Question 7700k idle 45-70, gaming - 70-100

[timphd]

Hi Guys I know this questions has been asked a lot but just looking for some more clarification.

I have had a 7700k for about 2 years now with a Corsair h100i V2 cooler. The CPU Was overclocked to about 4.8 from 4.2 and recently has been super hot. It is now idling from around 45-70 and when playing things (Destiny 2, COD MW etc) it jumps to anywhere from 70-100 and usually a constant 85-95.

As soon as I open anything lets say chrome it also rapidly jumps and then goes back to the idle of approx 50. I'm thinking maybe the cooler is clogged or dead but the RPM on it is still registering fine with the Icue software. Touching the glass on my case after an hour of gameplay also burns like hell as the CPU is so hot, basically a toaster in my PC and concerned that'll effect my other components.

Currently the VCORE is on 1.27 ad a clock of 4.7. I have tried going down to base clock of 4.2 with default vcore of 1.35 and it still runs extremely hot, even when i pull the vcore down to 1.26 and turn XMP off.

 

[alceryes]

Have you cleaned out your case of all dust? (including fans and rads)
Is one of the tubes going to the rad hotter than the other?
Do you have a standard heatsink and fan you could install?

An idle of 50 is kinda high. I'm wondering if your h100i is clogged or if your water evaporated. Since it's a closed system this normally wouldn't happen but if the h100i got damaged or is faulty it's a possibility. I'd suggest getting a basic heatsink and fan to test temps with.

Edit - What's your ambient temp? (are you in Australia). Also, don't worry about the temp surges to 50 (or whatever) then immediately back down - that's normal.

 

[timphd]

Have you cleaned out your case of all dust? (including fans and rads)
Is one of the tubes going to the rad hotter than the other?
Do you have a standard heatsink and fan you could install?

I'm wondering if your h100i is clogged or if your water evaporated. Since it's a closed system this normally wouldn't happen but if the h100i got damaged or is faulty it's a possibility. First step would be to get a basic heatsink and fan to test temps with.

Good idea, unfortunately I have no spare cooler I did purchase another from PCCG as I will be upgrading a few things and giving the rest of the stuff as a hand me down to my little brother, thats why I wana sort this cooling sitch so he doesnt set the house on fire haha!

I re-applied my thermal paste, cleaned all dust and tested the tubes and still same issue. Tubes weren't really hot at all which was my concern, I couldn't feel much pressure inside them either from the pump it seemed very weak.

 

[Danra]

More than likely the micro fins inside the cooler are clogged, and they can be difficult to clean. It is a nasty process. The average water cooler lasts 2 or 3 years with a lucky few lasting 5 or 6 years.

I suggest purchasing a good air cooler. I use a Noctua NH-U14S, unfortunately it is large and does not fit everyone's case, it is an outstanding cooler if you have the room for it. Always measure your case.

I suggested a Noctua NH-U12S for my son and it does a good job cooling his Intel CPU, however it is expensive.

Here is a good video.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5GhNnLVUrw

 

[Karadjgne]

Tsk. The tubing should not be hot at all if the cooler is appropriate to the load, which the 250w 100i is plenty for even an OC 7700k which will land somewhere around 170w under Prime95 conditions.

AIO's generally last somewhere around 5-6 years, and quite often it's the fans that fail first.

There's only one place that's of any concern when it comes to dust and thats the area directly under the fans if in push orientation, or the entire visible fin array if in pull. The rest of the pc can be packed with dust and not affect the cpu temp in the slightest.

Common misconception is that the coolant is somehow the same temp as the cpu. That's rarely ever the case. Normal operation puts coolant temps only 2-3°C above Case Ambient temps, not cpu temps. The coolant itself is just a vehicle. The energy given off by the cpu is absorbed by the coolant, which then drops it off in the radiator. The energy isn't consumed by the coolant.

Imagine sticking a pot of water on a stove on high (1500w+). For several minutes, nothing happens, but every second that energy from the burner is absorbed with relatively little change to the water temp. If you then ran that water through a radiator of appropriate size and ability, that same water will never boil, barely even get warm, even with 1500w cooking it.

All of which has not much at all to do with cpu temp. Cpu temp will be because of load vs the ability of the coolant to absorb the excess energy. If the rad is too small, it can't dissipate the excess fast enough before its returned over the cpu, so has already charged coolant, so can't absorb as much.

There's really only 2 reasons why an aio will allow high temps, if appropriate, and thats failure of the pump to move the coolant sufficiently or failure of the fans to remove excess heat from the fins. That could mean the coolant level is too low, algae has formed in the coolant and blocked the microfins (seriously doubtful with Corsair's coolant), pump isn't running as it should, fans are set too low rpm, dust clogging the rad under the fans etc.

So fix what can be fixed. Check what needs checking.

 

[timphd]

Tsk. The tubing should not be hot at all if the cooler is appropriate to the load, which the 250w 100i is plenty for even an OC 7700k which will land somewhere around 170w under Prime95 conditions.

AIO's generally last somewhere around 5-6 years, and quite often it's the fans that fail first.

There's only one place that's of any concern when it comes to dust and thats the area directly under the fans if in push orientation, or the entire visible fin array if in pull. The rest of the pc can be packed with dust and not affect the cpu temp in the slightest.

Common misconception is that the coolant is somehow the same temp as the cpu. That's rarely ever the case. Normal operation puts coolant temps only 2-3°C above Case Ambient temps, not cpu temps. The coolant itself is just a vehicle. The energy given off by the cpu is absorbed by the coolant, which then drops it off in the radiator. The energy isn't consumed by the coolant.

Imagine sticking a pot of water on a stove on high (1500w+). For several minutes, nothing happens, but every second that energy from the burner is absorbed with relatively little change to the water temp. If you then ran that water through a radiator of appropriate size and ability, that same water will never boil, barely even get warm, even with 1500w cooking it.

All of which has not much at all to do with cpu temp. Cpu temp will be because of load vs the ability of the coolant to absorb the excess energy. If the rad is too small, it can't dissipate the excess fast enough before its returned over the cpu, so has already charged coolant, so can't absorb as much.

There's really only 2 reasons why an aio will allow high temps, if appropriate, and thats failure of the pump to move the coolant sufficiently or failure of the fans to remove excess heat from the fins. That could mean the coolant level is too low, algae has formed in the coolant and blocked the microfins (seriously doubtful with Corsair's coolant), pump isn't running as it should, fans are set too low rpm, dust clogging the rad under the fans etc.

So fix what can be fixed. Check what needs checking.

Thanks mate,

Good explanation! I have cleaned all the fan dust and the fans seems to be working perfectly still, I have a top radiator in my case with the fans sucking air from in the case outwards through the radiator. Pump still says 3000 RPM and is plugged into the CPU_FAN header, maybe I could try the pump header on my MOBO and put one of my regular fans into the cpu_fan. Fans are also on extreme profile at the highest RPM they can go, tested with low and medium profiles also.

 

[Karadjgne]

Pump is at 3k. That's about right for that pump, so it's getting the correct voltage, so nothing wrong with cpu_fan header. Or it'd read much lower-0rpm.

Coolant temp at idle should only be a few degrees above system/case ambient temps, which is right since the tubing is not hot, so honestly it sounds like the aio is working as it should be.

What paste did you use, how old is it? Did you follow proscribed instructions that's in numerous YouTube vids for correct cleaning of cpu/pump base and reinstall the pump head correctly?

Do you use HWInfo or coretemp or realtemp to verify cpu temps, and do all cores fall within 5°C ± or is it only 1-2 cores that get overwhelmingly hot, bringing up the average?

 

[timphd]

Pump is at 3k. That's about right for that pump, so it's getting the correct voltage, so nothing wrong with cpu_fan header. Or it'd read much lower-0rpm.

Coolant temp at idle should only be a few degrees above system/case ambient temps, which is right since the tubing is not hot, so honestly it sounds like the aio is working as it should be.

What paste did you use, how old is it? Did you follow proscribed instructions that's in numerous YouTube vids for correct cleaning of cpu/pump base and reinstall the pump head correctly?

Do you use HWInfo or coretemp or realtemp to verify cpu temps, and do all cores fall within 5°C ± or is it only 1-2 cores that get overwhelmingly hot, bringing up the average?

Using this thermaltake stuff, I did re-apply paste and it seemed a bit hard compared to previous pastes I've used so I ordered some good corsair stuff, should be arriving this week - maybe thats the issue?

And its all 4 cores are getting hammered and all 4 are sticking around the same temps (defs within 5 of each other).

Im using the Icue software as well as HW monitor and coretemps, iwanted to compare all softwares and they all show the same stuff unfortunately, all cores going to 80+ while gaming and maxing at 100 each. Even on 5-10% load my idle is about 50-60 degrees.