Extremely high idle temperatures (3800XT water-cooled)
Extremely high idle temperatures (3800XT water-cooled)
Hey everyone, I just created an account here seeking your guidance. I developed a new system about two years ago and have been experiencing unusually high idle temperatures on my CPU. Initially, I overclocked it to 4.5 GHz with a 1.4V voltage across all cores, and it stayed stable between 35°C and 42°C in Windows. However, idle temps jumped to around 50°C or more when the system was idle, which matches what the BIOS reports. The CPU runs at roughly 2-3%, and during game launches that demand a lot of processing power—like Fortnite—I see spikes reaching 95°C or more, sometimes even higher, causing the system to reboot. I’ve reset the BIOS to default and tried undervolting, but the issue persists. The cooling components are functioning normally—pump and fans operate as expected—and airflow isn’t blocked or low. It’s unclear if the CPU itself is faulty or if my AIO setup contributed to the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
These temps match every water-cooled Ryzen setup I've seen, even my own when it was watercooled. No issues here. Air cooling usually brings down idle temps, but most of the heat comes from the CPU itself. If you follow the recommended coolant change and thermal paste replacement, your performance should improve slightly.
It seems like the cooling system is performing poorly, almost as if it’s completely failing. If performance surges to 95°C during heavy CPU tasks, it indicates the cooler isn’t handling the load effectively. Why would it feel like the pump is working properly when it’s clearly not?
I replaced the CPU cooler with Kryonaut, but temperatures haven’t changed. For the AIO I could perform a full refill, but I’ve already removed air from the case and there’s no indication of leaks. The pump is spinning around 2500 to 2600 RPM as the Alphacool site suggests. I’ve reset everything in the BIOS to default settings and reduced the voltage to 1.2 volts, yet the idle temperature remains unchanged.
I also understand the pump is working since I removed the connector from the pump connector on the MB when the system was running, and I noticed it stopped moving while temperatures increased. After reconnecting it, the temperatures returned to normal as shown in the screenshot.
You've noticed the same setup with your Ryzen 7 and Corsair 115i. The temperatures are a bit high, especially during peaks. Are the fans configured to move air in or out? It sounds like they might be handling heat from inside or from outside the system.