Question Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming Safe VRM temperature?

[ruthan]

Hello,
i like my computer silent as possible so i would like to turn off fans only if there are really needed now hotest part of my computer regarding of sensors are VRM.. What is last save temperature for them? Where is good to start fan near them?

My MB:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z370-AORUS-Ultra-Gaming-rev-10#sp

Where are VRMs under passive heating above cpu socket?

 

[ruthan]

Im sure that somebody know or perhaps there is some oficial info.

 

[Soulkeeper]

If you want to know the exact rating you'll have to read the numbers off the chips and locate the datasheets. They should be rated for higher than 80C, maybe as high as 100 or 120C.

 

[ruthan]

So you are saiying that up to 100 C is ok? You can maybe check some online photos of online (if there are labels readable), i want to sound lazy, but i dont plan remove it some case, only because of it..

 

[UsandThem]

Or buy a quiet PWM fan (so many choices under $20.....even some around $10), set it to run at very low RPMs that no human could possibly hear, and then you don't have to worry about killing / shortening the life of your socket VRMs / caps.

 

[ruthan]

It would be brute force instead of knowledge solution. Im big Noctua fan, but i dont know nothing as fan what i cant hear.. So im asking, what temperature is safe, before i set fan start up temperature.

 

[UsandThem]

It would be brute force instead of knowledge solution. Im big Noctua fan, but i dont know nothing as fan what i cant hear.. So im asking, what temperature is safe, before i set fan start up temperature.

Hey, it's your PC / money, and if you can hear a quiet-focused fan spinning at something like 300 RPM, that's a great physical talent to have. Best of luck!

 

[ruthan]

Im not sure if Noctua has 300 PRM - in real, not only on paper, but when fan is starting and stopping there is often acoustic effect noisier than in after in normal run.

I wouldnt have some fanless PSU or SSD instead of HDD, when there would be unhearable fans or watercoolers... with it i would care only about coil whine. Yes im quite sound sensitive, i hate ticking of clocks and similar things.

And i could argue that system without fans, could save a bit of money and a bit of nature (power).

 

[UsandThem]

I consider myself to being very noise adverse as well. I focus all of my builds with quiet being the #1 factor. From cases, heatsinks, fans, GPUs, etc., most of planning time is making sure if I walk into my office, I can't tell my computer is on by sound.

Once I get my build together, I try different fans and then I fine-tune the fan curve in my BIOS to eliminate that annoying spin-up / spin-down that fans often do if a user uses pre-configured profiles.

My .02 is if you at least manually configure your CPU fan to spin at consistent, low RPMs until it hits a certain temperature, you can eliminate hearing the fan (as long as your PC case is geared towards silence. I am unable to hear my NH-A15 PWM fan when it is spinning under 500 RPM (which it is always under unless I am playing a PC game, or doing Folding @ Home). Even when it spins up some (say to around 750 - 800 RPM while pushing my CPU with the above-mentioned things), I really have to strain to hear it.

http://www.dvtests.com/noctua-nf-a15-pwm-review/

 

[ruthan]

Once I get my build together, I try different fans and then I fine-tune the fan curve in my BIOS to eliminate that annoying spin-up / spin-down that fans often do if a user uses pre-configured profiles.

Could you post some screenshots / photos of that fine tuned curve? I struggle with Gigabyte bios to make something like that, its not too much user friendly, i cant freely make some curve, there are some annoying limits and with Noctua U.L.N.A adapters, fan often running only when i set it to high performance (high percentage) with there is not really to large range to operate with it.

15 cm fan can more silent, i usually using 12/14 cm ones and there are hearable, there are always also some vibrations in play, in have Corsair 750D case its not heavy piece of metal - i like its design, but material is thing, there are some clunky plastic pieces.

 

[UsandThem]

Tomorrow I can grab a pic of my settings for you.

However, I will say that with good PWM fans, you really shouldn't need to use either the LN or the ULN adapters on Noctua fans. They just limit the highest RPM they spin at, so with the correct fan curve, you shouldn't come anywhere near that. That said, I haven't looked at a Gigabyte BIOS in a few years, but I do know the last Gigabyte board I used (Z170 series), their BIOS fan settings weren't the best.

 

[ruthan]

OK no LN and ULN, so show me some Noctua fans, which are able to 300 PRM without these adapters.. Im not sure that these exist.

 

[UsandThem]

OK no LN and ULN, so show me some Noctua fans, which are able to 300 PRM without these adapters.. Im not sure that these exist.

They do in fact, exist. This is the kind of info I look at when building, and you should be able to easily find it yourself by going to just about any fan manufacturer's website that you are interested in. That's what a PWM fan is all about compared to the 3-pin variety.

If you go to Noctua's website, they show the minimum PWM speed. For example: https://noctua.at/en/nf-a15-pwm/specification

 

[ruthan]

Thanks, i have similar with min RPM ~ 300, so you are saying using it without L.N.A and U.L.N.A and set speed only through bios? So if normal speed is 1200 i should set up curve in bios to 25% to get 1200/4= 300 RPM?

 

[UsandThem]

Thanks, i have similar with min RPM ~ 300, so you are saying using it without L.N.A and U.L.N.A and set speed only through bios? So if normal speed is 1200 i should set up curve in bios to 25% to get 1200/4= 300 RPM?

In my BIOS, it looks like this:

I just set it to a static RPM (I think I have it spin at 400 RPM until my CPU hits 40c), and then I have it to increase at a slow rate up to 60c. Doing anything not intensive on my PC, the fan pretty much stays around 450 RPM or so. If I game or Fold, it spins up to around say 650 - 750 RPM. I could always slow those speeds down a bit if I wanted, but I have to put my ear to my case to hear it, and I don't like my CPU getting too warm.

You just kind of have to play around with the percentages until you get the RPM curve that works for you.

 

[UsandThem]

Oh, one last thing I forgot about earlier.

I really like Noctua fans / products in general, but the last two fans that I bought and use for case fans are even a little better IMO. The first ones that I use for intake fans, are the 140mm Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 PWM fans. The ones I use for my exhaust fans are the 140mm Phanteks PH-F140XP_BK. They are both configurable to run at extremely low RPMs, and their bearings really are smooth and quiet. I do like the Silent Wings 3 a little better, so that would be the fan I would buy if I were in need of any more.

That said, fans are only as good as the case they're in, so if you're looking for a really quiet case, take a look at the Be Quiet Dark Base series. I picked up my 900 on sale at Newegg for around $130, and it is an amazingly quiet / well built case.

 

[ruthan]

Thanks.
Hmm, in picture fan is setup to ~70% of speed if Noctua 300-1200 fan, what is actual speed?

Case i still dream about fanless case.. so my present is placeholder, backed some fanless case project 2 years ago on Kickstarter, but there are delay.

 

[UsandThem]

Thanks.
Hmm, in picture fan is setup to ~70% of speed if Noctua 300-1200 fan, what is actual speed?

Case i still dream about fanless case.. so my present is placeholder, backed some fanless case project 2 years ago on Kickstarter, but there are delay.

The pic was from Tweaktown's review, my curve is much lower with a much more gradual increase. My fan will never hit 100% until the CPU hits 90c (which it never gets anywhere near that), and I believe I have it start at 20% or so. I'll try to take a pic of my actual setting later today. I've just been a little busy with other stuff the last few days.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I spin my noctua fans at around 800rpm and they are quiet.
I aim for <800 on the fans at idle, they ramp up to full speed when cpu temp gets over 60C
The loudest thing by far is my video card fan.

 

[ruthan]

Story continues, i upgraded from 8700K to 9900K and even if on paper both cpus have same TDP 95W, 9900K became unmanageable with my air cooling (Zalman FX-70 2x 12 Noctuas even at full speed), in largest load (RPCS3 playstation emulator) in cpus is at 100C. If Rivaturner is not lie Power consumation is up to 170W (i thing that Intel did everything to keep the crown, or my cpu is somehow deffective).

So i have to use water cooling (Fractal S36), temperatures are no fine, even with load and noise is not so bad.. but its HWinfo and Aida, are not lie VRM at load are 120C, even when i have some Noctua fan running in back of my machine and some at front.
I tried to touch some cubes around cpu socket, but it feel that some of them is particullary hot.. Could someone just post my MB picture and mark by some mark, where VRM supposed to be?
https://static.gigabyte.com/Product/2/6418/2017092516023008_src.png

 

[UsandThem]

Story continues, i upgraded from 8700K to 9900K and even if on paper both cpus have same TDP 95W, 9900K became unmanageable with my air cooling (Zalman FX-70 2x 12 Noctuas even at full speed), in largest load (RPCS3 playstation emulator) in cpus is at 100C. If Rivaturner is not lie Power consumation is up to 170W (i thing that Intel did everything to keep the crown, or my cpu is somehow deffective).

The 9900k is a very demanding CPU when not forced to stay within Intel's limit. Many motherboards have a tough time supplying the power for it, and if the motherboard has basic VRMs / chokes, they will run hot and throttle the CPUs performance. While the 9900k will run in older boards, many of the Z370 motherboards were not designed to properly handle the extra power. Heck, there are even entry-level and mid-range Z390 boards that struggle running the 9900k to its full potential.

I take it you must not have done much research on the 9900k before buying it?

https://www.techspot.com/review/1744-core-i9-9900k-round-two/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-9900k-9th-gen-cpu,5847-13.html

And make no mistake, the Core i9-9900K requires expensive accommodations. You need a premium motherboard with robust power delivery, particularly if you plan on overclocking. The -9900K can drop into existing Z370 motherboards, but we’re sure that many of them will struggle with the chip’s voracious appetite for current. Also plan on investing in a high-end PSU.

You can see the remaining power consumption figures on the previous page, but under almost ideal conditions. The better the cooling, the better the power consumption. However, we were only able to record these large differences at package temperatures above 80°C, which then almost rise like an avalanche. This would dissuade us from air cooling, even if the Intel Core i9-9900K should not be overclocked any further. The 4.7 GHz all-core and a constant load are quite sufficient to make air cooling absurd.

 

[Seba]

Could someone just post my MB picture and mark by some mark, where VRM supposed to be?

VRM's are under those two radiators (the radiator on top and the radiator on top-left). You can see the inductors from the VRM (the inductors are those black cube-shaped parts; 4 inductors on top, 3 inductors on the left side) right next to the radiators.

 

[ruthan]

I take it you must not have done much research on the 9900k before buying it?

Common i dont read every article on every side, you linked Techspot, so there is probably not even AnandTech article. I read reviews for numbers, i dont supose that Intel started cheating, even with this, its between supported cpu list on Gigabyte site, so.. When i both my MB, it was highend.

BTW server MBs, usually have that TDP setting to set it to proper 95W, but i dont thing that my MB has it too?, but im not beside it, now..

VRM's are under those two radiators (the radiator on top and the radiator on top-left). You can see the inductors from the VRM (the inductors are those black cube-shaped parts; 4 inductors on top, 3 inductors on the left side) right next to the radiators.

So basically VRM= black cubes, i touched them at least at the surface they arent hot, same as radiators.. where could be senzor could it be wrong, or temperature inside of cubes is max bigger, even if surface is ok? For not high load reported temperature seems to be fine, so not some shift in numbers, but under few minutes of load i see 120 C, machine is still stable.. Would it melt?

 

[UsandThem]

Common i dont read every article on every side, you linked Techspot, so there is probably not even AnandTech article. I read reviews for numbers, i dont supose that Intel started cheating, even with this, its between supported cpu list on Gigabyte site, so.. When i both my MB, it was highend.

Anandtech reported the high power usage in their product launch review as well. It's simply a very demanding CPU to run.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review/21

 

[UsandThem]

And as I mentioned in my previous reply, here is a review of a mid-range Z390 motherboard that can't even properly support a 9900k:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mag-z390-tomahawk-core-i9-9900k-msi-atx-motherboard,5914-4.html

Unfortunately, we forgot that temperatures over 115 °C were out of range for our thermistor. And so, temperatures kept climbing until the board shut down and refused to boot back up, instead showing a CPU error. No shooting flames, smoke geysers or welding arcs as we’ve seen in previous boards, just a quiet power down without recovery, and a burned thermistor.