i7-9700K experiencing erratic and fluctuating temps with Corsair H100i Pro AIO?

Jul 14, 2018
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Alright so hopefully I can explain this properly, and right off the bat I want to say that I have not OC'd at all.

So I just recently got new parts for my build, and this time around I decided to go with an AIO instead of air cooling like before. With this new i7-9700k and H100i Pro, I'm getting seemingly higher than normal temps and they tend to fluctuate wildly. When I boot up the computer into Windows and immediately check HWMonitor, my max temp could be upwards of 60c, although it drops back down to around 30c for idle.

This would seem normal, but for some reason the temperatures don't want to stay stable. If the temperature reads 32c and I open YouTube in Chrome it will instantly shoot up to 45c then slowly stable back to normal. It seems to spike randomly at almost anything I do. Even whenever I'm sitting at the desktop doing nothing but staring at the temperature, it can bounce around from anywhere between 28-35c constantly.

Here is a screen shot I just took that shows it's current idle temperatures along with the maximum of 56c from booting into Windows.


c0649d1f74af64f30e8a381281048395.png



Also, here is a gif showing what happens when I do nothing but open another tab in Chrome.

https://i.gyazo.com/7996701379876f93acbf6a101c083656.mp4


I'd like to mention that when I'm playing games, in this case Rocket League, I noticed that my temperatures would be around 40-45c most of the time. But whenever it was loading a new map, it would spike all the way up to 68c before going back down. This is also concerning me quite a bit.

I also would like to mention that I used the pre-applied pad of thermal paste that was on the H100i Pro instead of my own, but it was applied to a brand new 9700k with no prior paste applied to it. Not sure if maybe there's a problem with their pre-applied paste, but it's worth mentioning I suppose.


Is there something about these erratic and fluctuating temps I need to be worried about? Could it be something to do with the new processors or perhaps bios settings? Possibly bad mounting of the AIO or air bubbles?

Any advice I can get about this would be wonderful.

-PC Specs-

CPU - Intel i7-9700k cooled by Corsair H100i Pro AIO
MOBO - Asus RoG Strix Z390-E
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16gb 3200mhz
PSU - EVGA Supernova 1000 G+ 80 plus gold
GPU - EVGA GTX 1080 SC
SSD - 250gb Samsung 850 Evo
HDD - WD Black 2TB



 
Solution

Guys,

You took a left turn at the very beginning of this thread. mdd1963 was correct in both his first and second responses.

You might want to give this a read: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Section 4 - Core Temperature

"Core temperatures...
If the Corsair H100i pump is plugged into the CPU Cooler Fan header, it may be controlled by the motherboard fan controller based on the CPU temperature like a fan. That isn't ideal. In that scenario set the fan RPM to 100%. The better solution is to use the Pump header if your motherboard has one.

Another possibility is that the CPU cooler mount is loose.

Another possibility is that the pump impeller is not functioning correctly due to a clog or faulty impeller.
 
The higher temperatures at start up can be explained by the loading of the Corsair application. The CPU will be powered (and heating up) but the corsair application hasn't loaded yet and not responding to the increasing temperature.

That can be addressed to some degree by setting the CPU fan or pump to a higher initial RPM in the BIOS (depending upon how the cooler is installed).
 
Jul 14, 2018
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The Asus RoG Strix Z-390E motherboard that I'm using has a dedicated AIO pump header just beside the CPU socket that I'm utilizing. Also thanks for your replies!
 
Jul 14, 2018
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Thanks for your reply. I can't help but feel like this isn't normal compared to when I was using a Hyper 212 Evo air cooler on my i7-4820k though. My temps back then would be a stable 35-40c and wouldn't jump around crazily to almost 60c simply because I opened up YouTube in my browser. Is this just a water cooling thing or do these newer CPU's simply behave differently than I'm used to? I just feel like something is most definitely wrong here.
 
Jul 14, 2018
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So temperatures jumping +20c from simply opening up a tab in Chrome is normal? I'm just asking since before when I had a i7-4820k and a Hyper 212 air cooler, the temperatures never seemed to fly around like mad over something so simple, even when playing games. Maybe I'm just overly paranoid at how these new processors handle heat or something, but something just doesn't feel right.

 


I think that you may just be overly conscious of this. As long as the temperature evens out shortly thereafter, it is't a problem. If it stays high, then that is a problem.
 
Opening any application will cause a spike in one ore more cores' clock speeds, causing an instantaneous spike as cores ramp from 800-1000 MHz operation to 4.5-5.0 GHz or so, depending on CPU model...; as soon as the task is done, the clock speeds will lower themselves to conserve power/heat....

All normal operation....; my 7700K does the exact same thing, as expected...
 
Jul 14, 2018
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I guess the thing that worries me about temperatures that fluctuate too wildly the way these are is longevity of the CPU and more importantly the pump that's trying to cool it. For the most part so far, the temps tend to die back down regardless of how high they will spike. But the fact that they're constantly spiking from 30c to 60c and sometimes even 70c is making me paranoid that my AIO is going to burn out trying to constantly juggle temperatures that change that broadly and so quickly.

Seeing others with the H100i get a stable 30-40c regardless of what they're doing or playing is making me feel like there's either something faulty with my set up or the bios not set up properly.

But I guess it's something I can live with so long as I don't have to worry about actual damage to my components over time from it behaving this way.

 
Jul 14, 2018
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So would you say that regardless of how quickly or greatly my temperatures vary with whatever I'm doing, as long as it doesn't either gradually increase or never return back to normal then it's probably okay? Even if it bounces around from say, 30-50c idle and 40-70c when gaming?

 
Jul 14, 2018
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When I attempted to OC a few months ago before these new parts, I did somewhat. But honestly probably not with as much scrutiny and paranoia as I am now. It's just that seeing these temps jump around like mad from 30-70c constantly over anything I touch is making me worried about the longevity of my AIO's pump.
 
Jul 14, 2018
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Eh I dunno man. According to the iCUE software the pump water is saying it's 30c pretty consistently and so long as these weird random spikes in temp doesn't damage the pump or the CPU's longevity I suppose I can get over my OCD about it.

Thanks a ton for the two of you replying to my post though. If I find anything else out or manage to fix it I'll try to report back here.

 

CompuTronix

Intel Master
Moderator

Guys,

You took a left turn at the very beginning of this thread. mdd1963 was correct in both his first and second responses.

You might want to give this a read: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Section 4 - Core Temperature

"Core temperatures respond instantly to changes in load.

Intel’s specification for Digital Thermal Sensors (DTS) response time is 256 milliseconds, or about 1/4th of a second. Since Windows has dozens of Processes and Services running in the background, it’s normal to see rapid and random Core temperature “spikes” or fluctuations, especially during the first few minutes after startup. Any software activity will show some percentage of CPU Utilization in Windows Task Manager, where unnecessary Tray items, Startups, Processes and Services that contribute to excessive spiking can be disabled."

Section 13 - Thermal Test Idle

"6th Generation processors introduced "Speed Shift" technology in Windows 10, which responds much faster to changes in workload than "SpeedStep" due to having many more Core speed and Core voltage transition levels.

Since 7th through 9th Generation Speed Shift is twice as fast as 6th Generation, some users complain of Core temperature spikes which can also cause fluctuations in fan RPM at idle. Motherboard manufacturers are implementing BIOS updates that include separate SpeedStep and Speed Shift settings with more flexible fan curves and time delay options."

venom1933,

There's nothing unusual happening here. You've upgraded from an i7 4820K, which is actually a 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge processor, so you're just not accustomed to seeing how Core temperatures typically behave in 6th through 9th Generation processors. It's all normal and expected, so no worries.

CT :sol:
 
Solution
Jul 14, 2018
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Well this definitely gives me a little peace of mind. I think this might be exactly what's happening and I'm far too meticulous and worried over messing up these new parts.

Thank you so much for showing that information, and thanks to everyone else that answered. Again, if anything changes and it ends up being anything else, I'll report back.

 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
3770k on nzxt x61.
Idle: 32
Various background bs like AV checks, malware updates, MS store updates etc: mid 40's
Open anything manually: 53-55 instantly from 32°C.

Intel core temps are read about 2x per second I believe, so figure ANY core usage to almost instantly register a temp increase. The pump is basically a direct metal-metal contact, it's going to transfer that heat energy extremely fast, the bonus to aircoolers. However, it has only a small absorption factor, any heat applied fills the ability very quickly. The downside to aircoolers. Liquids have a huge ability to absorb heat energy, the bonus to liquid coolers, but it takes a while for that liquid to raise even 1°C.

Instant temp spikes are perfectly normal behavior, if you read cpu temp. If you read liquid temp, you'll have time for an hour long nap before that 32°C coolant hits 40°C with the cpu at constant 55°C. If it ever does.

Prime95 v26.6, cpu 4.9GHz @1.32v, 1 hour test, cpu solid 70°C, coolant 39°C, fans 900rpm.

You are absolutely, perfectly normal, don't sweat it.
 
Jul 14, 2018
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I'll definitely keep this in mind, thank you so much for all the useful information!

 

devbiker

Commendable
Dec 9, 2017
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Some things regarding the cooler need to be corrected.

The H100i PRO is powered by the SATA connector. The fan header connector only reports pump speed and is there to prevent a CPU_FAN warning - or to give you one in the event of complete pump failure. So anything about the CPU_FAN header controlling the pump speed an causing issues is a just incorrect.

Second, you can control the curve used when the software isn't running. iCUE allows you to save a curve to the device. That's what will run when the software isn't loaded.

 
Jul 14, 2018
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You mean powered by that little micro USB that goes into the side? Also the pump header is connected into a dedicated AIO pump spot that's on my motherboard next to the CPU. And after we booted up the PC for the first time my BIOS gave me a CPU fan error. The only way I fixed it was telling the BIOS to ignore the fact that there was N/A RPM in the CPU fan section of the settings since there isn't anything connected to it.

Will my computer still be able to warn me of a potential pump failure in the future? Hopefully in an event such as that there's some sort of safe guard from my computer frying within seconds.
 

devbiker

Commendable
Dec 9, 2017
326
3
1,215
No, I mean the Pro cooler is powered by the SATA connector. That little microUSB is for Link or iCUE to connect to and control the cooler.

If you want the warning in the event of complete pump failure, put the fan connector on the CPU_FAN header, as instructed in the installation guide.

And your computer won't "fry in seconds". It'll thermal throttle to protect itself.