Haswell overheating problem, actually a concern?

[ws_volt]

So im doing a new build early next year, and am planning on using an i7-4970k, but upon showing my plan to a friend he told me to aviod haswell like the plauge as it has massive overheating issues, he is convinced that all/most haswell products have an issue, and to be fair a search on google confirms this was at least some sort of issue, however all articles are a year old and there is little to suggest current products are affected, and indeed many of my friends have haswell CPUs and have no problem at all. My friend defo has a problem, h80i underclocked to 2.6GHZ, under loads gets up to 100C almost instantly. So basically, is this something i should be worried with or is it a solved issue?

 

[Sakkura]

The original Haswell release had some thermal problems, but it only mattered if you were overclocking. The Haswell Refresh and Devil's Canyon release improved the situation. The Core i7-4790K that succeeded the Core i7-4770K has improved thermal interface material inside it that improves temperatures and helps a bit with overclocking.

Whatever problem your friend is seeing is more likely related to the cooler, perhaps particularly a problem with mounting it. A cold block needs to be mounted well to properly transport away the heat. 100C on an underclocked CPU is very far from normal.

 

[CompuTronix]

Please read this Tom's Sticky to help put the topic into perspective: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Go to Section 9 - The 22 Nanometer Problem

 

[photonboy]

Yep.
1) Your friend is misinformed. Not only that HASWELL is by far the best gaming CPU architecture there is. Feel free to read the article linked above but suffice it to say it's only an issue to serious overclockers. It's also an issue the "Haswell Refresh" fixed with a few CPU's like the i5-4690K.

2) A good CPU like the i5-4690K at the "quick" overclock in the BIOS at 4.2GHz should game in the 60degC range for most people with a half decent cooler. Even the STOCK cooler is more than adequate for this light overclock. The i7-4790K at 4.4GHz will be a few degrees higher.

In contrast, the max temp for Haswell is 105degC.

3) *Your friend has a problem all right, but it's almost certainly a problem with his cooler. Since it's a liquid cooler it may be one of the following:
a) broken PUMP
b) missing FLUID
c) fan not spinning

I would suspect it's his PUMP. He should put on the stock air cooler if he has it handy to test. If that keeps things fairly cool then either replace the liquid cooler under warranty or get a better air cooler like the:

a) Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, or
b) Noctua NH-U12S

4) i7-4790K
A great CPU. It should default to 4.4GHz or possibly 4.5GHz (4.5GHz with a "quick" overclock in the BIOS). My advice for motherboard and cooler for you is:

a) Asus Z97-A, and
b) Noctua NH-U12S or NH-U14S

The "EVO" would work but the fan will be a lot noisier under load. The Asus Z97-A is a great board, but if you want a slightly better audio solution the Z97 Maximus Hero VII might be better for you.
http://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/

You can create a "build" through pcpartpicker and ask peoples advice on it.

 

[CompuTronix]

... max temp for Haswell is 105degC. ...

photonboy,

Respectfully, allow me one fine point here just so readers don't get confused; TjMax for Ivy Bridge is 105C, but TjMax for Haswell / Devils Canyon is 100C:

Section 7 - Relative Temperatures

-> Core i

3rd Generation 22 Nanometer: 3570K / 3770K (TDP 77W / Idle 4W)

Standard Ambient = 22C
Tcase (CPU temp) = 67C
CPU / Core offset + 5C
Tjunction (Core temp) = 72C
Tj Max (Throttle temp) = 105C

4th Generation 22 Nanometer: 4670K / 4770K (TDP 84W / Idle 2W)
4th Generation 22 Nanometer: 4690K (TDP 88W / Idle 2W)

Standard Ambient = 22C
Tcase (CPU temp) = 72C
CPU / Core offset + 5C
Tjunction (Core temp) = 77C
Tj Max (Throttle temp) = 100C

4th Generation 22 Nanometer: 4790K (TDP 88W / Idle 2W)

Standard Ambient = 22C
Tcase (CPU temp) = 74C
CPU / Core offset + 5C
Tjunction (Core temp) = 79C
Tj Max (Throttle temp) = 100C


CT