Question Bought a bigger cooler but cpu temps stayed the same. Is there a problem with my CPU?

Jan 23, 2020
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So i recently upgraded my corsair h100i v2 cooler to a fractal design celsius 36, but my CPU temps are still too high. For instance, when i open up google chrome, my CPU goes up to 70 degrees. Also in bios its running at around 50 to 60 C which isn't an idle temperature. I've remounted the cooler and it is making good contact with the CPU so i don't see why there's a problem. My guesses are that i have bad thermal paste that or maybe there's something wrong with my CPU. Please help because this has been bothering me for a long time.

My specs and some info:

CPU i7 8086k 5ghz 1.41 v (only voltage that would pass prime95 test although hits a 100 C every time)
Motherboard: Z370 A-Pro
Cooler: Fractal Design Celsius 36 (as you can see above)

I have 9 fans in my computer case and have very good airflow so i really don't know what to do. Help!
 

Gfost73

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when you remounted the cooler did you remove and replace old paste? if not that could very well be the issue. (assuming paste is older).. if its OC maybe that is the issue too. Maybe the cooler just isn't sufficient for that OC
 

Phaaze88

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That's alot of voltage, imo. Try saving your overclock settings and then reverting the bios back to default. See if the temps are more what they should be. I think the voltage is just too high.
The voltage actually isn't that high: https://siliconlottery.com/pages/statistics
8086K5.00GHz4.80GHz1.400V100%
8086K5.10GHz4.90GHz1.412VTop 94%
8086K5.20GHz5.00GHz1.425VTop 65%
8086K5.30GHz5.10GHz1.437VTop 15%

@rogueN
Did you not create an AVX/AVX 512 Offset?

What other changes did you make in bios? If you really did mount the cooler correctly, then the error is most likely some overly ambitious bios settings you applied.

What's your case? Does the radiator get enough air?
 
Jan 23, 2020
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The voltage actually isn't that high: https://siliconlottery.com/pages/statistics
8086K5.00GHz4.80GHz1.400V100%
8086K5.10GHz4.90GHz1.412VTop 94%
8086K5.20GHz5.00GHz1.425VTop 65%
8086K5.30GHz5.10GHz1.437VTop 15%

@rogueN
Did you not create an AVX/AVX 512 Offset?

What other changes did you make in bios? If you really did mount the cooler correctly, then the error is most likely some overly ambitious bios settings you applied.

What's your case? Does the radiator get enough air?


I did not create an AVX offset because i want full CPU performance when playing e.g. csgo. My radiator should be getting enough air. I have the Fractal Design Define r6 case with 9 fans. 3 intake at the front, 3 exhaust at the top and 1 at the rear of the case. I also have 2 exhaust fans at the bottom but I'm thinking of changing those to intake.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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when you remounted the cooler did you remove and replace old paste? if not that could very well be the issue. (assuming paste is older).. if its OC maybe that is the issue too. Maybe the cooler just isn't sufficient for that OC


The cooler should be more than enough to cool the CPU. I've seen videos from people that have 8700k running 5Ghz with under 80C, and yes i did replace the thermal paste although i think it isn't doing the best job since it's not been stored correctly.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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I did not create an AVX offset because i want full CPU performance when playing e.g. csgo. My radiator should be getting enough air. I have the Fractal Design Define r6 case with 9 fans. 3 intake at the front, 3 exhaust at the top and 1 at the rear of the case. I also have 2 exhaust fans at the bottom but I'm thinking of changing those to intake.

Also the radiator is mounted at the top of the case as exhaust.
 

Gfost73

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maybe the way you've mounted the AIO Radiator to the top as an exhaust is what is wrong.. seems like it would make more sense having that as a intake to allow cold air to pass threw.. not as exhausts sucking hot air out.. Ive heard this often with AIO ..
 

86zx

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Nov 1, 2019
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maybe the way you've mounted the AIO Radiator to the top as an exhaust is what is wrong.. seems like it would make more sense having that as a intake to allow cold air to pass threw.. not as exhausts sucking hot air out.. Ive heard this often with AIO ..
Yes but that has the side effect of making the gpu hot
 
Jan 23, 2020
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maybe the way you've mounted the AIO Radiator to the top as an exhaust is what is wrong.. seems like it would make more sense having that as a intake to allow cold air to pass threw.. not as exhausts sucking hot air out.. Ive heard this often with AIO ..

Could be that. I'll try mounting it in the front and give you the results.
 

Gfost73

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Mar 23, 2019
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I have experienced it myself my rx480 was running at 87c because of that exact scenario. If you have enough exhaust it’s fine but might need more than 1 120mm
this is sorta off topic , but I can say with my GPU , (RX570) it at stock ran hot.. much hotter than I liked, easily hit 82°C under load and gaming. however after research I discovered that this card was well known to run hot and what many end up doing is under-volting the GPU . Mine for example I have Overclocked core to 1390Mhz , it is stable at 1405Mhz but I back it up some just because I want a small buffer. ( whether it makes any difference etc ive no Idea it just makes me feel better thinking its not pushed to Max of Max ) .. but Ive undervolted the stage 7 of the card to 1030mV.. from something like 1175ish I think Ive also lowered stage 5 and 6.. but I didnt need to really. now my GPU under full load for hours is lucky to hit 70°C and idle fans shut off and it sits around 40°c .. I do my OC and under-volting just threw Wattman you might want to look into this for your card . I used Superposition to test stability when I changed any settings and I didnt drop the voltage too fast. Ive also adjusted my fan curve to be a tad aggressive.. Fans stay below 50% till GPU temps hit 65°C and at 75°C I have that set at 80%.. but Ive never yet had temps that high to have fan spin at that speed.
 

Phaaze88

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I did not create an AVX offset because i want full CPU performance when playing e.g. csgo.
CSGO doesn't use AVX instructions. No game currently out now runs AVX throughout.
Not having an offset means once it actually kicks in, it's not going to be stable, and you're failing the thermal test in Prime95 because it runs AVX instructions on default - if you don't disable it in the options menu.
AVX instructions are faster than the standard x86 ones, but require more voltage and pull more power(= more heat) at the same frequencies.

I also have 2 exhaust fans at the bottom but I'm thinking of changing those to intake.
Should be intake, to feed more air to the gpu.

I have experienced it myself my rx480 was running at 87c because of that exact scenario. If you have enough exhaust it’s fine but might need more than 1 120mm
Generally speaking, front mounted rad gives lower cpu temps, and slightly warmer gpu - top mounted, lower gpu temps and slightly warmer cpu... BUT-
The design and layout of one's case has an impact on what orientation works best. Unfortunately, it isn't always cut-and-dry; individual testing is best to find what works best in everyone's case.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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CSGO doesn't use AVX instructions. No game currently out now runs AVX throughout.
Not having an offset means once it actually kicks in, it's not going to be stable, and you're failing the thermal test in Prime95 because it runs AVX instructions on default - if you don't disable it in the options menu.
AVX instructions are faster than the standard x86 ones, but require more voltage and pull more power(= more heat) at the same frequencies.


Should be intake, to feed more air to the gpu.


Generally speaking, front mounted rad gives lower cpu temps, and slightly warmer gpu - top mounted, lower gpu temps and slightly warmer cpu... BUT-
The design and layout of one's case has an impact on what orientation works best. Unfortunately, it isn't always cut-and-dry; individual testing is best to find what works best in everyone's case.


So i mounted the radiator at the front and it had a tiny impact. My temps dropped about 5C when idle, although. Also I was able to pass Prime95 with a voltage of 1.350v with an AVX offset of -3. I still hit 100C during the test.
I also tried running Cinebench R20 and passed the test with no issues, with my CPU STILL hitting 86C which is above my likings since Cinebench doesn't heat up your CPU THAT much. My only solution for this that i can think of is replacing my old thermal paste with newer and better one. Any other ideas?
 

Gfost73

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Mar 23, 2019
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may just be that temp is what your going to get.. 86° seems a tad high IMO but maybe not ..and cpu probably wouldn't be running under that kind of stress on a normal basis. replacing paste may help if its stock paste. you may see a few degree difference but id not expect anything drastic. short of maybe ramping up fan speeds to cool liquid faster,, speed up pump etc.. ( I think that can be done on most AIO) but then that comes at a cost of being louder
 

Karadjgne

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Disable AVX, both of them, in Prime95. Many ppl have had issues with AVX offset in bios as it can create instability with voltage fluctuations with a set OC.

What do you mean 'your old thermal paste'? What are you using, and just how old is it? Honestly the stock Fractal paste is very decent, probably more so than many, and even more so than a mediocre paste that's a few years old.

Also, bigger cooler means bigger capacity, not better ability. You moved from a 250w capability aio, to a 350w capability aio. That's not going to do much for a cpu that only hitting @ 120w ish OC. To see any serious temp drops will require a more efficient cooler, not just a more capable cooler.

I'm wondering mostly at your OC settings. There's far more to OC than just vcore, there's llc, ring voltages, system agent, power phase controls and half a dozen other settings, like MCE, that can play a major role in stability. I've seen 8086's perfectly stable at 5.1GHz all cores at 1.3v. Just how fine tuned is your OC, or did you just bump vcore and the multiplier?

Yes but that has the side effect of making the gpu hot

No. Cpu temp is not coolant temp. In that radiator, there's enough volume that the coolant will only be 2°-4°C above ambient temps. If the rad is top mounted, ambient is case temps, if it's front mounted then ambient is room temps. So the only thing the fans are cooling is coolant that's barely warmer. Not hot. At best (worst) after 1 hr Prime95 with my i7 on a 280mm nzxt Kraken X61, cpu temps were 70°C, coolant was 41°C.

So what's going into the case will be somewhat colder than the gpu, not hot air at all unless the aio is totally insufficient. Gpu might see a 2-3° change if anything.
 
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