i7 4790k temp help!

[Spicynoodle]

Usually, my i7 runs around 60-68 celsius. But when i stream games like Skyrim, one of my cores (core 1) gets to around 75 celsius. I began to worry as i've been constantly searching and seeing people's temps don't go above 65 (well the average comparison of most people's words on other threads). My question is - is it my cooling or do i have a faulty CPU? Also, no overclocking done.

The conclusions i've come up with, but i need a second opinion is that it maybe be due to the thermal paste (as because my friend did the line method, but glopped a tiny bit more than he wanted). However, my friend built my computer and i'm trying to avoid taking everything out (noctua fan and all). I wouldn't know how to put it back on. :/

Room temp may also be a cause. Its 69 degrees in California and i have no AC. However, when making that assumption, i also have a GPU that does not go above 33 celsius full load. So then thats what got me questioning the CPU itself.

Does anyone have any advice, tips, or feedback for me? This has been bothering me. The more i ignore it, the more i think about it.
Here's also the real-time results (i've been stressing it for around 10 minutes now):

 

[azaran]

Thermal limit for the CPU is 100c so you're fine there. If you were getting consistently higher than 80's when doing tasks I'd worry, but you're well within the safe zone for your CPU. Now as for if your cooler is cooling as well as it should be, that would depend on the cooler, if your using fan profiles, etc. Incorrect amount or placement of thermal paste can make a difference of a few degrees, but the fact that you're not going over 75c makes me think you're doing ok with the install.

 

[Spicynoodle]

Ooo, so you also have a 4790k. So basically, when i stream and core #1 gets to ~75 celsius, i'm still in the safe zone? When its cooler outside, i get max 68... but again, thats also a bit high when my GPU literally goes to 27 celsius max load (at night).

What are your average temps compared to mine? I'm assuming some of the issue is the thermal paste, but theres no way to tell whatsoever... including from a noob like me with building computers. I also assume its because i only have one fan (the noctua) blowing at 100% speed on a 73 celsius processor, but i rather have you theory craft for me simply because you have the most experience.

By the way, thank you for helping!

 

[azaran]

First, whats your setup? Depending on your cooler, airflow, case, etc you may just have a cramped space with a lot of warm air in general. Also have you done any actual load testing with something like Prim95, or are you going off of temps from when you're gaming or doing general stuff?

 

[Spicynoodle]

I'll try to get the basics, as i'm not very adept in this.

Case: Antec p100
GPU: EVGA 980ti hybrid
CPU: Intel i7 4790k
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: ASUS z97
SSD: Samsung EVO 850 500 GB
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (but i only have one fan cause the other doesnt fit) so i used the other on the back inside.
I've only used HWMonitor to see all my CPU temps/RPM of my fans
Nvidia Inspector to monitor my GPU temps
CPU-ID to stress test my system/using the Witcher 3 and Runescape 3 for benchmark temps (the Witcher 3 for max capacity, Runescape 3 to overload my computer with framerates). Was reading about Prim95 when looking at solutions/basking in temp information for my processor.

One last thing is that i also set a different curve in my CPU cooler on the ASUS bios. 65 C+ i'm using it at max RPMs.

My motherboard consistently stays at 40-50 celsius MAX. Was looking at that to see if the airflow on the bottom of my case sucked.

Am i doing it wrong? Honestly, i just did this out of a noob's logic. I can take pictures. It was kind of cramped at first. In the beginning, my GPU was hitting a solid 83 celsius before i realized the watercooling tubes were sitting on the CPU cooler with a fan not working. This is when i was using HWMonitor and found out my CPU (without the fan) was running at 78 C. Was trying to use the push-pull method, but the entire set up didn't quite work because the case was a last minute buy, so I manually fixed/unscrewed things to the best of my ability. Fixed it and my CPU max would range 68 C - 75 C currently, followed by my GPU having some of the best temps i've personally ever seen.

 

[azaran]

Ah ok the one fan on that cooler explains your temps. I tested mine with only one fan to see how it'd affect performance and pretty much got the temps you're running in to. I'm guessing because of the low clearance of the cooler, your RAM selection required taking off the external fan. So I'd say given your setup, you temps are probably the best you'll get without modifying a few things. Since your case has an upper limit of 170mm for your CPU cooler, you cant put the normal fan on the front and move it up enough to fit the ram. But you might be able to rig a smaller fan on the front using the clips that came with the cooler. You'd want to measure how much space you'd actually have but a 60mm fan should fit the space for sure, or maybe an 80mm depending on just how much room you have. Again, measure it and see for sure. I'd look at these for the fit since they should have the right shape/size for the clips that shipped with the cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1DR-002N-00002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-608-069

You may want to add an intake fan to the front, your case should allow for another 120/140mm up front. You also have the option for exhausting out the top of your case. I now how hot the summers in CA can get so some better airflow may help, but mostly it should help the airflow around your motherboard and components.

As for temp stress testing, you did a reasonable job. If you want to get more in to how to stress test and see the limits of your hardware, read through this guide. It's probably more than you wanted to know, but this will give you most insight in to your system.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

And no, you didn't really do it wrong. RAM choice was not the best for the cooler choice, but it happens and you made things work. Don't stress it.

 

[Spicynoodle]

Oh my goodness, thank you for all that help. Literally explains everything perfectly for me. Best thing is that when i actually looked up the model for my CPU fan, i realized that it was suppose to have 2 of them. But instead, i'm using 1 fan in the middle, and 2 of the metal things on the outside. Seeing as though it obviously doesn't fit and doesn't provide the full service i bought it for due to a last minute change, would you recommend another CPU cooler that would possibly be around the same performance and quietness as the ones i have? I was looking at some of the cooler masters... in fact, i looked at the one stated in your signature (hehe, humans love to copy eachother).

I love learning about computers. In fact, everything that i know right now about all the things i'm doing/did i learned in about a week... so all this information may be at an overload right now, but you said exactly what i needed to hear. All that's left is buying another cooler and hopefully installing it correctly. On the contrary, i have one more question - are these temps safe. I have a feeling as the weather in cali gets hotter, the CPU temp is going to increase around 3+ C fairly soon. So my worry is is having about 78 C on a CPU going to affect any sort of performance? Today i was having a placebo affect thinking that Skyrim was lagging (but this is almost 100% a Bethesda issue) was due to my CPU being hotter than most. .. which is why i decided on coming here. Just reassure me that i'm overthinking because i tend to do that a lot. I've been literally on this topic since the moment i came home from work, lol. But don't lie so you don't tell me bad news.

It sucks because when i went to Fry's, they didn't have the RAM that we picked out... thus having not only the case issue, but the placement of the CPU cooler issue aswell.

Also, may i add that i also bought another Noctua fan (a smaller size) because the bigger one would not fit inside the case as another fan for the back. So i'm not actually using one of the fans that came with the CPU for something else.

Again, thanks for the help... and if you answer these question, they will probably be the last because you've helped me with every other question. Thank you for your time! You've made a noob like me a happy camper.

 

[Zerk2012]

Dude download OCCT and RealTemp GT and stress your processor the right way. Report back with the temps!
75C is not something I would consider normal just gaming and streaming. I can run that stress test and mine is about 75C and have never seen it anywhere near that when gaming.

 

[azaran]

Dude download OCCT and RealTemp GT and stress your processor the right way. Report back with the temps!
75C is not something I would consider normal just gaming and streaming. I can run that stress test and mine is about 75C and have never seen it anywhere near that when gaming.

I say normal because he's running his cooler out of spec. If it were running corrctly, he should be getting much lower temps. I ran in to the same issues and temps when I experimented with only using it with one fan. Its not optimal by any means and should be stress tested if he's concerned, but running the cooler with only half the fans in place makes a dramatic impact on the D15.

 

[Zerk2012]

No 75C is not normal for gaming and streaming...............
If he still has the middle fan then the lack of the one is not that much. You can add another fan to a 212 evo and only see a 1C difference. I would think 4/5 C at the most with the gap in between.

 

[azaran]

Oh my goodness, thank you for all that help. Literally explains everything perfectly for me. Best thing is that when i actually looked up the model for my CPU fan, i realized that it was suppose to have 2 of them. But instead, i'm using 1 fan in the middle, and 2 of the metal things on the outside. Seeing as though it obviously doesn't fit and doesn't provide the full service i bought it for due to a last minute change, would you recommend another CPU cooler that would possibly be around the same performance and quietness as the ones i have? I was looking at some of the cooler masters... in fact, i looked at the one stated in your signature (hehe, humans love to copy eachother).

I love learning about computers. In fact, everything that i know right now about all the things i'm doing/did i learned in about a week... so all this information may be at an overload right now, but you said exactly what i needed to hear. All that's left is buying another cooler and hopefully installing it correctly. On the contrary, i have one more question - are these temps safe. I have a feeling as the weather in cali gets hotter, the CPU temp is going to increase around 3+ C fairly soon. So my worry is is having about 78 C on a CPU going to affect any sort of performance? Today i was having a placebo affect thinking that Skyrim was lagging (but this is almost 100% a Bethesda issue) was due to my CPU being hotter than most. .. which is why i decided on coming here. Just reassure me that i'm overthinking because i tend to do that a lot. I've been literally on this topic since the moment i came home from work, lol. But don't lie so you don't tell me bad news.

It sucks because when i went to Fry's, they didn't have the RAM that we picked out... thus having not only the case issue, but the placement of the CPU cooler issue aswell.

Also, may i add that i also bought another Noctua fan (a smaller size) because the bigger one would not fit inside the case as another fan for the back. So i'm not actually using one of the fans that came with the CPU for something else.

Again, thanks for the help... and if you answer these question, they will probably be the last because you've helped me with every other question. Thank you for your time! You've made a noob like me a happy camper.

If you're planning on overclocking, that cooler is a great cooler, but it needs both fans to do its job. So you'd need to either stick with the cooler and replace the RAM or replace the cooler and stick with the RAM you have now. Depending on the prices of RAM vs cooler, its a toss up price wise depending on models. That case doesn't seem to really get along well with dual fan radiators so for water cooling you'd be restricted to a 120mm or 140mm model.I like the Kraken x41 for that, but really at that point you might as well opt for a different big air cooler. For a dual fan air cooler that will fit with the RAM you have, look at the Cryorig R1 Universal. It's 168mm so it'll just fit in your case.

For light over clocking and just a good quiet cooler, pick up the Cryorig H7. You won't have any issues with overlapping the RAM and its a good deal smaller than the NH-D15.

 

[azaran]

No 75C is not normal for gaming and streaming...............
If he still has the middle fan then the lack of the one is not that much. You can add another fan to a 212 evo and only see a 1C difference. I would think 4/5 C at the most with the gap in between.

For normal gaming no, but he said in his original post he stress tested the gaming engines. Not as powerful of a stress test as prime95 but still much more of a load than normal gaming in steaming.

And like I said, I tried stressing the NH-D15 personaly with one fan and got significant differences in temps with just losing the one fan. The Evo was designed for use with one fan, adding a fan will only do so much in that case. The NH-D15 was designed for use with two fans and halving the airflow through the towers has a massive effect on its ability to cool properly.

 

[Zerk2012]

I'll try to get the basics, as i'm not very adept in this.

Case: Antec p100
GPU: EVGA 980ti hybrid
CPU: Intel i7 4790k
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: ASUS z97
SSD: Samsung EVO 850 500 GB
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (but i only have one fan cause the other doesnt fit) so i used the other on the back inside.
I've only used HWMonitor to see all my CPU temps/RPM of my fans
Nvidia Inspector to monitor my GPU temps
CPU-ID to stress test my system/using the Witcher 3 and Runescape 3 for benchmark temps (the Witcher 3 for max capacity, Runescape 3 to overload my computer with framerates). Was reading about Prim95 when looking at solutions/basking in temp information for my processor.

One last thing is that i also set a different curve in my CPU cooler on the ASUS bios. 65 C+ i'm using it at max RPMs.

My motherboard consistently stays at 40-50 celsius MAX. Was looking at that to see if the airflow on the bottom of my case sucked.

Am i doing it wrong? Honestly, i just did this out of a noob's logic. I can take pictures. It was kind of cramped at first. In the beginning, my GPU was hitting a solid 83 celsius before i realized the watercooling tubes were sitting on the CPU cooler with a fan not working. This is when i was using HWMonitor and found out my CPU (without the fan) was running at 78 C. Was trying to use the push-pull method, but the entire set up didn't quite work because the case was a last minute buy, so I manually fixed/unscrewed things to the best of my ability. Fixed it and my CPU max would range 68 C - 75 C currently, followed by my GPU having some of the best temps i've personally ever seen.

Switch your fans to Pull Pull, middle fan (still in the middle spot)connected to the memory side of the cooler and put the other fan on the back side of the cooler near the back of the case puling air through that side.

 

[Zerk2012]

No 75C is not normal for gaming and streaming...............
If he still has the middle fan then the lack of the one is not that much. You can add another fan to a 212 evo and only see a 1C difference. I would think 4/5 C at the most with the gap in between.

For normal gaming no, but he said in his original post he stress tested the gaming engines. Not as powerful of a stress test as prime95 but still much more of a load than normal gaming in steaming.

And like I said, I tried stressing the NH-D15 personaly with one fan and got significant differences in temps with just losing the one fan. The Evo was designed for use with one fan, adding a fan will only do so much in that case. The NH-D15 was designed for use with two fans and halving the airflow through the towers has a massive effect on its ability to cool properly.

Funny thing on the web you can say anything I have stressed the same cooler the same way and made little difference. Prime 95 is not a good stress test for that processor it uses instructions that he will not encounter.

 

[azaran]

I'll try to get the basics, as i'm not very adept in this.

Case: Antec p100
GPU: EVGA 980ti hybrid
CPU: Intel i7 4790k
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: ASUS z97
SSD: Samsung EVO 850 500 GB
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (but i only have one fan cause the other doesnt fit) so i used the other on the back inside.
I've only used HWMonitor to see all my CPU temps/RPM of my fans
Nvidia Inspector to monitor my GPU temps
CPU-ID to stress test my system/using the Witcher 3 and Runescape 3 for benchmark temps (the Witcher 3 for max capacity, Runescape 3 to overload my computer with framerates). Was reading about Prim95 when looking at solutions/basking in temp information for my processor.

One last thing is that i also set a different curve in my CPU cooler on the ASUS bios. 65 C+ i'm using it at max RPMs.

My motherboard consistently stays at 40-50 celsius MAX. Was looking at that to see if the airflow on the bottom of my case sucked.

Am i doing it wrong? Honestly, i just did this out of a noob's logic. I can take pictures. It was kind of cramped at first. In the beginning, my GPU was hitting a solid 83 celsius before i realized the watercooling tubes were sitting on the CPU cooler with a fan not working. This is when i was using HWMonitor and found out my CPU (without the fan) was running at 78 C. Was trying to use the push-pull method, but the entire set up didn't quite work because the case was a last minute buy, so I manually fixed/unscrewed things to the best of my ability. Fixed it and my CPU max would range 68 C - 75 C currently, followed by my GPU having some of the best temps i've personally ever seen.

Switch your fans to Pull Pull, middle fan (still in the middle spot)connected to the memory side of the cooler and put the other fan on the back side of the cooler near the back of the case puling air through that side.

If that'll fit, that would be ideal. However that 980ti hybrid is already consuming a few inches of space at the rear exhaust.

 

[azaran]

No 75C is not normal for gaming and streaming...............
If he still has the middle fan then the lack of the one is not that much. You can add another fan to a 212 evo and only see a 1C difference. I would think 4/5 C at the most with the gap in between.

For normal gaming no, but he said in his original post he stress tested the gaming engines. Not as powerful of a stress test as prime95 but still much more of a load than normal gaming in steaming.

And like I said, I tried stressing the NH-D15 personaly with one fan and got significant differences in temps with just losing the one fan. The Evo was designed for use with one fan, adding a fan will only do so much in that case. The NH-D15 was designed for use with two fans and halving the airflow through the towers has a massive effect on its ability to cool properly.

Funny thing on the web you can say anything I have stressed the same cooler the same way and made little difference. Prime 95 is not a good stress test for that processor it uses instructions that he will not encounter.

Never said Prime95 was the only stress test I used on it. But under load, those were the temps I was getting, and found similar results in other forums.

 

[Spicynoodle]

This site is awesome. Thank you two for both the concerns and giving me options/alternatives. Honestly, within a couple of weeks, i'll get back to you two and talk about the results.

My very last question is that... even though these temps are completely normal, and knowing that Cali weather is going to end up getting hotter, lets just assume that my CPU ends up getting to 78 C, would that have any affect on performance or is it simply a number that people could be extremely picky on? I'm going to end up getting a new cooler/using other methods... but i was thinking of buying an ASUS STRIX 1080 first before anything. So with that being said, with me ignoring this for a couple of weeks, i'm in the clear with no performance downgrades due to temps?

 

[azaran]

This site is awesome. Thank you two for both the concerns and giving me options/alternatives. Honestly, within a couple of weeks, i'll get back to you two and talk about the results.

My very last question is that... even though these temps are completely normal, and knowing that Cali weather is going to end up getting hotter, lets just assume that my CPU ends up getting to 78 C, would that have any affect on performance or is it simply a number that people could be extremely picky on? I'm going to end up getting a new cooler/using other methods... but i was thinking of buying an ASUS STRIX 1080 first before anything. So with that being said, with me ignoring this for a couple of weeks, i'm in the clear with no performance downgrades due to temps?

Well again, those temps under load, you're at the high end of normal. They're not temps you should be getting with that cooler under normal spec, and definitely not temps you should be getting with normal every day usage even running that cooler out of spec. If you get those temps while just playing a game, as Zerk said, thats not normal. If you are getting those temps with normal usage, put the 1080 on the back burner for a bit and address your cooling issue first. Also, keep in mind that the Asus Strix doesn't use a blower type of cooler, so all the air from the card will be exhausted in to the case. Setting up a second intake fan in the front would be a good idea and also look at using the top exhaust ports if temps in your area start climbing in to really high numbers.

 

[Spicynoodle]

This site is awesome. Thank you two for both the concerns and giving me options/alternatives. Honestly, within a couple of weeks, i'll get back to you two and talk about the results.

My very last question is that... even though these temps are completely normal, and knowing that Cali weather is going to end up getting hotter, lets just assume that my CPU ends up getting to 78 C, would that have any affect on performance or is it simply a number that people could be extremely picky on? I'm going to end up getting a new cooler/using other methods... but i was thinking of buying an ASUS STRIX 1080 first before anything. So with that being said, with me ignoring this for a couple of weeks, i'm in the clear with no performance downgrades due to temps?

Well again, those temps under load, you're at the high end of normal. They're not temps you should be getting with that cooler under normal spec, and definitely not temps you should be getting with normal every day usage even running that cooler out of spec. If you get those temps while just playing a game, as Zerk said, thats not normal. If you are getting those temps with normal usage, put the 1080 on the back burner for a bit and address your cooling issue first. Also, keep in mind that the Asus Strix doesn't use a blower type of cooler, so all the air from the card will be exhausted in to the case. Setting up a second intake fan in the front would be a good idea and also look at using the top exhaust ports if temps in your area start climbing in to really high numbers.

Oh yeah, as in normal - i meant your normal. I now know the reasoning behind why my CPU is hotter than normal, which is perfectly fine for me. But if i ignore this problem for a couple of weeks, would it have any affect on gaming performance or what-not?

Honestly, the only time i really ever get these temps are when i'm literally stressing the CPU to the max or i'm streaming with a pretty high x264 preset on a fully maxed out game such as Skyrim. That in itself gives it a massive load, and sometimes stresses it to the point that it maxes out the CPU and some more and makes everything stutter.

Under the Witcher 3 circumstances, the highest it actually goes (with v sync off and the frame limiter off), i've seen it go to the high of 68 C (during the hottest part of the day). That's why im not too worried, but more or less worried about the things i don't know.

But again, the only question i have left is that if i leave this alone for a couple of weeks, does anything ~78 C affect performance in general? If not, that'll give me some time to budget and spend when i need to instead of literally probably buying everything tomorrow.

 

[azaran]

This site is awesome. Thank you two for both the concerns and giving me options/alternatives. Honestly, within a couple of weeks, i'll get back to you two and talk about the results.

My very last question is that... even though these temps are completely normal, and knowing that Cali weather is going to end up getting hotter, lets just assume that my CPU ends up getting to 78 C, would that have any affect on performance or is it simply a number that people could be extremely picky on? I'm going to end up getting a new cooler/using other methods... but i was thinking of buying an ASUS STRIX 1080 first before anything. So with that being said, with me ignoring this for a couple of weeks, i'm in the clear with no performance downgrades due to temps?

Well again, those temps under load, you're at the high end of normal. They're not temps you should be getting with that cooler under normal spec, and definitely not temps you should be getting with normal every day usage even running that cooler out of spec. If you get those temps while just playing a game, as Zerk said, thats not normal. If you are getting those temps with normal usage, put the 1080 on the back burner for a bit and address your cooling issue first. Also, keep in mind that the Asus Strix doesn't use a blower type of cooler, so all the air from the card will be exhausted in to the case. Setting up a second intake fan in the front would be a good idea and also look at using the top exhaust ports if temps in your area start climbing in to really high numbers.

Oh yeah, as in normal - i meant your normal. I now know the reasoning behind why my CPU is hotter than normal, which is perfectly fine for me. But if i ignore this problem for a couple of weeks, would it have any affect on gaming performance or what-not?

Honestly, the only time i really ever get these temps are when i'm literally stressing the CPU to the max or i'm streaming with a pretty high x264 preset on a fully maxed out game such as Skyrim. That in itself gives it a massive load, and sometimes stresses it to the point that it maxes out the CPU and some more and makes everything stutter.

Under the Witcher 3 circumstances, the highest it actually goes (with v sync off and the frame limiter off), i've seen it go to the high of 68 C (during the hottest part of the day). That's why im not too worried, but more or less worried about the things i don't know.

But again, the only question i have left is that if i leave this alone for a couple of weeks, does anything ~78 C affect performance in general? If not, that'll give me some time to budget and spend when i need to instead of literally probably buying everything tomorrow.

Naw you should be fine for a few weeks. If you were consistently in the 80's I'd be concerned. The throttling point for the CPU is higher than that, and the max temp is around 100c. Budget out for what you'd like to do and what kind of cooling you want and go from there. No sense rushing with where things are now. Measure out your sizes, you might even be able to keep your current config and just change things around bit, either with the pull/pull config Zerk mentioned or with the push pull config I went in to. Reseating and reapplying compound correctly wouldn't hurt either, even as much as a pain in the ass as pulling the NH-D15 out is. If you want to know more on thermal compounds and applying, check out these articles on it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616.html