[SOLVED] i7 8700K Temperature Assessment at NO Load situation

[Arry Liu]

Dear all,

I purchased and installed an i7 8700K CPU almost 2 years ago and have not done a single thermal paste re-application. I did a check using CPU-Z and Corsair Link (CPU Liquid Cooling software) and the result is shown as a screenshot below :

https://imgur.com/a/0qkwalL

View: https://imgur.com/a/0qkwalL


There are some questions I need your assistance please :

1. The CPU-Z indication (At Left Side) shows the CPU temp at 71 deg C = 159.8 deg F. This is at NO load situation (8% load). I cannot find any information about this temperature reading limit at Intel's website, but Intel mentioned something about the T Junction temperature. Is this considered a normal temperature? Is this also the T Junction temperature?

2. The Corsair Link indication (At Right Side) shows multiple Core CPU temperature at 40 deg C = 104 deg F. Again, is this temperature considered normal at 8% load?

3. How frequent should I be re-applying the thermal paste? How do I know I need to re-apply the thermal paste?

4. Is there a complete technical specification for this CPU that I can find from the Internet?

Thank you.

Regards,

Arry

 

[Arry Liu]

Here is the remaining specs of the system :

https://imgur.com/16EjT4Z

View: https://imgur.com/16EjT4Z

https://imgur.com/WO5AexN

View: https://imgur.com/WO5AexN

 

[13thmonkey]

take a reading with core temp or hwinfo.
Given that is a validation would it not have done it's own stress test? Leading to the conclusion that this is not the temp at the time of viewing the report, but the temp during the stress test?
Idle temps are tricky, 10-15C above ambient is normal, and they are very very dependent on fan speed, personally i'd sacrifice some fan noise for another 5C increase in idle temps. All that taken into consideration they look fine to me, and if that is a stressed temp then that's fine too.
I wouldn't change paste very often, until you get symptoms, i've literally not touched mine since it was built in 2012 and I have no symptoms i'm concerned about, but it depends on the paste.
The worst to best paste might give you a 3C difference, the worst to best application probably similar, it's overhyped in my opinion.
Intel ARK is your friend, although 'complete technical specification' you'll not find or understand. google ARK and your CPU name

 

[PC Tailor]

TJunction on the Intel website is effectively the max temperature allowable at the core. So in effect it can be seen as the maximum safe temperature of a single core.
The 71 degrees is not the TJunction, the Tj for the 8700K is 100 degrees C.

Completely agreed with above too. There is no real "normal" idle temp. In reality, as long as , whether idle or under load, it is below 85 degrees (for Intel described in this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/intel-temperature-guide.1488337/ ) then you're fine. Asides that, I wouldn't repaste unless I had this high temp issue - I.e. don't fix what isn't broken.

Technical spec is here: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...8700k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz.html

The intel temp guide I also linked above is excellent reading.

 

[Arry Liu]

Hi 13th Monkey and PC Tailor,

Thank you so much for the quick response. Much appreciated! Thank you also for the links provided =)

Just curious. The 71 deg Celsius shown at the CPU-Z Validator is not the T Junction because the T Junction is defined as the safe maximum operating CPU Core temperature. As for the 8700K, the T Junction is designed at 100 Deg C.

If that is so, then how do you explain what is that temperature of 71 deg Celsius referring to? This is because all 6 of the CPU Core Temperatures are way below this 71 deg C. They are at 40 deg C on average as shown by the Corsair Link of the same screenshot.

Also, is there any other CPU Temperature parameter to take note in general other than the individual CPU Core temperature not to get close to the T Junction temperature of 100 deg C?

Please do advise. Thank you.

 

[13thmonkey]

The 71 is, in my opinion, either an average core temp at stress test (given it is a validation) which is a bit sloppy, or the package temp under the stress test.

 

[vMax]

I can give you a understanding of my temps with a 8700K on a Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming 7 motherboard. I use a Corsair H150i 360mm AIO and matched to 32GB RAM with 4 sticks XMP enabled. Please note I live in the UK so ambient temps are always pretty cool.

I have overclocked my 8700K to 4.9GHz at 1.278v on a offset vcore. 1.278v being max.

Temps at idle meaning 3 Google tabs and You Tube running:
27 to 30 degrees C

 

[Arry Liu]

Hi 13th Monkey,

Thanks for the advice. You are right. That 71 Deg C is the temperature of the average Core Temp. I discovered this when I did a Validation function of the CPU-Z. I am not aware that the Validation function actually raises the Load of the CPU to 100% for a few seconds. During that increased workload, the screenshot captured the temperature.

Thanks for the clarification. Appreciated!

 

[13thmonkey]

Hi 13th Monkey,

Thanks for the advice. You are right. That 71 Deg C is the temperature of the average Core Temp. I discovered this when I did a Validation function of the CPU-Z. I am not aware that the Validation function actually raises the Load of the CPU to 100% for a few seconds. During that increased workload, the screenshot captured the temperature.

Thanks for the clarification. Appreciated!

It's so that the validated frequency is proven at load, and not only stable at no load.