I recently installed a Thermalright Aqua Elite 120 V3 in a cramped Alienware case and want to check whether my temperatures are reasonable. My i7-9700 is running around 4.5 GHz and reports roughly 50–70°C at idle or about 11% CPU usage. The included thermal paste also seemed questionable, so I'm wondering whether I should replace it or check the installation.
3 Answers
A 120mm AIO usually performs worse than an inexpensive tower air cooler, but compact systems can limit your options. If the case has poor airflow, better thermal paste can only help so much because the radiator still needs cool air to work effectively.
Those temperatures seem somewhat high for idle, especially with an AIO. Double-check that the cooler is mounted properly, that the pump and radiator fan are running, and that no protective film was left on the cold plate.
I did remove the film. The cooler is a Thermalright Aqua Elite 120 V3, which was the only model that would fit in my case.
It may be worth remounting the cooler with fresh thermal paste. Make sure to clean both surfaces first and apply a small amount of new paste rather than relying on paste that may have been poorly applied or dried out.
That makes sense. The airflow in these Alienware towers is pretty poor in general, so the case may be limiting the cooler.