Another "are my temps normal" thread. Intel 4770k with Cooler Master Hyper N520

[Bigdawg86]

So I am new to this forum, but I have been lurking for quite some time. I recently built a new computer and long story short want to know if I have a bad air cooler or if it is just not up to snuff. I did have my CPU OC'd to 4.2 and temps were tolerable with normal use but were about 10C higher than the baseclock temps listed below. I was using the thermal compound from coolermaster.

I know that the Haswell chip likes to run hot, but here are my numbers. It just seems too high for such a big heat sink that is cool to the touch despite near 100C temperatures.

Ambient room temp 21C (70F)
Idle temp @ stock clock 39-40C
Running AIDA64 80C, Intel Extreme Tuning Utility runs the same.
Prime95 (Don't flame me for trying it) 100C
Assassin's Creed Unity 55-65C

My Rig:
ASUS Z97-A with Intel 4770K
16GB Mushkin Redline running @ 2400
Samsung 850 PRO SSD
SLI PNY GTX 780's
Rosewill Case with front, side, and rear fan.
Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU cooler.
1000W PSU

 

[Karsten75]

Air coolers have fewer working parts (only the fan) than AIO water coolers or custom rigs (those have pumps as well and too little liquid can also be an issue) that can really go wrong.


So if you applied the thermal paste correctly (thin layer) and you mounted the heatsink correctly (very tight fit), then no, it can't be defective. It may not cool as much as you expect it to cool, but that's another issue.

the heat generally won't be very apparent on the outside of the fins where cooling is most effective - there it would probably be lukewarm at best. If it was any hotter there, your PC would be a puddle of silicon.

 

[scout_03]

this is a 92 mm cooler you will have better temp if you use a 120 mm one like the evo 212 check on the forum for this .

 

[Bigdawg86]

Since I will likely be purchasing a new cooler, I will probably lean toward a closed loop liquid cooler. Is a 240mm radiator sufficient or should I just go for overkill with a 360mm? Price difference is not much.

 

[scout_03]

be shure it will fit in the case before buying it .

 

[Bigdawg86]

be shure it will fit in the case before buying it .

I may just upgrade my CPU case while I am at it so I'm not too worried about it. My current case I can put a 240mm on the side but if a 360mm cooler is worth it then I may upgrade the case.

 

[Karsten75]

Unless you will be heavily overclocking, 360m is overkill. I don't OC, but I find 120mm and 140mm AIOs are sufficient for quite low temperatures.

This rig I'm on right now is running at 28C and ambient is around 16 - 20, but I have the fan at around 915 rpm.

 

[CompuTronix]

... big heat sink that is cool to the touch despite near 100C temperatures.

Ambient room temp 21C (70F)
Idle temp @ stock clock 39-40C
Running AIDA64 80C, Intel Extreme Tuning Utility runs the same.

Prime95 (Don't flame me for trying it) 100C

Assassin's Creed Unity 55-65C ...

Bigdawg86,

First, since the thermal gradient is so steep as you move even just a few millimeters away from the heat sources within the Cores, there's no way to guestimate Core temperatures by touching the heat sinc.

Second, thank you for including your ambient temperature in your system specs; most don't think to do so.

Third, the only relevant temperatures are 100% workload, ambient, and dead idle ... in that order. Apps or games can not be used to analyze thermal performance.

Fourth, it seems that you missed the memo about using Prime95 version 26.6 - http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html ... your core temperatures will test about 20C cooler. Why?

Fifth, it's all explained in this Tom's Sticky: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Sixth, welcome to Tom's!

CT

 

[Karsten75]

Fourth, it seems that you missed the memo about using Prime95 version 26.6 - http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html ... your core temperatures will test about 20C cooler. Why?

Fifth, it's all explained in this Tom's Sticky: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

OK, the penny just dropped for me. Why Prime95 V 26.6 and not a more recent version such as 28.x that's available on the GIMPS page? Is it because the newer version uses different instructions sets?

And why is the link to download Prime95 pointing to a relatively unknown blog post that doesn't really talk about using Prime95 for CPU burn-in tests?

 

[CompuTronix]

Fourth, it seems that you missed the memo about using Prime95 version 26.6 - http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html ... your core temperatures will test about 20C cooler. Why?

Fifth, it's all explained in this Tom's Sticky: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

OK, the penny just dropped for me. Why Prime95 V 26.6 and not a more recent version such as 28.x that's available on the GIMPS page? Is it because the newer version uses different instructions sets?

And why is the link to download Prime95 pointing to a relatively unknown blog post that doesn't really talk about using Prime95 for CPU burn-in tests?

Click here ---> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

 

[Karsten75]

Fourth, it seems that you missed the memo about using Prime95 version 26.6 - http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html ... your core temperatures will test about 20C cooler. Why?

Fifth, it's all explained in this Tom's Sticky: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

OK, the penny just dropped for me. Why Prime95 V 26.6 and not a more recent version such as 28.x that's available on the GIMPS page? Is it because the newer version uses different instructions sets?

And why is the link to download Prime95 pointing to a relatively unknown blog post that doesn't really talk about using Prime95 for CPU burn-in tests?

Click here ---> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

Sometimes I wonder about my reading comprehension. (There's this phrase "functionally illiterate" that comes to mind.) Before I posted, I thought I *did* re-read that thread. But now it's all there and it's as I suspected - changed instruction processing mix. Thanks for your patience,

 

[CompuTronix]

Karsten75,

No, thank you for reading.

Sometimes I'm a little busy to post the lengthy explanations that are typical for me, so all I can do is post something like "click here".

Regarding the link to Prime 95 on the Windows Download Center page - http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html -

it's actually more informative than the link to Prime95 on the Mersenne Forum page - http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=15504 -

which is why I chose it for my Temperature Guide. I hope that's OK with you!

CT

 

[Bigdawg86]

Holy crap! So I was looking around online ALOT today and my temps still seemed abnormally high for my chip at base clock. I did order a liquid cooler, but for now wanted to still troubleshoot my cooler. I decided to lap my CPU and cooler heatsink tonight. It cost about 18 bucks in sandpaper and polish. Took less than 1 hour. That paired with Arctic Silver 5 brought my temps down to almost unbelievable numbers compared to before.

Ambient Room 71-72F
Idle temp once computer on for 1 hour, 38-39C
Intel Extreme Tuning utility after 1 hour, 62C MAX
Aida64 after 15 minutes, 61C MAX
Prime95 (most current build) 15 minutes, 79C MAX
Prime95 (build 26.6 per suggestion) 15 minutes 66C MAX

Now this plus a liquid cooler ought to be just right!

 

[CompuTronix]

Nicely done!

 

[scout_03]

there gone be nice temp with the liquid you did great .

 

[SilverSeal]

I couldn't help but noticing that you specified that your RAM was running at 2400:

16GB Mushkin Redline running @ 2400

Are they actually running at that or is that just the speed they are set to be able to do? In most instances memory will running at I think 1333/1600 unless you enable XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) regardless of if the speed of the memory when you buy it says it's faster.

I have a i7-4770k too and notice a significant temperature increase in the cpu cores if I used my RAM@2400MHz (by enabling XMP) (Kingston DDR3 HyperX Beast RAM) since I actually had to tweak the D-RAM to 1.68V to run stable. So if you are running your RAM@2400 which will probably be 1.65V I would suggest you turn off XMP (which will lower your D-RAM to about 1.50V and your RAM speed to probably 1333) and run heat tests again to see how much of a difference it makes just to identify the cause?

 

[Bigdawg86]

I couldn't help but noticing that you specified that your RAM was running at 2400:

16GB Mushkin Redline running @ 2400

Are they actually running at that or is that just the speed they are set to be able to do? In most instances memory will running at I think 1333/1600 unless you enable XMP (Extreme Memory Profile).

I have a i7-4770k too and notice a significant temperature increase in the cpu cores if I used my RAM@2400MHz (Kingston DDR3 HyperX Beast) since I actually had to tweak the D-RAM to 1.68V to run stable. So if you are running your RAM@2400 which will probably be 1.65V I would suggest you turn of XMP (which will lower your D-RAM to about 1.50V) and run heat tests again to see how much of a difference it makes?

The RAM is actually running at the 2400 speeds. Now having lapped my CPU and heatsink I am able to OC to 4.2 stable with sub 80C temps. This is where I will keep it until I decide on a closed loop CPU cooler.