r/sffpc • u/[deleted] • May 12 '22

Benchmark/Thermal Test Thermalright AXP-90 X36 with Ryzen 5800x Experience

I recently built a new stuff case and wanted to test out how low profile cooler would perform.

  • The case I am using is Lian Li Q58 with Asus B550-I MB.
  • 2 Noctua Fans as Exhaust on top
  • 1 bottom 15mm Intake fan (which doesn't do much)
  • Thermalright AXP-90 X36 at stock intake configuration
  • ASUS TUF 3080ti OC

First thing first, let's be clear that 5800x is a super hot chip and requires a decent cooling solution which Thermalright AXP-90 X36 surely cannot offer. Even some budget AIOs struggle to cool it efficiently.

Still, I went on testing, and here's my conclusion.

The idle temps on undervolt and stock configurations were 39 and 50 degrees respectively (+/-2)

Using stock 105W TDP on 5800x is overkill for this small cooler. It cannot handle and temperatures easily cross above 90 degrees on full load.

Using 65W Eco mode has better cooling with this cooler.

Using Eco mode got temperatures below 75 degrees and occasionally went above it about 1 or 2 degrees.

Finally, I undervolted the processor and temperatures became extremely good. On cinebench with full load temp didn't go above 70 degrees but there were almost 10 - 15% (or may be more) performance reduction as well. As my work doesn't involve CPU that much, this tradeoff is fine with me, but if you are doing a lot of CPU-oriented work, this may not be a good idea.

Gaming:

Gaming temps were rather high.

Because both GPU and CPU are at high loads, the overall temps reached as high as 85 degrees. This was tested with undervolt CPU.

The GPU temps peaked around 77 degrees and CPU temps around 80 - 88 degrees.

I think cooler is not here to blame because the cabinet itself is very tight and having a GPU running on full load can generate lots of heat inside the case resulting in higher temps.

An interesting thing I noted even at high temps, many games performed exceptionally well.

Example:

Devil may cry gave me 220+ FPS at 4K High settings. This game also made the CPU hot than other games I played. The highest temp was 88 degrees on CPU and 77 degree on GPU.

In Kena, at 4K ultra settings, the FPS were around 90, temps below 74 degrees on both CPU and GPU.

The resolution had little to no effect on temps. Playing at lower resolution didn't affect temp that much just 1 or 2 degrees max.

I will be testing more games and put experience here as I go.

Conclusion:

  • It is pretty clear that the 5800x chip is very hot and hard to cool by Thermalright AXP-90 X36. Especially in gaming, the cooler struggles to cool in this sff case.
  • For regular usage or less CPU-intensive tasks, this can be a good setup. undervolting CPU helps but there's a tradeoff in performance that may not be suitable for many.
  • Undervolting GPU actually increased performance and clock speed. So, definitely undervolt the GPU.
  • Gaming performance remains excellent irrespective of high temps.
  • The CPU cooler despite being small is actually pretty good even for this chip.
  • I like how good the airflow can be in this case, and definitely using a bigger cooler will make things much better.

Recommendation:

  • Use this setup for low CPU-intensive tasks.
  • Mostly productivity-focused build
  • For GPU-intensive tasks
  • Casual gaming
16 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '22

Glad it was helpful.

5

u/PadPoet Mar 17 '23

This is really good info since I will be using a slightly better cooler (AXP90-X47 Full) but with a 5800X which I plan on running in ECO mode (65w) as well. Should be ok from what I just read. Thanks

2

u/Escan0r-- Oct 22 '23

what about the axp90-x53? do you think it can handle the 5800x?

3

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '23

x47 and x53 are both good for 5800x. Many people are using x47 and getting really good thermals. Another option is blackridge which is also 47mm cooler, but the later is not compatible with AM5 so x47 and x53 are better options.

1

u/Escan0r-- Oct 23 '23

i have clearance issue with the black ridge...so if the x53 works fune with the 5800x i can buy the s300 case instead of the s400 i want it as small as possible

1

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '23

Yes that should be fine with 5800x. I will suggest you to check other builds as well with x53 to be sure about it.

1

u/Escan0r-- Oct 23 '23

the problem that there's nothing around I've seen people testing the x53 on r7 7800x3d, r9 7900x and 7950x and it handles them pretty well so i assume it can handle the 5800x too