Question Intel Core i7-6700K is overheating ?

[JeoAttack]

I noticed a few days ago that I was getting strange stutters when gaming, and when I couldn't solve them with in-game settings I looked elsewhere. Came around to looking at my temps, and I noticed my CPU was basically topping out around 85-100C when gaming. I have an H100iGTX liquid cooler and have never had any issues until now.

I figured a new application of thermal paste would do the trick, so I purchased Kryonaut from Thermal Grizzly and did exactly that. First application rendered slightly lower temps but had crazy fluctuations in temp. Second application I tried the single dot, still had issues. Third application was the X and while my temperatures were stable, they still hovered around 75-80C under load. My next attempt was the 5 dot, but my temperatures were still high, and so my last ditch effort was a single pea sized application. I'm currently sitting at 55C at 3% load, and that jumps dramatically when I use almost any software/game.

I am at a loss. My H100iGTX pump is running at 3000 RPM. My other temps are stable. GPU sits at 38C. What am I missing here? I'm tempted to purchase a new water cooler and see if that's the issue to test. I've also seated and reseated the CPU twice now and gave my cooler a thorough cleaning.

Any ideas?

 

[Lutfij]

You might want to see if both tubes are warm to the touch, as should be the case with the radiator. If the radiator is cold and one of the tubes is hot/warm, then the block is clogged up. There's nothing to service, instead you contact your seller/Corsair and initiate an RMA.

Make and model of your motherboard? BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I noticed my CPU was basically topping out around 85-100C when gaming. I have an H100iGTX liquid cooler
I am at a loss. My H100iGTX pump is running at 3000 RPM.
What am I missing here? I'm tempted to purchase a new water cooler and see if that's the issue to test.

Any ideas?

Are you sure those RPMs are for pump and not for fans?
Either pump dead or cpu block clogged.

Spoiler

Replace the AIO. Preferably with a good AIR cooler.

 

[Misgar]

The Intel web site shows Tcase for the I7-6700K is a lowly 64°C.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...76700k-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-20-ghz.html

Other people have had this problem.

https://linustechtips.com/topic/841029-normal-temperatures-for-i7-6700k/

Near the start of this thread, it says thermal throttling occurs at around 72°C and thermal shutdown occurs 5 degrees above Tjmax which is 100°C.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/5egtl9/what_is_the_max_temperature_for_the_i7_6700k/

So we now have four temperatures to consider:
Tcase 64°C
Throttling 72°C
TJmax 100°C
Shutdown 105°C

I have no idea where various monitoring programs get their temperature information in your system. It might be a thermal diode embedded in the CPU. I could be a sensor under the CPU on the mobo. Does anyone know?

Regardless, your temps do seem rather high. Do you have the stock air cooler for the CPU lying around?

 

[rcald2000]

Hello JeoAttack. Is the rad clear of dust and debris? Are your case fans still running? If so, then contact the manufacturer for troubleshooting assistance and request an RMA, assuming that it's under warranty.

Were it me, I would bypass the entire situation and purchase a simple single tower air cooler, like the model below. And if the RMA ends up being approved, I would either resell the replacement unit, or keep it on my shelf for a future build. Hopefully by than, you'd just need an upgrade kit for a future platform.

Thermalright Assassin X120SE ARGB CPU Air Cooler,4 HeatPipes,120MM PWM Fan,Aluminium Heatsink Cover,for AMD AM4 AM5/Intel 1150/1151/1200/1700
$19.90

Amazon.com

 

[Misgar]

At less than 20 bucks, you can't go wrong.

 

[uWebb429]

So we now have four temperatures to consider:
Tcase 64°C
Throttling 72°C
TJmax 100°C
Shutdown 105°C

The Tcase spec is a meaningless number for end users. It can only be properly measured by cutting a groove into the top of the heat spreader with a Dremel or lathe and then soldering in a thermocouple. This spec is for system builders only. Intel does not want their customers hacking up their CPUs.

Thermal throttling begins at a core temperature of 100°C. HWiNFO, Core Temp and most other monitoring programs can be used to report this temperature.

Thermal shutdown usually does not occur until a core reaches a temperature of 125°C. It is difficult to reach this temperature unless the heatsink is not mounted correctly.

@JeoAttack
I have a slightly older Corsair H100i cooler. It has enough cooling capacity to hold 10 cores to less than 65°C while the CPU is fully loaded running Cinebench. A 6700K puts out less than half the heat compared to that so it should be easy to cool.

https://imgur.com/70gfbmj

View: https://imgur.com/70gfbmj


Either your pump is plugged up and almost dead or you did not use enough thermal paste. A small blob in the middle usually works well. It is better to use slightly too much compared to not using enough. When you remove the cooler, make sure that thermal paste covers the entire heat spreader.

 

[Misgar]

Too much compound is not a good idea. If the layer is too thick, it reduces heat transference.

What you're aiming at is to fill the microscopic voids in the surfaces of the IHS and cooler with a heat conductive path.

Air is a very bad conductor of heat. Thermal compound is more conductive than air, but not as good as the thermal conductivity of metal-to-metal contact between two flat surfaces.

If you apply too much TIM, you lose this metal to metal contact between IHS and cooler base with the result your cooler becomes less effective.

If the thermal compound spills out over the edge of the CPU and contaminates the socket, you've used far too much.

Up to the edge of the IHS is fine, but most of the heat in a CPU is generated in a few localised hotspots near the middle. These are the areas where a thin layer of TIM is most important.

Some people prefer direct contact heatpipes on big air coolers, but grinding down the copper heatpipes to flatten the contact patches sometimes leaves a narrow gap between the pipes. If these gaps coincide with the location of a small die or CCD, cooling suffers.

With a water block or fully enclosed heat pipes this won't happen.

The trick is to apply the correct amount of TIM. Not too much and not too little. Practice makes perfect.

 

[Avro Arrow]

That CPU was designed to be cooled by something as weak as "Ye Olde Intel Stock Cooler":

If you're overheating with an AIO, get rid of the AIO (this CPU doesn't need it) and get something like this:

Thermaltake UX100 - $21
No pump to fail and no fluid to leak all over your components. It also costs less than $200 and it looks pretty too. 😉👍