[SOLVED] Overheating i9 9900k

[Glynn.A]

Hey, I’m having some issues with a relatively new build, in February I built the following spec machine.

cpu: i9 9900k
ram: Corsair 32gb 3600 ddr4
motherboard: Asus Rog STRIX Z390-E
gpu: aorus xtreme 1080ti
Cooler: Corsair H100i Hydro PRO (swapped both fans for Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM)
Fans: 4 x Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM (3 as intake one as exhaust).
Storage: 2 x 1tb Samsung 850 evo + 1tb hdd
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro (side panel swapped for tempered glass)

Since building it I’ve had no problems (It has been on a 38% overclock using asus ai - not manual), but about a week ago I noticed cod mw getting a bit choppy, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, but it continued, so I swapped to the studio driver.. still happened.

I decided that i’d update the the bios to see if that sorts the issue, so I updated to version 1602 but that introduced new problems, I noticed that previously a white light on the motherboard was permanently on, I assume that was normal, but now, only when gaming a red light that is monitoring the cpu comes on and when that’s not on, there is no light, white or otherwise,

I decided to play with the fps bar running and in certain sections of the game, inside buildings for example, the fps was dropping to about 50fps to 20fps, sometimes even less.

I thought I’d check the temperature with HWmonitor and when not in game all temps are around 30 degrees, when gaming this jumps to 100 degrees.. when I initially built it, I was getting around 85 degrees.

Obviously i’ve checked that the AIO seems to be working, all fans etc are working, there seems to be no issues except the overheating itself that I can find.

I will however add a caveat, I did use Windows10Debloater on it several weeks ago which seemed fine but I’d though I’d mention it..

Any suggestions on the overheating, of the drops in FPS? thanks

 

[sizzling]

What speed is the cpu running at under gaming load before it hits 85c? I wonder if the BIOS update have switched on some auto overclocking. A 240mm AIO is a bit weak for a 9900k so if some overclocking has occurred I’m not surprised it’s struggling.

 

[Glynn.A]

Clock seems to be 4816MHZ, I had to turn the game on to check seems as if idle is now running at 48-51 degrees too.. I could’ve missed that, looking in the bios and there was no overclock (all set to auto)

 

[sizzling]

4.8GHz is the stock boost speed when only 4 cores are being used. Does that look correct for your example?

Is the pump and fans running at full speed?

 

[Glynn.A]

ok, so I decided to include the overclock using the ai settings, and it went down to 3702MHZ, I also optimised the fan speed so it’s now sitting at around 75 degrees plus the light on the mobo is gone..

The bad news is that the game is still getting very choppy and this clock speed seems very suspicious

 

[Glynn.A]

The pump and fans seem to be working fine, I’m thinking the cpu is faulty

 

[Phaaze88]

Did you max the pump speed? It should be maxed out.

Why did you replace the hybrid cooler's fans?

 

[Glynn.A]

Did you max the pump speed? It should be maxed out.

Why did you replace the hybrid cooler's fans?

Yes the pump speed was maxed and the reason I replaced them was simply for aesthetics to match the other fans in the case.

 

[Phaaze88]

Yes the pump speed was maxed and the reason I replaced them was simply for aesthetics to match the other fans in the case.

So, not only are you running a cooler that isn't really adequate for the 9900K, of which has a slight auto OC, you replaced the stock fans with weaker ones...
If the game in question also happens to utilize AVX instructions... does the overheating happen in all games, or just the one?

 

[Glynn.A]

So, not only are you running a cooler that isn't really adequate for the 9900K, of which has a slight auto OC, you replaced the stock fans with weaker ones...
If the game in question also happens to utilize AVX instructions... does the overheating happen in all games, or just the one?

I’m not a gamer, I have one game that i’ve been playing recently because i’m injured, this machine is typically used for VFX and 3D work.

Secondly Im not sure the fans are the issue or even relevant since when I built this machine, I was getting better temps than I am now, to me, and excuse how this sounds, but it sounds like you’re just trying to take a poke at the setup and not help.

The game in question is COD MW, I’m aware that the cooler isn’t adequate enough if overclocked, but it’s not overclocked now (although i’ve had to set it in the bios as ai-controlled) otherwise it’ll try to run at 5Mhz so the temps are sitting at about 70 whilst gaming but 50 when idle (obviously strange) but also the game is still missing massive amounts of frames..

I can understand the argument with the cooler, but at the same time unless you’re suggesting the cooler is faulty, nothing should have changed.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Have you turned off Ai Overclock and tried everything at stock settings? Built in auto overclock software is garbage and always has been.

If everything works fine with the OC off then your CPU is not defective (and I'd bet money that its not).

I don't know where anyone gets a 240 AIO is not enough for a 9900k, thats not true at least not at stock settings. Overclock wise I'd agree the 9900k is a heat monster once you push it. It is likely you're overwhelming it with poor OC settings and AVX instructions.

If you want to OC you should properly do it following the guide here, otherwise run it at stock.

 

[Zerk2012]

I’m not a gamer, I have one game that i’ve been playing recently because i’m injured, this machine is typically used for VFX and 3D work.

Secondly Im not sure the fans are the issue or even relevant since when I built this machine, I was getting better temps than I am now, to me, and excuse how this sounds, but it sounds like you’re just trying to take a poke at the setup and not help.

The game in question is COD MW, I’m aware that the cooler isn’t adequate enough if overclocked, but it’s not overclocked now (although i’ve had to set it in the bios as ai-controlled) otherwise it’ll try to run at 5Mhz so the temps are sitting at about 70 whilst gaming but 50 when idle (obviously strange) but also the game is still missing massive amounts of frames..

I can understand the argument with the cooler, but at the same time unless you’re suggesting the cooler is faulty, nothing should have changed.

Not really you have downgraded the fans to 52CFM fans if your using the low noise adapters then their even less than that.

That board has a very poor power delivery 4+2 that Asus falsely advertised as a 8 phase and then called it a marketing error.

I would never install AI and expect to use it for overclocking. Garbage gimmick to sell overpriced motherboards.

ASUS ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming Motherboard Review - KitGuru

Intel's new Z390 chipset has pushed motherboard companies to refresh their entire Intel Z370 product

www.kitguru.net

Your statement
I thought I’d check the temperature with HWmonitor and when not in game all temps are around 30 degrees, when gaming this jumps to 100 degrees.. when I initially built it, I was getting around 85 degrees.

When you get to 100C the speed drops on the CPU because of thermal throttling. You lost at least 1/3 of your fan cooling on the rad from the fan change. On top of that 85C is hotter than I would run my processor when just gaming. (85C the temp you already had)

 

[Phaaze88]

I’m not a gamer, I have one game that i’ve been playing recently because i’m injured, this machine is typically used for VFX and 3D work.

Secondly Im not sure the fans are the issue or even relevant since when I built this machine, I was getting better temps than I am now, to me, and excuse how this sounds, but it sounds like you’re just trying to take a poke at the setup and not help.

The game in question is COD MW, I’m aware that the cooler isn’t adequate enough if overclocked, but it’s not overclocked now (although i’ve had to set it in the bios as ai-controlled) otherwise it’ll try to run at 5Mhz so the temps are sitting at about 70 whilst gaming but 50 when idle (obviously strange) but also the game is still missing massive amounts of frames..

I can understand the argument with the cooler, but at the same time unless you’re suggesting the cooler is faulty, nothing should have changed.

Sorry... let me try this again.

1)I gotta start somewhere, and looking at your specs on paper, the cooler and your choice to replace it's fans, were the first suspect, and I don't believe I'd be the only one here to come to that conclusion either.
Again, just looking at the specs on paper.

2)For a 9900K at stock settings, a 240mm hybrid cooler is fine. Overclocked, and under heavy load? Negative.

3)You used software to overclock this cpu. Those apply more voltage than needed by default. The OC's stability is guaranteed, but it makes the cpu run hotter than it needs to. If you can't be bothered to find a lower stable manual voltage, leave it at stock.

4)The H100i's radiator is 27mm thick, with an moderately high FPI(Fins Per Inch) of 21. The manufacturer already picked the best fans to deal with the restrictions the radiator presents, but you still replaced them with weaker(lower CFM and Static Pressure) fans.
This leads to worse performance under heavy loads because the weaker fans can't drive as much air though the radiator.

5)You haven't used the H100i long enough for fluid permeation to be an issue, and thermal paste doesn't dry up that quickly either.

6)Unless you work near a sawmill, dust shouldn't be an issue either.

7)AVX instruction set.
I am not familiar with your line of work, but if it does utilize AVX, then that's not going to be much different from pushing the 9900K with an overclock.
At the same frequencies, AVX draws more power, thus produces more heat than the normal SSE instruction set used by the cpu.

8)Some games also run AVX. You just have the one sample, which I'm also not familiar with.
Some more game samples would help, or someone else who plays that game can chime in on whether this game uses AVX or not.

9)Did you manually check that the liquid is moving?
While it is running a game or app, feel the cpu block, both tubes, and the radiator. Everything should feel fairly warm. If the heat is focused in the cpu block, then there's a flow problem.

10)Go into the bios and simply apply the optimized defaults - no AI controlled crap.

 

[Glynn.A]

To all who replied, I’ve tried to answer all the questions..

No, everything works ‘fine’ (but the game still loses lots of frames) with the AI setting active but the OC sits at 3.8 which is the strange issue, when I turn the OC off, that’s when it starts to overheat so this obviously means the software has found some kind of issue that it can’t overclock but it still controls the overheat.
I don’t know what kind of impact changing the fans would have, but I do know that those are the only fans i’ve used on the AIO and I was getting ok (safe) temps previously with the OC active (85 deg) before a software update to the bios which I did because the game was skipping frames.
I don’t know if cod uses AVX, its the first time I’ve heard about AVX so I wouldn’t know if it’s in software like Nuke or maya either, two of the most common softwares I use.

I felt the pump and rad, they were vibrating before although i’ve taken the machine apart now and am ordering a Noctua NH-D15.. the thermal paste seemed a little dry, maybe the heat dried it up a little.. I really don’t know

 

[Phaaze88]

Why. Are. You. Still. Using. AI Suite?
You've been told 3x already not to use it, and for good reason. Uninstall that garbage, and run the default bios' settings.

I felt the pump and rad, they were vibrating before although i’ve taken the machine apart now and am ordering a Noctua NH-D15.. the thermal paste seemed a little dry, maybe the heat dried it up a little.. I really don’t know

1)The vibration is irrelevant. We want to know if the heat is spreading throughout the unit or not.

2)NH-D15: We are asking questions because we aren't there with you to see what's actually going on; we're just strangers on the other side of a screen, and we can only infer so much from what you provide.
That said, you are skimping on the troubleshooting process by ordering a new cooler - again, there's a reason you were asked 'so many things'. We're trying to work with you here, but if you just go and do things on your own...

If the new cooler changes nothing, you're back to square one.

3)Thermal paste ALWAYS 'looks dry' like that when you remove the heatsink/cold plate. It takes a few years or so for it to actually dry up though.