i7-7700K 78-83C Spike Temps With DeepCool Gammax 400

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That cooler should work fine for a stock configuration. Way too incapable for an overclock on that chip, but for stock clocks it should be ok. I'd say repaste and use the following guide, although intended for another cooler, as somewhat of a guide in regard to the actual physical paste application itself.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2520482/solving-temperature-issues-hyper-212-evo.html


I would not bother with lapping the CPU lid or heatsink base. That is usually only good for about an additional drop of 1-2°C anyhow, and your problems are more in the 10-20°C range because at the stock configuration you should probably not be seeing anything over 70°C if this gens behavior is anything like other generations, which it is.

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


Also, how many case fans do you have, where are they located and in what type of orientation (Intake or exhaust) is each fan configured for based on it's directional arrow or actual airflow?

lockheedmartinengineering,

On behalf of Tom's Moderator Team, welcome aboard!

Don't feel alone; you're not the only person experiencing this problem. Here's a 73 page Thread that's been running on Intel's Forums since the 7700K was launched: Thermal sensor issue i7-7700k? - https://communities.intel.com/thread/110728

Of course, the title of the Thread is misleading because the Digital Thermal Sensors (DTS) function properly, but it's still a good read. The solution is primarily fan curves (and time delay options, if available) in BIOS.

As my esteemed colleague, darkbreeze has already suggested, Tom's has a Sticky you really should read: Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

The problem is described in detail below. From the Guide:

" ... Core temperatures increase and decrease instantly with changes in load.

Intel’s specification for Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) response time is 256 milliseconds, or about 1/4th of a second. Since Windows has dozens of Processes and Services running in the background, it’s normal to see rapid and random Core temperature “spikes” or fluctuations, especially during the first few minutes after startup, which should eventually settle. Any software activity will show some percentage of CPU Utilization in Task Manager, where unnecessary Tray items, Startups, Processes and Services that contribute to excessive or continued spiking can be disabled. ... "

" ... 6th Generation processors introduced "Speed Shift" technology in Windows 10, which responds much faster to changes in workload than "SpeedStep" due to having many more Core speed and Core voltage transition levels.

Since 7th and 8th Generation Speed Shift is twice as fast as 6th Generation, some users complain of Core temperature spikes which cause fluctuations in fan RPM at idle. Motherboard manufacturers are currently developing BIOS fixes that include separate SpeedStep and Speed Shift settings with more flexible fan curves and time delay options. ... "

" ... Here's the operating range for Core temperature:

Core temperatures above 85°C aren't recommended.

Core temperatures increase and decrease with Ambient temperature.

Idle temperatures below 25°C are generally due to Ambient temperatures below 22°C. Core temperatures can vary greatly among games due to differences between CPU and GPU workloads. ... "

Keep working with your fan curves. Increase the temperature thresholds till you find a combination that keeps your fans from spinning up during spiking events. Don't hesitate to experiment with setting your fan curves to ramp up at around 80'ish.

The fans on the 7700K in my personal rig are set to stay at 30% idle, (no audible fan noise till about 35 to 40%) then ramp up beginning at 70°C reaching 100% RPM at 79°C. The result is that the fans only ramp up during Ambient temperatures above 26°C when running Prime95 v26.6 Small FFT's or other tests such as RealBench. During all other normal operations, the fans stay idle at 30% RPM.

Manually reducing Core voltage (Vcore) and Load / Line Compensation (LLC) keeps the Core temperatures lower, thereby minimizing the problem. Although you're not yet overclocking, Google up a few overclocking Guides anyway, which will explain how to minimize Vcore and LLC while maintaining stability. Also, you can work with Task Manager to disable unnecessary Tray items, Startups, Processes and Services that might be contributing to the spiking problem.

Also, concerning Prime95; more from the Guide:

" ... Intel tests their processors under carefully controlled conditions at 100% TDP. Prime95 version 26.6 Small FFT's is ideal for CPU thermal testing, because it's a steady 100% workload with steady Core temperatures that typically runs Core i variants with Hyperthreading and Core 2 processors within +/- a few % of TDP. No other utility so closely replicates Intel's proprietary test conditions. This is also the utility that Real Temp uses to test Core temperature sensors.

• Prime95 v26.6 - http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=15504

Note: Do not use Prime95 versions later than 26.6 on 2nd through 8th Generation i3, i5 or i7 CPU's, which all have AVX (Advanced Vector Extension) Instruction Sets. Prime95 versions later than 26.6 run AVX code on the CPU's Floating Point Unit (FPU) which causes unrealistic temperatures up to 20°C higher. The FPU test in the utility AIDA64 shows similar results.

AVX can be disabled in Prime95 versions later than 26.6 by inserting "CpuSupportsAVX=0" into the "local.txt" file in Prime95's folder. However, since Core temperatures will be the same as 26.6, it's easier to just use 26.6. AVX doesn't affect Core i 1st Generation, Core 2, Pentium or Celeron processors since they don't have AVX Instruction Sets ...

... If you’re overclocked and run AVX apps such as for rendering or transcoding, you may need to reduce Vcore and Core speed or upgrade your cooler and case fans so Core temperatures don’t reach 85°C. Many 6th, 7th and 8th Generation motherboards address the AVX problem by providing offset adjustments in BIOS. An offset of -2 or -3 (200 or 300 MHz) is usually sufficient. Asus RealBench runs a realistic AVX workload typically within +/- a few % of TDP, and is an excellent utility for testing overall system stability, whether you're overclocked or not ... "

• Asus RealBench - http://rog.asus.com/rog-pro/realbench-v2-leaderboard/

Concerning delidding, your thoughts about sending your 7700K to Silicon Lottery are well founded. They can also "bin" your processor, which will eliminate most of the "trial-and-error" from overclocking. (The 7700K in my personal rig is delidded). See Section 9 in the Guide; The TIM Problem.

Here's a perspective on the magnitude of the problem:

... "Shown below are the thermal characteristics between different Generations of soldered and TIM’d processors:
Core temperatures on earlier processors using Indium solder between the Die and IHS have consistently tight gradients within 5°C above IHS temperature, which indicates good thermal conductivity. However, Core temperatures on later Generations using TIM between the Die and IHS have inconsistent gradients up to 25°C above IHS temperature, which indicates relatively poor thermal conductivity and uniformity. ... "

Once again, welcome aboard!

CT

Is that the full or mid tower 805?

lockheedmartinengineering,

The parameters which Silicon Lottery uses for delidding, binning and testing are described on their website. They do a professional job and furnish a specs sheet with Vcore settings and AVX offset for your highest stable overclock ... and yes, they reseal the IHS, so the processor can be treated just as it was, straight out of the box.

Concerning which AIO will fit into your case, I can't give you a factual or informed answer. However, the 7700K in my personal rig has been delidded and runs very cool on a front-mounted Corsair H105 (240mm x 38mm) found on sale for $94.00. I then reconfigured the unit for push-pull 120mm fans in a customized and modded, well ventilated Antec 902 V3.

Here's the settings, conditions and results:

TIM1 Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut IHS / Die
TIM2 Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut IHS / Cooler
Overclock 5.0GHz
Vcore BIOS 1.355
Adaptive Offset + 0.020
LLC Level 4 of 7
XMP Disabled
DDR4 3200 @ 3733 / 1.360
Fans & Pump @ 100% RPM
Prime95 v26.6 Small FFT's 10 Min
Ambient Temperature 22°C

Vcore Load CPU-Z 1.373
Core Temperature 64°C

By far, the single most effective method to achieving the lowest possible Core temperatures on 3rd through 8th Generation processors is delidding.

CT

Wow. I've got to say, and sorry, no offense meant to you or your choice of case, that I think InWin has made a HUGE error in the design of that case.

There are no top fan locations and only a single 120mm rear exhaust fan location. That's a terrible design IMO. It's all well and good to have liquid cooling, and support for it, and it's great that there are a variety of intake fans/locations, but if you can't get the HEAT out of the case that is being transferred from all the internal components, then the rest almost doesn't matter.

Everything inside the case is creating heat. Motherboard, GPU card, CPU, drives, radiators that are in an intake orientation (And they would have to be in this case, since there is no way to mount a radiator in an exhaust configuration) and even the power supply are all contributing to hot air inside the case.

All those intake fan options are nearly worthless because with only a single exhaust fan, and a small one at that, there is no way to relieve the pressure differential being created by all those intake fans forcing air into a case that is unable to expel both the transferred heat AND the increased pressure, thus allowing MORE cool air to enter. If you can't get the already heated air OUT, then the intake system will struggle horribly to try and bring any more cool ambient air IN.

This is an extreme positive pressure situation which, while it might be great for reducing dust intake, does little to facilitate efficient cooling. If they were going to only design one exaust fan into the design it should have, at minimum, have used a 140mm exhaust and a 200mm exhaust would have been a little more reasonable. Truly, for every two intake fans there needs to be at least one exhaust fan, and I prefer to see an equal number of intake and exhaust fans. Negative pressure systems have been proven to be FAR more effective at cooling than positive pressure systems, although some amount of positive pressure can be tolerated for the sake of decreasing dust being brought into the case if the design doesn't have filtration designed into it.

Sorry, but I don't like it. I think it is highly probably to be contributing to your cooling woes, and even if you can get the CPU thermal range down to where you want it, with that kind of lack of cooling you are still seriously compromising the life of your GPU card and motherboard, not to mention things like hard drives, SSDs, NVME (This is a BIG problem as heat is a serious issue with these types of drives) and your sticks of DRAM. None of those are going to see the kind of pass through residual cooling that you want and need to see, with this type of design.

In my opinion, and that's all it is, this type of case design is better suited to low TDP, mostly passive setups that don't particularly need a whole lot of cooling or are used more for media use than for professional applications or gaming.