9900k in Ncase M1

[knewt]

So I finally got my case this monday, what a nice piece of hardware this is. Was really fun to build in, challenging compared to the big ATX cases I am used to. My initial plan was to get a 9700k, but I got a very good offer for a new 9900k that I could not refuse. So here I am, trying to air cool a 9900k with a C14S.

I thought I would create this thread for me and others that are trying to run 9900k's in their M1s.

My build:

CPU	Intel Core i9 9900k
Motherboard	Gigabyte AORUS z390 I PRO WIFI
RAM	Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz 16GB (2x8GB)
PSU	Corsair SF750 v2
GPU	Gigabyte 1070 G1 (from old PC)
CPU cooler	Noctua NH-C14S (with included NF-A14 and extra NF-A12x15)
Case fans	1x Noctua NF-A9, 2x NF-A12x25
Disks	1x Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 500GB, 2x SATA SSDs

When I read about this online, the best configuration for my fans seems to be:

• Run the two C14S fans as Exhaust (move air from the motherboard into the side of the case, blowing hot air out)
• Run the single A9 fan in the back of the case as Intake (move fresh air straight into the N14S heatsink)
• Run the two A12x25 fans at the bottom of the case as Exhaust (moving hot air away from the GPU heatsinks)

To achieve the last step I had to remove the fan casing from my GPU cooler, leaving it naked with only heatsinks (similar to people running Accelero Xtreme III, but with the included Gigabyte heatsinks instead). There was not enough space when I ran it as this with the fans still on.


Now, these are my test results with this set up:

Software	CPU temp (max)	GPU temp (max)
Cinebench R20 (2 times in a row)	90c	N/A
Prime 95 v29.8 (Small FFTs, only about 20-30 sec)	99c	N/A
Battlefield V (40 minutes gameplay)	76c	81c
Idle	30-34c	46c

The torture tests rendered very high temperatures for CPU, but Battlefield V gameplay was alright I guess. Idle temps are good. I believe room ambient temperature is around 21c.




One big problem with this fan setup for me is that when the GPU gets hot, my fans start spinning quite high (like 2000+ RPM), blowing air straight down effectively blowing air on my hands when I use the mouse and keyboard. This gets uncomfortable quite fast. Can be solved in one of three ways:

1. Limit maximum fan speed. I dont think this is viable for me because of my temperatures.
2. Install another heatsink cooler like Accelero Xtreme III. Should increase cooling and therefore reduce maximum fan speeds.
3. Switch the 2 fans to Intake instead of Exhaust. Best option since it will reduce all the air on my hands, but may affect CPU temperatures which I cannot afford. Also best option because of how the dust filters are positioned.

Anyone got any tips for me how I should proceed? I would love to hear your input or hear about your own 9900k builds and temperatures!

 

[raymondzzd]

Hi, I have Gigabyte 1070 G1 as well. The CPU is Ryzen 3900X (paired with C14S). CPU and GPU were at 65c after 1 hour of Monster hunter world. I just use the 1070 as stock, unmodifed. C14S is use a NF-F12 as exhaust and NF-A9 at the back as intake. Fans are set to 60% in bios.
I guess you could try the third option, since the side panel holes opening are exended to side of the GPU on v6. But the hot air may just blow at you face this way. (mine does that ?)

 

[knewt]

So I decided to spend this evening simply reversing every fan I have and then run the tests again. So with this new setup I use the two bottom A12x25 as Intake, I reversed both the CPU fans for the C14S to blow fresh air from the side of the chassi straight on to the CPU/motherboard, and I configured the A9 in the back as Exhaust.

Software	CPU temp (max)	GPU temp (max)
Cinebench R20 (2 times in a row)	90c (no change)	N/A
Prime 95 v29.8 (Small FFTs, only about 20-30 sec)	99c (no change)	N/A
Prime 95 v26.6 (Small FFTs, about 5-10 minutes)	97c (no data to compare)	N/A
Battlefield V (40 minutes gameplay)	78c (up from 76c)	70c (down from 81c)
Idle	30-34c	46c

CPU temps was decreased more than 10c so it looks like a win in that regard. I got no more air blowing at my hands and I can utilize the dust filters as they were intended. Very good.


CPU temps while gaming was affected somewhat, but only by a few degrees. CPU temps without any load on the GPU was not really affected at all.

I believe this was a win, however I still would like the CPU temperature down a bit more to feel completely comfortable, especially since my ambient temp is around 21c now and I dont know how it would handle gaming during a hot summer. It also produces quite a bit of noise, but I dont think theres any way around that for me.

Maybe the next step is to repaste the CPU cooler, just to make sure I didnt screw that up.

Thanks for the tip @raymondzzd! Not much hot air blowing at me

 

[panerai]

my 9900k delid
cpu cooler thermalright silver airrow 130
oc4.8 all core fullload72-76
Cinebench R20

 

[JoShmo]

So I finally got my case this monday, what a nice piece of hardware this is. Was really fun to build in, challenging compared to the big ATX cases I am used to. My initial plan was to get a 9700k, but I got a very good offer for a new 9900k that I could not refuse. So here I am, trying to air cool a 9900k with a C14S.

I thought I would create this thread for me and others that are trying to run 9900k's in their M1s.

My build:

CPU	Intel Core i9 9900k
Motherboard	Gigabyte AORUS z390 I PRO WIFI
RAM	Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz 16GB (2x8GB)
PSU	Corsair SF750 v2
GPU	Gigabyte 1070 G1 (from old PC)
CPU cooler	Noctua NH-C14S (with included NF-A14 and extra NF-A12x15)
Case fans	1x Noctua NF-A9, 2x NF-A12x25
Disks	1x Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 500GB, 2x SATA SSDs

When I read about this online, the best configuration for my fans seems to be:

• Run the two C14S fans as Exhaust (move air from the motherboard into the side of the case, blowing hot air out)
• Run the single A9 fan in the back of the case as Intake (move fresh air straight into the N14S heatsink)
• Run the two A12x25 fans at the bottom of the case as Exhaust (moving hot air away from the GPU heatsinks)

To achieve the last step I had to remove the fan casing from my GPU cooler, leaving it naked with only heatsinks (similar to people running Accelero Xtreme III, but with the included Gigabyte heatsinks instead). There was not enough space when I ran it as this with the fans still on.


Now, these are my test results with this set up:

Software	CPU temp (max)	GPU temp (max)
Cinebench R20 (2 times in a row)	90c	N/A
Prime 95 v29.8 (Small FFTs, only about 20-30 sec))	99c	N/A
Battlefield V (40 minutes gameplay)	76c	81c
Idle	30-34c	46c

The torture tests rendered very high temperatures for CPU, but Battlefield V gameplay was alright I guess. Idle temps are good. I believe room ambient temperature is around 21c.




One big problem with this fan setup for me is that when the GPU gets hot, my fans start spinning quite high (like 2000+ RPM), blowing air straight down effectively blowing air on my hands when I use the mouse and keyboard. This gets uncomfortable quite fast. Can be solved in one of three ways:

1. Limit maximum fan speed. I dont think this is viable for me because of my temperatures.
2. Install another heatsink cooler like Accelero Xtreme III. Should increase cooling and therefore reduce maximum fan speeds.
3. Switch the 2 fans to Intake instead of Exhaust. Best option since it will reduce all the air on my hands, but may affect CPU temperatures which I cannot afford. Also best option because of how the dust filters are positioned.

Anyone got any tips for me how I should proceed? I would love to hear your input or hear about your own 9900k builds and temperatures!

Those CPU temps suggest that maybe your cooler isn't making good contact? Many people have reported good results with the C14S.
Also, how have you got the 9900K clocked? Stock? Have you tried undervolting?

Fwiw:
My build:

CPU	Intel Core i9 9900k - (TDP limits removed - 400mV offset undervolt)
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming ITX/AC
RAM	Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz 32GB (2x16GB)
PSU	Corsair SF750 v2
GPU	Sapphire Radeon RX580 8GB
CPU cooler	Fractal Design Celsius S24 AIO w/ 2 x Noctua NF-A12x25 (intake - running slow and quiet)
Case fans	2 x Noctua NF-A12x25 (case bottom exhaust - silent profile)
Disks	2 x ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVMe

(Max Temps reported by CPUID HWMonitor)
Idle - 29C
Cinebench R20 (Run twice) - 69C
AIDA64 - 60 Mins - 77C

I've only just completed this build so haven't gone to town overclocking yet, just removed the power limits in the BIOS and did a small undervolt.

 

[knewt]

Thanks for the input @JoShmo. I run it at stock so far and I have underclocking on the agenda in the future, but first I wanna make sure everything is installed and working as expected as a baseline.

I will look into the thermal paste. I am used to put a pea in the middle and let the CPU cooler spread it out, but maybe the amount of paste was not enough. I also struggled on finding the screw holes while installing it, maybe I butchered it. Im using Grizzly Kryonaut paste.

I'll also verify if something in the case or motherboard is stopping the heatsink from getting good contact with the CPU.

 

[JoShmo]

Thanks for the input @JoShmo. I run it at stock so far and I have underclocking on the agenda in the future, but first I wanna make sure everything is installed and working as expected as a baseline.

I will look into the thermal paste. I am used to put a pea in the middle and let the CPU cooler spread it out, but maybe the amount of paste was not enough. I also struggled on finding the screw holes while installing it, maybe I butchered it. Im using Grizzly Kryonaut paste.

I'll also verify if something in the case or motherboard is stopping the heatsink from getting good contact with the CPU.

Yeah there's definitely something wrong there if that's from stock. Good luck!

 

[paulesko]

yes, I would say that is too little paste. In cpus (not gpus) it´s not bad if you put too much paste. Der8auer and Gamers Nexus talked about it in a video, and they say that the only bad thing about using too much thermal paste on the cpu is clean the mess when you dissassemble it, but it´s not bad for the temps or the hardware itself.

Other thing you can do is to install HWinfo and tell us how much power your SoC is pulling so we can make and idea if the problem is with the cooling or some mobo config or what.

 

[knewt]

yes, I would say that is too little paste. In cpus (not gpus) it´s not bad if you put too much paste. Der8auer and Gamers Nexus talked about it in a video, and they say that the only bad thing about using too much thermal paste on the cpu is clean the mess when you dissassemble it, but it´s not bad for the temps or the hardware itself.

Other thing you can do is to install HWinfo and tell us how much power your SoC is pulling so we can make and idea if the problem is with the cooling or some mobo config or what.

Thank you for the input, I will definitely try repasting it with more paste.

I suspect this as well, maybe my motherboard (which isnt the most popular) gives it too much voltage. During a 5 minute Prime95 (v26.6, Small FFTs) run I get 1.314v on the highest core. I know I saw 1.35 something in one of my tests earlier as well. Not sure if this is too much, I'll investigate that as well.

 

[paulesko]

Thank you for the input, I will definitely try repasting it with more paste.

I suspect this as well, maybe my motherboard (which isnt the most popular) gives it too much voltage. During a 5 minute Prime95 (v26.6, Small FFTs) run I get 1.314v on the highest core. I know I saw 1.35 something in one of my tests earlier as well. Not sure if this is too much, I'll investigate that as well.

I can't say if it's too much or not because I have AMD, but my guess is that 1.35 it's right up there on the top of what is normal.

 

[knewt]

So I just repasted the CPU, this time with more paste. The cooler was fitted very good with no obvious obstacles in the way. Unfortunately the results are almost the same for benchmarks. Havent had the time to play BFV yet.

Software	CPU temp (max)	GPU temp (max)
Cinebench R20 (2 times in a row)	86c (down 4c)	N/A
Prime 95 v29.8 (Small FFTs, only about 20-30 sec)	99c (no change)	N/A
Prime 95 v26.6 (Small FFTs, about 5-10 minutes)	95c (down 2c)	N/A

Looking at HWiNFO during the last test (Prime 95 26.6), the Vcore max is 1.284v, however looking at the cores individually most of them reach 1.320v with one odd at 1.335v and one at 1.286v. I read however that Small FFT tests are not the best real world benchmark and I will do some more testing with other softwares such as AIDA64.

Maybe I just lost the silicon lottery big time?

 

[knewt]

So im back with some more info. I have learned two things the past few days:
1. Using Small FFTs as a benchmark is not very realistic, especially not with the latest Prime 95. My point is that no real world scenario would have resulted in 90c+ temps from what I could tell, so it would actually have been OK to run it at stock.
2. My motherboard seems to be too generous when it comes to vcore voltage, and this is the reason my temps are not ideal.

So I have spent the past few evenings undervolting both my CPU and my GPU, and I must say I am very pleased with the results. I now have a cooler and more quiet PC that still performs as well as stock.

I configured my motherboard to give less voltage by setting an offset by -0.08v, as well as changing the Loadline level to "Normal". This gave me the following results:

Software	CPU temp (Core max) avg/max	GPU temp max	CPU Vcore avg/max
Cinebench R20 (2 times in a row)	64c/79c (4850pts)	N/A	1.101v/1.236v
Prime 95 v29.8 (Small FFTs, 20sec)	71c/91c	N/A	1.05v/1.224v
AIDA64 Stability Test (2mins)	75c/82c	N/A	1.238v/1.260v
AIDA64 Stability Test (70mins)	81c/88c	N/A	1.245v/1.284v
Battlefield V (10mins)	63c/72c	67c/70c	1.210v/1.260v
Prime 95 v26.6 (Small FFTs, 6hrs)	83c/87c	N/A	1.173v/1.236v
OCCT (1h30m)	65c/80c	N/A	1.253v/1.284v
Idle 1 min	24-28c		0.625v

Best thing is that I do not sacrifice any performance. In some scenarios I see single core 5GHz. Runs much cooler and fans dont spin too much.


I also undervolted my Gigabyte G1 1070GTX, I was able to run it at 0.095v with 2000MHz boost clock.

If anyone wants help on what settings I did for my motherboard (Gigabyte Aorus Z390 I PRO WIFI) just let me know and I'll help. And thanks for the input everyone!

 

[raymondzzd]

That looks a lot better. Enjoy!

 

[MelonGx]

I used to have a NCase M1 with 9700K and the same motherboard.
If you use air cooling, 9700K - 9900K + Prime95 Small FFTs @ 99C is quite normal.
Neither Noctua NH-C14/S / BeQuiet Dark Rock TF (the best top-flow air coolers for M1) nor Thermalright Silver Arrow 130 (the best side-flow air cooler for M1) can handle 9700K (150W) & 9900K (210W) ’s Prime95 Small FFTs.
You have only 2 choices:
- Downgrade your CPU to 9600K (125W)
or
- Use 240 AIO

BTW, in my case, CPU Vcore adjustment is not work.
Even -0.001V, 3 cores of my 9700K stopped working within 2 minutes on Prime95 Small FFTs.

 

[Hixbot]

I'm late to the party here. I was tweaking with my 9700k c14s (Asrock Z390, 2060super) in a mATX case while I waited for my Ncase M1 to arrive. I found I would hit 99c with Prime95 Small FFT, and I also thought something was wrong. While gaming it would sit in low 80c. I also found Powermax torture test with AVX would bring my CPU to 99c. I tried re-apply thermal compound, running the system outside case, playing with fan orientation and RPM etc no help.

I lowered my Vcore, by using -0.05V offset (any lower voltage I get Prime95 errors), got a big temp difference. I get 85c with same tests on Prime 95 and Powermax. Gaming i see around 75c.

In hindsight, I think 99c is normal for 9700k under these tests. I'm happy with my slight under-volting, but I don't think it was necessary, my temps while gaming were not an issue.

 

[sunrainsky]

• Run the two C14S fans as Exhaust (move air from the motherboard into the side of the case, blowing hot air out)

Just want to ask a question.
Do you connect the two C14S fans mentioned as one 140mm and one 120mm slim together on one header?

 

[knewt]

Just want to ask a question.
Do you connect the two C14S fans mentioned as one 140mm and one 120mm slim together on one header?

Sorry for the late response and I assume the answer is not relevant for you any longer, but I do run them on the same header with an adapter.

 

[MelonGx]

Just want to ask a question.
Do you connect the two C14S fans mentioned as one 140mm and one 120mm slim together on one header?

C14S doesn't have any slim fan mounter unless you hand-make a pair of it.