably high.

Personally I would look for any workaround in order to free up the HDD cage (using a larger drive in the ODD bay, using a larger SSD with velcro somewhere), in order to fill the ceiling with the necessary exhaust fans (or a dual radiator, if you go with a custom loop): I would also try to mount two 120mm bottom intake fans, whether they should (barely) fit, as probably edh also suggested.

Definitely not an easy, nor quiet setup.