Question 9700K Thermal Headroom

Dec 17, 2019
8
1
15
Hello,

During gaming (Rainbow 6, BFV, Division 2 for example) and the Prime95 thermal testing described in the Tom's Hardware Intel Temperature Guide, my 9700K averages temps of 75C and spikes to 80C on the package without any overclock (except for XMP on RAM).

I already posed this question on the cooling thread, and they seemed to think these temps are normal. Is it really possible that I can't overclock at all with such a high-airflow case at 100% fan speed and a 240mm AIO? Even just increasing to a 4.7GHz all core overclock puts the temps over 81C.

Other thoughts: I bought my Enermax AIO new, but on a discount because it was a few years old. I suspect the cooler is under-performing. Does this sound like an appropriate explanation? Perhaps the inside is corroded?

I'm very open to your opinions and I'll try suggested tests. Below are my rig details. Thanks!

CPU9700K
Cooler and thermal pasteEnermax 240mm AIO and fresh Kryonaut applied 1 week ago
Core SpeedStock (reaches advertised boosts)
Core Voltage at Loadapprox 1.26v with spikes up to 1.312v
Load test software and Temperature SoftwarePrime95 Small FFT with all AVX disabled and HW Monitor
CaseCooler Master H500 with all fan slots filled and aggressive fan curve
Load and Idle Core Temps35C and 75C with spikes to 80C
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 3200MHz 16GB
Motherboard and GPUASRock Z370 Extreme4 and GTX 1070ti MSI Duke
Ambient temperature22C
 
Each board is different - we won't know what to adjust it to until we know what your chip is actually getting and requesting.

Load up HWiNFO64 (sensors only) and stress test it a little. Please list the minimum and maximum for "core X VID" and "Vcore". Vcore is in the section that lists your motherboard.
 

CompuTronix

Intel Master
Moderator
... Prime95 thermal testing described in the Tom's Hardware Intel Temperature Guide ... 9700K ... 75C spikes to 80C without any overclock ... possible that I can't overclock ... 240mm AIO ... 4.7GHz all core overclock ... over 81C ... Enermax AIO ... few years old. I suspect the cooler is under-performing. Does this sound like an appropriate explanation? Perhaps the inside is corroded? ... Kryonaut applied 1 week ago ... spikes up to 1.312v ... Prime95 Small FFT with all AVX disabled ... Ambient temperature 22C ...

WhopperSr,

On behalf of Tom's Moderator Team, welcome aboard!

Nice work on describing the problem and listing your specs; it sets a fine example for other Forum Members. Also, thanks for reading our Intel Temperature Guide. However, you might have overlooked a few items of interest.

Just as alceryes has already suggested, you need to manually take control of Vcore. When running Hardware Info, pay close attention to Package Power (Watts). You might want to re-read Section 8 - Overclocking and Voltage in the Temp Guide. There's also a link to the CPU Overclocking Guide and Tutorial for Beginners. After reading, you can then Google for more specific Overclocking Guides that cover your 9700K and ASRock Z370 Extreme4 combination.

Liquid coolers, whether high-end custom loops or AIO's will eventually fail. It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when. AIO's are notorious for premature pump failures, especially those which run 24/7. Moreover, your suspicions concerning your Enermax 240 AIO are well founded; Enermax's AIO Gunk Problem After 18 Months. You might want to consider replacing that unit.

Galvanic corrosion (dissimilar metals; aluminum radiator & copper water block) creates sediment, which along with bio-growth, obstructs flow. Custom loops can be drained and cleaned, are either all copper or all aluminum and use high end pumps.

Keep in mind that when overclocked, the 8 Core i7-9700K is basically a 9900K without Hyper-Treading. It's capable of consuming well over 200 Watts, so as your Cooler Master H500 case supports larger AIO's, a 280 or 360 would be better suited.

Once again, welcome aboard!

CT :sol:
 
Dec 17, 2019
8
1
15
WhopperSr,

On behalf of Tom's Moderator Team, welcome aboard!

Nice work on describing the problem and listing your specs; it sets a fine example for other Forum Members. Also, thanks for reading our Intel Temperature Guide. However, you might have overlooked a few items of interest.

Just as alceryes has already suggested, you need to manually take control of Vcore. When running Hardware Info, pay close attention to Package Power (Watts). You might want to re-read Section 8 - Overclocking and Voltage in the Temp Guide. There's also a link to the CPU Overclocking Guide and Tutorial for Beginners. After reading, you can then Google for more specific Overclocking Guides that cover your 9700K and ASRock Z370 Extreme4 combination.

Liquid coolers, whether high-end custom loops or AIO's will eventually fail. It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when. AIO's are notorious for premature pump failures, especially those which run 24/7. Moreover, your suspicions concerning your Enermax 240 AIO are well founded; Enermax's AIO Gunk Problem After 18 Months. You might want to consider replacing that unit.

Galvanic corrosion (dissimilar metals; aluminum radiator & copper water block) creates sediment, which along with bio-growth, obstructs flow. Custom loops can be drained and cleaned, are either all copper or all aluminum and use high end pumps.

Keep in mind that when overclocked, the 8 Core i7-9700K is basically a 9900K without Hyper-Treading. It's capable of consuming well over 200 Watts, so as your Cooler Master H500 case supports larger AIO's, a 280 or 360 would be better suited.

Once again, welcome aboard!

CT :sol:


Hey CT,

Thanks for the advice (and sorry for delayed response)! I was able to lower my temps substantially by adjusting the voltages as you recommended. The auto voltage was significantly higher than necessary to achieve a typical overclock. I settled on a 4.9GHz all core overclock, but even after the voltage adjustment, I felt that my temps were still higher than expected.

I order a new air cooler (DeepCool Assassin 3). Without any changes to the overclock mentioned above, I dropped about 9C! I'm very happy with these new results. I freed up some more room to turn up the clocks, but I think I may just stick with this 4.9GHz OC since it is so quite at these temps.

Thanks again!
 
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