Core i7-6700k with Phanteks PH-TC14PE running at 50C idle

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DraconisDomini

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Jun 10, 2016
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My current gaming machine is getting a bit old so I'm building a new one and went with a Skylake Core i7-6700k. I've been skittish about water coolers ever since I had one explode on me a few years ago so I got a nice big air cooler instead - the Phanteks PH-TC14PE - but the CPU temperature sensor is claiming that it is running at about 50C idle. This is with the motherboard sitting on my workbench outside the case with nothing other than a couple of sticks of RAM, the CPU and the cooler. The ambient temperature is about 25C. I don't have any experience with Skylake CPUs but this doesn't seem normal to me - especially when my old Phenom II X6 runs at near ambient with a Noctua NH-D14 that is very similar to the Phanteks and that has a much higher TDP. I've removed the cooler, cleaned off and reapplied the thermal paste and re-seated it several times and it hasn't made any difference. If I rest my hand on the heatsink towers or even put my finger on the top of the thermal plate it doesn't feel hot - the heatsink towers actually generally feel cool, so I'm wondering if the readings from the temperature sensor are off. Can anyone with more experience with Skylake CPUs tell me what their experience has been with temperatures?

NB: the motherboard is an ASRock Z170 Extreme 7+
 
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Ignorance101

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Apr 27, 2013
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Well there are a few possibilities here:

1. The thermal sensors on your chip are indeed malfunctioning, in which case you should at least be a bit more cautious, especially when overclocking, since the feedback is inaccurate.

2. Thermal compound is not doing its job correctly, either because there is too much, too little, or because the compound itself is of poor quality.

What kind of thermal compound are you using, and how much did you apply? [strike]It doesn't seem that the problem is with the CPU cooler since you said that it feels cool most of the time.[/strike]

Edit: The issue with the heat transfer actually could be due to the possibility that the cooler's material is not able to efficiently transfer heat away from the chip, in which case it may actually be the cooler's fault rather than the cpu or the thermal compound. It's highly unlikely, but it is still a possibility.
 
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DraconisDomini

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Jun 10, 2016
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I've tried two different thermal compounds. I had a syringe of NT-H1 from my old Noctua cooler so I used that first as it seemed to have done a good job with my Phenom II. I wondered if the heat issue might have been that the Noctua compound was a bit old so I switched to the PH-NDC that came with the Phanteks and as with everything else I've tried that didn't make any difference. Every time I've used a ~5mm blob in the middle of the cpu, which when I've taken the cooler off has covered the whole of the cpu nicely with minimal overspill.
 
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DraconisDomini

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Jun 10, 2016
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I had a look but I can't seem to get it to tell me what it currently has the the vcore set at.
 
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Ignorance101

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Apr 27, 2013
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Your cooler should not have an issue with any higher temps as a result of overvolting the motherboard applies if it's doing its job correctly (certainly it should not be sitting at 50C idle), which is why it seems most likely that the issue lies in one of the components between the cpu die and the cooler's point of contact with the cpu. If you were unlucky enough, the thermal compound that resides within the chip itself which transfers heat to its heat spreader may be at fault, in which case your chip is fairly stuck with its temperatures unless you feel like prying the cover off and applying new compound(which is incredibly risky, and I would not recommend it).

The only reasonable thing left that I can suggest is that you buy thermal compound that has a LOT of great reviews(to ensure that it is about as good a compound as you can get) and using that and seeing if the problem persists. If it does, then the problem is almost certainly one with the cpu itself and there's not much to be done. Again, your cooler in particular would NOT be letting the chip sit at such a high idle temp if everything was working as it should be even at a much higher voltage, so you don't need to worry about altering voltage settings right now.
 
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DraconisDomini

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Jun 10, 2016
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I'll give that a go and see what happens. Failing that I'm still well within the 30 day replacement period for the cpu so I might see if Newegg will RMA it.
 
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