TR Forums

Hello,

I've just purchased 2 of the MAGNUS EN1080K mini PCs. One of the main reasons for my purchase was the water cooling and near silent operation at idle. I did a bunch of research online and found the CPU idle temps should be around 35c. So l was pretty upset to see that on both my units my idle temp is around 55c.

It wouldn't be so bad, but the fan kicks in at a default 30% for anything above 50c, so it's very noticeable sound wise.

Please may someone tell me if they've had similar problems, or if there's some sort of solution? Everything else is functioning 100% fine, no problems whatsoever. It's just this damn CPU idle temp that's driving me crazy. I'd expect CPU temps to rise to 50-60c when under load, not at idle.

With it being the same problem on 2 separate units I'm guessing this is normal? Or I just have the worst luck in ZOTAC history?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

You might have bad luck. It might also be an out-of-date BIOS showing bad temps or it might be a crappy TIM application (that seems most likely, all things considered). Are there warranty-voiding stickers blocking you from getting into the enclosure? That might be the quickest fix.

edit: I guess it could also be an app keeping something busy? Can you check the task manager?

Idling at 55C with no fans would be pretty reasonable (my MSI GTX 1070 idles at around 48C), but it sounds like the fans are always running and that seems kind of bad.

50C idle sounds wrong if the fan is moving decent amount of air. For reference, my ASRock Deskmini with i7-7700 is 32C idle with Intel cooler(waiting on thermal paste to swap in Noctua, wont change idle by more than 1 or 2 degrees). With CPU-Z CPU burn test, was 70C+ with Intel paste.

If these are brand new Win 10 PCs, it takes quiet a while for it to really settle down after install. Tons of updates and anti-virus, indexing files. Does Task Manager show anything is happening? Is it truly idle? Indexing might be hitting m.2/hdd hard while showing almost no CPU usage. With small box, the drives and chipset pump out decent amount of heat.

Just as aside, open ticket now, to have time stamp within return window, it takes time to diagnose,...

derFunkenstein wrote:

You might have bad luck. It might also be an out-of-date BIOS showing bad temps or it might be a crappy TIM application (that seems most likely, all things considered). Are there warranty-voiding stickers blocking you from getting into the enclosure? That might be the quickest fix.

edit: I guess it could also be an app keeping something busy? Can you check the task manager?

Idling at 55C with no fans would be pretty reasonable (my MSI GTX 1070 idles at around 48C), but it sounds like the fans are always running and that seems kind of bad.

Thank you for the reply.

I've also run Speccy within Windows and it shows the same temp. Nothing seems to be doing anything major in the task manager on either machine. The fan is also kicking in the moment it boots up, before even getting into Windows.

I was actually referring to the CPU, not GPU. The GPU is actually cooler in the 40s.

Funnily enough another person who has this same model said he/she gets 50-60c CPU temp at idle. It seems crazy to me to be that high for a water cooled unit. My traditionally cooled desktop CPU (i7 as well) is 35c at idle

blahsaysblah wrote:

50C idle sounds wrong if the fan is moving decent amount of air. For reference, my ASRock Deskmini with i7-7700 is 32C idle with Intel cooler(waiting on thermal paste to swap in Noctua, wont change idle by more than 1 or 2 degrees). With CPU-Z CPU burn test, was 70C+ with Intel paste.

If these are brand new Win 10 PCs, it takes quiet a while for it to really settle down after install. Tons of updates and anti-virus, indexing files. Does Task Manager show anything is happening? Is it truly idle? Indexing might be hitting m.2/hdd hard while showing almost no CPU usage. With small box, the drives and chipset pump out decent amount of heat.

Just as aside, open ticket now, to have time stamp within return window, it takes time to diagnose,...

Thanks for the reply.

Yep I was thinking the same. As I mentioned I have an i7 system that is cooled normally and it idles around 35c, rarely goes over 40.

99% sure it has nothing to do with Windows 10. I added the hard drive myself and it was a fresh clean install. Zero updates or anti-virus software have been installed and the CPU usage is around 5-10%... It runs lightening quick, the only thing bugging me is this temp/noise

Pigsy wrote:

I was actually referring to the CPU, not GPU. The GPU is actually cooler in the 40s.

Funnily enough another person who has this same model said he/she gets 50-60c CPU temp at idle. It seems crazy to me to be that high for a water cooled unit. My traditionally cooled desktop CPU (i7 as well) is 35c at idle

Oh, my bad. 50+ for the CPU at idle does seem pretty crazy, especially for a liquid-cooled setup. Re-applying the TIM still might be helpful, though. Hope you can get it sorted!

Not sure about Speccy, i use Hardware Monitor from CPUID, CPU-Z.

Are the chipset and drives running hot? Also, maybe theyve set an unrealistically low fan setting below 50C, sounds like you've checked all this.

if opening void warranty, then return, else i would try applying good thermal paste. Maybe new worker messed up, I got two bad ASRock MB in a row, than saw they were only off by last digit in serial number.

Thanks again for the replies.

Opening this unit up or modding anything is out the question for me right now as I don't want to do anything to void the warranty (only got them today). It's a closed water cooled system, all pre-built, the user just adds memory and hard drive/s. The thing is tiny for what's inside. Here's the official page: https://www.zotac.com/product/mini_pcs/magnus-en1080k

Checking again on Speccy it's now showing around 40c for the CPU (which is awesome), but the motherboard is stuck at 115c. As you rightly said derFunkenstein, that might indicate something wrong with the BIOS. In fact ZOTAC just replied to me and said update the BIOS as it causes problems in this model.

So I'm trying to do that now, but I'm hitting another brick wall with that. I extract the files to a freshly formatted FAT32 USB drive, but when I try to boot from it (to flash the BIOS) I get the following error message:

"An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system. Press any key to continue"

Then when I hit a key it just boots into Windows 10.

Any idea how to get over that?

Thank you

I updated the BIOS... Made absolutely no difference. Kinda lost on what to do now.

Even whilst gaming the fan stays the same noise, which would indicate something is wrong... Surely your idle fan noise should be significantly quieter than when you are gaming under heavy load.

Here's a HWMonitor screen: http://i.imgur.com/V8vpsig.png
And here's a Speccy screen: http://i.imgur.com/8PYgIyR.png

I'll just have to return them if this continues, as it's really gonna drive me crazy listening to this noise all the time

The 41 degree 960 EVO 500GB is a little hotter than normal idle for it but likely you were doing something. Have low thirties in two different boxes(one with it under motherboard).

But before all of that, file a bug report, i did one for ASRock Deskmini. Similar issue, reporting 116C, though on TMPIN6 only. Missing sensor. Dev responded pretty quickly.

Looking at your Zotac magnus link, it looks like the PCH is in middle edge of front of board. Between front HDMI and USB to right of it. Do you feel a ton of heat there? Like, 116C/240F, above boiling point of water amount of heat...

The Intel temp sensor is saying 40C, you can trust that. I would just ignore the other values as bugs unless you can feel/smell it.

As for noise, well its their custom box, if you don't like sound characteristics, nothing you can do. I sold off my Intel NUC5i7(highest model, 45W CPU) because it clearly was not designed with that much heat in mind. Fine for noisy office, not for home. Same with your Magnus 1080, it may be just fine during noisy game sessions and that's all it was designed for...

Bug Report and Program Improvement
If you notice a bug in a sensor report, or an undefined value, please select the "File" menu and choose "Save" to generate a complete report as a text file. Then, please email the file to cpuz[at]cpuid.com. Thanks !

Yeah blahsaysblah, what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I think I'm done with pre-built systems. I bought this because I wanted something quiet (hence the water cooling), not something that is louder at idle than my MacBook Pro is under load.

There's absolutely nothing that would indicate anything remotely close to 100c of temp anywhere within the unit. I've felt all around it and if anything it feels cool to the touch.

I think perhaps like you say they were either built like this, or there's some sort of faulty sensor on the motherboard which is making the fan kick in because it thinks the CPU or whatever else is over 50c.

Again, the fact this noise stays the same whilst gaming in HD with all settings maxed out would make me think there's for sure something wrong.

At this point I've contacted the supplier and will be returning them both for a refund. Really disappointed as I've waited a long time to get my hands on these, but at the same time I value my sanity and simply cannot sit next to this noise whilst I'm trying to work or relax

I bought my Magnus en1080k back in April, and the idle temp has always been around 55C for both CPU and GPU...
I didn't know how much it should be and being inexperienced with water cooled systems I thought this was good enough.

What really troubles me, is that the PC was incredibly quiet during the first 6 months,
but just this month a really low roaring sound, (very similar to a HHD drive when its reading data) is coming out of it at random intervals!

I will send an email to Zotac to ask what this might be.
I suppose its coming from the fan right?
There aren't any other moving parts in there anyway I guess.

here is a video where you can hear the noise. I am sorry in advance for the bad quality recording, the ambient noise is way too loud but you can hear the fan roar as I move my camera close to the grill.
Just paste this to your browser's address bar: vimeo.com/244449414

--UPDATE--
I realized that during the past month I had gone to the power & sleep settings of windows, had clicked on additional power settings and from there had switched from "Power Saver" to "High Performance".
Yesterday I switched back to "Power Saver" and now the temperatures dropped to 36-37C overall.
Here is the cpuid screenshot (copy - paste to your address bar): ibb.co/kUVck6
Also the fan noise is not noticeable.
I ll let you know if I have any further news about this.

Ok there is definitely something faulty with the system unfortunately, i tried to place it on a base elevating it a bit from the shelf where it s currently standing, to improve the air flow, and as i tilted it backwards, while it was still working, the sound became worse for a minute or two and then decreased again!

--UPDATE--
So as I said in my previous post, when I tilted my pc the noise became much louder, but then went completely away eventually. This lasted for 2 weeks, where there was absolutely no noise coming out of the pc. And then 2 days ago the noise started again. I search a bit about noise in water cooled systems in general, and I think the noise comes from air bubbles that form inside the pipes of the cooling system and tilting the pc helps them to move along and eventually disappear. Sure enough after tilting the pc a few times it return to absolutely quiet.

This being the first water cooled system I have ever owned I was not familiar with this phenomenon so it caught me off guard.
If anyone else can confirm what I am saying or has had a similar experience feel free to share it with us.

Ibizanhound wrote:

Ok there is definitely something faulty with the system unfortunately, i tried to place it on a base elevating it a bit from the shelf where it s currently standing, to improve the air flow, and as i tilted it backwards, while it was still working, the sound became worse for a minute or two and then decreased again!

To be honest, makes me think of a fan bearing issue. But without hearing the sound I couldn't tell you for sure. Every time a ball bearing fan starts to wear out, tilting the case or rocking it briefly can either make the noise much worse, or make it go away for awhile. The blower style fans that thing uses doesn't give me any reassurances about how long they will last.

Bubbles inside a loop are a temporary thing and in a properly functioning loop bubbles would clear up naturally over time. But if there's a water level problem or pump defect then it could also be that. In your case I'd bet either a fan bearing issue or a water level problem.

Small update: I am happy to say that its been almost 1 month now since my last post, and I can say the Zotac magnus has been absolutely quiet all this time!

***IMPORTANT UPDATE !!!***
So after 16 months since I posted the noise problem here,
I now know that it was the water pump that was causing the noise,
as 3 weeks ago the situation with the water pump got so bad that it rendered the computer useless!

Long story short, the liquid that is inside the tubes is gradually evaporating through the elastic material of the tubes!
So it took 16 months for the liquid levels to drop so low that the PC was unable to function.
I managed to refill it by taking it to a PC shop that specializes in water cooling systems,
but to be honest,
if the technician wasn't willing to try to fix it by "improvising" and instead had decided to play it safe and had told me to get the exact model of the water cooling system from Zotac for him to install, the PC would be useless now.
So cheers to him!

After this experience I honestly cannot recommend this PC to anyone,
unless you don't mind paying a visit to a similarly skilled technician every year to refill the water cooling system hahaha
The fact that if these systems break down you need specialized equipment and technicians to fix them makes them too risky.

I am definitely getting a mainstream desktop tower next time and in fact I will avoid water cooling all together,
as I found out that you can achieve lower noise levers and better cooling through passive cooling systems (large metal surfaces and silent fans)

Hope this helps anyone who has the same problem or is thinking of getting this PC.