PC Building

[Axxemann]

So I've got my custom loop done on Project Spectre. Loop is purged, no leaks. CPU is idling a bit high at around 40C. GPU is at a steady state of 30C. 

I went to run some benchmarks to see if I got any improvement... and the GPU scores TANKED. I'm not even breaking 60fps on an RX6800XT. When I was air cooled, I was throwing down Timespy GPU scores around 19500. Now that I'm water blocked, I can't even break 8000. Furmark causes an INSTANT crash and shutdown. 

I tried a few other benchmarks and I'm getting the same issue, can't even break 60fps when I was getting fps numbers in the triple digits uncapped. I checked my radeon settings and everything is still at default settings the way I left it before pulling the cooler off.

Do I need a fan jumper to trick the CPU into thinking the fan is still connected and spinning at 100%?

I didn't drop all this cash on water cooling to have to drain my loop, gut half of it and put the air cooler back on my card.

[ghost13]

Hi. Could it be that you are on the CPU Graphics? What CPU do you have?

In the Bios settings are all lines x16 for the GPU?

Oh! Question: What CPU Block do you have? At the moment i am looking for a good one.

[Axxemann]

Impossible. It's a 5800X3D.

[johnnyenglish]

I would try the fan trick, put something just to do the benchmarks. Nothing to load.

[ajlueke]

Timespy scores are mostly GPU dependent.  What are your GPU temps while running the benchmark?  How do the hotspots look in something like HWINFO?  

[Axxemann · Accepted solution]

It was a bad water block mount. Pads were too thin, and so was the Kryosheet. Wasn't getting contact with the cold plate. Hotspot on the GPU die was idling at 110C after I popped HWINFO, Package temps never went above 35C.

I ended up taking the card out after draining my loop and bringing it into work with me so I could rethermal it. I had some thicker pads, and some MX-4 on hand. Between phone calls to Dispatch where I work, I got it sorted out. Back into the rig when I got home and refilled, purged the air and ran the pump on my spare PSU to look for leaks. All good, so I fired up and here we are. Hotspot is idling in the 30s. GOOD MOUNT!

[Duron999Mhz]

As ajueke mentioned, what are the temperature values for the GPU and components ? A good free program is HWinfo64 and it shows some good detail for these values. 

Also, what CPU are you using ? Just to cover your bases, are the settings in bios correct or are they on default by chance ?

[BigAl01]

Did you do a recent Windows 11 update?  The latest version has hurt the frame rate a bit.

[Axxemann]

I'm avoiding Win11 like the everloving PLAGUE. It's bad enough that I had to buy a new activation key because Micro$soft stopped honoring the legacy upgrade licenses back in OCTOBER. Thankfully, it was only $20 on one of the 3rd party Key sites.

[jaandoh]

Nice to hear you got it sorted out, and thanks for sharing the resolution too,

I'd love a custom loop, I'm envious of not having one, but I've stuck with aio since I'm a scaredy cat 😂

[Axxemann]

Fear not. IT can be daunting and frustrating AF, but once it's done and working properly it's something that you can 100% call CUSTOM.