i7-4790K extremely high temperatures

[lucasness2]

So I recently upgraded from an i5-4460 to an i7-4790K. However, being silly, i decided to remain on the 4460 stock cooler for now so as to lower the initial cost. When idle, the CPU has temps between 30-40 degrees. However, when running any form of stress test, the temperature reaches 100 degrees within a minute, and the thermal throttling kicks in. This happens whenever the CPU passes above a certain usage amount, which is somewhere below the 60% mark. I have been unable to determine the exact percentage, however.

My question is, are these high temps strictly due to the use of a cooler that 'cannot keep up' so to speak- i.e, would upgrading my CPU cooler be likely to solve this issue? I am relatively new to building and so I want to make sure the chip itself is not faulty before upgrading anything else.
Thanks in advance!

 

[CompuTronix]

lucasness2,

On behalf of Tom's Moderator Team, welcome aboard!

The short answer to your question is "yes". The cooler specified for the 84 Watt TDP i5 4460 is the same PCG 2013D cooler specified for the 88 Watt TDP i7 4790K.

Intel® Core™ i5-4460 Processor - https://ark.intel.com/products/80817/Intel-Core-i5-4460-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_40-GHz

Intel® Core™ i7-4790K Processor - https://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

The i7 4790K has a slightly higher Thermal Design Power (TDP), more Cache, higher Base and Turbo Core speeds as well as Hyperthreading, so it runs at higher Core voltage, all of which cause higher Core temperatures than the i5 4460 on the same cooler.

Although the stock cooler is barely adequate for the 4790K at stock settings, overclocking is definitely not an option.

The #1 cause of high Core temperatures and thermal throttling problems on the stock cooler, is a push-pin that's popped loose from the motherboard, for which Intel's stock coolers are notorious.

The push-pins are deceivingly tricky to get them properly latched completely through the motherboard. If your case allows you to see the back of the CPU socket, carefully check each pin under a strong light to be certain they extends completely and equally through the motherboard.

While running under enough load to push the Core temperatures up to about 60 to 80°C, gently but firmly press each corner of the cooler against the motherboard for about 45 seconds. If you see the Core temperatures drop dramatically, then you've found the loose push-pin.

Intel processors are quite robust, and their Digital Thermal Sensors (DTS) are typically reliable, so it's highly unlikely there's anything wrong with the processor. Nevertheless, at the earliest opportunity, you should replace the stock cooler with a decent aftermarket cooler which has proper mounting hardware that includes a back plate.

Here's the operating range for Core temperature:

Core temperatures above 85°C aren't recommended.

Core temperatures increase and decrease with Ambient temperature.

Idle temperatures below 25°C are generally due to Ambient temperatures below 22°C.

Highest Core temperatures occur during stress tests, rendering or transcoding, but are lower during less processor intensive workloads such as applications and gaming. Core temperatures can vary greatly among games due to differences between CPU and GPU workloads.

If you'd like to get yourself up to speed on this topic, then give this a read: Intel Temperature Guide http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Once again, welcome aboard!

CT