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Core i7 4790K High Temps + Weird Marks (Stock Cooler)

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  • Intel i7
  • CPUs
  • Temperature
Last response: in CPUs
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September 29, 2014 1:29:46 PM

Hey all,

I am putting together my first PC build. My components are:


    NZXT H440
    Intel Core i7 4790K w/ *stock cooler*
    ASUS Pro-WIFI AC
    G Skill Ripjaws 1600 2 x 4GB 9-9-9-24


Upon initial bootup, the BIOS showed a CPU temperature of 56C, which I thought was pretty high. After installing the OS, I loaded up AS AI Suite which showed a temperature of 46C. After some googling on how to do stability tests, I ran Prime95 Torture Test and my CPU temps shot up to 99/100C (using RealTemp) immediately and stayed there for 5 minutes. During this time, ASUS AI Suite seemed to show that my CPU was pretty much stuck at 88.0C (didn't change at all). Either way, this seems way higher than what is acceptable from what I read online, so I took the stock fan/heatsink off, cleaned off the thermal paste with some rubbing alchohol, then reinstalled the stock heatsink/fan using Arctic Silver 5. After doing this, my IDLE temperatures are a bit lower (46C), however the CPU temp still immediately hits 99/100C (within 10 seconds). So was looking for some help regarding this.
As an additional note, after I cleaned off the original thermal paste from the CPU, I noticed some
circular marks at the corner of the CPU:

You'll notice there are some light marks on each corner (can be seen much better in real-life, the celing fan light kinda botched this pic). Any idea what these are? Have I botched something up...?

More about : core 4790k high temps weird marks stock cooler

September 29, 2014 1:37:42 PM

I'd get an aftermarket liquid cooler like a Corsair H100i (it's what I use) or a big air cooler like a Spire Thermax Eclipse II. Assuming you have either the space\openings for a radiator or the width for a tall air cooler.

The stock cooler that came with the 4790K really isn't up to the task other than light to moderate work.

As for the circles (I think I can just about see them), I don't know what they are but they're probably nothing to worry about.
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Anonymous
a b à CPUs
September 29, 2014 1:42:39 PM

I really don't think you did any damage to the heat spreader (the circles on the corners.) That's some tough stuff. As for the heat problem, I am kind of at a loss. Could be that your CPU has defective temp sensor (or stuck., it happens.) If the AI Suite is reading at 88 that's pretty hot. I'm not sure if that's reading package temp or socket temp, but in any case it's warm. Just a word of warning though, you spent over $300 on a CPU, don't ever trust a $5 cooler that is included. Go get yourself a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ (they are about $30 US) and install it. It'll bring down those temps a bit. If that still doesn't work, exchange the CPU. Could be you just got a dud. Last thing: Arctic Silver 5 takes about 200 hours to set properly. You might want to get some Shin Etsu silicon based stuff. No cure time and a few degrees cooler. I hope this helps.
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a c 247 à CPUs
September 29, 2014 1:51:43 PM

Prime 95 runs on a stock cooler will easily break into the 90s....this is normal... If you consult with Asus they will tell you not to tun P95 on Haswell. If you want to run P95 on Haswell (again, not recommended), then you will need an after market cooler.

The Hyper 212 is a common low priced cooler, but I have done three MoBo / CPU replacements to date for users who broke their MoBos installing it..... also see here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2314744/last-read

It is very east to to damage if you over tighten the hold down clamps on that unit.

You will drop 7 - 10C with a Phanteks PH-TC14-PE which runs around $65 .... or Noctua DH-14 which runs $75 as opposed to a Hyper 212. These have well designed clamping mechanisms which make it a bit harder to do any damage.

two other things about AS5

-As alluded to above it takes 200 hours to cure....not 8 days ..... that's 200 hours of heating up and cooling down or about 7 weeks at 30 hrs a week for normal usage.

-
Quote:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)
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September 29, 2014 2:04:00 PM

Almost any air cooled HS/FAN will offer about a 10-12C lower temp than the stock Intel cooler in a 24C ambient room. A CM Hyper212 EVO comes to mind but there are plenty to choose from. You should be running about 34-36C idle with almost any aftermarket air cooler. Running Prime95 on a stock fan and CPU is just....well, silly.
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October 4, 2014 6:45:27 PM

UPDATE:

Hello all. Thanks for the helpful responses. Here are some updates from my end... I took the advice to buy a better CPU cooler. I ended up purchasing a Cooler Master Hyper Evo T4. The new cooler seemed to help, but temperatures were still fairly high. My core temps were reaching 100C within about 15 seconds using Prime 95 (v28.5). After re-posting new temperatures to forum, a user referred me to the following link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temp...

This was immensly helpful in troubleshooting. One important thing was that Prime 95 v28.5 taxes your CPU much more (and unrealistically) than Prime 95 26.6. Using Prime 95 26.6 I was getting more reasonable temperatures that peaked around 80C when running the Fast FFT for ~30 seconds.

Shortly after I decided my system was indeed functioning properly, my motherboard (ASUS Z97 Pro WIFI AC) started showing q-code error 00 ("not in use" ... or some nonsense like that). Googling the error code seemed to indicate that most users who had error code 00 couldn't even boot up their system. After all this, I decided to just go back to store and exchange motherboard and cpu.

After doing this, my motherboard seems to be working normally again (showing the normal 'A0' Qcode). As an added bonus, my CPU core temps for Prime 95 v28.8 Fast FFT seemed to be hitting 80C max after ~30 seconds.

Hopefully this helps anyone having similar problems in the future! Thanks for the help.
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