What causes CPU to overheat in a mini itx NZXT H1 PC case?

Sirloux · Nov 27, 2022

Okay, so a few days, I had some major issues with my PC. I have a mini itx gaming PC known for horrible ventilation, extremely cramped due to it's small size, and only one fan. The first issue started with my old PC case, it's called the Azza Pyramid mini. Now, I actually got this entire PC as a present. Little did I know how many issues it was going to have. With this Azza Pyramid mini case, nearly a year ago, it all started with an issue not powering on when pressing the power button. It would sometimes restart on it's own or power off on it's own.Then, it started to glitch a bit, so I did a system restore, and then shut off because I thought it froze. Then, a BSOD (blue screen of death), reading "TDR failure" and could not get back into the login page. Luckily, even though I did not back it up, I had no important files at the time. So, I ended up having to take my PC to a local custom PC builder and have a fresh Windows install. I did not have to reinstall Windows, just log into my Microsoft account since I already have Windows attached to my Microsoft account, an activated license. So it did this for months. I finally decided to try one other option. Change the case because this case is also known for horrible ventilation. These are my PC specs: Ryzen 5 3600, MSI B450I Gaming, Crucial Ballistix RGB 3600Mhz, NVIDIA GTX Titan Xp, Cooler Master ML12L RGB, Azza 806 Pyramid Mini, be quiet SFX L Power 600W, Kingston 1TB M.2 SSD. I decided to make another horrible jump getting an NZXT H1, however, when I had my parts transferred (everything but the PSU and cooler, so I kept my CPU, GPU, SSD, RAM, motherboard), because the NZXT H1 comes with a pre-installed AIO cooler and PSU, I ended up using the one already inside the case, however, this fixed everything. No powering issues, nothing. Then months later, my computer restarts once again during game once it freezes. It restarts even after a few minutes of doing nothing. So I do another system restore, and then again, another BSOD. It has the same error code "critical process died", so I found out about DDU uninstaller and it worked. Then 2 weeks later, this time, the error code is different though, it reads "critical process died", and once again, I cannot get into the login page. So, I have to take it to a professional technician. He says it's the OS after examining every single component, testing the SSD twice says at 92%. Then once he does a Windows install, it has a CPU temperature of 110 DEGREES!!! I take it home. I contact a different PC builder, and he tries several methods. A) he dusts the fan, even though the fan had absolutely NO DUST. B) he applies thermalpaste. We turn on the PC, it is still at a high 94%. He reapplies thermalpaste for the second time, still high temperature. C) After the third time, he ends up examining the CPU seeing some dirt on it. So he wipes off the thermalpaste, reapplies after cleaning this time, and temperature goes down to 45%. Then I take it home, so far so good. Then I turn it on 2 days later back home, and it reads 94, then back to 111. So I shut it off frusterated. I turn it on again, same temperature. After the third time, it is back to 45 degrees and going down. I go to Best Buy and get more advice on what this could be.

So, when this first happened, some thought the RAM was the issue. I took it to several people, one PC builder would take out the RAM and out it back in and say "no problems". Could it be a PSU issue? Well, I have an NZXT H1 with 650 watts and my previous PSU was at 600 watts. Could it be an SSD issue? Technician saw no issues. Is it the motherboard? Not sure. Is it the CPU? not sure. A person I spoke with said, hey, I bet it's your cooling system. Check the pump. He sends me a video of the common gunk blocking the airflow. HOW COULD THIS BE WHEN I ONLY HAD THE NZXT H1 FOR 3 MONTHS!??? i ORDERED IT IN JULY OF THIS YEAR. Best Buy worker says several things, you could get a new CPU and motherboard for Micro Center Black Friday deal, or get a new case and cooler. Or just get a new PC.

You know what sucks? I am in cybersecurity and because this BSOD issue, I lost a very important program called Oracle VirtualBox with virtual machines and had to re-do nearly all of them. So, I'm suggested get a USB drive, or external hard drive, or external SSD. I ended up buying this external SSD - Crucial X6 1TB Portable SSD – Up to 800MB/s – USB 3.2 – External Solid State Drive, USB-C - CT1000X6SSD9 (Black Friday at $40 off). so my question is, how do I back up my virtual machines in case I get another BSOD, I DO NOT WANT TO DO INSTALLING ORACLE AND VIRTUAL MACHINES EVER AGAIN. IS AN INTERNAL SSD THE BEST OPTION OR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, OR USB FLASH DRIVE, OR DRIVE, GOOGLE DRIVE, CLOUD, ETC. HOW DO YOU DO IT? I even asked the technician if he could somehow get my virtual machines back? He said possible but not guaranteed. He could attempt to during data recovery. Now here is the issue with buying new parts. I'm extremely broke, I can't afford a brand new PC. However, I can buy some new parts or a case. I even contacted NZXT for a replacement. And I only have 2 months left of school. I just need my damn PC to last for the next 2 months. Is there somehow I can keep the NZXT H1 and mod it with fans? How about this? NZXT H1 V1 Front or Rear Panel Spacer with Fan Mounts (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1258762252/nzxt-h1-v1-front-or-rear-panel-spacer?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-craft_supplies_and_tools-tools_and_equipment-parts-computer_parts-other&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQiAsoycBhC6ARIsAPPbeLsSYhgs9V3pZ3Ct1bWallyhadpRS1SqYv7ta9b_1ZwO-bHVUzPm4CEaAql5EALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_1843970764_70433185340_346429167263_aud-318110574626la-323097243063_c__1258762252_12768591&utm_custom2=1843970764&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsoycBhC6ARIsAPPbeLsSYhgs9V3pZ3Ct1bWallyhadpRS1SqYv7ta9b_1ZwO-bHVUzPm4CEaAql5EALw_wcB) I even got an LCD display too with a custom glass front panel (This custom panel is a glass panel that has vents or holes in it, replacing the one that is already installed. Any suggestions?

:)

Nursemorph

I can't comment on the VM side of things as I have no clue on them.

Thermals: My suspicion would be that buying that spacer and mounting extra fans wouldn't resolve the issue. Whilst the H1 isn't great on thermal performance, it still should be able to keep things reasonably cooled. This review, using a 2600x (not much below your CPU) and a 3070, had an average of 55 degrees for CPU and 77 degrees for GPU which are both reasonable:

NZXT H1 review

It's difficult to say for certain but it sounds to me like the AIO is faulty...and probably the pump itself. Is it making any noise? the AIO in that case should run pretty silent. Given your CPU has been repasted several times and it does sometimes run at 45 degrees points to that. incidentally, what temperature monitoring software are you using? Some are less reliable than others.

Sirloux

that would make a lot of sense. He did check it but bent socket hmm never thought about that. What would you recommend? The thing, is many many people suggested it's the fault of the cooler pump. However, I only had this NZXT H1 case for only 3 months. I ordered in July of this year. Do you think it is this gunk with the cooler pump in just 3 months? We did check the fan, there's barely any dust too

Sirloux

hey thanks. Most people I spoke too think it's the cooler as well. When I had this BSOD, restarting on it's own, glitching, fans running extremely loud, CPU overheating, when I took it to someone, he touched the pump, it seemed to be running fine. someone sent me a video of the pump having some gunk issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGRHY8SgdkU. However, this does not explain my previous PC case before I got the NZXT H1, the Azza Pyramid mini. Why would my Azza have been having similar issues of BSOD, restarting on its own, and more importantly, pressing the power button and nothing shows on my screen while sometimes the RAM only lights up. The Azza case had a different cooler and PSU than the pre-installed NZXT H1. I had a Cooler Master ML12L RGB and a be quiet SFX L Power 600W inside of my old Azza PC case. I'm using what was recommended by the technician and a few other people - Core Temp, AMZ Ryzen Master App, and MSI Center. Not only that I took my NZXT H1 to someone and he changed the power, speed of the fan, we did a complete factory reset, we checked overclocking, and again yesterday, someone helped me do something called "eco" in the AMD Ryzen app. However, when I took my PC to someone, he did not want to open the AIO pump since he thought it was risky since there could be liquid dripping out. And we did not update the BIOS which he also said could be risky

Sirloux

Oh the gpu ssd and ram was also transferred too though. I asked the PC Builder who fixed the cpu temperature by reapplying thermalpaste 3 times. He said there were no broken pins. So you're right, it's either the cou, motherboard or cooling pump but I think it'd the cpu or motherboard too

Nursemorph

that would make a lot of sense. He did check it but bent socket hmm never thought about that. What would you recommend? The thing, is many many people suggested it's the fault of the cooler pump. However, I only had this NZXT H1 case for only 3 months. I ordered in July of this year. Do you think it is this gunk with the cooler pump in just 3 months? We did check the fan, there's barely any dust too

The only way to definitively rule out the cooler pump would be to replace it. As with anything electrical, there's always the potential for it to break and sometimes a fault may have been there from the start but only becomes apparent over time.

To me, it sounds more like a motherboard and/or CPU issue given the issue you had with before and the issue you are having now (espcially given the MOBO and CPU were the only carryovers from the previous system)....however, that's just an educated guess without physical access to the machine. Obviously, you could replace the MOBO and CPU but that is rather expensive on the off-chance that either is the cause.

What causes CPU to overheat in a mini itx NZXT H1 PC case?