Question i5-12600k High Temps (~50º-60º idle, 100ºC during stress test) ?

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Nov 19, 2021
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I recently completed my new build and have been having some temperature issues. As the thread title states my idle temperatures are about 55ºC and as soon as I run a stress test it goes to 100ºC and thermal throttles. I tried both Aida64 and Prime95 (latest version Small FFT with all AVX disabled.) I have already cleaned off and replaced the thermal paste and reseated the heatsink and as far as I can tell it is seated correctly. I have only played one game (Tales of Arise) for a couple hours and my temps stayed about 55º-65º during that time. The CPU is not overclocked, and the only thing I have changed in the BIOS is enabled XMP for my ram.
Soon I want to start running poker solving simulations which can be very CPU intensive, and I don't want this to cause an issue. Please help! Thanks!

My CPU Cooler is a be quiet! Pure Rock 2 and the thermal paste is Noctua brand.
My full list of parts is here https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xfhDDc
 
Nov 19, 2021
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Thanks everyone with the help so far.

I will check the cooler profile and see if I can find a target temp next. Assuming however that it is not the issue and the cooler itself is the issue I have some questions:

If I take the cooler off and the thermal paste is spread evenly around the cpu and heatsink, can I safely assume that it was mounted correctly and making good contact? (When I applied I just did a pea size in the center of cpu).

Also, if I need to buy a new cooler, should I stick with air cooling or should I get a 240mm aio? I went with air initially because I read that they are essentially the same as 240mm aio in terms of cooling, but cheaper.
 

Phaaze88

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If I take the cooler off and the thermal paste is spread evenly around the cpu and heatsink, can I safely assume that it was mounted correctly and making good contact?
Not exactly, because it's possible to have the paste spread yet not fully secure the backplate or mounting bracket.

Also, if I need to buy a new cooler, should I stick with air cooling or should I get a 240mm aio? I went with air initially because I read that they are essentially the same as 240mm aio in terms of cooling, but cheaper.
Yes, liquid is better than air, there's no refuting that. The catch is, these liquid coolers aren't just running on liquid alone.
They need air too, thus use fans, and what ends up narrowing the gap between the 2 types of coolers.
If one gets a decent air cooler, an AIO isn't necessarily a significant step up. Here, it doesn't look like you went big enough, not that the air cooler is bad.
 
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Latest update: I changed a setting in my BIOS called "CPU Over Temperature Protection" and set it to the lowest value of 90 degrees, and ran a cpu-z stress test for about 10 seconds.
Temps went right up to 100 degrees according to MSI Afterburner, but only said 90 degrees on HWInfo. 4.9GHz on all P cores and 3.4GHz on E cores. View: https://imgur.com/a/YSr1EAa


One additional note: Physically looking at my CPU fan it does not look like it is spinning at what I assume should be 1500 rpm according to the fan curves, while idling at 50 degrees. View: https://imgur.com/a/8YlT9SQ
 
Nov 19, 2021
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Your cooler is mounted using a kit to adapt a cooler designed for a different CPU socket.

The LGA1700 mounting kit you used might be the right shape but does it fully cover the entire CPU heat spreader?
Hi Tommy, as far as I could it does cover the whole heat spreader. Its kinda hard to see in this picture but the metal from the CPU Fan Heatsink reaches and covers the metal case surrounding the CPU heat spreader. Hope that makes sense. View: https://imgur.com/a/JRah2Qm
 

TommyTwoTone66

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You keep showing pics of the CPU cooler installed and working. This leads me to think that you aren’t that confident when installing PC parts and you don’t want to take the CPU cooler off to check how it fits and how the thermal paste has spread, as you’re worried you’ll break it.

If you want to fix this temp issue that’s one of the first things you will need to do.
 
Nov 19, 2021
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You keep showing pics of the CPU cooler installed and working. This leads me to think that you aren’t that confident when installing PC parts and you don’t want to take the CPU cooler off to check how it fits and how the thermal paste has spread, as you’re worried you’ll break it.

If you want to fix this temp issue that’s one of the first things you will need to do.
That is not the case. I know the thread has gotten pretty long at this point but replacing the thermal paste was the very first thing I did, as indicated in my initial posts.
 
Nov 19, 2021
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If one gets a decent air cooler, an AIO isn't necessarily a significant step up. Here, it doesn't look like you went big enough, not that the air cooler is bad.
I am going to take the mobo out and ensure the mounting bracket is secure and tight, and check that the thermal paste is evenly spread (again), and if I am still having these temps I'm going to go ahead and get a new cooler. I was wondering what your recommendation would be to get? My case can only fit a 240mm aio (or 280 front mounted) so I dont think I would get much advantage vs a good air cooler. I was thinking the dark rock pro 4 since cooling benchmarks put it on par with the NH-D15, and I wouldn't have to get a new mounting kit.
 
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Phaaze88

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Decisions, decisions...
I've not used a Dark Rock Pro 4, but the non-Pro one, and a couple Thermalright air coolers that were supposed to be 'Noctua-killers'.
In my curiosity, I found that, partly due to its weight, the D15 has an edge when it comes to higher power consuming chips - at least with the 7820X I use.
Cheaper and lighter alternatives end up right there with it on not-so-hungry cpus, I guess because those chips don't really soak the big guy.

My case can only fit a 240mm aio (or 280 front mounted) so I dont think I would get much advantage vs a good air cooler.
~Ehh, it's not really a problem. You got a mesh chassis, which is one of the best partners for an AIO, IMO. There are some restrictions, going by the Phanteks page:
Front radiator: up to 240mm / up to 280(max dimensions: L: 315mm, W: 122mm, H: 142mm)mm
Top radiator: up to 240mm(Max motherboard component height is 38mm) <- This commonly refers to ram.

What is a problem though: Max air cooler clearance is 160mm, so both NH-D15 and Dark Rock Pro 4 are out.
Dark Rock 4 isn't, except when using 4 sticks of ram.
D15S(160mm) supposedly fits, but your experience may vary.


A TL;DR of sorts, as I have a habit of dragging things out too long:
1)Some air coolers that fit:
Scythe FUMA 2
NH-U12A... I like Noctua, but even I have to cringe at the pricing for the regular color and Chromax...
Thermalright has Peerless Assassin 120 and Frost Spirit 140.

2)A 280mm AIO that fits the above dimensions. Move the two preinstalled 120mm fans to the top for exhaust.
Also note that it may be slow going getting some LGA 1700 upgrade kits.
 
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A TL;DR of sorts, as I have a habit of dragging things out too long:
1)Some air coolers that fit:
Scythe FUMA 2
NH-U12A... I like Noctua, but even I have to cringe at the pricing for the regular color and Chromax...
Thermalright has Peerless Assassin 120 and Frost Spirit 140.

2)A 280mm AIO that fits the above dimensions. Move the two preinstalled 120mm fans to the top for exhaust.
Also note that it may be slow going getting some LGA 1700 upgrade kits.

Thanks for all the help so far Phaaze. I am actually leaning towards an AIO now after reading some more about others having issues with LGA1700 socket adapters, and id rather just avoid the hassle entirely since Scythe and Thermalright make you pay for their adapters separately.

I guess my last question is, since I have never used or installed an AIO cooler before, are there compatibility issues?
The ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 has the 1700 socket listed on PCPP so I will just pay the premium if it means I can guarantee a solution.

It looks like pretty much everything requires an adapter sans a couple brand new coolers.
 
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Latest update: I changed a setting in my BIOS called "CPU Over Temperature Protection" and set it to the lowest value of 90 degrees, and ran a cpu-z stress test for about 10 seconds.
Temps went right up to 100 degrees according to MSI Afterburner, but only said 90 degrees on HWInfo. 4.9GHz on all P cores and 3.4GHz on E cores. View: https://imgur.com/a/YSr1EAa


One additional note: Physically looking at my CPU fan it does not look like it is spinning at what I assume should be 1500 rpm according to the fan curves, while idling at 50 degrees. View: https://imgur.com/a/8YlT9SQ

One thing you can try is what I wrote earlier (not sure if you did already), go into the BIOS, look for the fan options, and try to set the cpu cooler to 100% speed. Then save and exit, go back to BIOS and check cpuz benchmark one more time. (Remember to save and exit the BIOS).

It should show as ~1500 rpm in hwinfo (Also while runing the benchmark and hwinfo 64, close afterburner and any other monitoring tool/app. Leave only cpuz and hwinfo open)
 
Nov 19, 2021
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One thing you can try is what I wrote earlier (not sure if you did already), go into the BIOS, look for the fan options, and try to set the cpu cooler to 100% speed. Then save and exit, go back to BIOS and check cpuz benchmark one more time. (Remember to save and exit the BIOS).

It should show as ~1500 rpm in hwinfo (Also while runing the benchmark and hwinfo 64, close afterburner and any other monitoring tool/app. Leave only cpuz and hwinfo open)
I did this and with the fan at ~1600 RPM ran cpuz stress test and temps didn't instantly go to 100 degrees as usual, but got up to 97 degrees in a few seconds before I stopped it.
 
I did this and with the fan at ~1600 RPM ran cpuz stress test and temps didn't instantly go to 100 degrees as usual, but got up to 97 degrees in a few seconds before I stopped it.

Well it was worth a try, too bad it didn't help a lot. Then you may probably needing that new cooler (either be a bigger tower one or a AIO). Hope you can find one thats better and can fit inside the case!!!
 
Nov 19, 2021
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Just wanted to give a final updated incase anyone comes across a similar issue. I installed the Scythe Fuma 2 and my idle temps are now around 40, and when testing with Prime95 my temps only got up to about 73. I also tested a poker solve and temps only went to about 60 as opposed to the previous 100. Its safe to say it was a fan issue.
A couple notes regarding the old fan: When I removed the Pure Rock 2 the thermal paste was evenly spread and covering most of the heatsink/cpu. One odd thing though is that I received another LGA1700 mounting kit from be quiet! and it was slightly different from the first one they sent me (black instead of silver... however I didn't inspect much further than that).

Thanks everyone for the help, especially Phaaze.
 
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TommyTwoTone66

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Just wanted to give a final updated incase anyone comes across a similar issue. I installed the Scythe Fuma 2 and my idle temps are now around 40, and when testing with Prime95 my temps only got up to about 73. I also tested a poker solve and temps only went to about 60 as opposed to the previous 100. Its safe to say it was a fan issue.
A couple notes regarding the old fan: When I removed the Pure Rock 2 the thermal paste was evenly spread and covering most of the heatsink/cpu. One odd thing though is that I received another LGA1700 mounting kit from be quiet! and it was slightly different from the first one they sent me (black instead of silver... however I didn't inspect much further than that).

Thanks everyone for the help, especially Phaaze.

I think it is more likely that it was an issue with the mounting kit for the Pure Rock than the fan. Especially since they apparently have sent you a new, updated mounting kit out of the blue?

IMO, the new cooler works better because it’s making better contact with your CPU and has a better designed mounting kit.
 
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I think it is more likely that it was an issue with the mounting kit for the Pure Rock than the fan. Especially since they apparently have sent you a new, updated mounting kit out of the blue?

IMO, the new cooler works better because it’s making better contact with your CPU and has a better designed mounting kit.

Glad you got it working nicely. It could have beenthe mounting kit, hard to know... but really lame for bequiet to mess it up like that, if that was the issue.