Question i5-4670k core shutting off

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Hi all,

Over the past few weeks, my computer has been having issues running apps and games as well as usual, and struggles to multitask like it used to. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the CPU usage graph on my machine shows 4 cores as it should, but 1 of those cores appears blank with 0 utilization. A system restart will bring that core back, but within a matter of hours to days the CPU will lose a core - primarily Core 1 or Core 2, but never more than one core. Workload does not seem to be a factor, as I have seen the core power off while my system was practically idle with very little running.

I feared that this was a sign of CPU failure, but the fact that it changes which core it shuts down - as well as all 4 cores functioning properly after a restart - leads me to believe it may not be. The only major change my computer has had in this timeframe since this behavior started was a series of Windows 10 updates for the month of September. I have not had the opportunity to test my system at length with Linux running to see if it too loses a core in time. Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Google search results unfortunately did not turn up much. Thank you for your time!

 

[Third-Eye]

What are your CPU temps when running programs? Run download and run HWMonitor and get the CPU temps of all the cores when running a program.

For those people saying to use HWInfo, I'm suggesting HWMonitor here because OP only needs temps and most people get overwhelmed with the data dump from HWInfo.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Apologies, I should have mentioned temps in my initial post! Temps are unchanged from their normal ranges since I built this machine some time ago - 30-40c idle, 60-70c under stress such as playing a game with a web browser open in the background.

As well, it is worth mentioning that the system is not suffering from any other instability, no blue screens or program crashes either before or after the core turns off.

 

[Third-Eye]

Apologies, I should have mentioned temps in my initial post! Temps are unchanged from their normal ranges since I built this machine some time ago - 30-40c idle, 60-70c under stress such as playing a game with a web browser open in the background.

As well, it is worth mentioning that the system is not suffering from any other instability, no blue screens or program crashes either before or after the core turns off.

I'm specifically asking for each cores temps to see if one is much higher than the others and what the temps are when one core is parked (0% activity).

 

[mdd1963]

Was this OS install ever carried over from an earlier build?

Ever messed with core parking/enabling/disabling in the past?

I'd clear /reset CMOS, and try a fresh install...

If problem is resolved, great. If not, my money would be motherboard before CPU, given the failure bouncing from core to core, but, whatever I pick...it's bound to be the other, so, go for the CPU?

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

I'm specifically asking for each cores temps to see if one is much higher than the others and what the temps are when one core is parked (0% activity).

Took a few hours for the core to park since you requested specific temps! At the time the core parked,

Package: 45c
Core 1: 43c
Core 2: 41c
Core 3: 43c
Core 4: 44c

There does not appear to be any temperature spiking or major variance.

Was this OS install ever carried over from an earlier build?

Ever messed with core parking/enabling/disabling in the past?

I'd clear /reset CMOS, and try a fresh install...

If problem is resolved, great. If not, my money would be motherboard before CPU, given the failure bouncing from core to core, but, whatever I pick...it's bound to be the other, so, go for the CPU?

This was a fresh OS install, less than a year old. Never messed with core parking or enabling/disabling. I've performed very few tweaks of that nature in some years. I'll have to try a CMOS reset to see how it fares, a fresh reinstall is a last-ditch effort due to the downtime it would take me to get everything in my workflow back together, but I suppose it is always an option.

 

[Third-Eye]

Took a few hours for the core to park since you requested specific temps! At the time the core parked,

Package: 45c
Core 1: 43c
Core 2: 41c
Core 3: 43c
Core 4: 44c

There does not appear to be any temperature spiking or major variance.



This was a fresh OS install, less than a year old. Never messed with core parking or enabling/disabling. I've performed very few tweaks of that nature in some years. I'll have to try a CMOS reset to see how it fares, a fresh reinstall is a last-ditch effort due to the downtime it would take me to get everything in my workflow back together, but I suppose it is always an option.

You never listed the motherboard, but you could also see if there is a BIOS update for it.