Water cooling setup inquiry Question about 13900k water cooling system
Water cooling setup inquiry Question about 13900k water cooling system
Hey there - I'm trying to figure out why my CPU temperatures are so high lately. My setup is an ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 with the i9 13900K, water-cooled, and a 3080ti. It comes with dynamic cooling via a custom loop with 14mm tubing, plus a Corsair XD7 pump and XC7 CPU block. The 3080ti fan setup has multiple intake and exhaust ports, but I'm still seeing temps hovering around 42-50°C even when idle. When I run benchmarks, it jumps to about 98°C on the package and 95°C per core. The GPU is cooler, around 28°C at idle, but the CPU maxes out near 60°C during stress. I've checked the CPU block fit and contact quality, even after replacing parts a few times. I'm considering swapping it out but would really appreciate any advice from the community!
the water temperature inside the loop during cinebench runs is around 98°C. when the cpu reaches 98°C, you can operate fans at their maximum capacity and keep the pump running at its peak performance. a decent D5 pump should spin between 4500 to 5000 rpm under these conditions. it's important to verify if this maintains lower cpu temperatures. do you have a contact frame? if so, it seems to be performing well. however, as loads increase, you might need additional radiators in the loop to prevent overheating. if not yet, always run fan curves based on water temperatures—this is the only factor fans can adjust. you could push the fans to 45 or 50°C in the curve, which shouldn't cause excessive noise unless your radiators can't dissipate heat effectively. you might also want to consider using thicker radiators for better cooling.
Pump is working properly; the D5 combo seems appropriate for this setup. They won’t matter much unless you’re dealing with an excessive amount of blocks and RAM. Are you running the pump at maximum speed? Do you have a solid contact frame to ensure the block stays firmly connected to the IHS? The problem with these chips is efficiently removing heat from the small surface area of the LGA1700, which limits overall power output.
Pump model D5 operates at 5,000 RPM and I don't believe this is the problem.
I've tested comparable power devices using dual 360 slim rads or a 360 + thick 280 (5960X + Radeon VII, most recently 7980XE + 2060 Super). These setups typically handle higher wattage than yours and mine, with my CPUs only reaching the 90s under extreme stress like Prime95 smallFFT—then they barely register any issue. It seems you're likely facing CPU overheating rather than loop problems, so checking a contact frame might help. Are you modifying any components beyond the standard stock? Also confirm all modules are arranged correctly. Some users report no concern (my EK block for the Radeon VII worked), but performance drops or components can stick if inlet-outlet direction is reversed.