[SOLVED] i7 8700k MASSIVE temp spikes?

[haloguy1999]

Hey guys, so I've got my i7 8700k overclocked to 5ghz at 1.360V - followed a bunch of guides online. Yet despite having a kraken x62 liquid cooling it, I am getting massive spikes up to like 88-92C.

The idle temp is like 34-38C, with some huge spikes up to 50-55C for just half a second. For games, it runs around 70-79C, with MASSIVE spikes for a split second to like 88C+. Is it just a hardware monitoring bug or is this something to be concerned about? Have I left on an auto setting in the bios for voltage that I shouldn't have and it's causing these spikes?

Any help on this would be appreciated haha cause I'm nervous, I don't want this thing to fry

 

[Supernova1138]

The 8700k gets very hot once you get up to 1.35V regardless of what cooler you have. The problem is that the CPU's heatspreader isn't soldered to the die, it just has some thermal paste in between the die and heatspreaader and that paste tends not to be the greatest conductor of heat. It's okay for stock operations but if you start cranking up the voltage to start overclocking it becomes a problem.

For this reason you generally have to delid your CPU and replace the stock paste with a liquid metal compound if you are chasing overclocks that require more than 1.35V.

As for voltage, you shouldn't necessarily use the auto voltage when overclocking as it will usually overvolt the chip. Typically, one would start with a static voltage and find out the lowest voltage that gets you stability and then you can set an offset or adaptive voltage that mimics that static voltage if you want the chip to draw less power when idle. If you only just left the voltage on auto and cranked the multiplier up to 50, then you probably should try some manual voltages lower than 1.36 and see if you are still stable.

 

[haloguy1999]

As for voltage, you shouldn't necessarily use the auto voltage when overclocking as it will usually overvolt the chip. Typically, one would start with a static voltage and find out the lowest voltage that gets you stability and then you can set an offset or adaptive voltage that mimics that static voltage if you want the chip to draw less power when idle. If you only just left the voltage on auto and cranked the multiplier up to 50, then you probably should try some manual voltages lower than 1.36 and see if you are still stable.

Yeah I did set a manual voltage at 1.360, but I suppose I can try to go a little bit lower and see if I'm still stable.

The process of delidding kind of scares me haha, I've never really considered it. Is it a relatively easy process? Like if I were to do it, what would you recommend because I've definitely noticed this intel 8700k and my old 3770k running very very hot.

 

[Supernova1138]

Yeah I did set a manual voltage at 1.360, but I suppose I can try to go a little bit lower and see if I'm still stable.

The process of delidding kind of scares me haha, I've never really considered it. Is it a relatively easy process? Like if I were to do it, what would you recommend because I've definitely noticed this intel 8700k and my old 3770k running very very hot.

I haven't personally delidded myself, felt it wasn't worth the risk and hassle just to squeeze an extra 100MHz out of my CPU. There is a risk of destroying your CPU if you don't do it properly, though it apparently isn't too difficult if you buy a dedicated delidding tool rather than try something like the razor blade method. The biggest hassle might be that the liquid metal pastes tend to degrade somewhat quickly and apparently you have to redo your delid process once every 1-2 years.

 

[haloguy1999]

The 8700k gets very hot once you get up to 1.35V regardless of what cooler you have [...] you probably should try some manual voltages lower than 1.36 and see if you are still stable.

Great news, I was able to get the voltage all the way down to 1.320V, ran prime95 a couple times and the temps were stellar. No more spikes, I was getting like 65-70C. Silly of me to not test the voltage earlier really, I just assumed 1.365V was the standard and I prob couldn't go lower.

I'll steer clear of the delidding, last thing I wanna do is screw something up there haha

Thanks for the help man!