jdidds,
"Throttle" temperature (Tj Max) for your i7 9700K is
100°C, which is Intel's specified
Core temperature limit at which the processor will "throttle" (reduce Core speed and voltage) to prevent thermal damage. Nevertheless, here's the nominal operating range for Core temperature:
Core temperatures above 85°C are not recommended.
Core temperatures below 80°C are ideal.
Respectfully, users conjure up countless haphazard methods to approach thermal testing; nearly all of which is based on misconceptions, misinformation and hearsay inconsistent with Intel's Datasheets. It's no surprise why there's so much confusion surrounding this topic. However, there
is an established method with specific procedures for properly testing thermal performance. There's a Sticky near the top of the CPUs Forum:
• Intel Temperature Guide -
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/intel-temperature-guide.1488337/
See Sections 10 through 14.
Benchmarks and stress test workloads vary widely, and as such are a major variable, so it's important to be specific.
•
Exactly which "benchmark" did you run?
Intel uses a
steady-state "100% TDP workload" with steady Core temperatures to thermally validate their CPUs. There's only one utility and test which is consistent with Intel's test parameters:
• Prime95 version 26.6 Small FFT's -
https://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=15504 (Do
NOT use any later versions such as 27.7 through 29.4. The reasons are explained in the Guide in Section 11.)
Utilities that don't
overload or
underload your processor will give you a valid thermal baseline. Here’s a comparison of utilities grouped as
thermal tests (steady workloads) and
stability tests (fluctuating workloads) according to % of TDP, averaged across six processor Generations at stock settings rounded to the nearest 5%:
All tests will show 100% CPU
Utilization in Windows Task Manager, which indicates processor resource activity,
not % TDP
workload. Core temperatures respond directly to Power consumption (Watts), which is driven by workload.
Further, all computer temperatures increase and decrease with ambient (room) temperature, which can be another major variable.
Users write into our Forums who live anywhere from the arctic circles in a relatively cold indoor environment, to the equator with no A/C. Ambient temperatures might be anywhere from 10°C (50°F) to 40°C (104°F).
The "standard" for normal room temperature is 22°C or 72°F. Since many of our Members don't ask, it's important to state your ambient temperature in your initial post, so we don't proceed on false assumptions.
•
What was your ambient (room) temperature during your "benchmark"?
Thanks,
CT 😎
(But, IMO, all cores at 4.9 GHz is a nice intermediate step short of all cores at 5 GHz and above, and, CPU still scales nicely back down to idle/800 MHz, etc., when not under load and in Balanced Power plan)
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