4690k overheating, at wits end.

[JKraf1]

System specs:

OS: Windows 10 64-bit

CPU: i5-4690k (stock settings as best I can)

Motherboard: MSI G45 Gaming

GPU: MSI 290x 8GB

RAM: 16GB Corsair 1866

Cooler: Corsair H115i (Corsair H110i GTX before that)

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G1

Case: Corsair 750D

Fans: All 140mm, 2 front intake, 2 top intake (cooler pull config) and one exhaust.

BIOS: Updated to latest from MSI

Tools used for monitoring: HWMonitor, ETU, and Corsair LINK.

I'll try to make a long story short, and I'll start with my old liquid cooler the Corsair H110i GTX. Installing the cooler was a hassle, the worst of it was how poorly the waterblock would sit on the CPU. The back plate was always loose and no matter how I screwed everything down the waterblock would wobble including the back plate itself. I read from Corsair that this was normal so it let it go. After initially completing my build my CPU temps didn't impressed me, always in the high 30s to mid 40s no matter how fast my fans or cooler pump was working. Never tried to overclock after running small stress tests as they would hit the 80s causing me to immediately stopping the test. Temps while gaming varied anywhere from 50°C - 70°C+. About a month ago I got tired of the temps as I really wanted to start learning to overclock and get better performance, so I reapplied thermal paste with Arctic MX-4. Reseated the cooler but this time I used rubber washers between the back plate and the motherboard which made the waterblock seal tight to the CPU without wobbling. I thought my temps would be normal but I was wrong. Temps were the same but the cooler fans would ramp constantly and the only way the temps would be decent is if I flicked the radiator tubes. I figured that the cooler was bad so I RMA'd it. Corsair "upgraded" me to the H115i cooler I am currently using. With the H115i I didn't need to use the rubber washers, waterblock seemed to seat just fine. My idle temps were the same as before but my stress test temps never went past 55°C. Progress was made, but that night I noticed one of the two fans I installed on the cooler was orientated wrong, I goofed and fixed it the next morning. I read online that I may not be giving the pump enough power so I got another SATA cable solely for the pump only. Everything went fine but now my temps are slightly higher during normal usage and the stress test show high temps.

Temps from stress testing are as follows:

Intel ETU Stress Test 1hr

CPU temp: 63°C

H115i temp: 32°C

Fans: 660 - 780rpm

X264 Stress Test 1hr

CPU temp: 64°C

H115i temp: 33°C

Prime95 Blend Test 1hr

CPU temp: 71°C but hit 95°C at some point

H115i temp: 33°C

Fan: 600 - 1860rpm

Not completely sure what happened with the Prime95 test as when I checked in on the test it was at around 71°C. Hopefully no damage was done. I ran the test again just before posting this discussion but stayed the whole time to monitor it, barely 5 minutes into the test it almost climbed to the 90°C again before I hit stop, here are the results:

Prime95 Blend Test

CPU temp: 87°C

H115i temp: 30°C

Fan: 440 - 1800rpm

Also I should include that I changed all CPU settings to what ETU considered my chip's "default". The only settings that would not take hold after rebooting the system are as follows:

Turbo Power Max

Default: 88w

Shown: 512w

Turbo Boost Short Power Max

Default: 110w

Shown: Unlimited

Turbo Boost Power Time Window

Default: 8sec

Shown: 16sec

Processor Current Time

Default: 105A

Shown: 256A

Also for reference my system's overall temps are completely fine, high 20s or very low 30s during idle and normal usage, airflow seems to not be an issue. Corsair LINK shows a sensor reading at 127°C constantly on the motherboard, which I assume is just faulty and the CPU fan header that the cooler plugged into shows that the fans are running at 1440rpm, which is incorrect.

I am at a loss on if it's again the cooler, my motherboard, the CPU itself or a combination. I can't see how I can physically make the waterblock any tighter to the CPU, it seems to have a good seal to me. I also use the dot or pea method of appying thermal paste, never too much or too little. Thank for reading this, post any help would be appreciated, I'll try to answer whatever questions I can.

[rsaha4]

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[JKraf1]

I was finally able to revert all CPU settings to exact default in accordance to XTU (I've been mistakenly saying its ETU).

In the 100th attempt to reduce CPU temps, I re-applied a nice pea sized dot of thermal paste and re-seated the waterblock. I made sure everything, and I mean everything was snug and connected correctly. With nothing slightly out of the ordinary, I booted the system up and before reaching windows the cooler fans spiked to what sounded like maximum (1800rpm) and as I checked Corsair LINK once I got into the desktop and I noticed the CPU temps were in the 90s and after a few more moments it gradually went down to the high 50s. I again took the cooler off and yet again redid everything as before making sure everything was set up nicely and booted the PC back up. This time it instantly was overheating as before and once things cooled down a little I tried to do a 5min test with XTU but the temps raised to 90°C+ and I quickly stopped the test.

As I am not getting any help here (no offense) I am going to submit a support ticket and perhaps get the CPU fixed/replaced. I tried replacing the liquid cooler with one that actually fits better, replaced the cooler and system fans multiple times. I've tried setting all bios and cpu settings to default, all stress tests I've tried give very high temps for a stock 4690k without an OC, and sometimes after trying to fix this issue, they reach critical levels.

[idata]

ShiftyEffect: Thank you very much for joining the Intel® Processors communities.

In regard to your inquiry, we always recommend to use the processor at stock configurations with the BIOS at defaults, the t-case temperature of the processor is 72.72°C, so any temperature under that value is considered normal. It is hard to tell if the problem is happening because of the processor, board or fan, the best way to find that out will be with by swapping parts. Remember that the memory of the processor is DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V, if the memory RAM is running at 1866MHz that could create overheating. If you still have the processor, I just wanted to let you know that we do have a tool to test it, it does an overall test on it, including temperature. If the processor passed the test, then it should be fine:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool In the case you still are interested in replacing the processor, please get in contact directly with Intel so they can assist you with that:Chat support: http://intelsupportchat.force.com/icslivechat/ics_tech_processor_ww_english_Chat, For phone support, depending on your location, you will see the contact information on the links below:EMEA contact information: http://intel.ly/28QeAF3APAC contact information: http://intel.ly/1ITfjUFLAR contact information: http://intel.ly/29c0rW4North America: Phone Number 1-916-377-7000, Monday - Friday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Pacific Time). Any further questions, please let me know. Regards,Alberto R

[idata]

ShiftyEffect: I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Any questions, please let me know. Regards,Alberto R

[ssote]

Sounds like there is something wrong with the cooler. I would RMA the cooler.