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[URGENT] intel i9 8950HK acceptable temperatures and lifetime

WMain
Beginner
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I have an Alienware 17 r5 with an i9 8950HK and when using cpu intensive tasks the temperature is kept stable between 93 to 95 degrees Celsius. Is not abnormal seeing 100 degrees Celsius spikes also. I would like to officially check with intel if those temperatures are acceptable and won't compromise my processor lifetime at all.

I have followed my research based on the documents covering 8th Generation Intel® Core™ processors i7-8xxx, i7-8xxxK, i5-8xxx, i5-8xxxK, i3-8xxx, and i3-8xxxK From <<a href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-technical-resources.html">https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-technical-resources.html> because there is NO DOCUMENTATION regarding the i9 8950HK released by Intel. So I am assuming that this is the valid family as the i9 8950HK is basically the same architecture as the i7 8750H processor, more basically named i9 due to marketing purposes.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/core/8th-gen-core-family-datasheet-vol-1.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/core/8th-gen-core-family-datasheet-vol-1.html

The i9 8950HK TDP is 45W accordint to the table 5-2 (TDP Specifications) pg.100.

According to the table 5-3 (Junction Temperature Specifications) pg.100 third note pointed out I may assume that the maximum TJunction temperature allowed is 90 degrees Celsius. (TJunction (Tj) - Temperature Control Offset (TCC Offset)).

100-10=90 degrees Celsius according to table 5-2 pg.100 and table 5-13 pg.113 or 100-6=94 degrees Celsius for TDP models of 35W in compliance with table 5-2 (TDP Specifications) pg.100. Am I right? So that means that the i9 8950HK should reach at maximum 90 degrees Celsius in order to be in compliance with Intel's specifications to this model of processor? Am I not right? Or I am getting it all wrong?

I'm not quite satisfied with DELL representatives answer that the i9-8950HK temperatures being between 90 to 95 degrees Celsius will not compromise the processor lifetime. Mainly because my processor keeps at those temperatures and also exceeds them, reaching 97 to 98 Celsius degrees sometimes for longer periods of time. I'd like to have a more accurate answer about this matter. And if possible, would like to ask an Intel specialist if there is any way I could develop an piece of software to rewrite TcontrolOffset (TCC Offset) inside TEMPERATURE_TARGET register with a higher value in order to enable power throttling before and keep my processor running at maximum 87 Celsius degrees. Is that possible and safe for me to do? I have some idea on how to write it but I am quite afraid of tweaking the internal registers of the processor and I am also not sure if this won't affect stability in any way. Would you please put me through with an Intel hardware engineer specialist to get some more info about it?

Unfortunately DELL representatives are saying that this behavioral temperatures are normal for my model and "under the acceptable operation limits". I am afraid those temperatures might reduce my processor lifetime as it runs most of the time at those temperatures (between 90 to 95 and sometimes even 100 degrees Celsius).

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Actually, the temperature limit that you have calculated (Tjmax - TcontrolOffset) is called the Tcontrol threshold. In a nutshell, in the absence of information and inputs that would allow you to closely follow the Thermal Load Line, your processor cooling solution should be running at its maximum (i.e. 100% duty cycle) for all temperatures at or above the Tcontrol threshold. Saying this another way, ignoring short-term spikes -- which, due to the design of the processor (and especially the use of TIM instead of solder), simply cannot be avoided -- overall temperatures should be maintained at of below the Tcontrol threshold.

At temperature levels above the Tcontrol threshold, if the Thermal Load Line is also being exceeded, degradation of the processor silicon can occur. Spending significant amounts of time in this situation will result in a buildup of this degradation and can definitely reduce the lifetime of the processor.

...S

P.S. Note: If the TcontrolOffset is set to 0 (zero), this means that no Tcontrol threshold is being specified for the processor. This is the case for almost all Mobile and Embedded processors. In this case, all you can do is control to the Tjmax temperature. For active fan control situations, I suggest that you build in a buffer of some number of degrees (10c is not a bad number) and maintain to this level.

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WMain
Beginner
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thank you N. Scott Pearson, for the great clarification. In my case I need some more information from Intel whether this is a normal temperature or it's not, because Dell is investigating my case and what they say for now is that their Alienware 17 R5 with i9-8950HK runs hot with temperatures around 93 to 95 Celsius degrees and that's normal (seriously?). And I am not satisfied with their statement, as I think that those temperatures may degrade the processor lifetime.

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
2,165 Views

Good luck. All you seem to see them saying these days is that, if it's below Tjmax, it is ok - which we know is baloney...

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EmilF
Beginner
1,932 Views
Hi! Is there any update on this Thread?? I'm having almost identical issues with an MSI GT75 Titan 8SG. I'm very concerned about having constant temperatures of 97° while gamint and 60°c idling after reboot..
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vistaboy
Beginner
1,929 Views

When the PC is running hot its time for a dual or quad fan plate. Work well an fits under laptop. If its a Desktop put more fans inside the  Desktop.

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EmilF
Beginner
1,923 Views
That's a good solution for solving the effect, but I'm more concerned or the root cause IF such temperatures are normal (running at 98°c constant).

Voiding my warranty to repaste the cpu is not something I'm interested in.

I may be looking forward to buy one.
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