[SOLVED] I7-8700 (non k) + Z370-F Gaming | 1.5 Volts + 75°C | How to lower Voltage/Temp Spikes? | ML240R Cooler

[illumind]

I'm running an Z370-F Gaming (BIOS: 2401) and i7-8700 (non k) with temps/volts spiking to 75°C/1.5v under load. Cooler is liquid ML240R, as per title. Seems like a high spike in volts, if nothing else. The ambient temps in all cases was ~22°C, although I fear in summer @ 40°C ambient, it will raise the CPU well over 75°C.

-> I have MCE Disabled, and XMP Enabled. And, fresh install of Win 10. Other than that, everything is essentially untouched in BIOS, except for a couple of completely unrelated settings.

Are there any simple things I could Disable/change/check in BIOS to bring the volts/temps down? I'm not au fait with BIOS voltage settings, so any help or guidance would be a huge help and greatly appreciated. Or, am I stressing about nothing?...

 

[illumind]

I'm running an Z370-F Gaming (BIOS: 2401) and i7-8700 (non k) with temps/volts spiking to 75°C/1.5v under load. Seems like a high spike in volts, if nothing else. The ambient temps in all cases was ~22°C, although I fear in summer @ 40°C ambient, it will raise the CPU well over 75°C.

-> I have MCE Disabled, and XMP Enabled. And, fresh install of Win 10. Other than that, everything is essentially untouched in BIOS, except for a couple of completely unrelated settings.

Are there any simple things I could Disable/change/check in BIOS to bring the volts/temps down? I'm not au fait with BIOS voltage settings, so any help or guidance would be a huge help and greatly appreciated. Or, am I stressing about nothing?...

I navigated to the 'AI Tweaker' Tab setting 'CPU Core'/Cache Voltage', then down to 'Offset Mode' - 0.100, NOT '+' obviously, and seems to be doing what I want now, runs 7°C cooler with negligible (if any) performance impact. I also added a manual Q-Fan curve (similar to the Turbo fan curve) in BIOS and in combination with the -0.100 voltage change temps now stay in the mid 60's (°C). Problem solved. 'All care, no responsibility' on others doing the same of course. I'll test it further when I reinstall my GPU, I'm just waiting for it to arrive.

Re Voltage, I tried tweaking in BIOS and Intel XTU and both seem to achieve the same result. I saved the BIOS change of 0.-100 Offset and uninstalled Intel XTU. One less program to have running in the background.

* Installed new 1660Ti and it started resetting randomly. So set everything back to default. 🙄 Had fun playing around though, and worked fine without the GPU. Could also be that XMP 3200MHz RAM is causing this issue, as it's a known issue.*

Lastly,

Thanks to Optimum Tech on Youtube.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dol1epwxeA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxaIZgzTbMA

 

[Mr.Spock]

you didn't mention your cooler or motherboard cooling profile.

since your CPU is not unlocked, you'll probably be fine even with a stock cooler.
if your cooling profile is like most default settings, the fan will run more aggressively during the summer under load but still keep your CPU in decent temps.

you can probably enable MCE safely as it'll actually allow the CPU to run faster when feasible and return to idle faster (resulting in lower temps more regularly)

I'm running an Z370-F Gaming (BIOS: 2401) and i7-8700 (non k) with temps/volts spiking to 75°C/1.5v under load. Seems like a high spike in volts, if nothing else. The ambient temps in all cases was ~22°C, although I fear in summer @ 40°C ambient, it will raise the CPU well over 75°C.

-> I have MCE Disabled, and XMP Enabled. And, fresh install of Win 10. Other than that, everything is essentially untouched in BIOS, except for a couple of completely unrelated settings.

Are there any simple things I could Disable/change/check in BIOS to bring the volts/temps down? I'm not au fait with BIOS voltage settings, so any help or guidance would be a huge help and greatly appreciated. Or, am I stressing about nothing?...

 

[illumind]

you didn't mention your cooler or motherboard cooling profile.

since your CPU is not unlocked, you'll probably be fine even with a stock cooler.
if your cooling profile is like most default settings, the fan will run more aggressively during the summer under load but still keep your CPU in decent temps.

you can probably enable MCE safely as it'll actually allow the CPU to run faster when feasible and return to idle faster (resulting in lower temps more regularly)

Thank you Mr. Spock. I'm about to watch some Picard right now actually.

The cooler is neatly hidden in the title, an ML240R. If it were a stock 115X cooler the CPU would surely be in the 80's or 90's under full load based on the hundreds of other systems I've tested in similar spec, relative to this CPU and board. As mentioned above, the motherboard profile is essentially untouched. So whatever the stock ASUS Z370-F Gaming profile is for cooling (likely 'Auto' for whatever it's worth) will be how it's set. I haven't switched it to 'Performance' or 'Power Saving', so I'm guessing it's 'Auto', or whatever would denote Auto.

Ultimately the 'MCE Enabled' made no difference with my 'Non K' CPU. All cores continued to act in the way Intel designed them to, with only 1 core Turbo'ing to 4.6GHz max.

 

[Mr.Spock]

I've notice CM packaged their fan in pull mode on the ML120R - so that might also be a consideration

 

[illumind]

I've notice CM packaged their fan in pull mode on the ML120R - so that might also be a consideration

I'd assume the 240 is no different. The rad is on the outer side of the case, with the fans on the inside, so pulling is the only way that makes sense in that config, isn't it? That way it pulls cold air in, from outside the case, which then passes through the warm rad, into the case, then expelled out the rear. This would surely keep it cooler than pushing already warm air from the GPU out through the rad. Doing that just means the CPU suffers from the hot graphics card air, rather than cool outside air. That said, the Strix 1660Ti is so cucumber cool it's ridiculous.

The only cooler config would be if the fans were mounted on the outside of the case, rather than the inside, is that what you're suggesting? I agree, that would be a far more efficient method of cooling.

All that said, I'm happy enough to just leave it. I might try again with the voltage offset &/or added fan profile, just to double check if the random black BSOD issue was purely the XMP profile, or were also partially linked to the voltage/fan settings too. I did make the mistake of setting up the fan profile with the pump not plugged into the AIO controller - Oops. I had it in the CPU header, my bad. The XMP was DEFINITELY an issue on this board though, 100%.