What are "good temperatures" for the "VCORE" or VRM components of a Z170?

[BonzaiDuck]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for building my Sabertooth Z170 6700K system.

The board has a phenomenal number of sensors and fan ports, and the "Thermal Radar" in AI Suite shows the temperatures for two VRM components on a line pointing northwest from the processor to the upper end of the I/O plate. These are also the components under heatsinks cooled by the 40mm optional fan between I/O plate and those heatsinks.

When running full-bore with something like Intel Burn Test or Affinitized LinX, the temperature on the main component -- located about halfway and just a little closer to the CPU socket -- peaks at 44C.

Does anyone know, for attention to motherboard cooling and VRM components, what "cool" and "hot" means for those components? Is 44C "good" or "so-so?"

 

[Burpo]

You're using a Sabertooth.. Really nothing to worry about. It shuts off if it gets too hot (bios set?).

"So far no VRM has gone over 60C load on surface temperature"

http://www.overclock.net/t/1572028/z170-vrm-discussion-thread/10

 

[BonzaiDuck]

We're familiar posters, Burps. You know my OCD behaviors. "Every last grain of rice. Get every last one, I say!"

This is the same sort of problem as the choice between $300 water-cooling and a $80 heatpipe supplemented with a CLU-relid.

I have this Lexan duct I built so that a barrel-fan sucks air from across the 12" length of any ATX motherboard. It needs to be modified to fit the cooler on this rig, and I can build a narrow three-sided box extension which sucks the exhaust from the forward-side of a GTX-1070 OC "mini" card. If I were to add a second GTX-1070, I would simply add a twin duct-box to the duct. But for all of that -- the duct has a solid and secure mounting, yet pulls away from the motherboard and cooler easily, if there is prudent cable-routing.

The duct can supplement the Sabertooth 40mm I/O intake fan, pulling more air across those VRMs and heatsinks. But at that point, the construction is just a tad more troublesome for the detail. It makes more sense to duct the graphics card(s), if the VRMs are running cool.

All my BIOS settings for the overclock are "Extreme" for phase and power control, as opposed to "Probe" or "ASUS optimized," etc. VRM switching frequency has been raised to 450Mhz.

But like I said -- Affinitized LinX with AVX Max-problem-size, Max-memory -- ~70C degrees for the CPU Tj sensors and only 44C for the motherboard "VCORE" sensor.

Suppose I can drop that temperature 4C for fiddling with Lexan and glue. What good does it do me?

By the looks of things, despite only 8+4 phase-power-design, this is a pretty damn good board for the ~$170, OC'ing in the 4.6 to 4.7 range, so I'm wondering if 44C for the VCORE VRM component is good compared to the author's 60C maximum. Or how this temperature reading on the Sabertooth under comparable conditions compares to a Maximus or Deluxe board with 16-phase.

I keep thinking with one side of my brain that I "cheaped out" on the motherboard budget, but on the other side -- I am freakin' happier than a pig in s*** about this build so far. Ordinarily DIY worship is a benign and minor form of narcissism, but like I said and the "pig-thing" -- this build seems to be better than this-worldly, disregarding any personal touches . . .

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Burpo -- have a look at this forum exchange pertaining to certain Haswell Z97 boards and 4790Ks. Apparently Sabertooth variants had always used stronger components rated at higher temperatures.

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/290907-what-are-normal-vrm-temps/

But compared to some of these numbers cited by the posters with their own overclocks, the only question about my Saber Z170 "thermal radar" monitoring is whether "44C" is truly . . . 44C.

ASUS apparently has their own sensor dead center in the middle of the CPU socket, so reported "CPU" temperatures is maybe 8C to 10C lower than the Tj sensors.

I think I'll either simplify the duct, or forget about the barrel fan and duct, blocking its exhaust hole on the right side-panel. Probably the first option, just to be done with a plan I had.

 

[Burpo]

Hard to beat Sabertooth. I know I've punished mine.. but their new stuff is even better!

"Thermal Armor
Strengthen your ability. Totally boosted airflow.
TUF Thermal Armor is more than a futuristic shield: it employs dual fans to provide maximum airflow and rapid cooling board-wide, and a new interior shunt design to boost air cooling to the M.2 slot. Reversible-airflow technology blows dust up and away from the heatsink VRM, while the exclusive flow-valve design controls the heat-pipe's air contact "

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH-Z170-MARK-1/

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hard to beat Sabertooth. I know I've punished mine.. but their new stuff is even better!

"Thermal Armor
Strengthen your ability. Totally boosted airflow.
TUF Thermal Armor is more than a futuristic shield: it employs dual fans to provide maximum airflow and rapid cooling board-wide, and a new interior shunt design to boost air cooling to the M.2 slot. Reversible-airflow technology blows dust up and away from the heatsink VRM, while the exclusive flow-valve design controls the heat-pipe's air contact "

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH-Z170-MARK-1/

Yeah -- I actually toyed with the Mark I version for the first four months planning this build, and only changed my idea at the last minute.

I don't need to tell you, but I think a lot of folks don't really understand the duct plate. Some of them don't install the 40mm fans, or replace them with something different. It's not some "piece of armor" to stop bullets according to the MIL_spec; it's a freakin' DUCT!!!

I had built my own Lexan mobo duct for an ATX Z68 motherboard and the case in which I'd put that Z68 board initially -- a Stacker 830. Often these "ducts" must be designed for both the ATX form-factor and components as well as the case itself, especially if you want active air-exhaust from the case. We find with a certain satisfaction that the component positions on a Z170 board are almost identical or exactly identical to component positions for prior gen boards. For a duct plate that simply pulls away from a board with thoughtful cable-routing so the board can be "serviced," I only need to modify it so that it fits a different heatpipe cooler: from 212 EVO to what is going to be a TR LG Macho.

I must've already explained all this. My mind and memory are getting old and flaky.

What on earth is "exclusive flow-valve design?" I must have missed seeing that in the "promotional" material.

Did I miss something with that? What on earth is it -- "exclusive flow-valve design?"

Anyway, the Sabertooth -- even if not "Z170 Mark 1" but rather "Z170 S" -- looks more and more promising as I tweak and tune it. Very promising, even for "8+4" phase-power-design.