i7 8700k and noctua nh-d15 - Clicking noise at higher temp - BEGINNER

[DougEFresh333]

i recently bought the 8700k (and the Asus maximus X Hero), and i went with air cooling with the Noctua NH-D15. i am still getting the PC set up, so all i was doing was installing Steam, and it was "extracting package", then all the sudden, i heard this loud clicking, and it was freaking me out. it stopped shortly after it started. so i restarted, and went into the Q-Fan setting, set all the fans to 100%, and i did not hear the clicking noise again, like i thought i would. I also should say that i tested this when i first got things up and running as well, and heard no clicking then. it sounded like the fan was hitting the metal fins of the heatsink. do you think that because when i run the fans at 100% in Q-Fan and the CPU is at a lower temperature, that might be the difference? the CPU was somewhere around 76 degrees for those couple of seconds when steam was "extracting Package", so maybe because it was actually warm, that could cause the fans to spin differently or something? any ideas what else could cause that clicking noise?

i also must say that i am a beginner here to this stuff. i have read quite a bit though, and i know the 8700k runs a bit hotter than other CPUs, but that is why i bought the NH-D15.

i also should mention, that out of the box, the 8700k is jumping to 4721 Mhz, at VCORE of 0.696V (VID voltage shows a max of 1.401V after a restart), and i have not done anything as far as overclocking is concerned. i understand that these jumps are for power management savings, and i know that i could shut this off, but i wanted to see if anyone thinks something is peculiar in this instance. it is idling around 30-32 degrees with nothing running but HWMonitor, CPU-Z, and Core Temp. but it definitely jumps around a bit. i was going to try and do some beginner overclocking, but i am ALWAYS nervous i am going to ruin this very costly purchase, so i always wimp out and not mess with anything. i haven't even tried playing any games or anything yet on this thing, just getting everything set up how i want it still.

Thanks for the input!!

 

[Supernova1138]

The Maximus X Hero AC has problems with reading CPU Vcore on most monitoring software, so 0.696 isn't an accurate reading. HWInfo64 seems to be the only software that doesn't read an unusually low Vcore when under load. The board also ships with Multicore Enhancement enabled by default, which forces all cores to run at the maximum turbo of 4.7GHz. Watch your temps when this is on, as it does put a lot of voltage in to ensure stability and you might be better off just manually overclocking to 4.7GHz instead.

Temperature differences should not be causing the fan to click, might be there was a wire or something near the fan that the blades were hitting for a little while.

 

[DougEFresh333]

The Maximus X Hero AC has problems with reading CPU Vcore on most monitoring software, so 0.696 isn't an accurate reading. HWInfo64 seems to be the only software that doesn't read an unusually low Vcore when under load. The board also ships with Multicore Enhancement enabled by default, which forces all cores to run at the maximum turbo of 4.7GHz. Watch your temps when this is on, as it does put a lot of voltage in to ensure stability and you might be better off just manually overclocking to 4.7GHz instead.

Temperature differences should not be causing the fan to click, might be there was a wire or something near the fan that the blades were hitting for a little while.

OK. good to know. Thanks! so, i should disable the Multicore Enhancement. the temps have been jumping up pretty high. i have never overclocked before, so it'll take me some time to slowly get past my fears of destroying my new parts, but i'll get there. so if i disable the Multicore Enhancement, what will that do exactly? will that make the max 3.7 Ghz? is there anything else i'll need to change in the BIOS? i still need to actually read more about overclocking, before i even try messing with it.
and yeah, i have no clue what that clicking was. i panicked for a minute, but it hasn't happened again since, and i can't make it happen again... so, idk... i'll take a look inside in a bit.
Also, HWInfo64 is the software you suggest instead of HWMonitor? i can do that.

any other suggestions for me to get the most out of my 8700k? i wanted to try and overclock to 4.7-4.9. i thought that was a good beginner number to shoot for.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Supernova1138]

Turning off multicore enhancement in the BIOS will have your CPU run with the default Turbo behaviour, which is 4.7GHz for 1 core loaded and 4.3GHz for all cores loaded, by default your CPU should run at 4.3GHz under load unless you're running very hot in which case it might drop down closer to the base clock of 3.7GHz.

As for overclocking, most 8700ks seem to be able to get to about the 5.0GHz mark, though temperatures do get concerning even with high end cooling. Some chips can get up to 5.2GHz, but odds are you'd have to delid the CPU to get temperatures under control and given how risky that is it's probably not worth it.

 

[DougEFresh333]

Turning off multicore enhancement in the BIOS will have your CPU run with the default Turbo behaviour, which is 4.7GHz for 1 core loaded and 4.3GHz for all cores loaded, by default your CPU should run at 4.3GHz under load unless you're running very hot in which case it might drop down closer to the base clock of 3.7GHz.

As for overclocking, most 8700ks seem to be able to get to about the 5.0GHz mark, though temperatures do get concerning even with high end cooling. Some chips can get up to 5.2GHz, but odds are you'd have to delid the CPU to get temperatures under control and given how risky that is it's probably not worth it.

yeah, i'd say i'm quite a far ways off from trying to delid a CPU. i've seen/read some things about that, NOPE. haha.

and yeah, ok, that sounds pretty reasonable, so i will turn off Multicore Enhancement, and see how i make out.

thanks for the input!

 

[DougEFresh333]

so, in reference to the clicking sound i heard. yeah, it was one of the wires for the CPU fans in the NH-D15, which were hitting the top mounted fans... go figure... ugh...

but thanks for the info on the CPU anyway!! it'll come in handy.