Log Restructuring NCASE 7700K/1080 to an AMD? Misguided thinking?

[Creep]

Current build needs a little shakeup. I don't game as much and, in my office, would prefer something producing less heat and power draw, also not possess such awful software and support like Asus. My 1080 is also on it's last legs and suffering from damaged stock fans.

So find a new MOBO and potential GPU then try and work out the cooling or change plans up a bit more?

Intel Core i7-7700K Quad-Core
Noctua NH-U9S
NCASE M1
Asus ROG STRIX Z270i GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Samsung 960 PRO 512 GB M.2
Samsung 960 Pro 2 TB M.2
Corsair SF 600 W 80+ Platinum

Potential Changes:

• Ryzen 5 3600 or 7 3700
• AMD B450 (or if on sale B550) w/ WiFi and preferably (2) M.2 slots (but not necessary)
• GTX 1660 SUPER, STRIX 2060 +/- SUPER, or 2070 +/- SUPER

Still looking to game at 1440p settings so I understand the noise will mainly come from those stock fans.

 

[AlexTSG]

With next gen CPUs due out before the end of the year, and new GeForce cards possibly available within the next month it may be a good idea to wait if you can.

I needed to buy now, and opted for a Ryzen 5 3600 which was only $150, and an MSI B550 motherboard which should be capable of running next gen Ryzen CPUs.

Rumor has it that cheaper A520 boards are being launched next week, but they will have no overclocking support, and are likely to have VRMs only suitable for up to an 8 core CPU, so a B550 is much more future proof, but if you don’t plan on upgrading to a 12 core+ CPU in the future, the A520 boards will probably be in the $100-$150 range.

As for you graphics card, the NCASE M1 is good for a ghetto mod, so if you can de-shroud your card to remove the damaged fans then a couple of 120mm fans set to exhaust from the bottom could work well.

I expect you’ll see deep discounts on the RTX 2070 and 2080 cards come Black Friday with the newer cards out, and if rumors are accurate a new RTX3070 could offer RTX2080 Super performance or better for around $500.

 

[Bubba]

Undervolt your cpu in XTU
Set gpu power limit to minimum (58%) in msi afterburner (or whichever gpu software you use)
Less power. Less Heat. Done.

 

[teodoro]

setting a straight power limit on your gpu will pretty significantly adversely affect gaming performance, but taking the time to undervolt it via msi afterburner will cost you 0-5% performance for a >30% power drop. I also concur that you can tame your 7700k with undervolting. my mildly overclocked 8700k with a dual fan u9s was reasonable, and when I tested that cpu at stock clocks with a mugen 5 cooler I would call it trivial (500rpm 120mm fan kept it below 80c in prime95).

I totally get the desire to tinker, but I think it's a terrible time to buy new components if your current stuff meets your computing needs. undervolting can be a quick and easy process, or you could also get super into it (e.g. downclock your 7700k to 4GHz all core and see how close to 1.0V you can run). deshrouding your gpu and using 120mm fans can scratch the itch to mess around in the case.

+1 for avoiding asus mobos, though. the locked 75C critical temperature for fans to run at 100% is absurd.

 

[Bubba]

Sometimes, it is not possible to decrease the core voltage (in afterburner) on some gpu.
With my 1660 Ti, afterburner only allows to increase voltage.

This is what I do.
I set power limit = 58%
At 58% power, the core clock (in games) is approximately 80% of normal.
42% less power ~~> 20% less core clock (MHz)
After power is set to 58%, I increase the core clock (+200MHz).
I do not change the voltage.

 

[Creep]

Undervolt your cpu in XTU
Set gpu power limit to minimum (58%) in msi afterburner (or whichever gpu software you use)
Less power. Less Heat. Done.

I'm gonna try this as I just remembered I had XTU installed already. Thanks!

setting a straight power limit on your gpu will pretty significantly adversely affect gaming performance, but taking the time to undervolt it via msi afterburner will cost you 0-5% performance for a >30% power drop. I also concur that you can tame your 7700k with undervolting. my mildly overclocked 8700k with a dual fan u9s was reasonable, and when I tested that cpu at stock clocks with a mugen 5 cooler I would call it trivial (500rpm 120mm fan kept it below 80c in prime95).

I totally get the desire to tinker, but I think it's a terrible time to buy new components if your current stuff meets your computing needs. undervolting can be a quick and easy process, or you could also get super into it (e.g. downclock your 7700k to 4GHz all core and see how close to 1.0V you can run). deshrouding your gpu and using 120mm fans can scratch the itch to mess around in the case.

+1 for avoiding asus mobos, though. the locked 75C critical temperature for fans to run at 100% is absurd.

Very true. Intel boards aren't cheap either and I haven't exhausted all options just yet. Will simply dropping the voltage in Afterburner while also running Argus Monitor cause any issues? I'm assuming I'd just disable it.

 

[Bubba]

Very true. Intel boards aren't cheap either and I haven't exhausted all options just yet. Will simply dropping the voltage in Afterburner while also running Argus Monitor cause any issues? I'm assuming I'd just disable it.

In modern graphics processors, there is no longer a fixed relationship between voltage and power.
If voltage decreases (and everything else stays the same), then the gpu will boost to a higher core clock.
Why? because the power setting is the same. The gpu will try to use the same power.

If you want the gpu to use less power, then lowering the power limit makes the most sense to me.
After power/heat is lowered, the core clock and memory clock easily can be overclocked.

 

[teodoro]

if you prefer to set a gpu fan curve in argus monitor, it will probably be fine as long as you do not enable 'user control' for the fan curve in msi afterburner. I haven't personally tested this, though.

while I don't know if voltage control is unlockable for all modern nvidia cards, I think most allow it. you might have to enable it in msi afterburner settings (settings > general tab > compatibility properties > 'Unlock voltage control'). once you've done this, you can hit ctrl+f to bring up the voltage/frequency curve and edit it as you please. the basic idea is the card will attempt to boost to the highest frequency on the curve until some limit (thermal, power, voltage) is hit. if multiple points have the same frequency, it will prefer the lower voltage value. thus, if you pick your desired frequency and voltage, and then set every higher voltage point to have the same frequency, it will choose the desired/lowest voltage. I would suggest googling for some videos/guides for more information--it's intimidating at first but once you understand what's happening I think it's pretty straightforward. for reference, my curve looks like this.

what @Bubba is doing using the power and core clock sliders is functionally equivalent, with less precision/control (but definitely more simpler to implement). by lowering the power limit, he's effectively lowering the max voltage point by 'removing' the frequency/volt points which would result in too much power usage. by raising the core clock, he's shifting the entire curve higher on the frequency axis (try moving that slider while you have the voltage/frequency curve editor open). do note that any time you run a card at a higher-than-factory frequency at a given voltage, that's a chance at introducing instability.

 

[Bubba]

The Voltage/Frequency curve editor in MSI Afterburner controls the voltage and frequency,
but it does not directly control power consumption. Of course, the power consumption will
be affected by changing voltage/frequency but the exact amount is unclear.

The maximum power the gpu can consume is controlled by the power limit.
In winter, I usually set the power limit to 108% (for maximum performance).
In summer, I usually set the power limit to 58% (for minimum heat).
It also depends on which games I play.