Question i7-10700 High idle temp - 35-40c (Need help with the fan/AIO pump)

[LacunaGlitch]

Hei there guys,

A few days ago I made a new upgrade on my pc, i got an i7 10700 + ASUS PRIME Z490-P and Liquid Freezer II 120 .

The first thing i notice is that on the bios the AIO pump shows as N/A, keep in mind that this cpu cooler have only 1 connector for the MB, 1 for the pump and for the cooler. I'm new to this liquid pump coolers so i need some help here.

The second thing is that my idle temp on the CPU is around 40c, I also did some gaming 2-3hours and the max temp was around 75c, most of the time was around 70, which i think is kinda high with this cooler no?

I also used the thermal paste from the cooler wich i know is decent since is artic. The thing that you put on the cpu is really tight screwed, i mean i've done this before on many air coolers but never done on water ones. I also put the thermal paste well in the middle not to much not to little.

Are those temps okeish or i should change something? Also is the AIO pump N/A thing ok or?

https://ibb.co/TYg6LTP - cpu temps
https://ibb.co/ssrLV6h - case and cooler

Thanks, i'll wait for further guidance.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

PS - another thing i noticed now is that my cpu for no reason in idle is using full boost, like going from 800ghz to 4.1 ghz, wierd thing no?

 

[Phaaze88]

Idle thermals don't matter - that's determined by your room(ambient) temp. The air in the chassis will always be warmer than that.
It's the load thermals that actually matter. Just 75C after a few hours in game? That's perfectly fine.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

Idle thermals don't matter - that's determined by your room(ambient) temp. The air in the chassis will always be warmer than that.
It's the load thermals that actually matter. Just 75C after a few hours in game? That's perfectly fine.

Also you have any idea why the cpu always stay on boost,even at 2% use ? I'm on balanced power settings not on high.

 

[sizzling]

I’m surprised the cpu temp only went up to 70-75c while gaming. A 120mm AIO is a terrible choice for this cpu and worse than a good/high end air cooler.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

I’m surprised the cpu temp only went up to 70-75c while gaming. A 120mm AIO is a terrible choice for this cpu and worse than a good/high end air cooler.

So is the cooler fault?

 

[sizzling]

So is the cooler fault?

Its not faulty it’s just 120mm AIO’s are not good coolers and are really only a good choice when space is a problem and you need to get the hot air outside the case. Generally any similar priced air cooler would perform better.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

Its not faulty it’s just 120mm AIO’s are not good coolers and are really only a good choice when space is a problem and you need to get the hot air outside the case. Generally any similar priced air cooler would perform better.

So all things working properly even if the temps are around 40 in idle no?

 

[Turtle Rig]

So is the cooler fault?

Your temps are normal and just fine. Also its normal to boost high but once you put a load the boost on the cores can decrease. Your 35c at idle is normal and 75c after 2 hours of gaming is normal. You don't have any issues my friend. As for the BIOS not showing the pump speed that is weird. Try to connect it to another input on the motherboard and see if you can get a reading. Also does your Windows show the pump speed and what not?

 

[sizzling]

So all things working properly even if the temps are around 40 in idle no?

Yes. It’s a safe temp and it was never going to run at low temperatures.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

Your temps are normal and just fine. Also its normal to boost high but once you put a load the boost on the cores can decrease. Your 35c at idle is normal and 75c after 2 hours of gaming is normal. You don't have any issues my friend. As for the BIOS not showing the pump speed that is weird. Try to connect it to another input on the motherboard and see if you can get a reading. Also does your Windows show the pump speed and what not?

How can i check from windows the pump speed?

 

[Phaaze88]

How can i check from windows the pump speed?

Use Hwinfo: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ (the green button)

 

[Karadjgne]

120mm AIO = @ 140w. At stock values, the 10700k will easily hit its power limit of 125w, and depending on the motherboard will drop to lower (Intel suggested and approved) levels or maintain turbo speeds indefinitely.

Growing up, Mom always bought new clothes '1 size too big' just so you'd have room to grow into stuff, making it last a little longer. A 140w cooler on a 125w cpu is same as buying clothes that fit right, right now. Meaning tomorrow you outgrew them already. It's got no room to breath. Temps will be high at loads, fans maxed out etc. That cooler is right on the edge of barely big enough.

Idle uses very little power, so cpu outputs are very small, the temp of the air in the case is usually more than what the cpu can give off. So if your windows idle temps are hitting 40ish, it's because the temp in your case is pretty close to 40ish.

Start looking into why the case is so warm, it's usually an indication of the air not coming in so there's nothing going out. The aio should be a rear/top-rear exhaust and have 2 fans in front as intake, at a minimum.

Windows idle is one thing, bios is another. Bios is @ 50% load or better, so bios 'idle' will be significantly higher than Windows idle temps. Bios idle of mid 40's to mid 50's is not uncommon.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

PS - the cpu is i7 10700 not the K one. I thought the 1 vent aio artic will be enough for him for some daily use and some light gaming. The case has 3 vents in front and 1 up.

 

[Phaaze88]

PS - the cpu is i7 10700 not the K one. I thought the 1 vent aio artic will be enough for him for some daily use and some light gaming. The case has 3 vents in front and 1 up.

It's fine with what you play and do now - and that's where it ends.

https://imgur.com/YwqWtBb

View: https://imgur.com/YwqWtBb


That's the power tables for Intel's 10th gen that I saved.
Power Limit 1 is the limit for an all thread load at base frequency only, which is 2.90ghz.
Power Limit 2 is for the all thread boost frequencies.
Tau is the duration(seconds) for which the cpu is allowed to run at PL2 before it drops back down to PL1 temporarily.
This is all by default to keep power consumption and thermals in check.

With the games you play now, you are not pushing this cpu; it's not loading all of its threads. As a result, temps have not gone out of control.
All that said, you don't have any room to do so if it ever came to it. If you were to run something like Cinebench R20 or Prime 95(small fft, AVX off), that CLC would be sweating bullets.


If you're just gonna play some games for a bit, browse the web, MS Word or w/e - it's fine. Keep in mind that the cooler isn't adequate for much more than that.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

It's fine with what you play and do now - and that's where it ends.

https://imgur.com/YwqWtBb

View: https://imgur.com/YwqWtBb


That's the power tables for Intel's 10th gen that I saved.
Power Limit 1 is the limit for an all thread load at base frequency only, which is 2.90ghz.
Power Limit 2 is for the all thread boost frequencies.
Tau is the duration(seconds) for which the cpu is allowed to run at PL2 before it drops back down to PL1 temporarily.
This is all by default to keep power consumption and thermals in check.

With the games you play now, you are not pushing this cpu; it's not loading all of its threads. As a result, temps have not gone out of control.
All that said, you don't have any room to do so if it ever came to it. If you were to run something like Cinebench R20 or Prime 95(small fft, AVX off), that CLC would be sweating bullets.


If you're just gonna play some games for a bit, browse the web, MS Word or w/e - it's fine. Keep in mind that the cooler isn't adequate for much more than that.

Okei, noted, then i'll get another cooler in the near future, will a Noctua air cooler will do the job?

 

[Karadjgne]

Which one? The low profile tiny L9i or the giant NH-D15 or any of half a dozen in between?

Noctua as a brand makes arguably the best aircoolers, but there's different models at different price points to do different jobs. Same as most other reputable brands like CM or Corsair or or beQuiet.

Being different models, they come in different size ranges too, some coolers literally will not fit inside many cases. Finding a cooler that fits all the needs and wants is often better all around than just picking a brand. Location and price can also be a major hurdle, taxes and fees associated with some imports driving the price up unreasonably.

 

[Karadjgne]

This is the potential issue. There used to be just TDP and that was easy to figure around. Then changes to cpus changed all that and TDP is now seriously unreliable as a gauge. So instead there's a switch to PL1 (power limit 1), PL2 and Tau. Tau being turbo boost duration. PL2 is max power, and after Tau should drop to PL1. Should. As defined by Intel. Some performance motherboards are not following that. At all.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/...erboards-with-default-settings-for-your-build

The bottom 2 lines are what it's supposed to be (Asus), the top 3 lines are Gigabyte, Msi and ASRock motherboards. PL2 on the 10700 is 224w, PL1 is 65w. Tau 28 seconds.

So running with Asus motherboard, you'd have little issues with Prime95, after 28 seconds, power use drops to 65w±. It's with the other 3 you run into serious trouble as power usage is permanently set to max, PL2 limits, (it's actually 4096w for that, scroll down the article) and that little 140w cooler is going to get swamped.

Be very careful to watch temps, especially in heavy cpu usage applications.

 

[RodroX]

Im guessing that in any case, the Arctic AIO 120mm will be way better than the lame box cooler the i7 10700 comes with .

 

[Karadjgne]

With the wattage those cpus come with, prolly perform about the same, maybe a little better, but the noise at load will be quite different.

 

[LacunaGlitch]

I'm watching the temp always since I'm worried about it, I'll get a new cooler in the near future and I'll return the Artic one, my case is genesis irid505 with 3 vents in front and 1 up and the CPU cooler is in the back atm. The case in decent as space and airflow is not the best but also not that bad I think. I think I'll go for air cpu cooler, I don't know what model, maybe you guys can help me a bit.

 

[Farid997]

Try the following: Go to bios by restarting and hitting the "delete" button multiple times as it tries to reboot. Go to "OC", and find "CPU Cooler Tuning" and pick the one designed for your PL1 limit which is 65 W, so pick "Boxed Cooler."

If you cannot do the above. Try just manually setting the PL1(Turbo Boost Power Max) limit to 65 W, the PL2(Turbo Boost Short Power Max) limit to 224 W, and the Processor Core IccMax to 210 in Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, which is easily downloadable.

I would also suggest investing in a great CPU cooler.

 

[Farid997]

Try the following: Go to bios by restarting and hitting the "delete" button multiple times as it tries to reboot. Go to "OC", and find "CPU Cooler Tuning" and pick the one designed for your PL1 limit which is 65 W, so pick "Boxed Cooler."

If you cannot do the above. Try just manually setting the PL1(Turbo Boost Power Max) limit to 65 W, the PL2(Turbo Boost Short Power Max) limit to 224 W, and the Processor Core IccMax to 210 in Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, which is easily downloadable.

I would also suggest investing in a great CPU cooler.

After setting it to the "CPU Cooler Tuning" to "Boxed Cooler" in the BIOS, or PL1(Turbo Boost Power Max) limit to 65 W, the PL2(Turbo Boost Short Power Max) limit to 224 W, and the Processor Core IccMax to 210, I have noticed it has difficulty running some games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Although, the temps are doing great, almost always in the 70's when playing very demanding games.

So, in conclusion, the issue seems to be the Processor Core IccMax, the PL1(Turbo Boost Power Max), and the PL2(Turbo Boost Short Power Max).

!Important Note: If you chose "Boxed Cooler" in the BIOS, which is for 65W PL1 Limit, and set the PL1 limit higher than that, then it might freeze and the overclock may fail. I am assuming that the same is true for "Tower Air Cooler" setting in the BIOS, which is designed for 288 W PL1 limit, and the "Water Cooler" setting, designed for above 4000 W PL1 limit. So, if planning to increase the PL1 limit to higher than 65 W, then make sure that the "CPU Cooler Tuning" in BIOS is not set to "Boxed Cooler."