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Cool Story Bro: Intel i7 4790K and Nepton 140 XL Temps

Tags:
  • Thermal Compound
  • Intel i7
  • CPUs
  • Gigabyte
October 12, 2014 3:04:04 PM

I couldn't find anyone that posted their temps using a 4790K and the Nepton 140 XL cooler. I was wondering if my temps were okay or not because they seemed kind of high. I ultimately fixed the issue by reapplying the thermal paste and also noticing that my VCore was reset to "auto". The temps are okay now, but I wanted to post them here for others to see how the Nepton cooler should perform with a 4790K if you're not sure of your temps.

My setup:
Intel i7 4790K 4.0 - 4.4 Ghz. VCore @ 1.125v
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Nepton 140 XL
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 2133 (XMP Profile 2)
2x Gigabyte GTX 760 /w 4GB each (SLI)
FirePower Silencer MK III 750W Power Supply
Fractal Design's DEFINE R4 Arctic White Case

I used Arctic MX-4 thermal paste. I also used the "pea drop" method to apply the paste. The amount was about half way between a "bb-size" and "pea size". I cleaned both surfaces with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Then wiped away linty stuff with paper towels. Because q-tips leave all sorts of fibers behind.

The Nepton 140 XL is configured in a push-pull configuration mounted at the rear of the case.
It pulls in warm air from inside the case and exhausts it out the back. I took the DEFINE R4's rear exhaust fan and mounted it in the front of the case to support the single fan already supplied. I mounted the Nepton where that fan used to be.

Temps:
Idle: 33 degrees celsius.
Intel Burn Test: never goes above 70 degrees. Doesn't matter which test is run (standard - maximum).

While monitoring the Nepton XL using Gigabyte's Smart Fan software, I noticed that the Nepton pump and fan set never max out at 100%. Maybe 80 or 90%. So I could opt to make it quieter at the expense of making my CPU rise to 75 degrees or more.

I dropped the VCore from auto (1.2v something) to 1.125 and noticed about a 10-15 degree drop in temp. By default, the Z97X-UD5H-BK sets the voltage to auto. I usually saw it at 1.2 something while stress testing and saw temps around 85 celsius.

The Nepton 140 XL has an annoying whine to it. Using Gigabyte's smart fan software, I was able to mask the whine with the "annoying" jetflow fans packaged with the Nepton. Which are known to be kind of loud. I never hear the whine now, but I was able to configure the setup in such a way that I hardly hear the fans too. You just need to make the two graphs overlap pretty much.

I could not run the prime95. Everytime I run it, my computer just up and restarts after several seconds. No blue screen. The temps don't do anything abnormal when I watch the test. Barely break 50 degrees. I don't know why and I don't think it's because my power supply is overloaded (750W). The reason I believe this is the case is because when I run the Intel test, AND the Furmark test at the same time, my APC power backup goes crazy telling me it can't support the power draw. But it never shuts down. Also, I have an external watt meter connected between my PC and the battery backup device and it barely breaks 500W during the dual test. So fairly confident this has nothing to do with the cooler or the temps. Other than that, it seems stable.

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