Hey everyone! I just built a new PC and I'm running an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with a Corsair H100i Elite AIO cooler. My setup includes a MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi motherboard, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, an RX 7900 XTX GPU, and a Corsair case with front intake and a top-mounted radiator. After repasting my CPU and ensuring the cooler is mounted correctly with the pump at full speed, I noticed my CPU temps are around 54-63°C when idle, but they spike to 93°C while gaming (tested with FC 26). Even though AMD states that these chips can handle temperatures up to about 90°C, hitting 93°C feels concerning to me. My coolant temp during gaming is around 37°C. I'm wondering:
1. Are these temperatures normal for my setup?
2. Would undervolting with PBO and Curve Optimizer help reduce temps without sacrificing performance?
3. Should I think about upgrading to a 360mm AIO, or is this more related to case airflow or BIOS settings? Any experiences or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
5 Answers
You should double-check how the water block is seated on the CPU. Make sure the screws are tight and consider reapplying thermal paste if needed. Upgrading to a 360mm AIO could also help, though I’ve had issues with the Ryujin from ASUS, which is a good cooler but their software caused problems for me. I switched to an NZXT Titan which keeps my temps below 60°C even under heavy load.
Your current setup might struggle a bit; a 240mm AIO can be on the weak side for this CPU at full load. Undervolting with PBO tuning could definitely help lower temps.
Before making any changes, listen for noises from the pump. Since your liquid temperature is at 37°C, but your CPU is at 93°C, I’d check the AIO mounting and contact. Those temps don't correlate well. How did you mount your AIO?
The AIO is mounted at the top of the case with the tubes going down.
93°C is generally safe for modern AMD CPUs; they’re designed to handle that heat. They're optimized to boost until the temperatures get too high. If you're worried, you could adjust the power limit in your BIOS to lower temperatures, but it may impact performance slightly, usually only noticeable in benchmarks like Cinebench.
While it can boost up to 95°C, ideally it shouldn't operate at that temperature under full load. Check if your AIO is working properly—does the pump make noise? Also, ensure you’ve removed all protective plastic films from the pump.
Thanks for the tip! I suspect my pump might be defective since it's been running for 8 months in another build. I'm definitely looking into getting a new AIO.