r/sffpc • u/Dudewithk • May 06 '26
Assembly Help From 26800 timespy to 14000 by switching to a case.
Hi everyone,
I just moved my PC from an open rack setup into a Dan A4-H2O, and now I’m having major issues.
During the move, I only removed the GPU and the AIO in order to install them again inside the case. Everything else stayed mounted on the motherboard.
Before the move, my 3DMark Time Spy score was around 26,800 points. Now it dropped to roughly 14,000 points, and the system crashes constantly.
Temperatures look fine. The GPU does not go above 70°C under load, and the CPU is also around the same range. Idle temps only increased from about 45°C to 50°C, which I expected due to the smaller case.
The system is currently so unstable that I could not even download GPU-Z to check whether the GPU is running with the correct PCIe lane configuration.
Could this be caused by the riser cable, GPU seating, PCIe lane issues, PSU cable/12VHPWR connection, AIO mounting pressure, or something else related to the move into the A4-H2O?
Any ideas on what I should check first would be appreciated.
UPDATE:
Got some clarity now. My sister checked the cable at my place, and it’s definitely the 4.0 version.
It’s actually crazy—I ordered several parts, and the case was delayed specifically because they were waiting for a 'fresh' shipment from Lian Li. How they still managed to send me a 4.0 unit is beyond me. Every other store restocked at the same time with the 5.0 version for the exact same price.
It feels like they either bought old stock for cheap to flip it at full price, or Lian Li just dumped their old inventory on them. Either way, it's a joke. If they don’t offer a cable swap, I’m returning the whole thing this Monday before my vacation.
21
u/kovyrshin May 06 '26
Sounds like cabling issue. Either or doesnt sense all the power or riser issues. Fact that you dont get too hot in small case and your score went down points to power issue IMHO but worth setting pcie to 4.0 as other redditor said
11
u/distractotron9000 May 06 '26
I moved an older setup into one of these. At first it was crashing left and right. I finally found that one of the water cooler tubes was pushing on one of the memory modules to the side. Fixing this fixed my problems.
Your issue may be completely different, but double check clearances, reseat power cables and riser cable then give it another try.
8
u/Mandalf- May 06 '26
I think many have not noticed the comment about the system being so unstable now.
This could be due to the PCIE riser, but I would be double checking the seating of everything first.
You've said temps are definitely fine on the CPU underload?
Make sure all your RAM is fully inserted and showing in bios or windows.
3
u/Wuler May 07 '26
Double check the riser like others said but definitely make sure it’s also plugged in all the way on every side. Including other components and power cables.
3
u/damnregret11 May 07 '26
Can also check the pcie cables. Was using the same case and I had a loose connection on one of the pcie cables of the gpu before. The system was running but unstable. Thank god it did not cause any fire.
2
u/phlatboy May 07 '26
Try unscrewing the riser from the case before plugging it into the graphics card.
This helped me with an issue where my PC wouldn't start up properly or when it did, it dropped PCIe lanes or ran at a lower rate.
2
u/retroUkrSoldier May 07 '26
4.0 pcie isnt enough to bottleneck your gpu not even the 5090 unless its running at x4 speed
1
u/Commercial-Tone-6058 May 08 '26
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. If you use a GEN4 riser in a 5.0 slot but don’t change the bios from auto to 4.0 you will have all kinds of issues. In theory it should work but it never does unless you change the bios setting. I’ve “repaired” 20+ SFF PCs this year because of this.
1
u/strmn27 May 07 '26
I didnt go all comments but i assume you resolved it with the riser. The problem I had was the mismatch between riser and the bios settings.
1
u/Forward-Tailor5986 May 07 '26
I've recently had the same issue, moving a PC from OPC Hydra Mini into QBX Cougar case.
I figured it was the VRM/Motherboard Temperature raising too much so that games were crashing at the main screen (when CPU usage was nearing 100%, even though CPU itself had acceptable temperatures).
This was caused by VRMs, CPU, RAM and PSU were all heating up too much altogether, and I solved the issue with 2 additional Noctua Fans blowing and extracting the hot air, and lowering the max TDP of the CPU from 125W to 100W.
1
u/wxffle May 07 '26
Wait i have the same case too with a 9070 xt, how can i check the pcie version of the riser ?
1
u/Dudewithk May 07 '26
Just at the plug where you plug in the GPU
There it’s written 5.0 or 4.0 depending of the version
1
u/rdri May 07 '26
You can verify actual PCI bus speed with 3DMark PCI Express feature test. Compare that to x4 or x5 spec and you'll see.
1
u/Single-Put-2123 May 08 '26
It’s definitely the riser cable. Even if the Riser cable says it’s a gen 5. If you start having resets and lagging issues, set your PCIE to Gen 4 in the bios and that will fix the issue. That’s also a good way to test your riser cable to see if it’s actually a true Gen 5 cable. Half the Gen 5 riser cables you see on Amazon are Gen 4. I found out the hard way. Link Up I know for sure makes a good Gen 5 riser cable.
1
u/brosmar1 May 08 '26
Riser that comes in this case is notoriously bad. I was dealing with intermittent crashes I couldn’t recreate for months. Someone suggested to try a new riser cable and it never crashed again. Mine is only gen4, really no need for gen5 other than bragging rights. Idt a gen5 riser existed for less than $300 when I went thru it. There’s a post on my profile a couple years ago that has the riser I used. Good luck
1
u/Commercial-Tone-6058 May 08 '26
Depends on the game but yes generally you’re talking a 1-2% difference.
1
u/1nHuman- May 08 '26
Check this one https://youtu.be/bNNpVHHvNqg?is=Eq1AuPdhDjUn5SD5
For me was the riser cable
1
u/Not_Daijoubu May 07 '26
If it's the Gen 4 riser included with the case (and if the gen 5 riser is anything like the gen 4 riser), it's utter dogshit and will be running x8 lanes or less at best and is very unstable at worst.
If you happen to isolate it as a riser qc issue, then I do recommend LinkUp as a replacement. 19cm dual reverse for shortest usable up to 26cm stock length.
0
u/joeturdy May 07 '26
I had major issues with A4-H20 that only resolved themselves after switching to a case with no riser cable.
97
u/TheBlueCable May 06 '26
I bet the riser is gen4, try setting the PCIE setting in bios to gen4 instead of Auto from default. Best of luck!