My friend recently had a PC built at Micro Center, and I'm worried there might be something wrong with it. The rig features a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor and an MSI MAG CoreLiquid A15 360 AIO cooler. When we launched Helldivers on Steam, the CPU temperature skyrocketed to 95°C while playing at 1080p with around 300fps, which feels way too high for a setup with a 360mm liquid cooler. Even the idle temperature in the BIOS was around 66°C, which seems excessive. While I know the 9800X3D is a powerful chip, these temperatures are alarming. We also ran Cinebench 2024, and the score was only about 1000, which feels low. Could there have been an error during the cooler installation at Micro Center? Maybe the cooler is defective? I'd love to hear what I should check or how to approach getting this resolved.
Another thing I noticed is that Micro Center set up my friend's Lian Li EVO 011D case with the bottom three fans as intake and all side, top, and rear fans as exhaust. Doesn't that create negative pressure? Wouldn't it be better to have the side fans as intake? I'm curious about their reasoning for that fan configuration, especially with the Corsair QX120 fans.
4 Answers
Yeah, the AMD 9800X3D can run hot, but 95°C is excessive, especially under gaming loads. My CPU idles around 40°C and peaks at 65°C during heavy use. I’d recommend running several Cinebench tests to see if it's throttling because an idle temp of 66°C indicates something is off. As for the fan setup, while it’s not ideal for dust management, it should still function well enough to cool the system. Consider switching some of those fans around for better airflow.
In my experience, it’s better to have balanced or more intake fans than exhaust for optimal cooling.
It sounds like they might not have removed the protective sticker on the cooler head before installing it on the CPU. That can lead to high temperatures because the cooler won’t make proper contact. Check under the cooler for that sticker; it’s a common beginner mistake! Also, there might be an issue with the thermal paste application. If they didn’t apply enough, or none at all, that could definitely cause overheating as well.
Totally agree! I faced something similar before. I forgot to take the plastic cover off and my CPU was running hot too. It’s a rookie mistake but easy to fix once identified.
If it’s still under warranty, taking it back to Micro Center might be the best way to get it checked out professionally.
I’d say don’t sweat the pressure issue too much; negative pressure can sometimes be effective, though more intake is typically preferred. Either way, I’d recommend returning it to Micro Center for them to check on that CPU cooler installation. If they did a bad job, they need to fix it since they assembled the whole thing!
Absolutely! Just make sure there's a note of the issue so they understand it wasn’t running right from the get-go.
Yeah, definitely get them to check it. It sounds like something isn’t right if your friend’s getting those temps.
Those temps are definitely concerning. You should feel both tubes of the cooler to see if there's any flow; that’ll give you a clue if the pump is working properly. If the cooler is not functioning, it's better to have the folks at Micro Center check it out instead of figuring it out yourself without experience. Definitely take advantage of any warranty on the build!
Right? I’ve heard some people had issues with MSI AIOs before. If it’s defective, they should replace it under warranty.
Good point about the pump! You might be right; it could just be a malfunctioning cooler. Better to have it fixed instead of risking damage to the CPU.
Exactly, airflow can affect temperature a lot. Too many exhaust fans might be causing the system to struggle to bring in cool air, so adjusting that could help.