Normal CPU temps with XMP enabled?

Dec 8, 2018
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Basically i'm looking for someone who knows what a normal temperature increase is to a CPU with XMP enabled.

My mobo is Z390-A PRO, I got two 3200Mhz 8GB Corsair Ramsticks and a Noctua NH-D15 CPU heatsink/cooler.

The highest temp I saw before turning on XMP was 63 degrees, and after the highest i've seen is 67 degrees. When should I worry? It feels lika a massive heatsink like mine should keep it lower but I am a tech newbie.

Appreciate any help :)
 
Solution
Ok, at 1.368v your memory voltage is moderately higher than it probably needs to be. Did you enable profile 1 or profile 2 for XMP?

It's probably fine that way though, and again your temps are well within spec. If you wish to see if you can reduce the voltage a bit, to what the memory voltage should be set to and see if that drops temps any, you can manually set it to 1.35v in the bios, save settings and see if that works for you and reduces your max temp at all. In reality, anything up to 1.38v is probably fine for that memory kit unless you are overclocking the memory higher than 3200mhz and then you may need something between 1.38 and 1.4v.

I'd probably just leave it as is and call it a day. I would however check to see if there...
ASUS has a feature that changes CPU configurations when you enable XMP. If you were not intending to do that, and only wanted to change the memory speed and timings settings to those supported by the XMP profile, then you probably need to manually change the CPU settings back to their stock configuration instead of the ASUS optimized configuration that it automatically sets when changing to XMP.

I can't think of what exactly ASUS calls this right now, but you probably either were prompted to allow it when you made the change to XMP or saw the CPU configuration change below the setting for XMP. I'd change the CPU setting back to per core and the stock configuration for base clock and turbo behavior. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to simply reset the bios to the stock configuration by choosing the option for default settings and then this time when you enable XMP decline to use the ASUS optimized configuration.

There should not be any significant change to CPU behavior or temperature, aside from the simple fact that you are running the memory controller at a higher frequency and voltage than at the default JEDEC SPD configuration, but it shouldn't be along the lines of a four degree difference in CPU temp.
 


Thank you for the comment!

I don't think any of my components are ASUS however, my mobo is MSI. And in bios there was only a button labelled "XMP" that you turned either on or off. There was no prompt about anything CPU related sadly. I've read posts on here that seem to imply that the memory controller raises CPU temps which is what lead me to ask my question in the first place. Im very paranoid about my system seeing as its my first build and just want to know if everything is normal.
 
You're right, I was thinking you had the Z390-A, which is an ASUS board, not the Z390-A Pro. I dislike the fact that MSI has taken it upon themselves to use a similar naming scheme as what ASUS has been using for years and years. Anyhow, yes, it's not an ASUS board BUT it might be a similar feature. Most boards have something similar. Perhaps not, but I'd verify the settings anyhow.

The difference is not actually all that significant anyhow. You are perfectly fine so long as you remain under 80°C under a full load while running a stress test like Prime95 version 26.6.

67°C is well below the ceiling of the thermal envelope for that platform. It's very possible that it's normal, however, please check to see what the system has the memory voltage set to in the bios for DRAM voltage. It might be called DRAM voltage, memory voltage, DIMM voltage etc.

The default configuration likely uses about 1.2v for 2133mhz. Most XMP profiles for DDR4 are around 1.35v. Just that alone could easily account for the increase of temperature because as you say, it directly affects the memory controller and the package.

What is the model number of your memory kit?
 


I dont know what "memory kit" refers to so here's several options that i could find:

The exact name of my ramsticks: "Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) / 3200MHz / DDR4 / CL16 / CMK16GX4M2B3200C16" (These runs at 1,368 volt according to bios with XMP enabled).

Mobo model: Z390-A PRO (MS-7B98).

CPU is a i5 9600k 3.7Ghz (4.7 Turbo) 6 core 6 thread /9MB/.
 
Ok, at 1.368v your memory voltage is moderately higher than it probably needs to be. Did you enable profile 1 or profile 2 for XMP?

It's probably fine that way though, and again your temps are well within spec. If you wish to see if you can reduce the voltage a bit, to what the memory voltage should be set to and see if that drops temps any, you can manually set it to 1.35v in the bios, save settings and see if that works for you and reduces your max temp at all. In reality, anything up to 1.38v is probably fine for that memory kit unless you are overclocking the memory higher than 3200mhz and then you may need something between 1.38 and 1.4v.

I'd probably just leave it as is and call it a day. I would however check to see if there are any bios updates available for your motherboard. Often, early bios versions overdo things when it comes to memory as they've not had the chance to fully optimize the bios settings much yet, in a variety of ways. If there is a newer bios version I would update to it. It might actually drop that voltage automatically, among other things.
 
Solution
XMP does increas the temps by a good 4 to 5 degrees at least. With no XMP on my DDR4 3000 ram, I always run cooler, with DDR 4 3000 and XMP on the temps are always a bit higher..It is to do with the integrated controller on the CPU now...And you can fine tune the RAM voltage but I just leave everything at stock XMP settings...