Computer underperforming and somewhat unstable, please help! (i7 6700k)

[TM13]

Main Issue: Underperformance and crashes most likely due to processor

Description: My PC is showing signs of instability and performance drops from what is normal for the past few months. The CPU seems to run hotter and hotter the longer it's on a game, at one point I recall it reaching 80+C sustained during a gaming session. Sometimes when gaming my computer will inexplicably crash as well. On top of that I've ran benchmark tests that say my PC is good, but when I attempted to run an extended stress test on the CPU my PC froze 45 minutes in. The temperatures of the CPU would jump back and forth from mid to high 50s to mid to high 60s celsius and peaking at low 70s during it according to Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. My idle temperature (sub 3% usage) fluctuates from 28-34C.

I have reapplied thermal paste and checked to see if the heat sink fan is spinning properly, but no fix to the issue. I remember I started noticing issues a few months back after a clean install of drivers, after which my PC could only run games in 1080p instead of 4k and they ran a bit worse, but I'm not sure if the 2 problems are related.

I don't know anyone who would allow me to use their processor to test things so I'm not sure what to do next. I don't want to buy a new processor/heat sink only to discover that the hardware wasn't to blame.

If I can provide anymore information or provide it in a better way please let me know.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support. Just to let you know, the Intel® processors have a feature that when they get overheated they go off by themselves to avoid any damage on the rest of components inside the PC. You mentioned the system crashed while gaming, is the PC throttling, freezing or going off by itself? What is the model of the motherboard? Are you doing overclocking? What is the model of the memory RAM? Please provide speed, voltage and quantity of sticks. Do you have the option to test the PC with just one memory stick? Based on the specifications of the processor if the unit pass 64°C then it is getting hotter that it should: https://ark.intel.com/products/88195/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4-20-GHz- In order to confirm if those values are correct, we can run the Intel® Processor Diagnostics Tool, it does an overall test including a temperature test and then it will provide a report with the temperature values registered, if the unit passed the test the it should be working fine: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool Additionally, there are some PC repair stores that might be able to swap parts, to either test your processor on a different board or test your board on with a different processor, just in case there might be one close to your location. Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[TM13]

Specs are:

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1 TB

MSI Z170A PC MATE

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080

i7-6700k

Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2400MHz (PC4-19200) DIMM

EVGA SuperNOVA 750 B1, 80+ BRONZE 750W

The PC will either freeze or bsod, during gaming since I had the incident where the processor temp exceeded 80C I have been watching temps and found that my processor temperature slowly rises during a session. CPU loads are only around 35-50% yet the temperature rises, I thought it could be the heat sink so I cleaned it out and reapplied thermal paste but it didn't help. I mentioned in the post that during the stress test the temperature would jump from mid to high 50s to mid to high 60s, peaking at low 70s. It failed the stress test at 45 minutes in and the last temperature recorded was 58C.

I am not overclocking, no.

I do have the ability to test with just one stick, I can attempt that if need be but I'm not sure how it would relate to CPU temperature and performance.

I'll attach the results of running the diagnostic tool to this reply.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, Thank you very much for sharing those results. In reference to the specifications that you provided, the proper memory RAM for the Intel® Core™ i7-6700K is DDR4-1866/2133, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V, if you are using a memory RAM with a speed of 2400MHz that could sooner or later damage the processor, this is because you are forcing it to run at speeds it does not support. For that same reason, if you have the option to test the PC with just one memory stick there might be a different behavior for this particular scenario: https://ark.intel.com/products/88195/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4-20-GHz- We recommend to use the PC with the very basic configuration, so if you have the option to test it without the video card that is also a troubleshoot step that we can try to rule out a possible problem with that component. According to the report of the Intel® PDT test, the processor actually passed the test, when the processor does not passed the test it will say "Failed". If you have the option and if you noticed that by testing the PC with one memory stick the behavior is different, we recommend to get a memory RAM that is within the specifications for the proper functionality of the unit and to avoid the overheating problem. Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[TM13]

Due to the nature of the problem with performance and heat being the main concern, I have a few questions before I start testing things if that’s alright. In regards to testing the PC without a video card, how exactly would I be testing it in that scenario? Also, with testing with only one stick of RAM, how would you suggest I test that out? Would you like me to run a stress test, or attempt to play something that would put a work load on the processor? Thanks again for you time.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, You are very welcome. In regard to your first question, since the processor passed the test of the Intel® PDT, right now we cannot confirm that the processor is actually overheating, based on the report the max temperature is 61°C and the max temperature for this unit is 64°C, so, the reason why we suggest to remove the video card is to rule out a possible problem with that component that might be causing the BSOD and the freezing. About your second question, we just wanted to confirm, did you assemble the PC or did you purchased it already built? Because if you purchased it already built, then we not recommend to open it, in that case we advice, if it is possible, to take it to a PC repair store close to you and verify if they can open it to test it without the video card and with just one memory stick with each stick Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[TM13]

I apologize for the confusion and caution, I just want to make sure I don’t further mess things up. The Intel PDT passes, however, I find that under extended stress tests on just the CPU that the CPU temperature will jump back and forth from high 50s and low 60s to high 60s and low 70s, this breaking the temperature threshold you’ve set of 64C, on top of the crash at 45 minutes in. My PC was hand assembled by myself about 2 and a half years ago, at which time the PC ran great. As for testing with the video card out, what exactly am I looking for when I boot the PC? Should I run a stress test on the CPU then? And if I’m taking out the video card I’ll need to install integrated graphics drivers I assume as well. The same goes for removing one stick of RAM, from there should I run a stress test or attempt to play a game and record the results? Due to the nature of the issue being underperformance with gradual instability, I’m concerned with how I will properly test components once the PC has booted successfully. Once again, thank you for your time and patience. I appreciate your help and I apologize for being so cautious.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, You are very welcome. No problem at all, I completely understand and actually in reference to computers it is better to be cautious. The troubleshoot steps provided previously are recommended in order to isolate the issue. You mentioned that you wanted to make sure if it is actually the processor the source of the problem and that is the best way to find that out, by testing the PC with the very basic components and with the minimal configuration. Basically what we suggest is to remove those components and use the PC normally to verify if the issue persists, either while gaming or using the PC to do the regular tasks. Now, in the Intel® PDT report, it shows the max temperature the processor reached was 61°C, it does not show that it reached the 70s and it does not say that the test was failed, that indicates the processor is fine. If you saw that the test was interrupted at some point then there might be a problem with the unit and a replacement will be needed. Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter? Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[TM13]

Your assistance was great help, sadly though I haven’t found a clear cut solution yet. I’ve tested the RAM and GPU to no avail and I swapped heatsink fans with the same issue persisting. My plan as of now is to test the processor by finding a PC repair place nearby and seeing if they have a similar processor we can use to test with, as well as putting my current processor in another PC to see if the issue persists there when placed under extended stress tests. Beyond this though the only other things I can think to do is updating my BIOS(which doesn’t make much sense since this processor has worked fine on this version before), reformatting my hard drive in case there’s some sort of system confliction happening that no amount of reinstalling driver software can fix, or seeing if the motherboard itself is the issue. Thanks for checking with me Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, You are very welcome. Thank you for letting us know those details. Excellent, yes, those will be the steps to try in order to find out the source of the problem, to confirm if the problem is the board, the processor or any other component. Once you get the chance, please let us know the results. Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, I just wanted to check if you were able to find the source of the problem and if you need further assistance with this scenario? Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TM13, Since I have not heard back from you, so we are closing the case, but if you have any additional questions, just reply back or post a new question. Regards, Alberto R. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation