Question Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3 temperature sensors wrong?

[rllb4]

in Gigabyte System Information Viewer, the "System" temperature constantly stays at 40 or 39 and never changes, why?

 

[CompuTronix]

You're thinking of 6th & 7th generation.

Actually, the 4790K specifies the PCG 2013D for the stock cooler, which has often been rebranded among different generations, but is the same universal 95 Watt TDP cooler Intel has used on their 77, 84, 88 and earlier 95 Watt (think Sandy Bridge) CPUs: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...-4790k-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-40-ghz.html

The 95 Watt PCG 2013D has a copper center when viewed from the bottom while the 65 Watt PCG 2013C is solid aluminum, yet except for a different part number, from the top or a profile view they look identical.

Intel Stock Coolers - http://www.anandtech.com/show/10500/stock-cooler-roundup-intel-amd-vs-evo-212/3

But I agree it's still an important question for him to answer ... copper bottom or all aluminum?

 

[Darkbreeze]

I could have sworn that Haswell/Refresh K skus didn't come with a cooler. Ok, not the first time I've been wrong, but even so, I still wouldn't trust one AND by now it would be about five years old, so it's not much of a stretch to believe the motor in the fan is probably getting tired about now and it's probably a really good idea to think about something a little more capable anyhow, regardless of whether it's not a mount issue or even if it is.

Still, I have to agree, based on my initial observations of his results and yours as well, that it's a good chance one of the push pins is not seated correctly.

Would be good to know if this thermal issue began shortly after he replaced the paste or if there was already a thermal issue prior to that, and that he replaced the paste because of it.

 

[CompuTronix]

You're right ... as so often is the case, temperature problems with push-pin coolers pop up following the user's last physical action, which always seems to coincide with re-TIM'ing, reseating, cleaning, unintentionally bumping or otherwise disturbing the cooler.

Hopefully he'll give you that background information, as well as ambient temperature.

 

[rllb4]

I just removed and installed the cooler again, following a video tutorial, i honestly think i did fine, as the video had a little way to check, and according to it, it was good. I noticed my idle or tiny load temperatures now rarely reach 50c and are oftenly around 40 - 50c, like ~45c, so i guess they dropped a tiny bit. I also made my CPU clock a nice 4GHz. Just now i noticed in HWInfo that my clocks actually change around! They lower and become higher by themselves! But they never go over 4000MHz which is good id say.

https://imgur.com/MD2TXpJ

 

[CompuTronix]

Stock Base Clock for the 4790K is 4.0GHz, and while under a 100% workload, Turbo Boost is 4.4GHz. A feature called "Speed Step" causes the clock speed to decrease to as little as 800MHz at dead idle, and increase to Base Clock or Turbo Boost, depending on how much workload is on the processor. What you've described is normal and expected behavior.

• We need to know what your ambient (room) temperature is. It can be a HUGE variable, so it matters.

The "standard" for normal room temperature is 22°C or 72°F. All computer temperatures increase and decrease with ambient temperature. For each 1°C (1.8°F) your room temperature increases, so does your Core temperatures, whether at idle or 100% workload.

Also, if you're going to check idle temperatures, then as Darkbreeze has already pointed out, it needs to be at dead dle, Partial workloads are very difficult to evaluate and compare.

We always need three points of reference; ambient temperature, 100% workload and dead idle, which means just 1 or 2% CPU Utilization in Windows Task Manager. We know that anything else you do with your computer will be somewhere between idle and 100% workload, which really doesn't matter. 100% workload is the most important reference point, which will reveal your hardware's thermal performance.

• You need to run Prime95 v26.6 Small FFT's again to check Core temperatures at 100% workload to find out if you actually corrected the problem with your processor reaching "Throttle" temperature at 100°C, which is much too hot. Please post another screenshot of those results.

• When you removed the cooler, do you remember if the spread pattern of the thermal compound was evenly distributed on the the surfaces of the CPU and cooler?

• Do you remember if the bottom of the cooler was copper in the center, or if it was all aluminum?

 

[rllb4]

i really dont know my room temperature now, but i will tell it sometime.

it was distributed in a circle.

it was all aluminum.
here is a picture.

 

[CompuTronix]

Well there it is ... congratulations! 😎You found the problem ... that's the wrong cooler!

The all aluminum cooler is only 65 Watts TDP, but your CPU is 88 Watts TDP (Thermal Design Power). Intel specifies their 95 Watt TDP cooler, which looks exactly like the one you have, except that when looking at the bottom, there's a large round copper "insert" in the center of the aluminum.

Your CPU should have been packaged with the 95 Watt cooler. You either need to replace it with the proper stock cooler, OR, the best solution is to replace it with an after market cooler that does NOT have push-pins, but instead has a back plate with proper fastening hardware.

 

[rllb4]

Im really tight on a budget, would a Be Quiet Pure Rock Slim be ok?
or could you suggest other cheap coolers?

 

[CompuTronix]

Be Quiet Pure Rock Slim $29.90 on Newegg: 3 pipe 120 Watts TDP with push-pins. NOT recommended.

Deepcool Gammaxx GTE $28.99 on Newegg: 4 pipe 150 Watts TDP with back plate and proper fastening hardware, height 157.4mm: - https://www.newegg.com/deepcool-gammaxx-gte/p/N82E16835856117?Item=N82E16835856117

 

[Darkbreeze]

I was just going to say, that is NOT the stock cooler. That is a cheap aftermarket cooler. So wrong cooler, like I said earlier and Comp verified, is definitely the problem. This means you've likely had this thermal issue for as long as you've had this system AND if anybody had it before you, and was using that cooler, for as long as they had it too.

If you have to go as cheap as possible, I'd go with this.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $22.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-28 13:14 EDT-0400


But if you can spend a little more, then this would be MUCH better.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Scythe - Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $47.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-28 13:17 EDT-0400


It would however be REALLY good to know your case model just to verify that any of these will fit. Probably they will because that looks like a fairly large case in width but you never know.

 

[CompuTronix]

Just FYI ... the Gammaxx 400 has push-pins, but for another $6.00, the Gammaxx GTE has a back plate.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, that's a consideration for sure. High pressure mount is definitely preferable, although the Hyper 212 EVO has a backplate and a four pipe design, and is outperformed by the Gammaxx 400.

By a wide margin, Deepcool's Gammaxx 400 has the best performance-to-price ratio of any cooler I've recently tested. It will remain on the top of my purchase list until something with even greater value comes along to replace it.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-gammaxx-400-slim-tower-cpu-cooler,4460-2.html


And that's when the Gammaxx was 30 bucks. But I don't disagree that there are much better options if you're willing to pay ten bucks more, or six even.

 

[rllb4]

So should i get the Deepcool Gammaxx 400 or GTE? Im mainly looking at those because of my budget... Its really small.

Also i really cant seem to find the case name anywhere, ill try to measure the length and width myself.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The Gammax 400 would be a MAJOR upgrade from what you have now. And considerably easier for you to install. It would not however probably be quite as good as the GTE, but to install that you will need to change the CPU backplate and if your case does not have a cutout in the motherboard tray that allows you to have access to the backside of the motherboard then you would need to remove everything including the motherboard in order to install that or any other cooler that requires a backplate swap.

If that is more than you are comfortable with, and if the budget dictates that you do so, then the Gammaxx 400 is a good choice.

 

[CompuTronix]

After carefully comparing both Gammaxx coolers, although it's disappointing that the 400 uses push-pins instead of a back plate, it does have a larger heatsink and a more powerful fan than the GTE, which is a relatively new product that has RGB lighting.

If you're confident that you can consistently get the push-pins fully inserted and properly latched, then I agree with Darkbreeze that you should purchase the 400. If you're not comfortable with the push-pins, then purchase the GTE.

Whichever cooler you choose will be a HUGE improvement over your woefully undersized 65 watt TDP stock cooler.

 

[rllb4]

Alright, thank you very much to both of you, ill most likely be getting the 400