[SOLVED] i9 9900k hitting 100 degrees

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PedroLedic

PedroLedic

Dec 21, 2020
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Hello

I've been using a i9 9900k for about a year and a half and never had a problem. Recently bought a more demanding game (Immortals Fenys Rising by Ubisoft) and a few minutes after playing it my PC completely froze. It happened everytime I tried playing. I suspected it was because of overheating because I felt my case was hot when touching it. So I dowloaded a monitor and saw that right after restarting the PC after the crash it was running about 70ºC. A few minutes later it went back to 40-50°C while idling.
So I proceeded to tune the graphic settings, limiting FPS to 60 and reducing graphical quality. The crashes stopped. The hardware monitor shows a temperature around 70ºC but eventually one or more cores hit even 100ºC and almost instantly drops to 70-80ºC again. It doens't stay overheated.
I'm not overclocking my CPU, my watercooler seems to be working fine (the monitor shows it arougn 3000-4000 RPM while idling) and I've got the case in a well ventilated space with no air obstruction in the airvents.
I've tested with some less demanding games and the core temperatures stays around 70°C and hits a maximum of 80-86°C.
While idling everything seems fine (30-40ºC and maximum 50-60ºC).
Also, every driver is up to date.

My questions are:
  1. Is it normal for demanding software to produce these heat spikes that rapidly go down again?
  2. Is hitting 100ºC and not staying there harmful to may hardware?
  3. Is there anything I can do to minimize this?
  4. Do you think anything else besides the heat could be causing the crashes?

My system specs:
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 19041) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
MB: Gigabyte Z370M AORUS Gaming
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/22/19 12:10:47 Ver: 05.0000C (type: BIOS)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz (16 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
Display Memory: 16194 MB
Dedicated Memory: 8031 MB
Shared Memory: 8163 MB
Cooler: Corsair H60 watercooler
Power supply: Corsair 650W (bronze or gold I think, do not remember the model)

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
jeremyj_83
PedroLedic said:
Hello

I've been using a i9 9900k for about a year and a half and never had a problem. Recently bought a more demanding game (Immortals Fenys Rising by Ubisoft) and a few minutes after playing it my PC completely froze. It happened everytime I tried playing. I suspected it was because of overheating because I felt my case was hot when touching it. So I dowloaded a monitor and saw that right after restarting the PC after the crash it was running about 70ºC. A few minutes later it went back to 40-50°C while idling.
So I proceeded to tune the graphic settings, limiting FPS to 60 and reducing graphical quality. The crashes stopped. The hardware monitor shows a temperature around 70ºC but eventually one or more cores hit even 100ºC and...
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PedroLedic said:
Hello

I've been using a i9 9900k for about a year and a half and never had a problem. Recently bought a more demanding game (Immortals Fenys Rising by Ubisoft) and a few minutes after playing it my PC completely froze. It happened everytime I tried playing. I suspected it was because of overheating because I felt my case was hot when touching it. So I dowloaded a monitor and saw that right after restarting the PC after the crash it was running about 70ºC. A few minutes later it went back to 40-50°C while idling.
So I proceeded to tune the graphic settings, limiting FPS to 60 and reducing graphical quality. The crashes stopped. The hardware monitor shows a temperature around 70ºC but eventually one or more cores hit even 100ºC and almost instantly drops to 70-80ºC again. It doens't stay overheated.
I'm not overclocking my CPU, my watercooler seems to be working fine (the monitor shows it arougn 3000-4000 RPM while idling) and I've got the case in a well ventilated space with no air obstruction in the airvents.
I've tested with some less demanding games and the core temperatures stays around 70°C and hits a maximum of 80-86°C.
While idling everything seems fine (30-40ºC and maximum 50-60ºC).
Also, every driver is up to date.

My questions are:
  1. Is it normal for demanding software to produce these heat spikes that rapidly go down again?
  2. Is hitting 100ºC and not staying there harmful to may hardware?
  3. Is there anything I can do to minimize this?
  4. Do you think anything else besides the heat could be causing the crashes?
My system specs:
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 19041) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
MB: Gigabyte Z370M AORUS Gaming
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/22/19 12:10:47 Ver: 05.0000C (type: BIOS)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz (16 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
Display Memory: 16194 MB
Dedicated Memory: 8031 MB
Shared Memory: 8163 MB
Cooler: Corsair H60 watercooler
Power supply: Corsair 650W (bronze or gold I think, do not remember the model)

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
  1. The more demanding the software the harder it will hit the CPU. For example if there are a lot of AVX instructions that will cause the CPU to run much harder.
  2. 100C is the max operating temperature for the CPU and should be avoided. What happens is your CPU hits that temp and it reduces the clock speed to cut power draw and reduce heat. Whenever your CPU does thermal throttling it will affect the overall performance in a negative way.
  3. You can get a different cooler to cool the CPU. A 120MM AIO is extremely undersized for a 9900k.
  4. Odds are all your crashes are heat related.
 
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Solution
jeremyj_83 said:
  1. The more demanding the software the harder it will hit the CPU. For example if there are a lot of AVX instructions that will cause the CPU to run much harder.
  2. 100C is the max operating temperature for the CPU and should be avoided. What happens is your CPU hits that temp and it reduces the clock speed to cut power draw and reduce heat. Whenever your CPU does thermal throttling it will affect the overall performance in a negative way.
  3. You can get a different cooler to cool the CPU. A 120MM AIO is extremely undersized for a 9900k.
  4. Odds are all your crashes are heat related.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for the reply

Can you suggest a better cooler? Is a watercooler a must for the 9900k?
 
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alceryes said:
Are you sure both the watercooler fan AND pump are working?
That cooler is definitely inadequate but it shouldn't spike to 100C after just few mins. Your idle temp also seems high. What's your ambient temp?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if they're both working. Anyway I could check? I'm sure the fan is working.
Room temperature is currently 28-30ºC.
Today it took about 30-45 minutes of gameplay for one of the cores to spike at 100°C but it went back down in a fraction of seconds.
 
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jeremyj_83 said:
Suggesting a cooler depends on the case. For example it is useless to recommend a 280mm AIO if your case can only take a max of a 240mm AIO. For the 9900k an AIO isn't required, however, to cool with air cooling you will need something like a Noctua DH-15.
Click to expand...
So it's a matter of what my case can fit, right? If I could fit anything, could you recommend a low, mid and high budget cooler for the 9900k? Sorry for overasking but this got me really worried.
 
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When playing a demanding game, the cpu works harder and generates more heat. 9900K is a particularly strong processor.
At 100c. the processor will slow down or shut off to protect itself.

What is the make/model of your case?
A H60 is not a very strong cooler.
Likely, a twin radiator air cooler like a noctua NH-D15s would cool much better . To do even better, you are looking at a 360 aio which may be too big for your case.
 
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PedroLedic said:
Today it took about 30-45 minutes of gameplay for one of the cores to spike at 100°C but it went back down in a fraction of seconds.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, that may be inline with what that cooler can do but your idle temp should be lower. Do you have the option to run the pump at performance/max speed? You should be able to set it in the Corsair Link settings? (I'm not a fan of the Corsair iCUE software)
 
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PedroLedic said:
I'm not sure if they're both working. Anyway I could check? I'm sure the fan is working.
Room temperature is currently 28-30ºC.
Today it took about 30-45 minutes of gameplay for one of the cores to spike at 100°C but it went back down in a fraction of seconds.
Click to expand...
When you start heavy usage, the coolant in the aio will be at a lower temperature.
As heat is added, the coolant heats up until it reaches a stable temperature where the heat added is comparable to the ability of the radiator to take heat away. 30 minutes would seem to be a typical time.
 
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PedroLedic said:
So it's a matter of what my case can fit, right? If I could fit anything, could you recommend a low, mid and high budget cooler for the 9900k? Sorry for overasking but this got me really worried.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a matter of what your case can fit, as well as how tall your RAM modules are. As geofelt stated, the NH-D15s would be a very good choice for an air cooler and shouldn't have any RAM clearance issues, providing it will fit in your case. As far as an AOI is concerned, a decent 280mm would likely be fine. I'm running a 9900K with a Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240mm and don't have any issues playing BF5 - temps have never reached 70 and typically max out at 68. I can't attest to the games that you play. You'd be better off, if you go AIO, with a 280mm or even a 360mm radiator.
 
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rickypicky5 said:
Yes, it's a matter of what your case can fit, as well as how tall your RAM modules are. As geofelt stated, the NH-D15s would be a very good choice for an air cooler and shouldn't have any RAM clearance issues, providing it will fit in your case. As far as an AOI is concerned, a decent 280mm would likely be fine. I'm running a 9900K with a Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240mm and don't have any issues playing BF5 - temps have never reached 70 and typically max out at 68. I can't attest to the games that you play. You'd be better off, if you go AIO, with a 280mm or even a 360mm radiator.
Click to expand...
My case is a Cooler Master MB600L
Just checked and the manufacturer lists these cooler/fan support

PRE-INSTALLED FANS - REAR1x 120mm (Black)
FAN SUPPORT - FRONT3x 120mm / 2x 140mm (wo/ODD), 2x 120mm / 2x 140mm (w/ODD)
FAN SUPPORT - REAR1x 120mm
LIQUID COOLING SUPPORT - FRONT - RADIATOR (W/ODD)120mm, 140mm, 240mm, 280mm
LIQUID COOLING SUPPORT - FRONT - RADIATOR (LIMITED) UP TO 50MM THICKNESS WITHOUT FAN (WO/ODD)120mm, 140mm, 240mm, 280mm, 360mm
LIQUID COOLING SUPPORT - REAR120mm
 
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It's a matter of cooler ability vs cpu wattage output.

The 9900k can put out @ 200w stock with turbo. Or 250w with all core turbo locked.

A 120mm AIO is @ 140w. Totally inadequate in every way for a 9900k. You've been using only limited cores and limited usage, so have not been putting out anything close to 200w, so skating under the AIO's limits. With the new game, it's much more cpu demanding, using more cores, so uses more power = hotter. And the little AIO isn't enough.

The biggest aircoolers (like the D15) can generally handle 200w-250w outputs, even if still somewhat warm. The difference with the bigger AIO's is capacity. A 240mm is @ 250w, a 280mm is @ 300w and a 360mm is closer to 350w capacity.

With higher capacity, your temp range doesn't change, but the rate does. A 200w cpu on a 250w cooler will see higher fan speeds and higher temps than a 200w cpu on a 350w cooler, at the same loads. (plus or minus for efficiency of the cooler).

It's not that liquid cooling is better for a 9900k, it's that it's bigger. Aircooling has less capacity, even if generally can have better efficiency.
 
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PedroLedic said:
So it's a matter of what my case can fit, right? If I could fit anything, could you recommend a low, mid and high budget cooler for the 9900k? Sorry for overasking but this got me really worried.
Click to expand...
Not to worry, your processor is protecting itself.
But, for best performance, you need a good cooler.
What is the make/model of your case?
If you have the usual 160mm headroom that air coolers need, you will have plenty of options.
Noctua makes very good quality coolers that are easy to install.
Here is their suitability list for the 9900K:
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i9-9900K-307

The best will be the D15 units which sell for about $80, or the
nh-u12a I would not go with less.
----------------edit update--------------------
Just saw your case is Cooler Master MB600L
It has 180mm headroom which can fit any air cooler made.
Any cooler needs a good supply of fresh air to let it do it's job.
What fans are used in front?
I would use 2 140mm intakes but 3 120mm intakes would be ok.
I like 140mm because they move more air quietly.
Whatever air comes in the front will exit somewhere, taking component heat with it.
A single 120mm rear exhaust will direct the airflow past your cpu cooler and graphics card.
 
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Thanks a lot for all the help!

I've decided to go with the Noctua NH-D15 and I'm upgrading my current cooler as soon as possible.
In the meanwhile just something that I'm still in doubt: is it safe to use my PC with the old cooler? Are those temperature spikes at 90-100°C harmful, even if they only last less than a second? What I mean is, should I avoid using demanding software (like some games) while I don't replace my cooler with a better one?
 
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Hello it’s a bet wierd that no one tell you this solution before tell u to change the cooler it may be the problem is the thermal paste you may be have to change it so it may work and save u a lot of money of the new cooler cause that heat a lot and i was have the same problem until i changed my thermal paste cause it may be old and u have to change it
 
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