[SOLVED] 7700k Running Warm

[1nsulted]

Hi everyone,

I've had this prebuilt for about 4 years now and finally decided to start upgrading pieces. The components are an i7-7700k processor on an Asus tuf z270 mk2 mobo. It has a pretty bad 600-watt PSU that I'm soon replacing and an EVGA Geforce gtx 2060 6gb (mini) that I'm also soon replacing.

The problem is that the CPU is constantly a bit warm and hot when under any sort of stress. The CPU cooler used to be a small Aestek 120mm AIO liquid cooler. I've recently upgraded it to a Cooler Master LC240E liquid cooler (240mm). The radiator fans are configured to pull through the rad at the front of the case and there are 3 exhaust fans, 2 on top and one at the back.

With the old 120mm cooler, on bios, when the processor was barely being used, it sat at about 28-30c, which seemed fairly normal because it runs in a pretty warm environment (26c). On the desktop, however, it sat at around 34-36c when not overclocked. I had hoped that a new cooler would bring temps down, but they didn't change at all. With the new cooler, a 4600Hz overclock brings idle desktop temps to about 36-38c. At 4600Hz, simply opening google chrome can cause the temperature to spike to nearly 75c. Playing a video game like Apex Legends can lead to anywhere from 50-75c.

I ran an Intel Burn Test before and after the overclocking with the new cooler. on stock settings, running the burn test on high to very high could cause temperatures of around 75-88c. Running the burn test on max led to over 90c. After the overclock, running the test on high caused temperatures to reach 95c after 20 seconds, so I stopped it.

At first, I thought I could have seated the cooler improperly, so I took it off, reapplied thermal paste and reseated it, but the results remained the same. I'm at a bit of a loss as to why these temperatures are occurring. There shouldn't be anything overly stressful in the build that's causing this, but I've never managed to have this CPU run below 32c on desktop.

Any ideas on how to resolve this issue are much appreciated. As it stands, I don't think my pc is in any real danger, but the high temps mean that I may not be able to boost my CPU performance much when I get a new GPU.

Thank you!

 

[mdd1963]

Hard to pay much attention to 'idle temps', and nor should you, as when in Balanced Power plan, my own stock (i.e., not delidded)7700K (equipped with NH-D15) idled down to about 800 MHz, with temps about 33C (with 22C ambients)

With MCE enabled but limited to 4.5 GHz (MCE-enabled)all-core clock speeds, the temps are 65C in CPU-Z/stress test or XTU/CPU-stress, and, when 4.7 GHz all-core is selected within the XTU, temps are about 4-5C warmer under same loads, with core voltage sitting about 1.254V (1.274 max) according to HWMonitor... Testing of 4.8 GHz all core needed a .05V core bump for stability, and that small bump and 100 MHz took temps to 85C, so I remained at only 4.7 GHz all -core under load...

Core voltage, of course, affects CPU temps....you did not mention your core voltages in HWMonitor VID 0,1,2 or 3. What core voltages are you seeing applied?

your instant boosts to 4600 MHz/ 75C does seem a tad high (compared to my sample), but, temp will normally and instantly spike with clock speed and core voltage under load....

 

[1nsulted]

Thank you for the response!

Since posting, I've come to realize that my pc refuses to enter balanced mode. I have tried to get it to idle at a lower frequency, but it constantly sits at 4500hz. The voltage for this fluctuates between 1.23 and 1.26. I would be ok with this if temps didn't spike so high. Even though it's constantly boost clocked, I don't think that a stress test should bring my core temps to nearly 90 degrees, even if the test is presenting a large CPU load.

 

[Mr.Spock]

couple of things to check would be your motherboard fan profile. a quiet profile will lead to higher temps than standard.

also that the radiator fans are connected to the CPU header - probably the case if you following the pre-built.

 

[mdd1963]

your noted core voltage is not overly high, and, roughly matches what my Asus Z270 applies...

I do not know how well assorted AIO pumps shed the heat related to some of the larger air-coolers...; you might find some results of other 7700K owners using your specific cooling solution....

If you are sure you have a nice thin layer of paste (less is better than more, if it's thinly spread!), and pump is snugly/evenly locked down, maybe your specific CPU is less than a 'golden sample'...

Performance might be more than adequate even at 4.5 GHz all core, mine was, I threw in an extra 200 MHz only because 'it was there' more so than it was needed.

YOu would need to have BIOS set to defaults, cpu multiplier to AUTO, and WIndows power plan sett to Balanced to allow clock speeds to fluctuate, but, agree you should not just creep up to 90C unless suffering from thermal runaway, where your coolant gradually warms, leading to less cooling, and even warmer fluid, etc...