My i7-8700 CPU is reaching concerning temperatures, is it safe to run at these temperatures for extended periods of time?

[thomasianb]

I'm not very tech savvy, but I noticed my new computer (specs below), which has an i7 8700 processor, is running at 70-80 degrees Celsius on all 6 cores when playing games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The fan is loud (sometimes, not an issue) and the case is hot to the touch, which is why I am concerned. When not running anything other than chrome, the cores have a reading of around 35-40 degrees.

I have read that others have lower temperatures when in games, and I was wondering if this temperature is alright. I have the intention of purchasing more case fans (from the looks of it I have 4, three in the front of the case and one in the back by the processor as well as a CPU fan) and a better cooler.

My question is if it is safe to run the processor at this temperature for extended periods of times, and if there are any optimal coolers and case fans to purchase. In addition, I had read into potential causes for CPU temperatures that reach into the high 80s, 90s and possibly 100, which was poor CPU fan attachment and applying different thermal paste. If my temperatures are abnormal, should I look into doing this?

Thanks.

Specs: This is a Cyberpower PC. Ordered and received ~3 days ago.
Processor: Intel Core i7 @ 3.20GHz Coffee Lake
RAM: 16.0GB RAM
Motherboard: Micro-Star International BAZOOKA
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB (MSI)
It says I have this SSD: 931GB Western Digital WDC

 

[Supernova1138]

If they've given you the stock Intel heatsink, then those temps are to be expected, the 8700 runs quite hot and the stock cooler isn't really up to the challenge, things get even worse under stress tests and rendering workloads and you typically see thermal throttling with the stock cooler. An aftermarket cooler would definitely help, especially if you want to do anything more intensive than gaming on it.

 

[thomasianb]

If they've given you the stock Intel heatsink, then those temps are to be expected, the 8700 runs quite hot and the stock cooler isn't really up to the challenge, things get even worse under stress tests and rendering workloads and you typically see thermal throttling with the stock cooler. An aftermarket cooler would definitely help, especially if you want to do anything more intensive than gaming on it.

Thanks for the response. Do you have any recommendations for aftermarket coolers? I see the Noctua NH-D15 is reputed to be very good.

 

[Supernova1138]

If they've given you the stock Intel heatsink, then those temps are to be expected, the 8700 runs quite hot and the stock cooler isn't really up to the challenge, things get even worse under stress tests and rendering workloads and you typically see thermal throttling with the stock cooler. An aftermarket cooler would definitely help, especially if you want to do anything more intensive than gaming on it.

Thanks for the response. Do you have any recommendations for aftermarket coolers? I see the Noctua NH-D15 is reputed to be very good.

The NH-D15 is pretty much the best air cooler you can buy today. Having said that, for a locked i7 that you can't overclock it probably is overkill, and it is quite large, so you may have to deal with case clearance and RAM clearance issues. Something smaller like a Cryorig H7 or H5 or NH-U14 would be more than sufficient and not necessarily overhang RAM slots or be too large to fit into certain cases.