[SOLVED] i7-8700k High Temps Across the Board

Sep 20, 2019
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I have been having serious issues with the temps of my 8700k. My idle temp sits about 48c and have hit 100c under serious load with easily 70c+ temps under moderate load. I will post my specs below this; I see no logical reason why my temps should ever be that high. I will also attach some pictures of my fan setup etc.

What I've done so far.
PC was purchased from Cyberpower some time back as a result I moved several fans and the radiator connection to the motherboard from powersupply.
Tried countless bios settings for cpu. Currently all stock except Mce is off and Voltage is set at 1.2, Again I have tried so many different settings here with little difference.
Soft Reset of PC
Tried running all cooling at 100% for sustained period

ASUS z390-P
Intel i7-8700k
Asus Gtx 166ti OC Edition
Kraken m22 120mm (Radiator has a fan on both sides have no idea if this is ideal or beneficial)
In WIN 303 Mid Tower
3x 120mm Thermaltake Riing 12 Series
8x2 DDR4 3000Mhz Geil Super Luce
800w Atng

I have spent days researching things and come up with a few possibilities.
I could improve my cooler however at stock settings I really feel it should be enough for the 8700k.
Secondly my power supply is pretty crap. I have no issues with my gpu and I have OCed it fairly heavily before so while it's a crap power supply I'm not sure if it can really be to blame for the cpu temp issue.
Lastly I don't believe my cooling setup is ideal for my case. The pictures should give a better idea of this. I am refraining from moving everything as I'm not super experienced with pc building and think the benefit would not be massive. For reference my gpu stays cool no matter what I do if the issue was air flow wouldn't I see higher temps with it too?

Link to photos
 
Solution
...
One I could keep my current AIO and buy more fans. Also would probably move the radiator to the top with 7 fans in total as in win suggests. That would leave me with an outake fan over the radiator which isn't ideal is it?
Pointless, as your current AIO is insufficient for cooling the 8700k to begin with. There is a physical limitation here. The 120mm needs to be replaced, there's no getting around that.
The addition of the bottom intake fans won't make up for this.
120mm is for 4 core cpus - the 8700k is a hyper-threaded hexa core. It is beyond that 120mm AIO's ability to keep cool.


Second I could just buy a 240m AIO. If I do this I'll end up with one more fan. What do you think the ideal setup would be with 5 fans...
Sep 20, 2019
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Update on a few more things I've tried that have helped but haven't fully resolved the issue.
  • Completely replaced thermal paste, there was way more than necessary applied when it was built
  • Cleared Cmos to ensure all Bios settings are at default
Running Cinebench I now hit about 90c instead of 100c from before. Ambient temp is little over 23c. Idle is now ~35c, still seems a little high for my setup and stock settings but please let me know if that incorrect. I would really like to get the temp down under load quite a bit for some overclocking.

Keep in mind I'm fairly certain all my fans and the AIO are running at 100% according to AI Suite 3 so an Idle temp of 35c seems really bad to me.
 
A little tiny 120 mm radiator can only get rid of so much heat during the fluid's .25 second trip thru the radiator.

As the fluid warms up under extended load, it cools even less effectively....which leads to warmer fluid...which leads to less cooling...and...well, you get the picture...

Not all fluid pump solutions are created equally.

A mugen5 will probably do better for $40. and, if you case will allow a tall sink 168 mm high, slap in an NH-D15 and call it a day!
 
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Phaaze88

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1)You cannot keep a 8700k cool with a 120mm AIO - that's for 4 core cpus. You need at least a 240mm AIO, or a moderately sized air cooler, like the Dark Rock 4, for example.

2)Case cooling is not properly set up.
http://www.inwin-style.com/public/en/gaming-chassis/303 (Scroll down the page to 'Versatile Cooling Options'.)
Your case was designed with bottom to top airflow in mind: bottom and top intake, and rear exhaust.
You currently have no bottom intake. Add more fans.

EDIT: Looking at the product page again, there's a grille on the other side. So the top was also intended as a intake-exhaust passthrough.
 
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throwawayaccnt

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Hard to tell by the angles you took your pictures but if your radiator & fans are sitting at the back of your chassis pushing hot air out of the case that's likely a source of your heat issues. You're choking off cool air that's needed to recirculate in your AIO. I had a push/pull 120mm radiator that was giving me overheating issues after I'd placed the fan to push out the case, moving the radiator/fans to the front to pull in ambient temps resolved my overheating issues.

I'm an amateur but I believe this is the main source of your problem besides the 8700k having notoriously poor thermal conductivity
 
Sep 20, 2019
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1)You cannot keep a 8700k cool with a 120mm AIO - that's for 4 core cpus. You need at least a 240mm AIO, or a moderately sized air cooler, like the Dark Rock 4, for example.

2)Case cooling is not properly set up.
http://www.inwin-style.com/public/en/gaming-chassis/303 (Scroll down the page to 'Versatile Cooling Options'.)
Your case was designed with bottom to top airflow in mind: bottom and top intake, and rear exhaust.
You currently have no bottom intake. Add more fans.

EDIT: Looking at the product page again, there's a grille on the other side. So the top was also intended as a intake-exhaust passthrough.
So with that in mind I think I have 1 of two options without spending more than I'd like.

One I could keep my current AIO and buy more fans. Also would probably move the radiator to the top with 7 fans in total as in win suggests. That would leave me with an outake fan over the radiator which isn't ideal is it?

Second I could just buy a 240m AIO. If I do this I'll end up with one more fan. What do you think the ideal setup would be with 5 fans for my case, as well as radiator placement?

I would prefer just buying fans as its cheap and I'm still getting use out on an AIO I've already bought. However I want to get the biggest bang for my buck, what would you recommend?

Oh also I need my pc over the weekend so I will be going out later tonight to buy whatever I need, that removes the possibility of something like the NH-D15 unfortunately.
 
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Phaaze88

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...
One I could keep my current AIO and buy more fans. Also would probably move the radiator to the top with 7 fans in total as in win suggests. That would leave me with an outake fan over the radiator which isn't ideal is it?
Pointless, as your current AIO is insufficient for cooling the 8700k to begin with. There is a physical limitation here. The 120mm needs to be replaced, there's no getting around that.
The addition of the bottom intake fans won't make up for this.
120mm is for 4 core cpus - the 8700k is a hyper-threaded hexa core. It is beyond that 120mm AIO's ability to keep cool.


Second I could just buy a 240m AIO. If I do this I'll end up with one more fan. What do you think the ideal setup would be with 5 fans for my case, as well as radiator placement?
Yes.
The ideal setup for your case? There's 2:
1)Air cooled
-Cpu cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4
-Bottom intake: 3x 120mm fans
-Rear exhaust: 1x 120mm fan
-Top intake: 3x 120mm fans

2)Liquid cooled
-Cpu cooler: EVGA CLC 240
-Bottom intake: 3x 120mm fans
-Rear exhaust: 1x 120mm fan
-Top intake: The CLC 240's radiator + 1x 120mm fan


I would prefer just buying fans as its cheap and I'm still getting use out on an AIO I've already bought. However I want to get the biggest bang for my buck, what would you recommend?
1)Air cooled setup
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler ($74.90 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.24 CFM 120 mm Fans ($23.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.24 CFM 120 mm Fans ($23.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $122.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-20 19:39 EDT-0400

-Each case fan item is a 2-pack, so 4 total.
-Take the fan off the 120mm AIO and use it as the 3rd top fan intake.
-Flip the power supply around, that way the fan will directly feed cool air to the unit

2)Liquid cooled setup
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($65.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.24 CFM 120 mm Fans ($23.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $89.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-20 19:43 EDT-0400

-Again, that's a 2-pack.
-Take the fan off the 120mm AIO and use it as a either an intake or exhaust fan
-Doesn't matter whether the AIO is mounted at the top or bottom, your choice
-Flip the power supply around...

If you come across cheaper fan packs, (y)

Oh also I need my pc over the weekend so I will be going out later tonight to buy whatever I need, that removes the possibility of something like the NH-D15 unfortunately.
That's unfortunate, but there's no workaround for the physical limitation of the 120mm AIO.
 
Solution
Have you tried putting the two fans that you currently have at the top of the case to the bottom of the case drawing cool air in to the case from the bottom and thus bringing fresh air in and extracting out through the AIO?

Worth a try before spending bucks?
 
Sep 20, 2019
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2)Liquid cooled setup
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($65.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.24 CFM 120 mm Fans ($23.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $89.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-20 19:43 EDT-0400

-Again, that's a 2-pack.
-Take the fan off the 120mm AIO and use it as a either an intake or exhaust fan
-Doesn't matter whether the AIO is mounted at the top or bottom, your choice
-Flip the power supply around...

I went and picked up a corsair H100i 240mm which comes with 2 fans.

I'm about to install it but can you explain what you mean by flip the psu? I'm not quite sure how I would flip it considering how it's mounted in the case.
 
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Phaaze88

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I went and picked up a corsair H100i 240mm which comes with 2 fans. I'm about to install it but can you explain why you're saying to flip the psu?
That way, one of the case fans would feed cool air directly into the unit.
71ntHNYZQpL._SX425_.jpg

Although it's not directly visible, the top-left fan in this image is blowing air directly into the open grille of the power supply. The psu exhausts it's heat out the rear.
 
Sep 20, 2019
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That way, one of the case fans would feed cool air directly into the unit.
I see what you're saying now. I don't think flipping the psu would help here as the intake is opposite the psu exhaust. It isn't on top or bottom where it could suck in the air from the exhaust fan like you're saying.

Plus it should already being doing that for the radiator fans due to the psu's orientation right?
 

Phaaze88

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Intake side of a power supply:
images


Exhaust side:
515b-1-psu-750.jpg



In Win 303:
71ntHNYZQpL._SX425_.jpg

This case was designed for bottom and top intake.

The exhaust is at the rear and the other side via the 'grille of hexagons'.
Cool air as intake through the top-side is exhausted right out the other side. Warm exhaust air from the bottom that did not go out the back, moves up and goes out that fancy looking grille.
d52cecad82be3d6ec8409ecd795d636c-hi.jpg
 
Sep 20, 2019
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Intake side of a power supply:
images


Exhaust side:
515b-1-psu-750.jpg



In Win 303:
71ntHNYZQpL._SX425_.jpg

This case was designed for bottom and top intake.

The exhaust is at the rear and the other side via the 'grille of hexagons'.
Cool air as intake through the top-side is exhausted right out the other side. Warm exhaust air from the bottom that did not go out the back, moves up and goes out that fancy looking grille.
d52cecad82be3d6ec8409ecd795d636c-hi.jpg
Just wanted to say thank you for all your help. I realize I'm a novice and it isn't super easy to explain everything to me without a lot of detail. I do really appreciate the information though. As much of a pain this has all been I've learned so incredibly much after days of research and this forums help.

After moving my fans and installing the Corsair H100i I'm not even over 60c when running Cinebench.
I'm really excited just to have my PC in good shape, hopefully I can try some beginner overclocking soon. Thank you again!
 
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Phaaze88

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Just wanted to say thank you for all your help. I realize I'm a novice and it isn't super easy to explain everything to me without a lot of detail. I do really appreciate the information though. As much of a pain this has all been I've learned so incredibly much after days of research and this forums help.

After moving my fans and installing the Corsair H100i I'm not even over 60c when running Cinebench.
I'm really excited just to have my PC in good shape, hopefully I can try some beginner overclocking soon. Thank you again!
It's all good. I didn't have any difficulty working with you.