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Intel i7-4790K fake overheating?

MJT
Beginner
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Hi all,

 

I got issue with i7-4790K. Processor temperature under load jumps up in a moment for 30 degrees after about 70 degrees is reached, so motherboard decides to shutdown system. BOX cooler installed, thermal grease changed 3 times with different greases while tests (best result was reached with Soviet "KPT-8" =). "Burning" utility is LinX 0.9.1 (linpack based utility), monitoring system is CoreTemp last version.

 

Current temporarily solution is downclock to 3.5GHz, core voltage limitation to 1.02V - system stable, temperature under full load is about 65 degrees.

 

Also i found a lot of same situations described at other sites, but with no solutions (most common was to return CPU via warranty).

 

Current questions is:

  1. Is "scalping" (remove CPU heatsink or change internal CPU thermal grease) will help to solve this issue?
  2. ... or it's internal CPU thermal sensors issue, so it's only way to use CPU with downgraded settings?

 

Thanks a lot for any ideas.

And excuse me for bad English =)

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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If, by "scalping", you are referring to the process of removing the heat spreader from the top of the processor, I have the following to say,

  1. Doing so will require an after-market cooler (the box processor cooler cannot be used with the heat spreader removed). If you are going to replace the cooler, you should first test to see whether using this replacement, by itself, solves the issue (a good one should).
  2. You will be voiding your warranty if you remove the heat spreader.
  3. Most people removing the heat spreader are doing so because they have one of the processors that utilizes TIM instead of solder to connect the die to the heat spreader. Your processor uses solder, so most of the reason for doing this is not valid.
  4. But will removing the heat spreader improve temperatures? Yes, simply because you have eliminated some of the metal between the die and the cooler's thermal mass, but you will see nowhere near the improvement that the folks doing this because of the TIM issue with newer processors will see, so dampen your expectations.
  5. Worth repeating: You will be voiding your warranty if you remove the heat spreader.

 

No, it is NOT an issue with the DTS sensors.

 

Hope this helps,

...S

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MJT
Beginner
656 Views

n.scott.pearson

Thanks for your answer.

Warranty period for this CPU already expired, i bought it at august 2014.

I found some reviews which says where is "Next-Generation Polymer Thermal Interface Material (NGPTIM)" inside CPU between core and spreader. So maybe issue reason is TIM became degraded? CPU worked for 4.5 years with box cooler and without problems.

Of course, i will use more powerful cooler if i will proceed with scalping.

 

I just hoped it's some simple solution available, because this issue is meets often according to references in internet.

Also i don't like to scalp just to test will it help or not. At least because i don't know is it TIM, DTS or something other issue, and a risk to get CPU broken is high. If answer is "Yes - DTS sensors failed; No - no way to fix it", it looks like i have to use current CPU in downclocked mode, because next one used CPU may meet some issues soon (maybe it's possible to found new one, but nobody knows what will happened with it after few years of stock in unknown conditions).

 

Updated: sorry, i read you answer inattentively. I mean last phrase about DTS is not a reason of it - i'm still not sure. I will try to take graphs from some software under heavy load to show how it looks like.

 

Thank you once again.

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