I'm using a Ryzen 9700X with Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) on a 240mm AIO cooler, specifically the I D Cooling Frostflow X 240. My setup includes two Arctic P120 fans pushing air from the bottom of the radiator and two Noctua A12 fans pulling air from the top. The radiator is mounted in an NZXT H9 Flow case, along with a 5070 graphics card.
I don't typically experience overheating while gaming, but as a wedding photographer working with Adobe Lightroom, I often use AI features like Denoise AI and filter masks, which are quite resource-intensive. During these sessions, I notice temperatures hitting between 85 to 90 degrees Celsius, especially after jumping from a stable 52 degrees at idle to the upper 80s or even 90s during intense editing, often leading to crashes or freezes. Is this level of heating typical given the demands of AI editing, or should I consider tweaking settings or upgrading my cooling solution?
5 Answers
While your temperatures under AI-heavy workloads in Lightroom aren't out of the ordinary, the crashing isn't acceptable. It suggests some instability. Here are a few things to try:
1. Dial back PBO, perhaps disable Curve Optimizer or set it to something mild like -5 on all cores.
2. Set your PBO limits to about 110-120W for PPT, 90A for TDC, and 120-140A for EDC.
3. Ensure RAM stability by adjusting speeds or slightly increasing DRAM voltage if using EXPO.
4. In Lightroom, enable GPU acceleration and update to the studio driver, avoiding batch processing too many photos at once.
5. Keep your cache on a high-speed NVMe with ample space. Give these adjustments a shot!
I’ve heard that 240 AIO coolers can sometimes underperform compared to good air coolers, so that could be another aspect to explore in your setup.
Honestly, AIOs can struggle under heavy loads. An air cooler might actually perform better in your case. They're definitely worth considering if you're facing high temps regularly!
That does seem a bit high. I'd suggest first checking that your cooler is securely mounted, the thermal paste is adequately applied, and maybe alter your fan curve a bit. Keep in mind, the Ryzen 9700X can handle temps up to 95°C, but you really want to stay cooler than that for stability.
Make sure your AIO pump is functioning well and consider running it at full speed all the time. Also, did you peel off the sticker from the bottom of the water block before attaching it? With a 65W TDP on the 9700X, it really shouldn’t be hitting 90°C while using an AIO. If problems persist, you might want to think about switching to a beefier air cooler instead.

Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely try those adjustments.