[Help] i7 6700k - Sudden then Constant Overheating ( 100c at BIOS )

Arianwen75

Prominent
Feb 20, 2017
3
0
510
Hello there and thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this!

My Computer's Specs;

Processor: Intel i7-6700k 4.00ghz
Cooling: Corsair H110i Liquid Cooling
Motherboard: MSI Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium
RAM: 32GB DDR4 Corsair Dominator 3000mhz
SSD: 1TB SSD, Corsair somethingorother
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980Ti
PSU: Corsair HX1000i
OS: Win 10 (Updated as of 2/18/17)

My Problem;

I built this computer a little under a year ago and have been using it heavily since - with practically no problems, idles at 36 degrees on the average basis. "Average Use" for me is usually a game + streaming equipment - so OBS, Webcam, Mic, so on - or Zbrush/3Ds Max. All of this for usually multiple hours a day, at least.

I watch my GPU/CPU temp pretty regularly out of habbit, and after restarting my computer one night my CPU temp just skyrocketed - after usually sitting even in the 40s while playing games, It was up over 80c. Within 2-3 minutes of the computer being on, it got to over 100. I instantly turned my computer off out of worry.

Even now, booting up my computer and just spending 20-30 seconds in the BIOS alone I see the temp quickly rising from 30-40 up to over 100. I am currently running my computer in "slow" mode, showing at 0.8ghz, and I am sitting at about 50c.

I fully admit I am not the best at building PCs, and I am really hoping I just did something stupid and it's easily fixable - but I just can not figure out what this is, or what caused it. It was not a gradual increase of temperature over time - this feels like a part failed somewhere.

What I've Tried:

So far I've tried a few things to get this working, with none of them showing any improvement what-so-ever.


  • Brand new Cooling unit, another corsair, right out of the box - no improvement to temperature.

    Replacing the Stock Thermal Paste on the new cooling unit with Arctic Silver 5, no improvement in temperature.

    Checking the seating of the CPU/Waterblock - seems fine to me, hasn't budged since I installed it and seems firm - everything is flat and in-place.

    Checked Voltages of CPU/various parts in BIOS - I don't remember exact voltages, as I was getting a bit frantic at this point, but they were in-line with the few google searches I was doing at this point.

    Old cooling unit, new thermal paste (removed old properly), re-checked every cable is plugged in in the right spot and secure. While I admit I have sub-par cable management, I am confident the Air-flow is fine.

    Cleaned the case/components(all fans/radiator/etc) like a madwoman, it is cleaner than when I put it together. (Sarcasm, but I was thorough)

    Double checked I am not overclocking at all - I've never played with overclocking one bit, but from checking Bios and in my OS, it looks like I did not Overclock the machine to something it can't handle by accident.

What Next

Like I said before, I am really hoping this is just some small thing I overlooked and it's just a "whoops, I'm so dumb silly me!" moment. Unfortunately, Other google searches I'm finding are saying a few things: Cooling is bad, CPU/Mobo is shot/Virus.

With me checking two different cooling systems, and double checking that the pump is indeed working - I am going to assume it is not an issue with the cooling itself, it seems to be working in order.

Is there any advice anyone can give, for what other things I could check / what could of gone wrong? This was a sudden spike of "you're in normal temp ranges" to "oh crap we are dying". I would absolutely love to not have to buy new parts - as I can't exactly afford them at the moment.. but it is quickly looking like it's coming to that.

Thank you for any and all help you can give.
 
Solution
The temperature is getting too high for it to be something minor. My first guess would be that the heatspreader is not fully in contact with the CPU. Often it seems you have it situated correctly, but it really isn't. You mentioned a replacement cooler, but not if you used a new bracket, or re-used the old one. If you re-used the old one, inspect the bracket, and insure that there are no cracks, or broken ends. Try to get the heat spreader so close to the CPU that you're almost crushing it. Also check the fan and make sure you it's spinning at proper speed and not throttling, and also that the fan is actually pushing out warm air and not sucking in air.
The temperature is getting too high for it to be something minor. My first guess would be that the heatspreader is not fully in contact with the CPU. Often it seems you have it situated correctly, but it really isn't. You mentioned a replacement cooler, but not if you used a new bracket, or re-used the old one. If you re-used the old one, inspect the bracket, and insure that there are no cracks, or broken ends. Try to get the heat spreader so close to the CPU that you're almost crushing it. Also check the fan and make sure you it's spinning at proper speed and not throttling, and also that the fan is actually pushing out warm air and not sucking in air.
 
Solution


Thank you for your quick response!

I am at work now, but I quickly checked before I left - the heatspreader seems to be flush and there were no cracks in the bracket. However that was only after a quick check. I did indeed use the old bracket to mount the new waterblock on to - when I get home tonight I will try using the new one, and hope for the best.

Fans were all pushing air in the correct direction, though the air wasn't particularly warm. This is with both the old cooling unit and the new one. Fans were not throttling and I was able to adjust the speed of them as well (at one point just set every fan I had to max, no temp difference. )

Should also note I did fully log in to windows again just to check the load that the CPU was under - was around 5%~ give or take, just idling at windows desktop. So it's not even like the CPU is straining.

Thanks again for your quick response, I'll try these solutions when I get home - though if anyone has any more that would be awesome too.
 


Aaand this was it! Holy cow! The Backplate to the waterblock was bent and warped slightly - it was made out of plastic. I put the new one on, made of metal, and it along with the new thermal paste i'm now idling at about 23C~. So even better than before I had the issue.

Thank you so, so much for your help. My PC means so much to me.
 
I'm glad it worked out, I know how harrowing this issue can feel. I've had the same exact experience while troubleshooting overheating issues with desktops in the past. Thanks for picking my answer!