Question i5 9400f overheating when gaming

May 17, 2023
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So I have an intel core i5 9400f , 8gb GSkill RipJaws , MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard , Asus RTX 3070 and MSI Gold 850w PSU.

I was playing Guardians of the Galaxy on my PC (1080p - Ultra with ray tracing) and i wanted to check my GPU temperature for all this ray tracing. I opened up "Speccy" and to my amazement , GPU was sitting at 65-70C while my CPU was 85-92C. I tried lowering the graphics but that eventually lowered GPU temp and not CPU temp. Then I thought it was the thermal paste and the stock cooler which was causing this. So i got "Ant Esports ICE-C612" cooler. Checked the temp again and still temp going till 92 or 93C. I do not see any thermalthrottling as the performance never goes down.
but why is my CPU getting so hot. I have a CoolerMaster M520 cabinet with all stock fans.
 
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So I have an intel core i5 9400f , 8gb GSkill RipJaws , MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard , Asus RTX 3070 and MSI Gold 850w PSU.

I was playing Guardians of the Galaxy on my PC (1080p - Ultra with ray tracing) and i wanted to check my GPU temperature for all this ray tracing. I opened up "Speccy" and to my amazement , GPU was sitting at 65-70C while my CPU was 85-92C. I tried lowering the graphics but that eventually lowered GPU temp and not CPU temp. Then I thought it was the thermal paste and the stock cooler which was causing this. So i got "Ant Esports ICE-C612" cooler. Checked the temp again and still temp going till 92 or 93C. I do not see any thermalthrottling as the performance never goes down.
but why is my CPU getting so hot. I have a CoolerMaster M520 cabinet with all stock fans.
I have not found any professional reviews on the Ant Esports ICE-C612. Reading user stuff it looks like it might only be a minor upgrade from the stock Intel cooler.

With your case are the intake fan blocked by dust at all?
 
May 17, 2023
6
1
15
I have not found any professional reviews on the Ant Esports ICE-C612. Reading user stuff it looks like it might only be a minor upgrade from the stock Intel cooler.

With your case are the intake fan blocked by dust at all?
no , i cleaned all of the fans when i installed the cooler. and yes the cooler is just a minor upgrade but still bigger heatsink and copper pipes should give better cooling than the stock cooler that came with this cpu.
Edit : i saw somewhere to force AA rendering through NVIDIA by forcing it via nvidia control panel . I did this and noticed temp was only peaking 84C so i stopped monitoring speccy and went to playing. 5 mins later, i noticed a frame drop, opened up speccy to see that my CPU was peaking 96C, pretty sure it was thermalthrottling.
 
but still bigger heatsink and copper pipes should give better cooling than the stock cooler that came with this cpu.
Just because it is a bigger heatsink and copper pipes doesn't mean it will be any better. There are plenty of bargain basement coolers that are only as good as the stock cooler but just a bit quieter. Try finding the Deepcool AG400 for a good budget cooler. Runs about $25 but has very good performance and should be plenty for the 9400f. If you get that and still are noticing high temps then you have an issue somewhere else.
 
Your Intel CPU is designed to start thermal throttling at 100°C. It will continue to run at full speed until it reaches that temperature. Nothing to worry about. You can spend more money on a better cooler but it will not make your CPU run any faster so why bother? Save your money.
93C is pushing it, what if he gets a hotter day, or the A/C fails, dust builds? You kinda want that extra head room, and for around $30 bucks, its not like its going to break the bank.

I do know 100C wont kill it, but because it can run up to 100C, doesn't mean that it should. Ideally 80C is about the tops ona clean dusted system, leaves 20C of head room just in case you do have hot day, dust builds up over time, ya know.
 
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May 17, 2023
6
1
15
93C is pushing it, what if he gets a hotter day, or the A/C fails, dust builds? You kinda want that extra head room, and for around $30 bucks, its not like its going to break the bank.

I do know 100C wont kill it, but because it can run up to 100C, doesn't mean that it should. Ideally 80C is about the tops ona clean dusted system, leaves 20C of head room just in case you do have hot day, dust builds up over time, ya know.
Exactly that's why I'm a little worried... I'm thinking maybe its just the game that's pushing my cpu to the limit. I'll try getting my hands on something else like forza or so and then update you guys on the status.
 
May 17, 2023
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okay so i got Gotham Knights and with everything maxed out, CPU only maxed 81C. Guess it was the game that was stressing out the CPU too much.
 
Jul 27, 2023
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I have same motherboard and same problem then i switch to ls720wh and Corsair 5000d airflow case and problem solved with a good watercooler and good case your cpu dont have to worry,just make sure you apply paste correctly on your cpu or just go with preapplyed one from aio...cost me a lot of money but for few years no worryes except inevitable dust wich has to be cleaned every month
 
May 17, 2023
6
1
15
I have same motherboard and same problem then i switch to ls720wh and Corsair 5000d airflow case and problem solved with a good watercooler and good case your cpu dont have to worry,just make sure you apply paste correctly on your cpu or just go with preapplyed one from aio...cost me a lot of money but for few years no worryes except inevitable dust wich has to be cleaned every month
well my only issue was with GOTG.... it was maxing out CPU temps... tried other games ass well... run just fine with CPU sitting well below 80C. so yeah everything's good.
 

Misgar

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The Ant Esports Ice C612 looks very "bargain basement" and insufficient for really high power cooling where reduced temperatures are required.

Buy a Dark Rock Pro 4 or a Noctua NH-D15 (my favourite) if you want to stick to air cooling.

Alternatively, buy a 240 or 360mm AIO if you want a water system.