Question 97C when gaming on i7-10700 + dark rock pro 4. good airflow, totally confused please help!!

[abyss010]

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700 2.9 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX LGA1200
PC Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
Fans: 2x Fractal (unsure which ones, maybe they came with the tower) and 2x ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan

Full part list

Temperatures: 55-65c idle/web browser open | 75c low end games | 95c mid-high end games

Hi all, I upgraded my CPU about two months ago from i5-10400 to i7-10700 (to play a game that was updating its system requirements) and you can call me a fool (cause i really am one) but I admittedly did not monitor the temperatures and haven't done so since about 2 years ago (using my i5). In the past few days, I decided to finally try out a monitoring program and noticed that my CPU was going up to 97c when doing higher end games and 75c in really really low end games (im talking games from like 2001).

I noticed that one of my fans wasn't spinning (pc was running with 2 fans) so resolved that and added another fan on top of the tower, the GPU definitely cooled down but the CPU still remains at unnaturally high temperatures. The CPU usage in task manager isn't suspicious and is running at 8% on idle.

A few things that have been tried/done:

• Reapplied thermal paste
• Have tested with different fan/cpu cooler directions (it's not the fans, the GPU got cooler with the addition of 2 more fans)
• Have tested without case window (so it's probably not the case)
• Probably some insignificant things I cant think of right now but nothing software related I assure you

Here's an image of what the PC setup inside looks like:

And a poorly drawn airflow reference:

Spoiler

For further context, I had problems with receiving discord messages 10 minutes late and my PC lagging behind in some situations so I feel ridiculous for not checking my temps. I don't know how long it's been throttling but I don't think I had this much going on during the i5 (and by extension, when this game i upgraded for had lower system requirements). I'm honestly not sure, i've been ignorant for too long about this.

I don't know if it's related to potential prolonged heat issues but when I had my i5 I had issues booting up (motherboard CPU light and no output on monitor, resolved by restart) but those went away when I got my i7.

I don't do any overclocking or anything, everything is ran as is without any adjustment. PC is regularly cleaned every 3 months and thermal pasted when appropriate (1 or 2 years). I haven't noticed any damage on the parts (pump_fan1 is broken but not because of this) the only thing I can think of is sometimes my usb ports dont work on boot (just need to be plugged in and out) but its really just been like that since it was built.

Currently I believe it is either my CPU or CPU Cooler (the fan does spin so i don't understand) but I'm really not sure. Please help me figure out what's going on here as I've tried everything I can so far and I'm really worried.

Also, I'm not really familar with a lot of the more advanced technical lingo so please explain your words as much as possible.

 

[Zerk2012]

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700 2.9 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX LGA1200
PC Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
Fans: 2x Fractal (unsure which ones, maybe they came with the tower) and 2x ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan

Full part list

Temperatures: 55-65c idle/web browser open | 75c low end games | 95c mid-high end games

Hi all, I upgraded my CPU about two months ago from i5-10400 to i7-10700 (to play a game that was updating its system requirements) and you can call me a fool (cause i really am one) but I admittedly did not monitor the temperatures and haven't done so since about 2 years ago (using my i5). In the past few days, I decided to finally try out a monitoring program and noticed that my CPU was going up to 97c when doing higher end games and 75c in really really low end games (im talking games from like 2001).

I noticed that one of my fans wasn't spinning (pc was running with 2 fans) so resolved that and added another fan on top of the tower, the GPU definitely cooled down but the CPU still remains at unnaturally high temperatures. The CPU usage in task manager isn't suspicious and is running at 8% on idle.

A few things that have been tried/done:

• Reapplied thermal paste
• Have tested with different fan/cpu cooler directions (it's not the fans, the GPU got cooler with the addition of 2 more fans)
• Have tested without case window (so it's probably not the case)
• Probably some insignificant things I cant think of right now but nothing software related I assure you

Here's an image of what the PC setup inside looks like:

And a poorly drawn airflow reference:

Spoiler

For further context, I had problems with receiving discord messages 10 minutes late and my PC lagging behind in some situations so I feel ridiculous for not checking my temps. I don't know how long it's been throttling but I don't think I had this much going on during the i5 (and by extension, when this game i upgraded for had lower system requirements). I'm honestly not sure, i've been ignorant for too long about this.

I don't know if it's related to potential prolonged heat issues but when I had my i5 I had issues booting up (motherboard CPU light and no output on monitor, resolved by restart) but those went away when I got my i7.

I don't do any overclocking or anything, everything is ran as is without any adjustment. PC is regularly cleaned every 3 months and thermal pasted when appropriate (1 or 2 years). I haven't noticed any damage on the parts (pump_fan1 is broken but not because of this) the only thing I can think of is sometimes my usb ports dont work on boot (just need to be plugged in and out) but its really just been like that since it was built.

Currently I believe it is either my CPU or CPU Cooler but I'm really not sure. Please help me figure out what's going on here as I've tried everything I can so far and I'm really worried.

Also, I'm not really familar with a lot of the more advanced technical lingo so please explain your words as much as possible.

Your cooler is backwards the fan is blowing the wrong way, the back fan blowing out and right next to it the cooler fan is blowing toward the cooler. Move the fan to the other side of the cooler and make sure it's blowing toward the rear of the case.

 

[NedSmelly]

If it's still hot after correcting the fan position, then check your motherboard's power profile. Quite possible that an MPG Z490 is ignoring stock power limits and pumping in as many watts as it can, for as long as it can.

PL1 should be 65W (base power consumption)
PL2 should be 224W (turbo power consumption)
Tau (turbo duration) should be 28 seconds

 

[abyss010]

Your cooler is backwards the fan is blowing the wrong way, the back fan blowing out and right next to it the cooler fan is blowing toward the cooler. Move the fan to the other side of the cooler and make sure it's blowing toward the rear of the case.

Do you mean having the fan face the CPU directly, like literally on the motherboard? I don't think that's possible? Sorry, I probably don't understand. If you mean having it installed so that the "dark rock pro" logo isn't upside down then that's already been tried with no changes.

An image example would probably help.

If it's still hot after correcting the fan position, then check your motherboard's power profile. Quite possible that an MPG Z490 is ignoring stock power limits and pumping in as many watts as it can, for as long as it can.

PL1 should be 65W (base power consumption)
PL2 should be 224W (turbo power consumption)
Tau (turbo duration) should be 28 seconds

How would I go about doing that?

 

[Zerk2012]

Do you mean having the fan face the CPU directly, like literally on the motherboard? I don't think that's possible? Sorry, I probably don't understand. It (allegedly) only installs two ways, facing the back fan or facing the two fans on the right both of which have been tried with no changes.

An image example would probably help.


How would I go about doing that?

Move the fan to the side the memory is on and make sure the arrow on the fan if facing the cooler.

 

[abyss010]

Move the fan to the side the memory is on and make sure the arrow on the fan if facing the cooler.

Sorry, I edited my message too late:

If you mean having it installed so that the "dark rock pro" logo isn't upside down then that's already been tried with no changes.

Do you mean something like this?

Sorry for the crude editing.

 

[NedSmelly]

St

How would I go about doing that?

On my MSI B460 MAG / 10700F combo I have the following options in BIOS:

- Turn off 'Game Boost' and/or select stock profile in EZ Mode
- Select CPU cooler as "stock" (selecting "tower" or "Watercooled/AIO" will result in no power limits, and a hot PC)

You can manually adjust individual power values if you're more knowledgeable

 

[NedSmelly]

Do you mean something like this?

Have the rear case fan blow out (exhaust), and the CPU fan blow into the fin stack.

In other words, all blue arrows point to the left, except the top fan which blows up.

 

[abyss010]

St

On my MSI B460 MAG / 10700F combo I have the following options in BIOS:

- Turn off 'Game Boost' and/or select stock profile in EZ Mode
- Select CPU cooler as "stock" (selecting "tower" or "Watercooled/AIO" will result in no power limits, and a hot PC)

You can manually adjust individual power values if you're more knowledgeable

Game Boost is not enabled. I don't understand what is meant by stock profile but I see "XMP Profile 1" under Game Boost

CPU Cooler Tuning has:
Boxed Cooler
Tower Air Cooler
Water Cooler (selected by default)

I assume this is the PL1/PL2 thing:

MSI Click Bios 5
BIOS ver: E7C79IMS.1D0

Have the rear case fan blow out (exhaust), and the CPU fan blow into the fin stack.

In other words, all blue arrows point to the left, except the top fan which blows up.

Isn't that what the drawing in my original post is set like?

Honestly I havent slept well today so I am gonna get back to this tomorrow.

 

[NedSmelly]

CPU Cooler Tuning has:
Boxed Cooler
Tower Air Cooler
Water Cooler (selected by default)

Select 'Boxed Cooler".

If you have 'Water Cooler' selected then it's pumping in 224W non-stop into the CPU during peak load (e.g. gaming).

Isn't that what the drawing in my original post is set like?

The rear fan in your original diagram was correct, but the CPU cooler is upside down. The CPU cooler fan should be on the right hand side (over the RAM), and blowing into the cooler block. As @Zerk2012 pointed out.

 

[abyss010]

Select 'Boxed Cooler".

If you have 'Water Cooler' selected then it's pumping in 224W non-stop into the CPU during peak load (e.g. gaming).

The rear fan in your original diagram was correct, but the CPU cooler is upside down. The CPU cooler fan should be on the right hand side (over the RAM), and blowing into the cooler block. As @Zerk2012 pointed out.

Changed to Boxed Cooler, temps appear to be bit higher but need to look into it properly so i'll update tomorrow

I previously had the cpu cooler mounted the other direction, changed it in case it did anything to the airflow but looks like I was wrong.

Thanks both, I will get back to this tomorrow when my heads working.

 

[NedSmelly]

I assume this is the PL1/PL2 thing:

Yep that's the ridiculous MSI "4096W unlimited power" default setting.

The other confusing thing is they call the turbo duration "Long Duration Maintained" when it's supposed to be for the time duration of the Short Duration Power Limit (i.e. PL2).

Changed to Boxed Cooler, temps appear to be bit higher but need to look into it properly so i'll update tomorrow

Something else isn't right if it's still sitting on >95 degrees whilst on Boxed Cooler profile with a Dark Rock Pro 4. Did you use new thermal paste, and is the cooler seated properly?