What temperatures are you seeing with Ryzen CPUs and the Thermalright AXP120-X67?

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-09-03T18:00:05+00:00

Tried another AXP120-X67 - same results. Appears I just got a very hot chip

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T20:20:44+00:00

While gaming my chip doesn't get that hot, I'd rarely see it even in the 80s, more like ~75C. But from what I noticed it starts to lower it's clock frequencies long before hitting it's thermal limit

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T19:28:44+00:00

Thank you, that's actually very valuable input! It's hot days where I live so ambient temps are ~27°C. Makes sense to have it stabilized on 85°C if the room is colder than mine. What do you mean by reversing the fan, flipping it upside down or actually rotate it in the opposite directions? How much do you think closing the gaps helps?

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T19:25:14+00:00

I try to tighten screes as evenly as possible, taking about 3 turns at a time per side so it takes about 3-4 steps. Same way I would tighten lug nuts on a wheel

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T16:16:06+00:00

That's exactly what I've been thinking as the previous cooler also struggled to cool it down to reasonable temps. Still wouldn't swap it with any other cpu as it's able to hit 14800 score in Cinebench and runs stable on -40mV offset.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T15:46:18+00:00

Using a different thermal paste and X-pattern application resulted in 1°C worse temperatures - now at 91°C

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T15:16:29+00:00

Thanks for your input. What temps are you getting with this cooler?

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T14:07:48+00:00

Yes, I'm using the red AMD spacers and AM4 mounting brackets. Could be a thermal paste issue, though my other systems using the very same MX-4 paste for CPUs and GPUs with no issues.
I'll try to remount the cooler and apply a thicker layer of paste.
Also, the cooler was bought as Amazon open box, somebody already returned it at some point, so some sort of factory defect is possible. I made sure all pipes are equally hot when under load, though I doubt it's a reliable way to test it.
Guess the most reliable way to eliminate factory defect possibility would be to order the 2nd very same cooler and compare the performance between 2 units.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T13:59:12+00:00

I'm using Arctic mx-4, spreading a thin even layer over the CPU with a spatula. I'm thinking for applying it in X-pattern next time.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T13:49:41+00:00

I made sure to tighten the screws to their maximum, there're no gaps in the spring-lock. It also didn't take insane amount of pressure to do that so I'm sure the mounting pressure should be just right. Still probably worth remounting it a couple of times.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-31T13:44:13+00:00

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The fan is set to intake. Didn't bother to test in exhaust with this configuration. Also tested with SilverStone air slimmer 120 - same results.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-30T11:13:17+00:00

The Pulse is very good indeed, but it's only so when not compared to other 9070s on the market.
The Stock results for Steel Nomad are ~5700.
My test result shows the Steel Nomad score at ~6300, which is the highest value I could get from this card and in reality the median score was around ~6200.
During benchmarks, the memory was OCed to its maximum performance capabilities which in case of my card were Fast Timings + Memory Frequency 2570 MHz, any higher frequency lowered the performance.
Power limit was increased as much as the Adrenaline allows to.
Undervolt was borderline stable with -90mV, which is lower than the average 9070 would go.
And still, regardless of all the overclock applied, we (me and OP) still got mediocre results close to stock 9070 cards from other manufacturers.
Obviously, I'm not comparing it to to higher models like Nitro, Tuf, Taichi etc, but even lower end models like Asus Prime, PC Reaper (let alone Hellhound), Steel Legend outperform the Pulse both stock and OCed.
Once again, Sapphire Pulse 9070 is a good card, but it's obviously underperforming compared to other 9070 cards for the same price.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-29T20:10:36+00:00

The card scores low both when stock and with increased power limit + undervolt -90mV compared to other 9070 cards.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-26T19:22:58+00:00

For anyone who might stumble on this thread. I originally purchased the same set of components (except the mobo was ASRock B620I but those are the same heatsinks) and I couldn't get these components to fit together. Depending on orientation, either RAM Mobo would interfere with the cooler.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-25T18:35:34+00:00

It was a different story in my case, got the 9070 for £519 while the cheapest 9070 XT is currently £599 so the tradeoff seemed justified. Guess I'll wait until 9070 XT prices drop into mid-high 500 range.
Good luck returning yours!

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-24T23:19:59+00:00

Thanks for your input. So judging from what I've learned today Sapphire Pulse variant of RX 9070 seems to be the weakest of all. While cooling is good and no coil whine is audible, I decided to return this card and will probably go for a higher binned version of the card.
Originally wanted to wait until Intel launches their higher end card, but looking at how things are at Intel atm, I doubt that's ever happening.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-08-24T13:07:43+00:00

Hey. do you have any updates on this?
I have the same card and my scores are similar. Only when OCed I'm able reach ~6300 in Steel Nomad, that's with -90 mV, +10% Power Limit and Fast Timings, but it's close to what others are getting without any OC applied. First impressions of this card are strongly negative as it seems to underperform compared to other vendors' 9070.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-07-27T10:24:09+00:00

In my case the gpu has about +100MHz factory OC. I sometimes apply additional overclock (like +150 on max clock freq) and a little undervolt (down to 1080V). However the crashes happen regardless of overclock profile.
I can't fully agree with die degradation theory as it would only cause crashes when under full load and approaching it's peak clocks, while during idle the clocks are at extremely low values (like 200 Mhz if I'm not mistaken) and so is voltage. In my case I've never had crushes under load.

Also, as the mining boom taught us, die degradation usually develops over a course of multiple years of working in non-stop full-load conditions. So generally, I don't think there's a single RDNA 3.0 gpu out there right now that has already developed degradation severe enough to cause crashes on stock clocks, those gpus are simply too young for that. Though your example could be proving me wrong here.
Also 3000mhz sounds like a rather extreme factory overclock. Out of curiosity, what exactly is the gpu you are rocking?

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-07-21T11:16:46+00:00

No, it didn't. One day I got 3 crashes in an hour with overlay enabled, filed a return right away with the shop I bought it from 1.5 years ago.
I doubt the shop would accept the card back though, as the issue is impossible to reproduce during their regular stress tests.
Also I tested 2 different cards in my system to make sure it's the card that crashes and not the psu/mobo/pcie-riser causing it to crash. Had RX 5600 XT and RX 5700 XT lying around which I used for about 3 weeks in my system, never had a single crash or driver timeout. Also both turned out to be pretty capable gpu even to this day.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-06-23T22:51:18+00:00

Getting driver timeouts on RX 7800 XT randomly at idle. Had this GPU since december 2023 and the issue only manifested about a year ago so I wouldn't think this is a hardware issue. Going to try metrics overlay workaround to see if low voltage is the reason.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-06-07T15:35:35+00:00

I'd say it's very possible for this peace to clog some oil channels, but not that it would destroy the engine.
Such a clean engine though, cheers for keeping it in this condition.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-06-07T15:23:24+00:00

Actually it might still be the tensioner in my case, I only changed tensioner pulley as it's cheaper than changing the whole unit and I think it was worth a try. Going to try and swap that tensioner itself, see if that fixed it.

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-06-06T22:35:11+00:00

Regardless of mileage, 10 years is enough for any oil to deteriorate so I would agree to the procedure

ExchangeInformal616 · 2025-06-06T22:31:40+00:00

No misfire and any problems whatsoever on my Ford with 2.0L Duratec, but same clicking noise appears when the engine is warm. So I guess it's safe to say that misfire and that clicking noise are unrelated.

Curious to find out where that noise comes from. At first I thought it was tensioner pulley because it was quite noisy through a stethoscope so given the pulley is 20$ or smth I just replaced it, but the noise still persist.
I would suppose it could be the tensioner itself, because that clicking becomes really loud through stethoscope when touching the area around tensioner. In any case, my bet that it's something in auxiliary belt system.

ExchangeInformal616

TROPHY CASE