i7-6700K overheating a Corsair h115i

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EchohcE

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Sep 7, 2016
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I'm at my wit's end.

I have a beautiful i7-6700k that I bought last November overclocked to an easy 4.4ghz. Should be a cakewalk, the Internet tells me, almost EVERY i7-6700K should be able to hit 4.4 at minimum. It hits it, P95 says it's rock-solid, but there's a problem. It's severely overheating.

We're talking 85 C with a Corsair H115i (the dual 140mm one) cooling it. The cooler's a monster. It's big, beautiful, and relatively quiet(Balanced preset in Corsair Link). The coolant temp never goes above 34 C.

I've:
-ensured that Windows 10 Pro is set to 'High Performance' in Power Options
-disabled the internal graphics (no change in temps)
-redone the paste twice (Gelid CG-Extreme)
-changed the fan placement on the H115i from push-intake to pull-intake and back (no difference whatsoever in temps)
-changed from Balanced to "Balls to the Walls" in Corsair Link (doubled the fan speed, quadrupled the noise, no difference in temps)

I want to get at least 4.4ghz out of this cpu without it getting scared and throttling. I think that's reasonable, given I HAVE A 280MM LIQUID COOLER and one helluva power supply, the EVGA Supernova G3 850w.

This isn't my first build, I've built and successfully overclocked before. So what the heck am I missing that's holding this computer back???
 
Solution
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That's because you're using the wrong version of Prime95. Anything newer than 26.6 maxes out internal functions on the CPU that aren't designed to be stressed. It produces unrealistic amounts of heat and causes voltage spikes that would never be seen in any normal usage scenario (even CPU cryptocurrency mining).

I recommend Prime95 26.6 for at least 3 hours, and then at least an hour in AIDA64 Extreme's built in System Stability Test (it's in the Tools menu).
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EchohcE

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Sep 7, 2016
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I'm using the latest, toaster-riffic Prime95. It throttles at 80 C back down to 4.0ghz after about 20 seconds and stays there until the temps are below 70 C.

This is just really frustrating me since this is my second build. I'm not new at this, so it's really frustrating. Are Intel chips truly so hot that a 280mm liquid cooler still keeps them around 80 C?
 
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weberdarren97

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Aug 10, 2015
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That's because you're using the wrong version of Prime95. Anything newer than 26.6 maxes out internal functions on the CPU that aren't designed to be stressed. It produces unrealistic amounts of heat and causes voltage spikes that would never be seen in any normal usage scenario (even CPU cryptocurrency mining).

I recommend Prime95 26.6 for at least 3 hours, and then at least an hour in AIDA64 Extreme's built in System Stability Test (it's in the Tools menu).
 
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Solution
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weberdarren97

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Aug 10, 2015
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Nah, that's normal. Certain cores are closer to other heat producing components (like the schedulers or the cache) than the others are. No matter how even the paste is spread, certain cores will always be warmer. A difference of less than 10C is well within acceptable margins.
 
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weberdarren97

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Aug 10, 2015
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Yes, it is.

Remember that even though the CPU can handle temperatures exceeding 85C, I highly advise against setting an OC that has the CPU above 85C for extended periods of time. Yes, the parts of the CPU that are reporting their temperatures can withstand these temps, there are other parts that aren't reporting their temperatures (cache, schedulers, pipelines, etc) and there's no real way to know what temperature these are operating at. I recommend keeping the CPU under 85C. Going over this temp for a short burst before lowering your OC settings shouldn't hurt anything, but keeping the CPU at these high temperatures for long periods of time could result in permanent damage.
 
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EchohcE

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Sep 7, 2016
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Thanks for the help. I knew that Prime95's AVX instructions resulted in much higher temps, but I tended to dismiss it because I figured the point of Prime95 was to make the perfect storm of heat and power consumption and to see if my OC survived. Something about your explanation in the solution post above made me realize how stupid I was being. This was my first intel build, so 80C was a big deal for me coming from an FX-6300 that had a thermal max of 65C.
 
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weberdarren97

Glorious
Aug 10, 2015
8,137
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45,615


I think you're misunderstanding how AMD measures temperatures. AMD and Intel chips can both withstand internal temperatures of about 100C and sometimes slightly higher for a short burst. The difference between the two is that Intel places their thermal probes (basically a mini thermometer) much closer to the cores than AMD does.

I have an analogy for you. Let's say you feel like you have a fever. I could touch a thermometer to your foot, but that's not where your body collects heat, so the thermometer would give a lower reading. This is sort of what AMD did with FX. Now if I placed the thermometer under your tongue, I'd get a much more accurate reading of your temperature. This is sort of what Intel does. You had the same fever, but only when I put the thermometer in the right place did I see how hot you really were.
 
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