New i7-4790k, Total watts too high?

[Dom_79]

I recently bought an i7-4790k and after wrestling with some heat issues I've gone on to set-up my first OC when I realized something, the total watts being used by my CPU seem very high for my clock rate and voltage.

4.6Ghz and Vcore 1.18 (VRIN 1.7) LLC set to "High", XMP enabled (Adds .3v to Sys Agent according to HWMonitor) Turbo off, HyperThreading enabled and in IBT I see +/- 140W.

Does that seem too high or is that just me being used to my old i5-4670k?

Thanks for any help guys and gals



EDIT: Changed a voltage 😉

 

[n0ns3ns3]

vcore 1.8 ? that's way too much.
you want to be below 1.4v. and generally under 1.35v.
but you can get into 140-150watt range under full load with overclocked and overvolted CPU

 

[Dom_79]

vcore 1.8 ? that's way too much.
you want to be below 1.4v. and generally under 1.35v.
but you can get into 140-150watt range under full load with overclocked and overvolted CPU

D'oh!

Should have written 1.18Vcore . I'll edit my OP.

I don't think I'd dare go as high as 1.3v core simply due to temps.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

watts are not that important if the temps are fine.
what are the cores temp under load ?

 

[Dom_79]

watts are not that important if the temps are fine.
what are the cores temp under load ?

Yeah, that's the thing. The temps are ridiculously high and failing some kind of improper BIOS setting I have a chip with TIM on the die that is so bad it actually would qualify for an RMA as it cannot be run at stock settings with the stock cooler.

So I'm chasing down why the total watts being used is so high. Right now it's seeming like the LLC controller (or however that is set up) is allowing/setting the amperage too high under load -> hence the very high watts at relatively lower frequency and volts 😉

For specifics, hottest core under load (IBT) hits 84C. 1.18 Vcore (hits 1.2 under load) @ 4.6GHz.

Cooling is done with a new "Old style" H100i (the square block that plugs into a SATA and not a fan header) with 4 SP120 fans in push-pull, mounted at the top of a 400r.
In addition to the two SP120 fans at front I've mounted an extra one on the back of the drive cage and at the bottom of the case for intake.
2 140mm Cougar Vortex fans on the side of the case round out the intake fans. There is also an SP120 at top rear for exhaust.
I think the case is well ventilated and my CPU cooling is pretty adequate 😀

I have tried two different H100i's in different configs with different TIM (stock, mx2, mx4, gelid gc-extreme) best has been gelid with the new H100i in push-pull + lower volts and lower watts (achieved by lowering LLC from "Extreme" to "Turbo"). Used to be at 94C (hottest core) but was also at 1.224 Vcore, 1.9VRIN and LLC "Extreme" and the watts were reported at +/- 180W. Just those voltage changes are worth 10C (and 40W!!!) so the cooling made no difference but the wattage did.

Anyways, I think I've narrowed this thing down to BIOS setting that will need to be adjusted - if possible. If that doesn't give me the results I'm after I can always consider a real WC loop and delidding :lol:

 

[KeelinTy]

My 4790K at 5ghz with 1.45v only drew about 130 watts under full load with OCCT so yeah id say 150 watts is pretty damn high

 

[Dom_79]

My 4790K at 5ghz with 1.45v only drew about 130 watts under full load with OCCT so yeah id say 150 watts is pretty damn high

Hyper-Threading enabled?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

My 4770K@4.4GHz@1.32V hits 160 watt with prime95. but it stays well below 80C on cores. I could run 4.5GHz@1.295v, but than I changed to mini ITX board and no luck. even with "proper" loop. So I'm have the most "unproper" loop at the moment. 240 rad on intake. and since i like it quite, it's with NF-P12 fans up to 1300RPM. And 120 rad as exhaust. that's very hot intake. and even with both prime95 and heaven simultaneously, temperature remains within sane range.
I delided my CPU some time ago and at firs used MX-4, but than went adventurous with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut (liquid metal) (had a lot of leftovers after GPU power mod). Can't say there was much of a difference.
So you problem is definitely not a cooling.
it's either MB (defective or wrong settings) or the CPU (which is very rare).

P.S.
Corsair's fans are total crap. Pure marketing shit. nowhere near the Noctua. especially in the long run.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Wattage can't really be tread accurately by software. This is why you'll never see a reviewer use software to measure this stuff.

 

[Dom_79]

My 4770K@4.4GHz@1.32V hits 160 watt with prime95. but it stays well below 80C on cores. I could run 4.5GHz@1.295v, but than I changed to mini ITX board and no luck. even with "proper" loop. So I'm have the most "unproper" loop at the moment. 240 rad on intake. and since i like it quite, it's with NF-P12 fans up to 1300RPM. And 120 rad as exhaust. that's very hot intake. and even with both prime95 and heaven simultaneously, temperature remains within sane range.
I delided my CPU some time ago and at firs used MX-4, but than went adventurous with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut (liquid metal) (had a lot of leftovers after GPU power mod). Can't say there was much of a difference.
So you problem is definitely not a cooling.
it's either MB (defective or wrong settings) or the CPU (which is very rare).

P.S.
Corsair's fans are total crap. Pure marketing shit. nowhere near the Noctua. especially in the long run.

Thanks for the details n0ns3ns3

I'm pretty sure the issue is part mobo settings, the LLC is definitely the problem - I can set it lower, problem solved 😉 . Also I think if I want to try and go for higher than 4.6GHz or want to do some serious gaming+recording and then editing I will need either better cooling or delid. I'd probably buy a custom loop before I delid though.

I also agree that the corsair fans are crap. I happened to have them for now and I don't plan on keeping them for a real loop. I might get some Noctua's or more Cougar Vortex (have to test them at Static Pressure) even sooner because in push - pull the top set of corsairs make a really weird "resonance" sound at any useful RPM (over 900RPM)

 

[Dom_79]

Wattage can't really be tread accurately by software. This is why you'll never see a reviewer use software to measure this stuff.

I'm beginning to understand this 😉

I guess I will have to get a decent meter and test at the measuring points on the motherboard. At least this motherboard has them! 😀

 

[KeelinTy]

My 4790K at 5ghz with 1.45v only drew about 130 watts under full load with OCCT so yeah id say 150 watts is pretty damn high

Hyper-Threading enabled?

Yes. But now I regret it because electron migration caused instability and now I have to run at 4.4ghz at 1.21v. Yeah its bad

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Wattage can't really be tread accurately by software. This is why you'll never see a reviewer use software to measure this stuff.

I'm beginning to understand this 😉

I guess I will have to get a decent meter and test at the measuring points on the motherboard. At least this motherboard has them! 😀

Seems pointless. if the PC is working fine just leave it.

 

[Dom_79]

Seems pointless. if the PC is working fine just leave it.

I guess I want to use my rig differently then you do.
Seems pointless to have all this gear and not use it for what it's intended.