After my laptop broke down while it was still under warranty, and I spent about half a year working with support, the retailer, and the manufacturer to find a way to get it repaired, I ended up getting a refund.
It’s a shame, but that’s okay: I rewarded myself with a new project. ;-)
Let me introduce you to my new laptop—the beast that’s taking over for my old one—for (almost) every mood and situation in life.
I’d like to share my experiences with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D running on a classic air-cooling setup. The goal wasn’t to achieve the lowest possible temperatures, but to find out how far you can go with a good air cooler and a reasonable fan curve without creating unnecessary noise. And of course: to have some fun...
Hardware
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
CPU-Kühler: Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
Mainboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-E Gaming WiFi
RAM: 32 GB DDR5-6000 CL30, EXPO
GPU: Palit GeForce RTX 5080 GamingPro 16 GB
Gehäuse: Corsair 3500X Airflow RS-R
CPU-Lüfter: 2× Noctua 120 mm
3D-Printed Exhaust Shroud
Case Fan Intake: 3× Corsair RS120-R + 2× Arctic P14 Pro
Case Fan Exhaust 1x Arctic P14 Pro
CPU-Tuning
The profile I used:
PBO Thermal Limit: 85 °C
Curve Optimizer: -34
Overclock: +200 MHz
CPU Fan Source: CPU
CPU Fan: PWM, manual curve
CPU Fan Speed Increase: Level 1
CPU Fan Speed Decrease: Level 1
CPU Fan Minimum Speed: Ignore
CPU Fan Curve:
45 °C → 14 %
60 °C → 40 %
75 °C → 65 %
84 °C → 100 %
The key point: I don't try to keep the CPU at a constant 60–70 °C. Under synthetic full load, it's allowed to run toward its defined thermal limit.
Case Fans
The case fans are also PWM-controlled and temperature-dependent.
Chassis Fan 1 – Corsair
Source: CPU Package
40 °C → 24 %
60 °C → 45 %
75 °C → 60 %
80 °C → 85 %
Acceleration/Deceleration: Level 1
Chassis Fan 2
Source: CPU Package
ab ca. 70 °C → 100 %
Acceleration/Deceleration: Level 1
Chassis Fan 3 – Arctic 140 mm
40 °C → 20 %
65 °C → 30 %
75 °C → 45 %
80 °C → 60 %
Chassis Fan 4 – Arctic 140 mm
40 °C → 25 %
60 °C → 35 %
75 °C → 55 %
80 °C → 60 %
Here, too: Speed set to Level 1.
I deliberately chose not to run the Arctic 140s at high speeds because the additional airflow results in significantly more noise than with the other fans.
Q-Fan Tuning
ASUS Q-Fan Tuning has changed some of the minimum duty cycles:
CPU Fan: 14 % → 14 %
Chassis Fan 1: 21 % → 24 %
Chassis Fan 2: 60 % → 60 %
Chassis Fan 3: 20 % → 11 %
Chassis Fan 4: 25 % → 8 %
Chassis Fan 5: 60 % → 60 %
I applied these settings after the automatic tuning.
BIOS Fan Speed Monitoring
Since the NH-U12A sometimes ran below the original BIOS limit at very low speeds, the ASUS BIOS reported a
CPU Fan Speed Detection Error
at startup.
The CPU fan lower speed limit was therefore set to "Ignore."
Of course, this doesn't mean that the CPU fan is disconnected—its actual speed continues to be monitored during operation.
Measurement Results
OCCT – Combined / CPU + 3D Adaptive
Under combined CPU/GPU load, we recorded values of approximately:
CPU Package Power: \~119 W
GPU Power: \~360 W
CPU Average Clock: \~4.76 GHz
A stabilized measurement point yielded the following results:
Core 1: 4760 MHz
Core 2: 4759 MHz
Core 3: 4759 MHz
Core 4: 4759 MHz
Core 5: 4758 MHz
Core 6: 4762 MHz
Core 7: 4763 MHz
Core 8: 4,769 MHz
→ Average: ~4,761 MHz
Another interesting finding was the comparison of the case fans:
Increasing the speed of the three fans from about 85% to 90% did not result in any noticeable increase in CPU clock speed. In some cases, individual cores even ran at lower speeds.
To me, this clearly illustrates that higher fan speeds do not automatically mean better performance.
At some point, additional cooling no longer yields any significant clock speed gains.
Cinebench
My Cinebench 2026 multi-core score was approximately:
5,593 points
In doing so, the CPU was deliberately not forced to operate at artificially low temperatures.
Cyberpunk 2077 – Real-World Gaming Load
I find the real-world gaming load even more interesting.
Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark:
Path Tracing: On
DLSS: Quality
Frame Generation: Off
V-Sync: Off
Resolution: 3440 × 1440 native
Particle Density: Max.
Average: 74.64 FPS
Minimum: 66.21 FPS
Maximum: 83.81 FPS
Runtime: 64.24 s
Frames: 4,795
During actual gameplay, CPU temperatures ranged from approximately 75–86 °C depending on the section, while the GPU hovered around 64–67 °C.
For me, this is the most important point:
The CPU doesn’t necessarily have to be kept at 60 or 70 °C while gaming to deliver good, stable performance.
What I’ve learned from this
I originally had the same idea:
“The lower the temperature, the better.”
While that’s true in principle—it’s not the whole story.
With modern Ryzen CPUs, temperature is an integral part of boost management. If the CPU is operating within its intended thermal limits, a temperature of, say, 80–85 °C isn’t automatically a problem.
I therefore wouldn’t try to squeeze out an extra 5–10 °C by running the fan at maximum speed if it doesn’t result in any measurable performance gain.
My NH-U12A can easily keep the 9800X3D running under real-world load with this configuration.
So for me, the more interesting question has become:
How much performance do I get per additional dB of fan noise?
And not:
How do I achieve the lowest possible CPU temperature?
Of course, the following still applies: temperature limits, stability, and voltage must remain within safe ranges. High temperatures aren’t automatically dangerous—but you should still keep an eye on thermal limits, voltage, stability, and long-term behavior.
My conclusion:
A good air cooler is perfectly adequate for the 9800X3D. There’s no need to panic just because the CPU goes well over 70 °C under full load.
For me, a CPU running at ~80–85 °C under heavy load makes much more sense than a system that constantly tries to force it down to 65–70 °C by running the fans at maximum speed.
