I switched to Team Red because the i9-9900KS was overheating its VRMs.
I switched to Team Red because the i9-9900KS was overheating its VRMs.
I launched it after finishing a game of Valorant, then started up my ffmpeg encode to run while i went for lunch, i came back to these temperatures Is there even a shutdown point? Honestly i'm going to have to quit this encode it's only encoded 5 minutes out of a 17 minute clip and i'm starting to smell burning stuff.
The whole situation looks off after the throttling and burning odors. Could you be misusing an AIO in a way that disrupts the case flow? Check the VRM heatsinks to confirm they’re properly installed.
Based on how ASUS attaches heatsinks to GPUs, it's quite likely possible lol
My 360mm AIO is mounted at the front, equipped with six NF-F12PWM fans, running at 80°C on the CPU. All fans spin at full speed, while three extra 140mm exhaust fans are positioned on the sides—one at the back, two on top. All these ML140 fans operate without LEDs and are controlled by CPU temperature sensing, ramping up to 100% at high load. I recently performed a thorough clean of the AIO, leaving everything spotless. When the system is idle, the CPU temperature hovers around 33°C and the VRM voltage stays between 50-60%. I’ve checked the heatsinks; after removal and inspection, the pads still make good contact with the power stages. Removing the plastic shield helped delay reaching those temperatures. Currently, I’ve reduced ffmpeg threads to eight, which has noticeably slowed encoding but stabilized the system at 110-111°C. Voltages fluctuate, and I notice a strange sluggishness in performance. The burning odor is gone, though the back fan still emits a faint smell. I’ve been considering upgrading to the MSI X570 Unify, but for now I’m sticking with the R5 3600—its VRM is solid compared to top-tier options, and it fits my budget. I might eventually trade in my 9900KS and motherboard for a 4950X once it arrives.
I don't suggest moving to AMD since the 9900ks remain costly yet quite capable. Have you tested your CPU in another LGA 1151 socket? Did the VRMs overheat significantly? In fact, Z390 is still a solid platform, and downgrading to a 3600 seems unnecessary. I’d recommend discarding this board and purchasing a new one—you should be fine for now. Once you’re ready, you can upgrade to AMD, but for now this setup should last a few years.
I previously owned a more affordable MSI board that operated near its maximum capacity. Eventually, it failed due to thermal throttling, reaching temperatures around 150°C before stopping altogether. After replacing it, I switched to an ASRock Z390 Gaming Edge AC model with an M.2 SSD. It had only two M.2 slots, which limited my options. Eventually, I upgraded to a 9900KS board once I secured a good deal on an SSD. To prevent overheating, I set a current limit so the VRM never exceeded 100°C. My friend used the 9900K and MSI board with a discount, and I appreciated the current cap.
The ASRock BIOS had issues with C-States, causing poor disk performance. I resolved it by editing the BIOS myself and informing ASRock, who acknowledged the problem and sent me a beta version. Unfortunately, they didn’t apply the fix in their next release. Now I’m using a modified BIOS that restores proper C-State handling, allowing full drive speeds.
I’m hoping to acquire the 3950X soon if I can find a solid price on the Z390 board and 9900KS. That would make this an upgrade instead of a downgrade. Until then, I’ll stick with the 3600 until I can get better Intel parts.
I used to own a 9900KS, but it was problematic—especially with VRM design. Companies seemed to prioritize the board over the CPU, which hurt performance. I fixed it by tweaking the BIOS and even sent a request to ASRock for a fix, though they didn’t implement it. Now I’m running a customized BIOS that works well.
The Z490 looks appealing since it’s Intel and should be reliable with no known issues. Its unified design matches the X570’s specs, which is great for storage bandwidth. I’ve faced storage limits with DMI links and multiple NVMe drives before, so I’m cautious.
I wish companies would invest more in VRM quality for the Z390 line. It seems only premium boards with higher costs had better VRMs. The Z490 could be a solid choice, especially if I can secure the right components soon.
It seems am4 is a good choice for DMI 4.0, likely improving your workload and offering better scalability. However, it looks like you had a bad experience with two boards—really frustrating!