Question CPU temperature gets too high ?

[ElizabethLestrad]

Recently built a new computer with an Intel i7-14700K CPU. My last one, an i7-8700K, ran hot, but with this new one I'm averaging 50-60 degrees idling (5% load), and high 70s to high 80s while gaming (at around 15-25% load).

I've already cleaned, used higher quality thermal paste, and reseated the heat sink once. I'm already using a larger heat sink than the one that intel deems "sufficient", I've undervolted the CPU to try and lower temps. It just seems like its running too close to max temp without actually having to do any serious work, if it's reaching 86-89 degrees celcius and the CPU isn't even using half it's power...

There's not much room to go with a larger heatsink and I've already added another fan AND taken the side of my case off. Not really sure what else to do.

 

[Lutfij]

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

 

[ElizabethLestrad]

CPU: Intel i7-14700k
CPU cooler: Thermalright Assassin Spirit
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z790 Gaming Plus AX
Ram: G.Skill Flare X5
SSD/HDD: Samsung EVO 990
GPU: RTX 4060
PSU: 650 Watt - 6 Years?
Chassis: Thermaltake Versa H21
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: Acer Something-or-other.
Bios: F2 (what came with the board)

 

[thestryker]

Unless the room is really hot that idle temperature is much too high.

Are there intake fans on the case? It doesn't look like a very good design regarding airflow but with intake fans it should be sufficient.

Gaming with a 14700K I'd expect to see upper 70s in a lot of titles so that part isn't necessarily alarming. Upper 80s on the other hand shouldn't really be happening.

Keep in mind usage percentage is going to show the core usage and that doesn't necessarily equate to how hard it's working.

 

[ElizabethLestrad]

Unless the room is really hot that idle temperature is much too high.

Are there intake fans on the case? It doesn't look like a very good design regarding airflow but with intake fans it should be sufficient.

Gaming with a 14700K I'd expect to see upper 70s in a lot of titles so that part isn't necessarily alarming. Upper 80s on the other hand shouldn't really be happening.

Keep in mind usage percentage is going to show the core usage and that doesn't necessarily equate to how hard it's working.

Choices on case were, unfortunately VERY limited since not including ANY hard drive or DVD/BluRay drive bays seems to be the (frankly disturbing) trend.

There are two front intake fans, the heatsink blows fans out the top, the PSU blows its hot air out of the case through the bottom (instead of into the case like my last few ATX cases), and there's one fan on the back blowing out (right next to the heat sink CPU).

Currently, I have all fans (via mb controls) linked to the CPU core temp, so when it goes up, EVERY fan on my case and the CPU fan kicks into high gear. Not quite "jet engine" loud, but it keeps the temps just under 90 when playing something really intensive like Cyberpunk or Stellar Blade.

I'm probably going to try contacting Intel tomorrow and see what they say before I shell out $40+ on some top of the line thermal paste and re-do it a second time with even better stuff. The stuff on it now is Arctic MX-4, which was supposedly highly rated, but so far I'm not seeing a difference between it and the cheap stuff that came with the heatsink.

 

[thestryker]

Choices on case were, unfortunately VERY limited since not including ANY hard drive or DVD/BluRay drive bays seems to be the (frankly disturbing) trend.

I ditched internal optical (got a USB BR drive) because I'd rather have good cooling than an optical drive, but I get this. I can't really think of many options (worth considering or reasonable price for most people) that would have optical.

There are two front intake fans, the heatsink blows fans out the top

Does this mean the cooler is facing bottom to top instead of front to back? If so it should be reoriented front to back to exhaust out the back.

From what I can tell on that case two fans in the front for intake, one in the back for exhaust (one fan in the furthest back position on the top would also be an option) and the cooler facing front to back is going to be the best that can be done.

 

[ElizabethLestrad]

Does this mean the cooler is facing bottom to top instead of front to back? If so it should be reoriented front to back to exhaust out the back.

Yes. Since hot air naturally rises, and both intakes are on the bottom half of the case, it was a conscious decision to help facilitate that upward rise (the top of my case near the vent gets crazy hot when all the fans are going full blast).

 

[thestryker]

Yes. Since hot air naturally rises, and both intakes are on the bottom half of the case, it was a conscious decision to help facilitate that upward rise (the top of my case near the vent gets crazy hot when all the fans are going full blast).

Fans bypass natural convection and you want as much clean intake as you can get. If you switch it to front to back and I imagine the temps should improve a bit.

It also just occurred to me that you're using a single tower cooler. That means the absolute cooling capability is going to be lower than a dual tower. It should be sufficient for gaming, but not all core workloads.

 

[rene641]

Undervolt it...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZA-h9yUV50

Edit: And yes, sorry, I overlooked that, the CPU cooler is absolutely inadequate....

 

[Gururu]

Do you have the V2 version of CPU cooler? This is a strange product given the reverse fan and it may be giving problems with the air flow you have designed. Either way, both versions are at the bottom for watts cooled on Tom's chart. You may want to invest in a better cooler. Front to back cooling is really the best way, not too important if its bottom front to top back or middle to middle. But shoot for freshest air to CPU as fast as possible and hot air exhausted as directly as possible. Try not to let air flow in any direction cross air flow in another or opposite direction as that can cause turbulence and results in hot air spots lingering.

I have a cramped mid tower with three CD bays, but I cut out the floppy bays and stuck some server fans in the space. My temps are 30-40 idle, 50-70 gaming, 80-90 benchmarking.