Need advice on checking your new CPU's temperature.
Need advice on checking your new CPU's temperature.
I recently switched to a Ryzen 5 3600 (previously fx-8300). Here are the details: MOBO: MSI B450 GAMING PLUS, RAM: 16GB = 2x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB at 3600MHz, CL18 PSU from Seasonic S12III (80 PLUS Bronze, 500W), GPU: GTX 1060 3GB. I kept my old GPU, it works fine for 1080p on a 60Hz screen. The cooler is AMD Wraith Prism (not the one with the CPU), which I bought cheaply from someone who had it with his CPU but didn’t use it. The case is Deepcool Matrexx 55 Mesh; I don’t like its noise sometimes—it keeps spinning up from 2000 RPM to 3600 and back, which is annoying. After observing this, I checked CPU temps: they drop about 10 seconds then jump roughly 10°C before rising again. I attached a screenshot of the temperatures from MSI Afterburner. At first I thought it was due to insufficient case fans (120mm exhaust and 80mm intake), but after adding two 120mm intakes front and back, and two 120mm exhausts, temps decreased but still had those spikes followed by longer descents. While writing this (after five minutes of idle with only Afterburner and AIDA64 running), the CPU hit a low of 43°C but also spiked to 68°C while usage stayed under 3%. Is this typical? Or could there be an issue with thermal paste or something else?
To lower the fan noise, modify the fan curve in the BIOS. For tighter temperature control, ensure your motherboard lacks CPU overclocking features such as PBO—turning it off has minimal impact on performance. Alternatively, consider using a distinct CPU cooler like the hyper212 black.
It seems like the setup is spot on for a Ryzen processor. The temperature spikes are typical. I’ve tried the Wraith Prism on my 2700x before, but it didn’t work well even with a custom fan curve—my fan was really loud. A $30 Ventroo V5 would have made a big difference.
Your temperatures are just right. Modify your fan curve in BIOS or Windows software to reduce speed fluctuations. Most users notice fan noise when pitch changes frequently due to speed shifts. Keeping curves steady at the same speeds is the easiest solution. Since you're around 50°C, you should be fine—just avoid increasing speed beyond 65 or 70. CPUs running under 60% load at full capacity are excellent. I'd worry if you hit 90%.
Load under 100% reached about 85°C in-game, dropping to 70-75°C. I’ll try tweaking the fan curve. The BIOS only offers four settings and I doubt adding more is possible. In past attempts, it wasn’t smooth enough to go unnoticed. Thanks!
Used an MSI Gaming board with a unique fan curve. What performed well was maintaining steady fan speeds across different ranges. For instance, lower speeds around 0-60c, mid-range at 61-75c, higher at 76-85c, and full speed above 85c. Minor temperature changes didn't affect speed much until reaching certain points. Overall, the AMD coolers were fine for regular use but not ideal for heavy loads; a tower would give better results. Even a basic $30 cooler would likely improve performance significantly.
When tweaking the fan curve, confirm it matches your desired settings. 3-pin fans require DC while 4-pin fans rely on PWM. I typically start with the maximum volume setting and adjust from there.