i7 4790 reaches 95°-100° while idle. New heatsink?

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

Hello,

I've had my i7 4790 for almost 2 years now. Never had a problem so far, but I've been having crashes (just a black screen while the pc shuts down and attempts to restart over and over) and after running some tests, I noticed that the CPU was reaching 95°-100° while idle. I have the stock fan.

I removed the heatsink and cleaned it with pressured air ( it had accumulated quite a lot of dust) but it didn't make any difference to the temps ( I made sure to reattach it correctly, but the problem was occuring before I took it apart anyway). I had my system pre-built, so I hadn't applied any thermal paste myself, it already had a stock one as far as I could see.

I have ordered a thermal paste that I plan to apply ( Artic Silver 5, will remove the old one first) but I'm wondering if it will make that much of a difference ( the CPU is supposed to run about 30° to 40° lower even at full load right ?). So I'm wondering if I should get a new heatsink as well.

Besides the heatsink, my desktop has 2 120mm fans installed (both are running). There is no dust as far as I can see (cleaned the case with pressured air). I also have a Radeon 280X OC (which runs fairly cool at ~40° under load), 16GB of RAM, all on a Gigabyte Z97 Gaming GT mobo, if it makes any difference. I've had problems in the past, but none heat related so far. I was using a second monitor, which used the CPU, which I have since disconnected, but it didn't make any noticeable difference.

Ambient temperature is at about 25°. I used SpeedFan, HWinfo to monitor the temps, as well as my BIOS ( CPU immediately at 90° at boot). I don't really use any extremely demanding programs, just some video games which also aren't really demanding (MMOs, MOBAs such as Guild Wars 2 and Smite). I couldn't find the RPM of my CPU's fan, but it's definately working, fast enough to be basically invisible, same as the other 2 fans in the case. I have done no overclocking. Image of temps.

Could the heat problem be related to something else than thermal paste/dust/airflow/heatsink ? COuld just replacing the thermal paste have that much of a difference? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Edit: CPU fan is running at about 2250 RPM. My PSU is a Corsair CX750 (750 Watt). The heatsink is connected to the main power supply for it. Some more pics of the CPU and Heatsink.

James Mason · Aug 30, 2016

The thermal paste would be come ineffective after 2 years and if you took of the heatsink, so you basically have to reapply it now.

BUT, now's a good time to get an aftermarket cooler anyways. Though with temps you were getting I wonder if the stock fan had stopped spinning.

ko888 · Aug 30, 2016

Is the heatsink properly attached to the motherboard? The symptoms seem to indicate that it isn't properly attached.

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

James Mason :

The stock fan is spinning, fast enough to be practically invisible. Any things to look for in a new cooler ( size, RPM etc) ?

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

ko888 :

As far as I can tell it is properly attached ( I removed the back panel of the case to look at the back side of the mobo, as far as I could tell the little black sticks were through the holes), its firm and it doesn't really move. Even if it wasn't, the problem started occuring recently ( past 3 days) even though I've had it for almost 2 years, I've measured temps in the past ( just not the last 2 months) and there wasn't anything unusual.

James Mason · Aug 30, 2016

yeah if you didn't reapply thermal paste it's definitely not gonna work right now, doesn't look like there was much on it anyways. The heat can't transfer properly from the CPU to the Heatsink if the thermal paste isn't on there properly.

CM 212 evo is pretty hard to beat price-to-performance wise, can be difficult to install: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hmtCmG/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2

Cryorig H7 Ult if you want something a little better: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Ztp323/cryorig-cpu-cooler-h5ultimate

ko888 · Aug 30, 2016

Every time you remove the heatsink from the CPU you should be cleaning off all of the old thermal compound from both the heatsink and the CPU's heat spreader. New thermal compound should always be applied before reassembly.

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

James Mason :

What I'm concerned about is if the thermal paste can really make such a big difference. I could understand the CPU being 60° hot under full load ( I never really stress it that much), maybe even 70° but 100° ? Can the thermal paste really drop the temp by 30° +- ? I'm waiting for it to be delivered (should arrive in 1-2 days), I will apply it and then measure temps again. I will definately look into an aftermaket cooler (thanks for the suggestions) but should the thermal paste fail to reduce temps by a significant margin, should I test anything else besides getting a new cooler?

My warranty expires in 2 weeks, I would have sent my machine already, but sending a package of this size would cost me about 200 euros, which aren't covered ( can't really send it any other way). At this point I might as well add about 100 more euros and get a new processor.

James Mason · Aug 30, 2016

emil96 :

James Mason :

What I'm concerned about is if the thermal paste can really make such a big difference. I could understand the CPU being 60° hot under full load ( I never really stress it that much), maybe even 70° but 100° ? Can the thermal paste really drop the temp by 30° +- ? I'm waiting for it to be delivered (should arrive in 1-2 days), I will apply it and then measure temps again. I will definately look into an aftermaket cooler (thanks for the suggestions) but should the thermal paste fail to reduce temps by a significant margin, should I test anything else besides getting a new cooler?

My warranty expires in 2 weeks, I would have sent my machine already, but sending a package of this size would cost me about 200 euros, which aren't covered ( can't really send it any other way). At this point I might as well add about 100 more euros and get a new processor.

Yes, thermal paste being existent or not (yours looks like it had all dried up and become useless) is a HUGE difference.

Replacing the thermal paste should make a large difference because it looks like yours had stopped working at all.

ko888 · Aug 30, 2016

The air gaps being caused by the old thermal compound is a big problem. Air is a thermal insulator and would explain the high temperature spikes and thermal throttling/crashing.

The purpose of properly applied thermal compound is to fill in all of the microscopic air gaps between the heatsink and the CPU's heat spreader contact surfaces.

James Mason · Aug 30, 2016

And if you need any help on applying thermal paste or installing the CPU cooler right: https://youtu.be/VIF43-0mDk4?t=39m19s

mhm_24 · Aug 30, 2016

I think you should get a new CPU cooler unless you dont have cooler fan problem. Apply new thermal compound but it is not going to solve your problem completely. 95 degree way to high. Go to BIOS and set CPU fan setting to highest value manually. Disable automatic fan control. See if there is difference or not. The things about stock fans, they dont't have long life mostly. And also turning fan doesn't always mean its cooling.

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

mhm_24 :

I went in BIOS and changed the fan speed from Normal to Full Speed.[strike] The temps while idle dropped about 50° (now at 48°-51°) ! I will keep monitoring them, under load and idle, and change the thermal paste and see how it goes.

Edit: That was immediately after boot. Temps have risen to about 80°-85° again. Still, an improvement.[/strike] It took the CPU a bit more time, but its again at 95°-100°.

James Mason · Aug 30, 2016

if you sit at the bios and watch the temperature, does it go up?
If it only rises that high in windows,I wonder if you have a virus or something that's like, trying to use your CPU to mine bitcoins.

If you disconnect from the internet (unplug cable) in windows does the temp still get that high?

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

James Mason :

I will try that and get back to you. I was wondering if it was connected to malware as well, but I had decided to try the thermal paste first, before doing a fresh install.

mhm_24 · Aug 30, 2016

I would suggest you to try a different cooler(stock or not, just make sure its working properly) before buy it if you can. But i ve one more suggestions that may seem odd: diassemble one of your 120 mm case fans, also disassemble stock fan. Put 120 mm fan on the aluminium block like stock one but your case should lay down to side. And see what will happen

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

James Mason :

Same in temps in BIOS. Unplugged Ethernet cable and left PC alone for 15mins. No significant change in temps.

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

mhm_24 :

I dont realy have any other cooler spare, so I don't think I can try one before I buy it unfortunately.

So... you want to swap one of the other fans in the case with the heatsink?

mhm_24 · Aug 30, 2016

Yes, just find a way to keep it steady, when its not screwed it may wiggle a little. You can put little heavy thing on the fan to keep it steady.

Marteicos · Aug 30, 2016

Please follow this instructions when installing your cooler back. Steps 7, 8 and 9.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/processors/000005762.html

The push pin connector needs to be in that position during install otherwise the cooler wont make proper contact with your processor, causing high temperatures.

Apply proper thermal compound every time you remove the cooler.

Getting an aftermarket cooler is a really good idea.

Good luck with your system.

emil96 · Aug 30, 2016

Marteicos :

That's what I did to connect the heatsink the first time I did it, I actually refered to Intel's little manual book. Every push pin connector made a "click" sound when I pressed it down, and the heatsink is connected firm, it doesn't wiggle or move at all. However, the thermal paste is currently at the condition which can be seen in the pictures linked in the OP, as I don't have any available right now.

Thanks.

emil96 · Aug 31, 2016

Applied new thermal paste (Artic Silver 5, after clearing away the old one) as best as I could. Temps between cores vary, but they are about 48° to 58° while idle. Artic Silver 5 has a break-in period of 200 hours, so hopefully temps drop even more. Will get a new aftermarket cooler. Thanks everyone for the help and responses.

ko888 · Sep 1, 2016

48°C to 58°C idle temperature is still way too high.

What is the brand and model of the motherboard and what is the motherboard's BIOS version number?

What is the CPU core voltage (i.e. Vcore)?

emil96 · Sep 2, 2016

ko888 :

After some hours of use, it's now at 34°- 38° while idle. Will check later again for under load temps.

Motherboard is Gigabyte Z97 Gaming GT. Not sure about it's BIOS number, or Vcore, but I would assume they are the stock ones (voltage settings), as the i7-4790 isn't supposed to be overclocked and I haven't done any either.

ko888 · Sep 2, 2016

emil96 :

ko888 :

After some hours of use, it's now at 34°- 38° while idle. Will check later again for under load temps.

Motherboard is Gigabyte Z97 Gaming GT. Not sure about it's BIOS number, or Vcore, but I would assume they are the stock ones (voltage settings), as the i7-4790 isn't supposed to be overclocked and I haven't done any either.

34°C to 38°C at idle is quite normal.

At maximum load it should normally be under 76°C.

i7 4790 reaches 95°-100° while idle. New heatsink?

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