Question i7-12700KF -- Insane Temp Instability ?

[ForHonor13]

Hello Denizens of the OC Deep!
I seek your wisdom of the ages.

Random Context:

• I have been building PCs for about 15~ years now as a side-job; with about 100-200 under my belt (mostly for gaming and lite production work).
• I have limited OC experience, mostly on the much older Ivy CPUs. I apologize if parts of the information below are redundant or not required; I am a bit outside my comfort on this.
• I only intend to use this for 'Intense' gaming and streaming; as well as lite Music Production via FLStudio.

PC Build:

• CPU: i7-12700KF
• Motherboard: MSI Z690A-PRO
• CPU Voltage: 1.29V (CORE)
• CPU Bus Speed/Multiplier: 100*49
• Clock Speed: 4.8ghz (on Boost; without Boost it seems to hover around 3.8-4.2)
• RAM: GSKILL DDR4 3600 16-19-19-39
• Cooling: Watercooling Loop (MSI MAG P240)
• GPU: XFX 6800XT
• OS: Windows 10 PRO 64 Bit

Whats Happening:
- Prior to BIOS UPDATE, the system would immediately throw CPU OVERHEATING error when booting into BIOS. After updating to most recent BIOS and enabling XMP (without MemoryTryIt override) it seems to be 'useable' in the sense I was able to install windows and drivers and some test applications. However, when doing PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING (loading a YT video, launching a game, downloading updates/steam items, etc) it will surge to 90C+ and start 'toggling' the Throttle as it will slingshot from 85>100+>90>100* etc; in XTU my graph almost looks like a heart-rythm... which is appropriate as I am 1 step short of a heart-attack if this thing cooks itself.

What I've Tried:

• After watching a few YT videos on the 12700K (or anything 12th Gen+) it seems Intel threw TDP out the window? Many people seem to be experiencing power/voltage overdraw on these and advise Undervolting.
• After attempting to Undervolt a bit, I set to 1.29V with Adptive+Offset (Offset of -.12) via XTU; this helped a bit; dropped 5~C ; but I still get insane spiking as mentioned above that often throws it into throttle; and I cannot launch ANY game without it sitting at 95-105 consitently.
  • Its important to note; the CASE is not the BEST; and I recognize that as an airflow problem, which Ive purchased 4 Noctua NF-A12x25 to update the default water-loop fans and the case fans; but for the purposes of my testing above; and for moving forward to get this stable; I've removed the glass side of the case to open and allow airflow. (this did not resolve the issue and barely moved the avg 1-2*C; which makes leads me to believe this issue leans more on voltages ) - I also intent to re-paste the CPU+Pump Interface with some Noctua NT-H1; instead of the default paste the AIO came with (but was all I had at the time).

What I've Noticed:

• The CPU/GPU are not taxed AT ALL on any of these application launches; even when I launched some test games, my CPU Utilization is only around 5-20% and my GPU is under 40-50% (on desired settings).
• AIO FAN + PUMP SPEEDS are all pretty good. PUMPs at 4k+ and fans are around 1500-2000 RPM on the Radiator; and the case-fans (although case is wide open) are hanging around 900-1200 RPM.

My Questions:

1. Should I be adjusting the MIN/MAX WATTS allowed for the Boosts? in XTU I see : "Turbo Boost Short Power Max (P2) & Turbo Boost Power Max (P1)" which are both set to 241W (which is seemingly insanely high compared to the TDP I thought I was getting into; 125W~ )
2. Should I be lowing any of the Clock Ratios? I see a few people with x48; whereas mine is x49 (I am unsure how much this actually impacts).
   • I saw a YT video where someone had some success dropping the ratios for the IF USING X AMOUNT OF CORES logic.
3. Should I continue to underclock/undervolt? Based on HARDWARE MONITOR, this thing isnt pulling more than 1.26V; but that is not counting runs on Cinebench 23R and XTU STRESS (which I prefer to not run; compared to IBT; but perhaps thats outdated thinking on my part?)
4. Is there anything else I should be looking at in BIOS or Intel XTU? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I would love to get this rig up and operational fully before the Holiday.

Here is a picture of the most recent temp-run; only having CHROME + STEAM DOWNLOADS running. (1 Hour Lookback)

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Ah, well, thanks alot for all your help thus far. I will have the AIO vs. TOWER Competition this week and get back to you haha.



Wow! Thanks so much Roland. That is amazing content. I will give it a more thorough review when I can later this evening. But this is exactly the kind of details I was looking for.

No probs. Glad to offer advice.

@uWebb429 is often on the forum, and may be able to offer some advice. He wrote the software, and is very helpful to the community

My own experience with my Omen 15 gaming laptop and TS is brill. Really makes a difference to how my laptop performs. Lower temps, higher boosts and for longer periods. It's a great bit of software.

 

[Karadjgne]

I used to OC, back when you could get 1GHz or better with a cpu over the stock turbo settings, but AMD and Intel have pretty much already done that for me, stock. With today's cpus, they are now right upto the edge limits of performance, you'll be lucky to get 100-200MHz out of normal cooling and OC tweaks.

Afaiac, OC is pretty much dead excepting for the extremes like LN2 or other exotic cooling out of the general norm. The only ppl who get any tangible benefit from OC (in its historical meaning) are benchmark chasers. When cpus are getting 500fps+ in CSGO, an extra 5-10fps is totally meaningless.

Undervolting was the secondary consideration point of OC, bringing temps down to manageable values, even enough to allow for a higher OC, and has realistically become the New OC, where stock clocks are plenty good enough, but better temps are always a bonus. But the easiest way to better temps for most is with a better cooler, and Noctua is on the top of the aircooler list for a reason, and has been, with beQuiet right on its heels.

See what the cooler will do for you first, worry about tweaking later. Chances are decent that tweaking will be totally unnecessary, more inline with Choice than Must.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I used to OC, back when you could get 1GHz or better with a cpu over the stock turbo settings, but AMD and Intel have pretty much already done that for me, stock. With today's cpus, they are now right upto the edge limits of performance, you'll be lucky to get 100-200MHz out of normal cooling and OC tweaks.

Afaiac, OC is pretty much dead excepting for the extremes like LN2 or other exotic cooling out of the general norm. The only ppl who get any tangible benefit from OC (in its historical meaning) are benchmark chasers. When cpus are getting 500fps+ in CSGO, an extra 5-10fps is totally meaningless.

Undervolting was the secondary consideration point of OC, bringing temps down to manageable values, even enough to allow for a higher OC, and has realistically become the New OC, where stock clocks are plenty good enough, but better temps are always a bonus. But the easiest way to better temps for most is with a better cooler, and Noctua is on the top of the aircooler list for a reason, and has been, with beQuiet right on its heels.

See what the cooler will do for you first, worry about tweaking later. Chances are decent that tweaking will be totally unnecessary, more inline with Choice than Must.

Totally agree with you! OC'ing for consumers at least is almost dead. Certainly in the way both Intel and AMD tune their CPU's and the algorythim that pushes nearly every last drop of performance. Unless you're 'Splave' then OC doesn't bring much by way of massive performance increases.

Brings back memories of my old Q6600 with which a FSB change from 266mhz to 333mhz gave a lovely boost to 3ghz Ah, them were the days.

Undervolting is useful in that it can yield some good results with lowering temps and increasing performance a little. My current 5600x is averaging about 4.7ghz all core and 4.85ghz on one or two cores.

 

[ak47jar3d]

I would clear cmos, check thermal compound and then take a look at aio. The pump may be failing....

 

[zx128k]

CPU at 100c cooler is likely bad. Overheating is reported as common with MSI Coreliquid 240R AIO. here is the recall.

Same issue here Would check that everything is installed correctly, overheating can be a mounting issue and/or an issue with thermal paste. As this is a AIO check the pump is working. Check for noise from the pump caused by air. Check for leaks.