Cooling VRM's

[BackwoodsBob]

Is there a consensus on VRM's and cooling with an AIO?
It is my understanding that when one has an air cooler, there is some ambient air flow (by design) across the VRM's. And when one changes it up with a liquid cooler, the VRM'S lose the air flow across them, burn out sooner, and cause a whole host of issues along the way.
I researched this previously on another site, but the answers caused some stupid arguments.
I do have a 140mm fan sucking air off of the VRM's. It blows at the exhaust fan and sits on top of my GPU, which is fine except it looks tacky and it falls over every time I even think about opening my PC.
I also have another 140 on the other side of the case blowing air on the back of the processor socket.
I am sitting at a solid 20% overclock, up from about 15% and debating 25%. I have had it as high as about 30% but didn't keep it there very long as I can't afford to fry something just yet. I know it will go there at least.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Is there a consensus on VRM's and cooling with an AIO?
It is my understanding that when one has an air cooler, there is some ambient air flow (by design) across the VRM's. And when one changes it up with a liquid cooler, the VRM'S lose the air flow across them, burn out sooner, and cause a whole host of issues along the way.
I researched this previously on another site, but the answers caused some stupid arguments.
I do have a 140mm fan sucking air off of the VRM's. It blows at the exhaust fan and sits on top of my GPU, which is fine except it looks tacky and it falls over every time I even think about opening my PC.
I also have another 140 on the other side of the case blowing air on the back of the processor socket.
I am sitting at a solid 20% overclock, up from about 15% and debating 25%. I have had it as high as about 30% but didn't keep it there very long as I can't afford to fry something just yet. I know it will go there at least.

ive run water coolers for many years, & every water system has just about as many fans as a traditional heatsink. vrm cooling is radiant, a non issue unless youre into extreme OC.

ive never had a vrm burnout, on the contrary, i generally give away my retired components (motherboards included) to fellow TPu members regularly, to continue to serve PC enthusiasts for more years.

 

[BackwoodsBob]

ive run water coolers for many years, & every water system has just about as many fans as a traditional heatsink. vrm cooling is radiant, a non issue unless youre into extreme OC.

ive never had a vrm burnout, on the contrary, i generally give away my retired components (motherboards included) to fellow TPu members regularly, to continue to serve PC enthusiasts for more years.

I guess I should have made this a poll. Any other answers?
How much do you OC? What do you consider extreme?

 

[jboydgolfer]

there is no need for a poll, unless you're looking for opinions instead of answers.


what is your VRM temp with your current OC?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

You want something like an Antec Spotcool

But if your case already has good airflow - you wont really need one.

Unfortunately the Antec Spotcool has been discontinued for a long time but some people have gotten creative with the idea and made their own versions with zip ties, rubber bands and wire from clothes hangers -- basically whatever you can get your hands on and make it yourself.

 

[jboydgolfer]

you can get these off ebay custom made to your size requirements, but i promise i havent faced vrm temp issues in a long time, & when i did, the heatsink was not attached properly.

 

[DR4G00N]

Your board has pretty beefy vrm's for any am3+ board, I have the same one and it barely got hot running an FX 8150 @ 5.65GHZ 1.7V on dry ice. Your 6350 will hardly stress it out.
The hottest part on the board is not actually the vrm but the NB since the heatsink is fairly small.

 

[R00kie]

When it comes to AM3+ VRM cooling, if your CPU isnt throttling under full load, then it's not an issue.
I had a M5A97 Evo R2.0 way back when, which looks to have the same VRM heatsink as yours, with a 8320 clocked at 4.3-4.4, and that was definitely pushing to its limits, and an extra fan definitely helped it.
But since you're running a 6350, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Any current 240/280/360/480mm Artic Liquid freezer II comes with a bespoke VRM fan.

 

[BackwoodsBob]

Any current 240/280/360/480mm Artic Liquid freezer II comes with a bespoke VRM fan.

I saw that myself. I thought any fan that small probably spins fast AF. To me that means noise, which defeats the purpose of liquid cooling, at least for me.

 

[Jetster]

Just keep the case air moving. Should be fine with that board you don't need active cooling

 

[R00kie]

Had this on mine, an old fan from a P4 cooler, it doesnt need to spin fast to cool, just fast enough to move the air through the heatsink.

 

[Vya Domus]

Necessary, not really.

You can always put a fan over them for peace of mind.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I saw that myself. I thought any fan that small probably spins fast AF. To me that means noise, which defeats the purpose of liquid cooling, at least for me.

That's not the case though, I fully understand why you would think that but even gaming at 5Gig I cannot hear it above normal rad fans and GPU fan noise. I suppose that might be because their coolers are good, they have 38mm rads and the VRM/Pump and fans all come off the same 4 pin connector PWM controlled so possibly the heat of the VRM's cannot override the rad fans and pump rpm's, reviews do evidence significant VRM temp drops though up to 20%.

 

[VuurVOS]

If you VRM is really running hot, you can try one of these.

VRM exhaust cooling shroud 120mm - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2569219
120mm VRM Duct - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1492961
140mm x 55mm Duct - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2208560
140mm x 40mm Duct - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2208591

On my MSI B350 Tomahawk I used the "VRM exhaust cooling shroud 120mm" since the VRMS got pretty hot with 100% load. Atleast 95 degrees and most likely much higher but the sensor couldnt report it
With the mod, the temperatures drop to +/- 80 degrees with 100% load

 

[Toothless]

Could always get a big, slow moving 200mm fan and hang it over your board. Looks ugly, works beautifully.

 

[ArdWar]

Unless you pick cookie cutter budget board or doing gazillion Hz overclocking, it should be fine. Most VRM on enthusiast boards these days are so massively overbuilt that they're not even on 1/4 capacity at typical load.

Your RAM or NVMe SSD probably get more problem from the lack of airflow long before your VRM.