NUC10i7FNH and Shutting Off - Over-Temperature Condition Message on Boot; Not Actual Indication of Overheating

[sbmi]

We have a new NUC10i7 (FNH1). The user reports that it frequently shuts off, and upon rebooting displays the following message:

WARNING: System has recovered from an over-temperature condition. Please ensure proper airflow before continuing.

Press the Enter key to continue

We have been able to replicate this issue. Sometimes it occurs when the system is under load, some times it occurs when the system is idle. The system is running Windows 10 1909. The system has the latest drivers and the March BIOS (0039).

BIOS defaults have been loaded, and the system cooling policy set to "Cool".

The system has been reformatted and had a clean install of Windows 10.

The system has undergone stress testing with Prime95 loading all cores (with a blended CPU/memory workload) as well as AS-SSD running an extended benchmark on the SSD. During stress testing, we were unable to get the system temperature to rise enough to trigger the thermal shutdown event.

There is an updated BIOS (0041) that was posted about a week ago. (The date says May, but it wasn't available online 2 weeks ago, but was available last week.) We have not tried this BIOS as the change log does not mention anything related to power or thermals, and multiple users here have reported issues with this BIOS making their NUC unable to boot at all.

We ran temperature logging via HWInfo, and there is nothing unusual around the time the machine last shut off. Throughout several days of logging, we have observed the following:

The system generally remains at the same power usage when idle, and there is a small rise in power usage when the system is in use. Occasionally, one core will turbo briefly, to around 92 degrees, then back off. I believe this is the expected turbo behavior of this CPU. This happens many times in the log without issue.

My only guess is that sometimes the turbo behavior goes too far, or the sensor misreads the data, and we get a spike of 100 degrees, which appears to be the threshold for triggering thermal shutoff. However, I have not been able to log such a spike (I assume that I would be unable to because the system would shut off instantly).

Other things to note:

When system power usage rises for an extended period (when the user is doing something), we see a corresponding rise in CPU core temps as well as fan exhaust temp. This indicates to me that the cooling system is working.

Average / overall temperatures are fine (40-50 degrees).

SSD temperatures don't get very high either.

The user isn't doing anything intensive. They basically run Chrome, Word, and Outlook.

The system seems to shut off randomly. We've seen it happen while it was under load (processing Windows Updates), and we've seen it happen when the system was idle over night.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I'll note again that this has happened on a fresh install of Windows 10 1909 with all updates and drivers.

We have 2 other NUC10i7FNH1 units that we have not yet deployed. We will be testing these extensively.

However, if this is a common occurrence (we've seen similar behavior, and outright bricking, with NUC7s and more so with NUC8s), we'll probably need to shift our 100+ systems away from NUCs and onto something more reliable.

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello sbmi, 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.   

In order to better assist you, please provide the following: 

1. Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) and attach the report generated:  

• Open the application, check the "Everything" box, and click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View".  
• Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save".  
• Use the paperclip icon to attach the report to the thread. Please note that only one file can be attached at a time. 

2. Just to confirm, how many units do you have that present this behavior? Do they have the same setup configuration? 

3. What are the temperatures shown on the BIOS? Please provide a picture if possible.  

Regards, 

Sebastian M.  

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[svenry]

Looks like broken Hardware

you could try to use custom Cooling Settings:

fan off Capability --> off

for Processor

75 temp

30 Dut cycle

4 Cycle increment

Mainboard:

60

30

4

any other Bios Settings changed?

[IntelSupport]

Hello sbmi,

If you are still experiencing this issue, we would like to have more information about your system(s).

Please provide us with the information requested by Sebastian_M_Intel. 

Wanner G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[IntelSupport]

Hello sbmi,

If you need any further assistance, please let us know. We will be glad to assist you.

Wanner G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[IntelSupport]

Hello sbmi,

We have not heard back from you, so we will close this inquiry. If you need any further assistance, please post a new question. We will be glad to help you.

Wanner G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_Sykes]

Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

For all the peers viewing this thread, just to let you know, this issue has been resolved by working directly with the community post originator, if your system is exhibiting the same behavior please contact Intel® Customer Support, feel free to reference this post once you reach out to them:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel