i7-7700k higher than expected temperature for stock clocks and AIO watercooler

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hknoener

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May 30, 2017
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Hi, all.

I've purchased an i7-7700k a couple of days ago and put it up to test.

I heard, and read, that it can be a hot CPU. That's why I've bought a Cryorig A40 240mm to couple with that.

After a couple of benchmarks and some daily usage, I think the temperature is higher than expected. It's not even close to being burning hot, but for a stock clock, I was expecting a couple of degrees lower.

I'm using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut with a Cryorig A40 240mm with the CPU top fan mounted. My case is a Thermaltake Core V21 with 2xCorsair Air Series AF120 on top of the combined with the built-in 200mm front fan. Plenty of ventilation inside.

Running AIDA64, I was facing spikes of 72C, averaging 64C. Idle I sit at 40C, usually, and playing Dota 2 (using less than 50% of the CPU in average) it sits at 63C. Room temperature is around 22C those days.

As I said, these are not alarming temps, but I was definitely expecting to see lower temperatures with my ventilation + cooler + liquid thermal.

Am I being delusional to expected anything lower?
 
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Darkbreeze
Obiously you didn't read the article. It SPECIFICALLY states and SHOWS the effect of Gallium on the copper heatsink base they applied it to. And THAT was only brief contact for a period of hours, not days on end.

This quote is from an entirely different article than the one I linked you to.

Electrochemically speaking, gallium has a potential of -0.53 volts and copper has a potential of +0.334 volts. The difference between the two metals is going to create a "battery" with a potential of 0.864 volts.

Gradually this battery will deplete; as the gallium migrates over to the copper. You may have heard some stories about how gallium "dries up" and evaporates. In many of those cases it is likely that it acted like a battery and migrated...
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pontiac1979

Aug 10, 2018
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There's a lot of other factors that come into play here that you have already mentioned: Is the cooler seated properly? Is the thermal paste applied correctly? How many fans do you have? How many intake/exhaust? Do you have good airflow in your case? What's the ambient temperature in the room the PC is in? You see where I'm going... :p
 
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mdd1963

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Jan 14, 2006
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72C would be normal for a 7700K under load, regardless of which cooler...

Intel's Extreme Testing Utility/CPU test would hit about 64C, roughly equaling P95 v26.6/ blended load...(small FFTs would also raise that to about 72-73C based on my non-delidded sample)

I've yet to see a game drive the 7700K above 63C, with BF1 being my main guide, and known for being at least semi 'cpu-intensive'...
 
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hknoener

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The last hot-headed CPU that I had was the QX6600. I remember it working warmer but mot stable at the temperatures. The sudden peaks on the 7700k seem quite odd for me.

After so many reviews and tests that I have watched and read I was under the impression that the temperatures should be lower. They are pretty safe, that part is clear, but I always liked to keep the parts cool.

Maybe playing a little bit with the fans could help, but delidding is something I would consider if necessary to keep those temps lower.
 
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hknoener

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MERGED QUESTION
Question from hknoener : "i7-7700k higher than expected temperature for stock clocks and AIO watercooler"







How about your temps, with your setup? Would you mind sharing?
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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First of all, I'd take it all back apart NOW, and clean off ALL of the Conductonaut. Then get a good non-liquid metal paste in it's place if it's not already damaged. Conductonaut uses Gallium, and Gallium is corrosive when in contact with copper, unlike with Nickel. It is fine for use with heatsinks and water coolers that have nickel plated bases, but your cooler has a copper base and I would not recommend using it with it.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3362-how-liquid-metal-affects-copper-nickel-and-aluminum-corrosion-test

Do not use Aida or newer versions of Prime95 for thermal testing. They produce unrealistic thermal responses and they do not apply steady state thermal loads. Use ONLY Prime95 version 26.6 for thermal testing. 15 minutes of Prime95 version 26.6 on the Small FFT test option is what you want to use to validate the thermal compliance.

As far as paste goes, either the Noctua NT-H1, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaught, Cryorig Cryopaste, Arctic MX-4, Phanteks PH-MDC are all good pastes that are not corrosive when used with copper bases and are not likely to cause any galvanic corrosion.
 
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hknoener

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Don't take it personally, but I have a strong trust feeling in the manufacturer's recommendation. Accordingly to the website (http://thermal-grizzly.com/en/products/26-conductonaut-en) and this picture, your comment doesn't make sense.
75sigKm.jpg


On top of that, I've watched plenty of videos from Gamernexus and I've read your article and... I still don't get why you would make such a remark.

Steve himself for you about it

It's abundantly clear that the restriction is for alumnium. On top of that, I already switch CPUs before with this compound and, believe it or not, everything was fine.

I will try to benchmark with the mentioned tools instead and see what I get. Thanks for this clarification.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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Obiously you didn't read the article. It SPECIFICALLY states and SHOWS the effect of Gallium on the copper heatsink base they applied it to. And THAT was only brief contact for a period of hours, not days on end.

This quote is from an entirely different article than the one I linked you to.

Electrochemically speaking, gallium has a potential of -0.53 volts and copper has a potential of +0.334 volts. The difference between the two metals is going to create a "battery" with a potential of 0.864 volts.

Gradually this battery will deplete; as the gallium migrates over to the copper. You may have heard some stories about how gallium "dries up" and evaporates. In many of those cases it is likely that it acted like a battery and migrated over to and became part of the copper heat sink.

If you take apart the heat sink from the CPU and clean it up you may find that the copper heat sink is colored a silverish-grey that resists efforts to even buff it off with a scrubbing pad. The stuff you can polish off is a corrosive residue of oxidized gallium and the stuff you cannot remove easily is now an alloy.

One good piece of news is that if this happens repeatedly the battery action will stop, as it is pretty inefficient to put gallium and have it migrate over to a gallium-copper alloy.

There might be a few things that are not so good news. It is possible that the gallium-copper alloy is much less a thermal conductor than pure copper. It is also possible that the alloy is not as structurally sound as pure copper or becomes brittle (gallium is pretty brittle when it is solidified). You may not even notice the first instance of less thermal conductivity unless you were in a laboratory setting and counting calories (thermal) and heat transfer characteristics, the actual difference may only be 1-2 C in a computer and that can get lost in all of the other variables of how computer CPU's cool, loading, power, air temperature, dirt on the fins or fan inefficiencies.

The second thing regarding brittleness might only be a concern on a vapor-phase heat sink where the metal is very thin. Again, this is not proven by any particular instance but there is always the potential of the vapor phase heat sink of fracturing and letting out the magic cooling juice, right on to the CPU. (do not panic over this statement, I am not backing it up with any examples but maybe heat sink manufacturers should look in to it).
Click to expand...

Bottom line, it creates a reaction and weakens the copper, even creates a plating over time. So while the immediate effect may not be anywhere near the level of aluminum, eventually the effect may be more pronounced and I personally would never use it with aluminum or copper. Nickel plated contacts are fine. Of course, it's your system and you can do as you please, and perhaps it will be ok, but keep in mind that all these guys have relationships with the companies that produce these products, so you can be sure they are going to minimize any bad feedback about potential issues if possible. Anything that creates an unwanted alloy layer or causes the metal to become brittle is a bad thing. There are no two ways around this.

It may not be a fatal problem, but it is A problem, to some degree or other. If you feel safe, that is all that matters. I simply wanted you to be aware of the potential.

You did not however answer the other questions I had for you, and until you do so I am unable to offer any advice for trying to help you further.

 
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