How best proceed with overheating i7-4790K?

[REnso1]

I have an i7-4790K in a GA-Z97MX Gaming 5 mobo latest F4 BIOS.

I used a Noctua NH-L12 cooler rated at 95W for cooling the processor rated at 88W in a Lian Li PC V354 with 4 fans, 2 in 2 out, case closed and case open, ambient is 27-30°C.

Temperatures in BIOS and memtest86+ were high so I decided to try stress testing and in Prime95 small FFT cores 1&2 overheated to 100°C using Core Temp.

I tried reseating the heatsink and renewing the NT-H1 TIM and opening the case but it made no difference. I have a photo of the contact pattern here.

When I tested using the OCCT benchmark I was unable to complete a test due to the processor overheating so I underclocked the processor to 3.6 GHz, disabled turbo and manually set vCore to 1.1v.

With an underclocked processor I was able to get a heating and cooling curve using the OCCT auto capture, to enable me to study the problem.

Even when underclocked the processor was reaching high temperatures, rapid fluctuations in temperature with work load suggest a bottleneck in the thermal pathway. When I tested with the intel retail cooler which came with the CPU the cooling was much less effective than the NH-L12 (even when underclocked taking just over a minute of OCCT to reach the 85°C cut off point see below) indicating the NH-L12 was doing a good job of removing heat, which meant the processor was making the heat or the source of the bottleneck.

I have discussed it http://forums.hexus.net/cpus/327593-4790k-overheating-nh-l12.html elsewhere. Advice was to contact Intel due to an absence of information relating to my retailer's testing procedures. I have asked about these but am still waiting for a reply.

So my question is how should I proceed from here? Does this qualify for an RMA? If so is it possible to negotiate this with Intel direct or do I have to go through my retailer?

I have done my best to make sure I am not doing anything wrong and I would be grateful for any pointers to any mistakes I may be making.

[AGuan1]

How did you make those changes in the asus vii hero to make the XTU settings permanent? I cant really translate the asus vii bios with the XTU setup.

[dadi]

Here you go

Go to internal cpu power management

change the values save and exit, after boot check with xtu

I also tried some adaptive voltage, not sure if correct

This is stable with recomended intel multipliers (44-44-43-42), asus all cores optimization disabled. I'll post soon another photo from bios with the multipliers settings.

I wonder if I could lower the voltages some more and how.

Edit : multiplier settings

[AGuan1]

Thanks danyxp that helps a lot. I also set my cores to 45 44 43 42 respectively and use your voltage settings -64 and addtional 16 seems to work but gonna play with it some more to see if i can get it lower as well. your settings dropped my temps a lot. from max load of 100c+ down to 80c ish lol.

Still high but will try to keep playing with it. im surprise at stock settings with h100i it shot up over 100c and then i found this thread.

[dadi]

I have in bios cpu core ratio "per core"and core ratio limit on "auto"; that seems to give me the default intel multipliers 44-44-43-42. I did not tested with prime, just with xtu, and I use the benchmark from it, it gives me higher temps than the xtu stress test. If I run prime I'm sure I'll get over 80, I only have a cooler master 212 evo (air cooler)

If you find a lower stable voltage or some other helpful settings please share with us

[DSas]

My Gear on this build

I7-4970K

Gigabyte GA-z97x-ud5h rev1.1

Patriot Viper 2X8gb (16gb) @ 1600Mhz

Sandisk Extreme Pro ssd 240gb 10 yr warranty

Corsair h55 with push-pull Corsair sp120 high performance edition fans.

ati 5870

I have read most of these posts and I am very disappointed in this processor. I would also like to say I use the Corsair H50 and 55 on all 8 of my other PC's. These consist of all amd processors.

FX8350 x1, FX8150 x 1, FX4350 x 1, 1100T x 1, 1090T x 3, 965 x 1, all with ati 5870's or gtx 470's. All are overclocked and running Boinc at 100% on cpu and gpu 24x7. Please note that none of these systems run at more than 55c under full load, even in a hot room at 78 degrees. I will also say this is my first intel build in more than 15 yrs.

I am having the same outrageous and extreme over temp problems that everyone else seems to be having 100c+. I have done as others have suggested in there posts and crippled my system by following the suggestions listed much earlier in this thread. This does seem to be working in controlling the temps to about 68c to 72c, but I find this solution to be ridiculous since I am not getting 100% of what I purchased. I was told by my friends and the store associates that I would be much happier with an intel system and it would perform much better. I will have to state that this was incorrect as I am very displeased with the performance of this intel build. I do think that having to de-tune a system is obsurd and I am very much considering returning this processor.

If I get the i7-4790 will I have the same problems as the 4790K?

Does anyone know of an available processor for this mobo (Gigabyte GA-z97x-ud5h rev1.1) that will not have this overheating issue?

If you do please let me know as I only have a few days left to return this one.

Thanks.

[SPark48]

Welcome to the club. :(

It seems you're having similar problems as many of us. It's unfortunate that your first rodeo with Intel had to be with this poorly made processor...

I have an i5 4690K in my other computer and have no problems with it. I have it overclocked from 3.5 to 4.6 and it's still running as cool as a pickle. If you don't absolutely need 8 cores, go with the 4690K. It's basically the same processor as the 4790K without hyperthreading.

[dadi]

The settings found here do not cripple the system, they just correct the values in bios. Just do a benchmark in xtu with all cores x44 and then another with intel specs, 44-44-43-42. The difference is only 15-30 points. The tweaks only limit the amount of juice sent to the cpu.

[BAbre]

Hello sampark1980,

My h100i is set in pull. I tryed to make it pussh-pull but I have no space for it, the push fans can be put, but with I am mounting the pull fans under the radiator, the slot where the memmory is placed, does not let the pull fans to be set there. So my only option is pull or pull. I think the good way is the air coming from the bottom to the top of the case, so I have put the fans on the h100i under the radiator on pull mode.

My H100i came with stock thermal paste built up from the store, but it had high temps like 40ºC on iddle and 76ºC on full load, using Intel XTU stress test. So I have sent the whole desktop to the store, and they realized there was something wrong with the h100i and they mounted a new h100i on it, but with the Artic Silver 5 thermal paste (as I requested). So my temps, with this new build and ken-intel settings are 37ºC on iddle and 64ºC on full load.

My desktop and my friend's system, were mounted by the same store, called PC Diga. They built them up from scratch.

He has Water Cooler Corsair h80i and Corsair Carbide 200R case, with 2 stock case fans on it. I have Water Cooler Corsair h100i and Corsair Obsidian 550D, with 2 stock case fans and 2 Noctua NF-S12A. With the same memmory, cpu, motherboard, ssd, but he has GPU MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G and I have GPU Asus GTX980-4GD5. I have PSU Corsair RM750W and he has PSU Corsair Builder CX750W. Our desktops are very similar, I think mine should have better air cooling than his, but I probably had bad luck on my CPU chip from fabric.

I have been reading this thread, and it seems a lot of people have high temps with the i7 4790k, maybe there was a bad build from the fabric? And a lot of models have to be replaced? I have sent an email to Intel Support, and they said my temps are normal. Don't think there is much more I can do now.

Thank you very much for your reply and help!

Best reggards,

Bernas

[SK20]

Hello guys/gals,

Here is my setup:

System Board: Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport (16GB)

CPU Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

I have adjusted my settings according to Ken's document. When i run the stress test in IXTU temps seem to be fine but i am concerned about the "Power Limit Throttling" settings going to 100% after 10 seconds or so and always staying there. Is that normal ?

Also is it normal that my Processor Frequency is at 4.00 GHz, shouldn't it be higher ?

Thank you very much

[dadi]

No. Increase current limit to 256 A from 105 and do the benchmark from xtu, not the stress test, For my board 256 A is minim without throttling, for yours might be lower, you have to test. But use the benchmark, mine is ok in stress test with 125 but throttling in benchmark. So I used the benchmark to determine the minimal value of 256,

[SK20]

danyxp,

thank you for your reply. What does "Power Limiti Throttling " mean ? Is it the CPU not getting enough power ...if yes why is it called throttling . To me throttling means there is too much of something so we need to slow it down.

[dadi]

Yes, the cpu is not getting enough power for the task that is doing at the moment, that resulting in lower multiplier value (lower speed = throttling because low power). If you stress it hard enough your system will crash (I think, you can try with prime). I put mine with lower voltage (posted here before) and all cores x44 to run some fpp tests (from aida64) and crashed. With default multiplier settings ( 44-44-43-42) and same voltages the system did not crashed, and no power limit throttling.

Someone correct me please if I'm wrong.

[SK20]

I have increased Processor Current Limit all the way up to 330 (gradually from 105) and it's still Throttling. Is it safe to keep going higher ?

[dadi]

Increase turbo boost power max now, from 110 to 125. Higher if necessary. The default from the mainboard was 1023 A (maximum), so you are safe, but the higher the value - higher temps. Leave it at 300 and play with turbo boost power max, when you eliminate current throttling lower the current limit to 256 or even lower, you have to find the sweet spot for your mb.

[SK20]

turbo boost power max or turbo boost Short Power Max. My current Turbo Boost Power Max is set to 88W (per Ken's document)

[dadi]

Short power max, leave the 88 w alone, sorry for the confusion; I'm at work

But i did said from 110

You are safe changing those values, they are 4096W default (max) Those are just limits, not the actual amount that the cpu gets ( A and W )

[SK20]

looks like changing Processor Current Limit nor Turbo Boost Short Power Max has no effect, 5 seconds into benchmark test Power Limit Throttling goes to 100%. So i decided to change Turbo Boost Power Max from 88 to 115 (just a random number i picked) and Benchmarking test completed and Power Limit Throttling stayed at 0%. Now if i start IntelBurnTest (stress level very high), then Power Limit Throttling goes to 100%.

So what am i learning here ?

[dadi]

check the first post, there is a table with some gigabyte boards there.

As far as testing goes, I said that in my case the xtu benchmark is more demanding than the xtu stress test. I did not run the intel burn test, I'll try that to.

If I were you, I'll leave everything default and start changing one value at the time. Start with turbo power max (from 88 go up) then with short turbo power max (from 120 go up) and then current limit (110 go up). Test after every change.

Edit:

Not sure how relevant prime or intel burn test are for day to day use; that's why I didn't bother with them.I'm happy that my pc is stable and has temps >55 celsius while gaming at 1080p (bf4 ultra detail, gtx 970 helps) and have decent fps. Maybe I'll get throttling in some tests (I also lowered the voltage) but for the moment I'll keep these settings; if I hit stability issues from day to day use I'll know that I have to change something.

[dadi]

Here is intel burn test, stress level maximum; no throttling, 81 Celsius max temp. cpu total tdp max 48W, IA core tdp max 44W; max voltage 1.1290, but just a spike I think, I only saw 1.0610v and 1.0460v

[DSas]

Thanks. That is good idea but since I do Boinc I do need all cores I can get. I have disabled hyperthreading and turned back on turbo. I also still have system limited to 88 watts. This also seems to control the temps. Hopefully later on I can find a way to cool this processor with it running full steam. Thanks for mentioning your processor as this gave me the idea to change some more settings for now. Also don't feel like taking apart the system so soon after building it.

Thanks again sampark1980.

[SK20]

I am curiuos what you get if your run the latest version of Prime, small FFT