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?

[TGrab1]

I 100% expected this type of response from intel.

This I the same stance they took with with 4th gen line. They had terrible thermal dissipation due to the crappy TIM being used and what did intel do? They stayed pretty mum about it and instead release the devils canyon line which had a new "improved TIM"

Did they let people get a free upgrade to it when they had purchased one of the earlier ones plagued with heat issues? No they didn't. They would however be more than happy to sell you a brand new cpu with the new TIM.

I buy Intel for the performance. So if I have to delid my chip to get that performance then so be it. If it breaks a year from now I am pretty sure I will get my RMA honor as it is generally cheaper to just replace it than to face the backlash of a disgruntled customer.

Now the problem is... AMD has a much better price/performance ratio. They might not have the fastest chip, but it has become much closer and is actually a decent alternative now.

So intel you have a few choices.

- Make a product that is once again pushing the envelope.

- Lower your prices to be more competitive with AMD

- Do nothing and watch your sales and stock plummet.

It is time to start making a great chip instead of the mediocre one you called the 7700k. Yes it has top of the line performance, but a chip is more than just the numbers it can put up.

[NStau]

Wasn't expecting anything else...

It's interesting, that Intel refers to the motherboard's fan settings: Out of the box my Asus Strix Z270G Gaming cycles the fan like crazy everytime the CPU spikes.

I found an option in the advanced settings of the Q-Fan functions, where you can define delays for ramping the fan up and down. I simply delayed the CPU fans spinup by 5 seconds and replaced the noisy, bad stock cooler (I'm using a non-k 7700 CPU) with a Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 cooler.

So my system now runs quietly and so far without any further issues. I don't mind if the CPU burns itself to hell underneath the cooler, the sooner the better: AMD will happily sell me a better one.

[ASušt]

I have Maximus IX formula, which should have similar utility,

Teach me () where did you find that option?

Oh, here it is.

It help. But still, there are some moments, when 2 spikes happen near each other and the fan still ramps up.

Maybe even bigger delays may help.

[idata]

well, I reported Intel Ronaldo's response as Abuse as I think it is highly disrespectful of this forum ... and the response has now disappeared (presumably temporarily). Perhaps you guys could keep reporting it as abuse each time it pops up again? ... we might as well drive them crazy

And, Intel Ronaldo (assuming that you are listening and that you're not just an automated response, because you do sound remarkably like one) ... are you just going to throw us a crumb and disappear? or are you going to come back and face our questions like a man? You would be well advised to do some damage limitation here before we get going on our campaign!

Cheers

Robert

[FT2]

Hey guys,

I still have the possibility to return my CPU, MB, RAM and cooler. What do you think...Should i use my i7 7700k (with manual voltage and custom bios settings) or wouldn't it be better to get a ryzen 1600x? I use the pc only for gaming & office.

Many thanks! :-)

Florian

[MaryT_Intel]

Hello all,

I am the Community Manager for our Intel Support forums. Please let me apologize that our response wasn't what you were looking for. I will take your feedback internally and make sure we address it in a more satisfactory way. I appreciate your letting me know so I can get a better response for you.

Thanks and regards,

Mary T.

[LRibe2]

hi again guys.

just want to say that this thread is becominh really weird. I totally understand intel's answer and rhis is why:

1- Temp spikes it's a cpu architecture feature, that is more than proven.

thermal sensot has a quick response, so is normal that even with watet cooling the readings reach high values.

2- high temps. Depends on wich cooler you are using. Mine, CM hyper evo 212 it's able to cool the cpu at a max of 1.23V 4.7Ghz. Abive that temps go crazy cuz the cooler cant handle that TDP.

3- Stress tests. All non K cpus have AVX offset by default. So, if you want to keep lower temperatures while running avx instructions, setup a negative offset for avx instructions. Watch the power being drawn to the cpu and think about it to understand where the heat is coming from.

4- fans and mobo setup. Fans are by default configured to lower temps, adjust ir on your mobo for perfect results. Setup your mobo with manul vcore, pll voltage, line calibration and other option for a full stable system with low temperatures.

5- stop complaining if there is no i7 7700k that has been damaged or with low performance. If the manufacturer says it's working fine, then what's the point? If it's not, intel never said it wont replace it...

Regards

[AlHill]

Just reading this thread, and looking at things from the AMD side, I am wondering if this is more a problem with current technology than the product itself. I see the same issues here regarding Ryzen:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3392231/ryzen-1600-temperature-fluctuation.html Ryzen 1600 Temperature Fluctuation - [Solved] - CPUs

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3353423/overheating-amd-cpu-sporatic-spikes-temperature.html Overheating AMD CPU Sporatic spikes in temperature - CPUs

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3390554/amd-ryzen-1600-temperature-issues.html AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Temperature Issues - CPUs - Tom's Hardware

Doc

[idata]

the high temps have nothing to do with the cooler in a number of cases since despite upgrading to an h115i my temps spikes have been the same on all 3 chips regardless of the cooler.

[NMave]

I have been monitoring this thread quite a while now almost from its beginning. I have to add my voice to all complaining about high temps, short voltage and temp spikes and been wanting to take this a little further than Intel's canned answer. We all know there's something wrong with our "brand new" CPU, but that's not for us to decide (unfortunately). We have to take it a little further and make a formal claim to each country's Consumer's Affairs (each country should have an organisation that deals with consumers' complaints and make companies respond and take actions). I don't know what this organisation is called in each country, but I know it exists. This is the way we should proceed as Intel doesn't seem to care or willingly provide a suitable solution AFTER they made a huge profit out of selling these faulty processors not having tested and certified as they should. We could also fill an international sue or something, consult a lawyer and make noise about our rights as consumers or re-sellers. We shouldn't have to chose between AMD and Intel because of one's faulty products. They are responsible for fixing them.

[idata]

Hello OverDriver_Pt83,

I'm surprised that you are missing the point so badly, having watched and contributed to this topic for some considerable time. Just to summarize the issue as I think we see it:

We all agree that:

- moderate temperature spikes on CPUs are normal and part of the technology

- AVX instructions are power-hungry and will cause the CPU temperature to increase

- overclocking will cause the CPU temperature to increase

- running memories at higher clock rates will cause the CPU temperature to increase

- if the CPU voltage is too high it will cause the CPU temperature to increase

- incorrect BIOS settings may cause the CPU temperature to increase and may make it unstable

However we also know that:

- tests done clearly show that replacing the heat transfer compound between the integrated circuit and the case lowers the CPU temperature by 15-30 degrees, typically.

- replacing the heat transfer compound lowers the temperature spikes significantly

As you know, most i7 7700K CPUs cannot be overclocked beyond 4.8GHz without running into heat problems (I assume that any overclock must be 100% stable under any load conditions). This is a meager 6.7% overclock (above the 4.5GHz turbo boost).

As the temperature of the chip increases, it is necessary to increase Vcore to maintain stability ... so it's a vicious circle. Furthermore, the heat will over time degrade the CPU so that it may in the future become unstable or fail. I for one do not want a system that starts to have BSODs and program crashes as time goes on.

So for you to say that we should stop complaining until we see CPUs failing is really surprising (and disappointing) to me. Just remember that some of us have bought the i7 7700K because we need the extra performance that it should be able to deliver ... and some of us do not want systems that become unstable, or fail, either before (and definitely not after) the Intel warranty expires.

Cheers

Robert

[ACozo]

Do NOT ask for a replacement chip. I did just that, they came to pick up my i7 7700K and it turns out I had to wait until somewhere in the end of may to get a new one. So they offered me a refund. I agreed but I still didn't recieve any instructions to get my money back. Nobody at Intel responds anymore to my emails. So I'm left with nothing, my processor gone and nothing in return.

[ASušt]

Really?!

The DHL will take my CPU on monday...

Damn!What should I do?!

Replacing the CPU is at least a chance that the new one will spike less.

Cuz I don't believe, that intel will fix the existing one.

[LRibe2]

Hi.

I understand your dissapointment but my opinion remains the same. We all bought a CPU with a certain specs sheet, with a garantee of high performance, reliability , and OC capabilities. But, none of us bought it with the garantee that, regarding temperatures, voltages, spikes or whatever, would be exactly as previous generations or even the same has 10 year a go CPUs.

When I first came to this thread I had the same dougts, At stock my CPU would reach 84C or something like that, when running stress tests, such as prime95 or intel burn test.

After discussing this subject and with a lot of help from all of you, I came to this cunclusion:

After learning how to change all of my bios settings that affect power / voltage / temperature, I now know that my limitations are, 4.7 GHz with manual voltage of 1.23V, AVX neg offset of 3, and a few other tweaks, to keep the CPU running under 80C and full stable. But keep in mind that there is a lot of people out there that are able to keep 5Ghz stable with no delid.

And even after intel answered that 80+ temperatures is a normal thing to this CPU, I personally prefer to keep it a litlle bit lower. Besides the stress tests I can run everything even gaming for a few hours without reaching 70C

If I want better results, I will need better coolling. And once again, I had the help of other users to understand that this is my cooler limitations, before that I was simply furious about intel, and this "malfunction". When someone explained to me how to understand the cooler's heat TDP limit vs power drawn.. I just realized that I can't ask for more because it's really a limitation.

The spikes don't bug me at all... they are in my expected temperature spectrum, and Intel has been answering that this is normal behavior for a long time. Why should I say otherwise? And after investigating, I've realised that previous generations and other brand / model CPUs work exectaly the same way but, sometimes, at lower temperatures.

Then again, after knowing this, why should I keep saying that is Intel's BS when they tell us that is normal behaviour?

Now, there are a few cases of users that even after setting up their motherboards and CPUs, using good cooling systems, reach temperatures of 95 to 99C. There seems to be a problem, and that CPU should be replaced. Then do it... send it back. I havent eard a case about Intel refusing to replace the CPU's with malfunction.

Just a conclusion.

I am preetty satisfied with this CPU's performance. I may not be able to run it at 5Ghz or with magical temperatures under 60C alll the time, but has a good performance, and after earing from intel, I really believe that running it like this ( Up to 80C With "spikes") will make it last for more than 10 years...

So, I will keep it. If I had a different opinion, I would send it back.. And buy a different CPU with no spikes and worst gamming performance.

Regards.

[idata]

Yes, well of course if you are happy with the performance you are getting then that's fine ... and if you are happy then I don't really understand why you are still following this thread.

The fact is that delidding the CPU will give a 15-30C temperature reduction and that has a massive effect on overclocking ability (as the heat goes up the voltage required also goes up, so the stable frequency hits a lower limit). In my case, and presumably in the case of others reading this and posting on this thread, I do need better performance than the CPU is capable of delivering at stock frequencies. My main applications are 2D and 3D image processing and video processing, and these are very heavy on resources: it isn't just a question of getting good gaming performance, but waiting and waiting for images and videos to render. I realize that there are options from both Intel and AMD that would give me better performance with more cores, but the Intel options are too expensive and I decided to stick with Intel rather than jump to the very new Ryzen CPUs. It does seem that I made a mistake, but it's not a mistake that is easy or cheap to rectify as I would need to replace my motherboard, CPU and memories. I very much doubt that my supplier would take these back as it has been 4 months since my purchase. Had Intel responded quickly with a definitive answer then I would be in a much better position to make the switch ... but as we all know they have taken a ridiculously long time to do so (perhaps hoping that we would simply go away).

I am considering suing Intel ... but the reality is that they do know how to cover themselves well. However, they may not like the publicity that a lawsuit would generate.

So we do not all have your more limited requirements and many of us bought the 7700K with the intention of overclocking it: for us 4.7GHz is not good enough.

Cheers

Robert

[ACozo]

Really?!

The DHL will take my CPU on monday...

Damn!What should I do?!

Replacing the CPU is at least a chance that the new one will spike less.

Cuz I don't believe, that intel will fix the existing one.

You won't have a working computer for a long time. Good luck with that.

DHL also picked up my i7 7700K. After 2 weeks still nothing in return, no processor and no money. I try to contact Intel but everyone seems to be sleeping.

[idata]

Hi Links,

If Intel is willing to replace your CPU then your supplier should also be willing to replace it. What I did with an ASUS motherboard that was faulty was to return the motherboard for a refund and I purchased a new one. That way I was not without a motherboard at all.

I think you will find that if you push Intel a little they will also offer you a refund ... which would be an alternative for you.

Robert

[ASušt]

The store, that I have bought the CPU in offers me to send the CPU to their service place.

The problem is, that actually CPU work fine.

All of us know, that spikes do not affect the actual performance/stability.

The service will test the CPU ,say that everything is OK and send it back to me.

But intel promises to replace the CPU because I told them, that I don't like this one, cuz it spikes.

So I hope intel will replace more likely, than the store.

[LCore]

CompuTronix

Makes sense. So for the people who are worried. A fix would be to give a reading of 1/2 second temperature readings to flatten them temperature spikes.

[TGrab1]

Hi Florian,

Honestly this is more about why you are wanting to change. If you just cannot stand the noise or are having massive issues then trading might be an option. The 1600x will not perform as well in games though.

If your temps are fine though and you aren't having issue with noise being unbearable or are willing to use manual settings to tweak things... then there is really no reason to swap it out. There is nothing wrong with these chips, this is just how the new architecture functions.

In the end it all comes down to are you happy with the performance of your setup? If you are then there is no reason to change. If you are unsatisfied with performance or noise levels then feel free to give the other setup a go.

Just remember the pasture isn't always greener on the other side.

[ASušt]

On the other side the pasture is red