i7-14700KF overheating and underperforming

[Komaar]

Me and my friend have the same setup:

i7-14700KF
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Silver Monkey SNOWY 360 AIO cooling

I have a Gigabyte Z790 Gaming AX mobo, he has a different one.

My CPU was overheating with my previous cooling so I bought the same cooling as my friend (this 360 one). The temps are a little better, but still unreal. I had to set the temp limit to 90 degrees and PL1 = 125W and PL2 = 200W and for example I still hit 80 - 90 degrees centigrade and 160 - 180 fps in Payday 3 and I don't get 5,5 GHz on P-cores, I get like 5,0 - 5,1. Meanwhile my friend has 240 fps (+60) and 58 degrees centigrade and 5,5 GHz on all P-cores on stock settings with the same cooling.

The difference is HUGE and yes, I have the newest BIOS (13c) and my cooler is mounted correctly, because my front panel (where the radiator is) gets BURNING hot the moment the processor is stressed, so the heat is definitely being transfered.

My desktop temps are around 30 - 40.

Another example is that the same friend has to limit fps in CS2, because it comes close to 500 and I get 170 - 180...

Same CPU, same graphics card, both 32GB Ram... did I just terribly loose the silicon lottery?

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello Komaar,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

I understand you're experiencing considerable performance differences compared to your friend, despite having nearly identical setups. However, the variation in motherboards and the programs running or installed could be contributing factors.

I would like to know more about your system details to fully understand where the issue truly lies. Please provide the missing key information below:

1) Since the BIOS firmware is already the latest version, please make sure that the Intel Default settings is applied inside the BIOS setup.

2) Please download the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool. Check the User Guides and share the log file (.txt) and screenshot of the results.

3) Please also download Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU) and run the CPU stress test for 5 minutes. Share screenshots while the test is ongoing and another screenshot when the test has completed. *Make sure the graphs are shown.

4) What program(s)/application(s) are running when high temperature and low FPS is observed? Or is it only observed while gaming (specifically with CS2)?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

JeaetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Komaar]

My motherboard is Gigabyte Z790 GAMING X AX (BIOS version is F13c from May 27, 2025)

I have Intel Default Settings and the only thing I changed is that I have an undervolt of -0,135V and TVB (see screenshot from BIOS and XTU) which I only made recently to cool the system a little bit, but it doesn't really matter in this case.

The temperatures got a little better after it, but they should be lower than now even without an undervolt, so they really are too high. I also tried power limiting, but it also didn't bring good temp results. Didn't do any OC or stuff like that and trust me, that my fiddling really doesn't matter.

If you want to know, my exact cooling is Silver Monkey X SNOWY ARGB 360 3x120 mm.

I don't have screens from stress test but I was thermal throttling all the time.

Also I don't know if the CPU is fully responsible for the FPS difference, because the difference is really huge (especially in games like CS2, where I should have like 300 more...), but I don't have any other ideas other than throttling.

    

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello Komaar,

To provide further assistance, please look for our private message in your email, which requests additional information that may be helpful. Make sure to check your inbox, as well as your spam and junk folders, as the message may have been redirected there.

Best regards,

JeanetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello Komaar,

Have you had a chance to look over the previous post and private message (via email)?

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,

JeanetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello Jakub,

Thank you for sharing an update via private message. I will now close this thread as you requested. If you need assistance in the future, please submit a new inquiry, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Sincerely,

JeanetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician