Question High Temp for i9-12900k?

[doskido1]

I'm running a i9 12900k that's cooled by a Lian Li 360 liquid cooler.

I've always noticed it can run pretty hot, but with a game I've been playing lately, the temps are getting quite hot.

On Mortal Online 2, the temps never go below 80 c but I can go long periods of time with the CPU averaging consistently around 95 c.

This seems very high, and I'm not sure if it's dangerous for the health of my components. I tried reapplying thermal paste, and that helped for a couple of weeks, but then it went back to averaging 95 while playing this certain game.

I have not noticed any throttling.

My question is: is this worrisome, or normal for a 12900k?

 

[TerryLaze]

It is normal, but also it is running too high for no reason. (most probably)
Games don't need to run the CPU that hard, you could set the power lower for games by using intel XTU in windows to set up a profile with lower "turbo boost power max" watts the performance in the game should not change until you go really low.

 

[thestryker]

It would be worth looking at how much of the CPU is being used and the power consumption when playing the game. HWMonitor should give you accurate enough information for this and there is also a possibility of poor overall airflow where if a game is hitting both the GPU and CPU hard not enough air is getting out of the case.

 

[uWebb429]

I tried reapplying thermal paste, and that helped for a couple of weeks

Some thermal pastes can degrade or pump out when run at consistently high temperatures. What did you use? Try using Honeywell PTM 7950. It might give better and more consistent long term results.

 

[doskido1]

It would be worth looking at how much of the CPU is being used and the power consumption when playing the game. HWMonitor should give you accurate enough information for this and there is also a possibility of poor overall airflow where if a game is hitting both the GPU and CPU hard not enough air is getting out of the case.

https://ibb.co/NFWk3qQ

Here is a screenshot of HWMonitor when running the game.

 

[thestryker]

Well even without seeing the clock/individual core utilization I can say the CPU is getting utterly slammed. I'm not sure I've ever seen that high of usage and power consumption on a CPU just from a game. If the GPU usage is also high then a lot is going to depend on your case airflow for keeping temperatures under control.

 

[TerryLaze]

https://ibb.co/NFWk3qQ

Here is a screenshot of HWMonitor when running the game.

If 170w is the highest it goes and you get 95C from that then there is a problem with your cooling.
I do agree with thestriker that there is not really a reason for any game to go that high, except at loading during shader compilation, but still 95C at 170w means you have a problem somewhere.

 

[doskido1]

Well even without seeing the clock/individual core utilization I can say the CPU is getting utterly slammed. I'm not sure I've ever seen that high of usage and power consumption on a CPU just from a game. If the GPU usage is also high then a lot is going to depend on your case airflow for keeping temperatures under control.

Here is a screenshot of my GPU. https://ibb.co/qy3RkM5

I'm not sure if this is high or normal? The funny thing is, the temps only go this high for this specific game. most games it will average in the high 60's to high 70's maybe

 

[thestryker]

I'm not sure if this is high or normal? The funny thing is, the temps only go this high for this specific game. most games it will average in the high 60's to high 70's maybe

What case do you have, how is the video card mounted and what is the airflow setup?

I don't think there's a whole lot you can do in this circumstance, but it might be possible to do some mitigation.

I'm not surprised by the temperatures you're getting due to the high CPU usage combined with the GPU. It's very abnormal for a game to hit the CPU that hard while just playing which is probably why you've never seen this before.

 

[doskido1]

What case do you have, how is the video card mounted and what is the airflow setup?

I don't think there's a whole lot you can do in this circumstance, but it might be possible to do some mitigation.

I'm not surprised by the temperatures you're getting due to the high CPU usage combined with the GPU. It's very abnormal for a game to hit the CPU that hard while just playing which is probably why you've never seen this before.

I have a fractal meshify case. Lian Li 360 water cooler. The 3090ti is in the first pcie slot for video cards. Water cooler 360 takes up the entire top of the case, while there are two fans up front and one in the back.

https://ibb.co/Sfc6rJT

I took a picture. Please disregard the medicore wiring

 

[thestryker]

Yeah there isn't really a whole lot you can do aside from increasing intake and exhaust fan speeds when both video card and CPU are getting slammed like that.

 

[doskido1]

Yeah there isn't really a whole lot you can do aside from increasing intake and exhaust fan speeds when both video card and CPU are getting slammed like that.

Do you think my water cooler could be faulty?

 

[thestryker]

Do you think my water cooler could be faulty?

No, not at all. This game is using way too much in the way of CPU resources for whatever reason while also maxing out your video card. So basically you've got the ~300-400W from your video card being dumped into the case with your AIO having to deal with the CPU pulling ~150-175W already.

To manage high power draw from both at the same time your choices are extremely limited. Essentially you'd need at least a high airflow exhaust fan and probably 3 high airflow fans in front so more of the video card heat was exiting the back of the case and less helping to saturate the AIO.

 

[doskido1]

No, not at all. This game is using way too much in the way of CPU resources for whatever reason while also maxing out your video card. So basically you've got the ~300-400W from your video card being dumped into the case with your AIO having to deal with the CPU pulling ~150-175W already.

To manage high power draw from both at the same time your choices are extremely limited. Essentially you'd need at least a high airflow exhaust fan and probably 3 high airflow fans in front so more of the video card heat was exiting the back of the case and less helping to saturate the AIO.

I will look into investing into some better fans maybe. I undervolted the CPU a bit and now am running the game about 15c less which is a start. Thank you!