I'm facing some serious heat issues with my PC setup and could use some advice. I opted for aesthetic choices over performance, and now I'm dealing with heat traps in my system. Here's a quick rundown of my build: an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, Gigabyte B650M Aorus Elite AX motherboard, and a Deepcool LT520 liquid CPU cooler. I've been gaming with a 2K 240Hz monitor for the past six months, and everything was running smoothly, even during the hot summer months where temperatures soared past 35°C.
However, I've recently started playing Apex Legends for extended periods (5 to 8 hours) and noticed temperature spikes, especially after some updates to Rainbow Six Siege. My CPU hits its max temperature (89°C) within an hour of playing Siege X and about two hours on Apex, with my SSD also reaching critical temperatures.
Although I have air conditioning, it merely delays the inevitable instead of solving the core issue. I've made several adjustments in BIOS settings, such as applying a -30 curve for all cores, limiting power settings, and tweaking fan curves to no avail.
After deep cleaning everything and changing to MX-6 thermal paste, I discovered that my radiator works fine but there's a major airflow issue in my case—it struggles to expel heat effectively when both the CPU and GPU are under load. I'm considering switching to a case with better airflow, potentially one that can accommodate a 360mm radiator, but I'm also concerned about my budget. Any recommendations on how to move forward? Thanks for your help!
2 Answers
Consider reapplying your CPU thermal paste. I use Arctic Silver 5, which stays effective a long time and is a great thermal conductor. You should also check your cooler for dust. Make sure your airflow is one-directional—ideally front-to-back or bottom-to-top. And if possible, a bigger case could help manage airflow better too.
First off, take a look at the direction your fans are blowing. If all of them are set to exhaust, that could be your issue. You might want to switch some to intake instead. Also, you could try power limiting your GPU. I set mine to -30% power and though I lost a bit of performance, it helped keep temps down significantly.
I have my bottom fans as intake and the top radiator and back fans as exhaust. I worked on the GPU settings but couldn't find a stable solution, so I kind of gave up on messing with that.