Thermal sensor issue i7-7700k?

[CK7]

I have a brand new build; EVERYTHING NEW. i7-7700k is running at stock speeds. I have the RAM set to XMP for DDR4-2666. Motherboard is Asus Maximus IX Hero Z270.

I have found that the i7-7700k reports a momentary (a second or less) temperature spike +25 > 35 degrees Celsius anytime a program is opened, a webpage is opened, a background app runs etc. The temperature blip cascades through the cores in random order; not the same every time. This causes my heatsink fan to constantly cycle up and down. Temperatures otherwise report as steady, normal increases. Peak temperature under Prime95 blend test is 71 degrees Celsius.

Attempted solutions:

I have re-installed my heatsink and thermal paste with no change.

I have tried to manually set my fan speed in the bios. The only setting that avoids this issue is setting the temperature / fan at a constant (and loud) 80-100%. I've tried PWM and DC mode.

I have found a few user reports elsewhere on the web, all reasoning that it's just the way it is. I don't accept that. Opening a folder or browser should not spike temps +30 degrees. Not only is the fan cycling annoying, it puts undue stress on my fan; possibly shortening its lifespan.

What's the answer, if any? RMA?

[idata]

I think I've solved my i7 6700k overheating and malfunctions...

The default BIOS settings were making the processor voltage go to at least 1.4 volts and causing the high temps and weird problems, especially with XMP enabled.

In the BIOS settings I changed the CPU SVID Support to "Enabled" - default setting is "Auto" and I changed the CPU Core/Cache Voltage to "Adaptive mode" - default is "Auto".

Now CPUID HWMonitor shows the voltage to be 1.275 and maximum at 1.305 volts. The CPU only runs in the mid sixties with Prime95 Small FFT's test and I can now use XMP for the memory (which supports XMP).

It's only been a few days, so too early to tell if the computer is now 100% stable.

The DEFAULT BIOS settings are causing these problems. It appears that lowering the voltages - from the defaults - will fix the problems. Yes the CPU does appear to use Turbo Boost to maximum 4200 MHz.

[idata]

Yes, that is exactly what I have found. I'm running my CPU at 4.9GHz with 1.27V additional turbo mode voltage: this gives a Vcore Max of 1.264V with max temperature of under 75C under stress testing. The power consumption is also low at under 80W. The system appears to be stable.

I have also tried the CPU at 5.0GHz with a voltage setting of 1.3V and the max temperature is also not going over 75C. I haven't tried to fine-tune it.

Here's HWInfo with the CPU under full stress test:

For anyone who would like to try this, I have found this article very useful: http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/

http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ The Kaby Lake overclocking guide - Page 3 of 5 - Edge Up

Cheers

Robert

[idata]

@ra5040 - Did you have to change the default BIOS settings like I did to solve the high temps/voltages?

[idata]

Yes, although I used the steps outlined in this article: http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ The Kaby Lake overclocking guide - Page 3 of 5 - Edge Up , starting at 4.9GHz and then tweaked the voltage down from 1.30 to 1.27.

After that I set the speed back to 5.0GHz and the voltage to 1.30, but didn't try any further optimisation.

[PYoon1]

Hi,

Did lowering the voltage setting fix the temperature spike? Or did it just lower the max temperature threshold?

Thanks for the info.

[idata]

Lowering the voltage didn't fix the spikes, what fixed the spikes was either setting the CPU Core/Cache voltage to Manual or Adaptive (which is better as manual keeps the Vcore constant even when the CPU is not under load).

This guide explains the steps, step by step:

http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ The Kaby Lake overclocking guide - Page 3 of 5 - Edge Up

[idata]

I'm sorry if I misled you in my last reply. Lowering the voltage is of course what reduces the spikes. With the default settings the CPU requests high voltages from the motherboard when the load increases ... higher than it needs (at least for most copies of the CPU). If you put the CPU Core/Cache voltage to Manual you can limit the voltage to what you want and so you can limit the power drawn and therefore the temperature. Setting the Core/Cache voltage to Adaptive is better because you can achieve the same thing, but in addition the voltage will drop as the load drops (which it doesn't in Manual). That way the average power drawn by the CPU is much reduced which is better for the CPU.

[ICitr]

I'm definitely going to print out this thread. It's turned out to be very useful. Thank you to all those who contributed this valuable advice about UEFI settings for the CPU.

However, I wonder, if the problem resides with the default UEFI settings on all these brands of motherboards, shouldn't we be hearing from thousands of people with the same temperature spiking problem, in particular with its effect of fans continually cycling up and down? Why is the problem with only a relatively small subset of 7700K owners? I'm thinking that your solution seems viable yet coincidental. I'm not sure this UEFI settings aspect is the real underlying problem.

I'm just thinking out loud. I've read that not all processors come off the production line equally; that for whatever reasons, processors work to different levels of performance. And, after testing, processors are triaged and "binned" to different marketing identifications with different guaranteed levels of performance. As such, the best performing units are set aside for the 7700K designation. Is this true? If so, might it be that those people with the temperature spiking problem received 7700K processors that perhaps shouldn't have been binned as "K" units?

[TGrab1]

isaacc wrote:

I'm definitely going to print out this thread. It's turned out to be very useful. Thank you to all those who contributed this valuable advice about UEFI settings for the CPU.

However, I wonder, if the problem resides with the default UEFI settings on all these brands of motherboards, shouldn't we be hearing from thousands of people with the same temperature spiking problem, in particular with its effect of fans continually cycling up and down? Why is the problem with only a relatively small subset of 7700K owners? I'm thinking that your solution seems viable yet coincidental. I'm not sure this UEFI settings aspect is the real underlying problem.

I'm just thinking out loud. I've read that not all processors come off the production line equally; that for whatever reasons, processors work to different levels of performance. And, after testing, processors are triaged and "binned" to different marketing identifications with different guaranteed levels of performance. As such, the best performing units are set aside for the 7700K designation. Is this true? If so, might it be that those people with the temperature spiking problem received 7700K processors that perhaps shouldn't have been binned as "K" units?

The think is a small percentage of people overclock. Then on that an even smaller portion would find the spikes alarming enough to come here.

The spikes as I said are not bad if at stock values.. you are still well within your temp limits. The major thing I have noticed is this chip just likes to run hot and on top of that there are issues with inconsistent TIM application between DIE and IHS which makes that ramp up even more extreme as (if like mine) there is an air pocket then the temps shoot up super high in that area because the heat is building up and not being dispersed to the IHS then to your cooling solution.

For me this would lead to massive spikes under use.. p95 would take me from 28c idle to 72C load in less than a second. Now with a proper delid and good application of my TIM on the DIE and IHS.. my temps still jump from 28c to say 55C in p95, but it is no longer over a 1 second period and it is also a much lower temp.

I feel intel needs to go back to soldering chips. We didn't have these issues when they were and temps were also lower and more consistent from chip to chip

[idata]

From reading this topic it does seem that some CPUs do have an overheating problem. However it's also pretty clear to me, having adjusted the settings on my BIOS, that leaving everything to default in the ASUS BIOS is not a good idea. It's OK probably if you are running at SPD (4.2GHz + turbo), but it definitely is not if you overclock. This is probably more a problem with the CPU than the motherboard, as the CPU requests too high a voltage (presumably to ensure that the worst chips, in the worst load conditions, are stable).

My own CPU will run fine at 5.0GHz at under 90W (and under 75C) under full load. That's pretty remarkable, especially as I did not optimise the voltages. So Kaby Lake does appear to be very energy-efficient.

[DG7]

Hi guys first time on the forum!

Anyway I am having the same issue and this is on my first pc build. I have been a bit more fortunate than some because my pc has not spiked above 58C, but I have noticed the computer with run at 22c-29c on idle and rapid ramp up to 30c-50c just doing basic tasks. What caused me to start doing some research is yesterday was the first day I got to spend gaming on the pc for more than an hr and it was running at a 49-51c playing world of Warcraft . My father who just built a i7 6800k rig is running at a 32-33 after 5hrs of gaming world of Warcraft this is concerning to me. I might just be paranoid but it seems that it shouldnt be running that hot and spiking randomly on simple tasks.

i7 7700k

msi z270 titanium

evga 1000w supernova

noctua dh-15 cooler

gskill ripjaw V 2x16 ram

Windows 10

evga gtx 1070 FTW

[idata]

These temperatures are totally OK. You probably won't see any over-temperature values until you start of overclock ... if you do, that is . But run AIDA64 stress test to see what happens when the system is under full load.

[TGrab1]

Unless you ambient temp is super low I would attribute your dads low temps more to a fault reading. 32-33 C seems like more of an idle temp.

[OJuni2]

I think Intel should give us a free delid. That looks a good way of solving the temperature issue.

[idata]

I would totally second that! But what I really think Intel should do is to replace the CPUs out there with ones that have the correct TIM applied correctly. They could do a selective replace for those of us who have a problem with the CPUS and want the chip replaced. It would be good policy, especially with AMD snapping at their heals ... I am still seriously thinking of sending back the CPU and getting a Ryzen instead.

[PYoon1]

@ra5040,

I tried to follow the steps to overclock my PC using that document - http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ The Kaby Lake overclocking guide - Page 3 of 5 - Edge Up

Making changes would get me a blue screen each time even though I'm pretty sure I followed the exact steps. I had to use the EZ tuning wizard to make it work again. Still seeing the issues after the EZ tuning wizard as well.

any ideas? I'm afraid to really go furthers since I don't really understand too much about OC either.

[idata]

I suggest you go through the steps in the guide again carefully, but this time set the multiplier to something low like 42 (to start off with). I guess you are setting it to 47 or higher and getting a blue-screen because the CPU isn't getting enough voltage for that speed. If that works and everything looks good on HWInfo, you can start to up the multiplier until it goes unstable.

[cmack2]

hi Robert (ra5040) & TGrable...

i think you both guys are both onto something important within this 7700K thermal performance thread...

my ASUS TUF Mark1 - when using ASUS EZ Tuning via BIOS - has ridiculous voltages applied to the 7700K CPU - just not necessary & obviously OverVoltaging to crazy levels (thermal runaway)...

Robert, thank you for sticking with this subject - i must admit as a newbie to overclocking - i would like your very, very specific settings within ASUS BIOS (i have AI Tweaker) - (& i must admit i was very worried when you disabled SVID & receiving crazy sensor settings, particularly CPU Package Power)...

INTEL should take notice of this thread - mobo/CPU OverVoltage is the clear problem...

btw, Robert, have you applied XMP RAM settings?

cheers, craig

[idata]

Hi ... yes, there's no doubt that by controlling the CPU through the BIOS that the crazy stuff can be dialled back a great deal, and if your CPU is a good one (as mine appears to be), the speed and temperatures are excellent.

But it should not be necessary to do this ... and few people would have a clue how to and would be too scared to try. I certainly would not have without help from this forum and from the excellent articles available online (and if not for the Intel $30 o/c warranty, which gave me the peace of mind to have a go). In fact, I probably wouldn't have noticed the high temperatures, or thought them a problem if I hadn't stumbled on this topic before buying the 7700K. At the time I assumed that this was an issue with a small number of defective chips, and Intel had responded, so I was happy enough to go ahead.

But then I found out that many people have this problem, that people are de-lidding their CPUs (which is a crazy thing to have to do!!) and voiding their warranty by doing this ... just to get over badly applied or bad quality TIM. If this was a motor car and not a CPU the manufacturer would be fixing the problem and not giving vague assurances every month or so that 'we are looking into it', but doing nothing.

I will give you my settings, but it will be later today as I have some work to do. But the whole thing right now is to make sure the CPU doesn't get what it is asking for ... and that can be done either by setting the CPU Core/Cache Voltage to manual, with SVID disabled (as per Timoxi in a previous post), or by setting it to Adaptive as per the Kaby Lake Overclocking Guide (A better solution). If you follow the steps in the guide precisely you will be OK. But I do suggest you get the $30 Intel O/C warranty first, if you haven't already, because there is always a chance of doing damage!

Cheers

Robert

[idata]

A belated answer to your question ... no I had not tried XMP, but I have now with 0 success.

Again, I've followed the instructions here http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/3/ The Kaby Lake overclocking guide - Page 3 of 5 - Edge Up

However, when I enable XMP (retaining the other settings as before ... Manual/100.0/Adaptive etc., ... the system just dies (no power off, nothing on the screen, no error LEDs on the board). I've tried this with 2 sets of RAM modules, both with the same result.

Did you get XMP to work? If so what were your settings? And if not ... help from anyone would be appreciated

I'll get in touch with ASUS in the meantime.

Robert

[BGree7]

I just wanted to add my name to the pile. My temps spike up and down all day, with the case fans revving up and down like crazy. I'm pretty unhappy with this build and I hope it gets addressed.

7700K

Asus Z270 Maximus Hero

32GB GSkill DDR4