Overclocking the i7-7700K

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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
Hi,

Brand new user here and have a few questions. I'll start off by listing my PC build so we can see what I'm working with:

Motherboard: Asus Z270 ROG Strix MATX
CPU: i7-7700K
CPU cooler: Swiftech H320 X2 Prestige Edition
RAM: 16GB G.Skill TridentZ 3200Mhz DDR4
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1070

I assembled the build which didn't take too long. Ran into an issue with the ATX connector from the PSU to the MOBO, thank god I had a spare. I installed my operating system and instantly started monitoring temperatures.

As I expected, I was idling at 31-34C which is fairly normal, as I thought. I ran a video game (CS:GO) and my CPU temps were hitting 80C. I was shocked by this, and I figured something must of been turned on in the BIOS to create such an issue. The fans were spinning at like 2500RPM, so I did some investigating. Went into the BIOS and turned off turbo boosting! After that running CS:GO made my temps 55-58C which I was fine with.

I wanted to OC my system to see the potential spike in performance, but I fear there might be an issue with temperature? I decided to OC the system to 5.0GHz with 1.32V. It ran fine at idle with a 36C, but in CS:GO I was hitting 88-91C which I was surprised to see! I didn't expect anything that crazy. Anyways, I lowered it to 4.4GHz at 1.189V, and it is hitting only 62C while running the game which is still practical and expected.

Does anyone have an idea of what might be the issue?

I reapplied thermal paste twice so far, verified the CPU block is nice and tight with zero wiggle room. I understand the i7-7700K is known for high temperatures, but is it common to hit this high of a temperature with a water-cooled system?

Thanks,

I'll keep people posted =).
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
Running tests on IBT with standard stress level, and very high. This testing was done with CPU overclocked to 4.4GHz at 1.189V...

Standard results:
[22:15:54] 7.297 122.4936 3.156799e-002
[22:16:07] 7.337 121.8293 3.156799e-002
[22:16:19] 7.380 121.1198 3.156799e-002
[22:16:32] 7.348 121.6558 3.156799e-002
[22:16:44] 7.321 122.0990 3.156799e-002
[22:16:56] 7.319 122.1340 3.156799e-002
[22:17:09] 7.347 121.6600 3.156799e-002
[22:17:21] 7.482 119.4692 3.156799e-002
[22:17:34] 7.569 118.1030 3.156799e-002
[22:17:47] 7.550 118.3949 3.156799e-002

Very high results:
[22:19:36] 60.847 126.6740 3.414758e-002
[22:21:00] 62.431 123.4600 3.414758e-002
[22:22:25] 63.670 121.0563 3.414758e-002

Noticed CPU temperatures hit around 85 Celsius max while running the very high stressful testing.

Still believe there might be some issue with the watercooling because it tends to overheat a lot more than I expected.
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
I verified the CPU block is well intact where it needs to be. There is no movement.

The main connector from the PWM splitter is attached to my CPU fan header on the motherboard. All the other 3/4 pin connectors are attached to the PWM splitter such as the pump/cpu block/fans/etc.
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
Yes it is hooked to the motherboard as well. When I touch the pump I can feel it doing something.

Going to bed so I'll read some comments in the morning
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
On stock which was 4.2GHz I was getting 31-33C idle and 55-58C full load. I think this was still high and I'm not sure what can be wrong. I might take my old Corsair H100i and test it on the CPU and see if temps maintain the same high...or maybe it'll show me that the swiftech one is faulty
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
After school today I'm going to try to apply a brand new layer of thermal paste for the third time. I'll take pictures to ensure I am doing the correct amount as well. Will update soon, and will read any other responses in between classes
 
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Multipack

Multipack

Honorable
Sep 5, 2016
4,283
3
9,960
Your stock temps are pretty normal. I'm surprised it goes up that much from overclocking but obviously your cooler isn't efficient enough for those kind of overclocks. I'd say the thermal paste wont make a difference and if you are into extreme overclocking you'd be better off getting a better cooler first.
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
Yeah I thought a 360mm radiator with a pump and res would do the trick, but apparently even a 230$ kit isn't doing the job lol. I might need to go back to air
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
I've been using Speccy and CPUID HWMonitor for the most part.

Both report approximately 82-90C on full load, which is high in my eyes. I ran IBT to acquire the full load.

I asked a friend who is using a 5820k with a Noctua fan, and he only achieves 60-63C at full load.

Maybe the 7700K + Swiftech products aren't good afterall! lol =(
 
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grimsin

grimsin

Reputable
Dec 7, 2014
192
0
4,710
He has a different CPU can't compare.
I have a 6700k @4.6ghz with 1.325v, with my noctua nhd14 I get 70c average and peaks at 80c for just a sec everyone and awhile
I literally just got a Nzxt kraken x52, once I install it I'll come back and report my temps.
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
Yeah, so I tried some experimenting...

On my motherboard there is a W_PUMP header for the pump! I moved the pump 4-pin connector from the CPU fan header to the W_PUMP. Idle temperatures looked normal, and I ran a IBT. Saw it hit 100C, and immediately stopped.

Bad idea lol.
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
New experiment!

I took my Corsair H100i V2 and attempted to use that instead of the Swiftech. I got lower CPU idle temperature with the fans constantly blowing, and overall in IBT I managed to maintain lower temperatures.

Is the H100i v2 better than the H320 X2 Prestige? Mmmmm...
 
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M

mythhhh

Commendable
Jan 22, 2017
13
0
1,510
I do think maybe the Swiftech unit had a defect, but now I also have another theory which might be the TIM on the i7-7700K. I'm not really comfortable with delidding, but I might have to do it.
 
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