13700k temps
13700k temps
Hello everyone, I'm sharing this because I recently installed my new PC and am a bit concerned about the CPU temperatures. I'm running a 13700K with an NH D15 on a Phanteks P500A. The motherboard is an MSI MAG z790 TOMAHAWK, where I've configured CPU Lite Load to Mode 1 without using any offset adjustments in BIOS. The case fans are set as 3x140 (the RGB ones included), front intake, 3x Arctic P12 exhaust at the top, and one Arctic P14 exhaust at the back — a setup I believe works well for an air-cooled build. According to cinebench R23, the readings are around 65-70°C during gaming, which is normal given the load. What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting? Is the Noctua cooler sufficient? Should I consider further undervolting? I've heard about newer models being quite hot, but I've used Noctua for years without any issues. Thanks in advance!
Get ready for Intel's latest 13th generation processor... You might want to lower the voltage a bit for marginally improved performance and better heat management. I own a 13600K with an HD-15, but I've already undervolted it and set up fan control so I can adjust the fans to my preference.
Intel processors should aim for reduced power consumption, and the company might benefit from removing some of their components.
The 13700K is typically supplied with a high voltage from the factory. The best way to confirm this is by observing how TechPowerUp achieved a 5.5GHz overclock while simultaneously reducing temperatures by around 10°C, which indicates less voltage was needed. Mid-90s Cinebench performance on an NH-D15 without a contact frame would be about what a stock 13700K should achieve. Using a contact frame usually lowers temperatures by 5–10°C if you opt for one. Overclocking this chip can actually lead to better thermal results because it often allows lower voltages compared to stock settings with proper tuning. Static overclocks tend to be simpler to set up than voltage offsets, reducing potential issues like clock stretching. Also, performance in the 70s of games isn’t unusually high, which is why this CPU usually operates near its peak during boost phases.
I'll adjust the voltage a bit more before proceeding. If I had to pick, a 420 AIO would be better. I've heard about contact frames, but I thought they might void the warranty. Since I'm not familiar with overclocking, I assumed it could help. What steps should I follow? The 70°C temperature isn't an issue for me—it's mainly about hitting that temperature at only 30% load. Thanks again!
They do, but they do in the same way that XMP invalidates the warranty: it only does if you admit to doing it. If you go to do a warranty claim, put the stock ILM back on, and don't tell them that you had a contact frame they should still honor your warranty as there's no way to confirm that you were using one. If you push it really far it could increase temps a lot, but if you go for a more modest OC it's not bad. There are many different ways to do it, but this is generally the method I do (this also works for pure undervolting if you want to do that). First things first, setup the VRM settings. IIRC the Z790 Tomahawk has the same VRM as the Z690 Tomahawk, so the settings I'm gonna describe are for the Tomahawk. First things first, head over to the DigitALL power settings menu in the voltage section of the overclocking menu. Mode 4 or 5 LLC should be optimal IIRC (lower number means less VDroop, meaning lower idle voltage but worse voltage regulation, higher number means more VDroop resulting in a higher idle voltage but better overall voltage regulation, and Mode 4 or 5 is the point of diminishing returns IIRC) and 500kHz switching frequency should be best. Next, setup a static clock speed. Give yourself a goal of where to end up on the P, E, and ring clock. 5.5GHz on the P cores and 4.3GHz on the E cores being a good balance of clock speed to voltage needed, though if you want to do a pure undervolt you want to dial in 5.3GHz on the P cores, 4.2GHz on the E cores, and 4.8GHz on the ring. Do note that, in my experience at least, the ring clock will be the biggest factor for how much voltage you need, so you might be better off dropping down the ring clock 100-200MHz as that might get you a bit more voltage headroom, though the ring clock can be pretty important in some workloads. Once you have this setup, enter in an override voltage. Do something like 1.35-1.4V, you will tweak this setting a lot so don't worry about exactly what it is right now, your main goal is to set something high enough that you won't instantly crash and so you can see what your actual voltage value is (LLC will mean this value can be something like 100mV lower than what you actually set when you're running a stress test, so the goal for this is to figure out where this lines up in comparison to the stock 1.3V). Boot up into Windows and run your stress test of choice. Generally when I'm doing 13th gen overclocking I prefer OCCT AVX small FFTs, but if you prefer something like Prime95 or XTU that's fine as well. Start running the stress test and make sure that it doesn't instantly crash, at least within about a minute, and see roughly where the voltage ends up using HWINFO. Once you figure that out, head into the BIOS, reduce the voltage until you're below stock values, and do a quick check for stability again. Repeat until it crashes, then slowly start walking the voltage back up (I'd go in 10mV increments, though you can do more or less depending on your level of patience) and wait until it can run for about an hour, making sure that HWINFO isn't detecting any WHEA errors (this generally means that the ring is a little too unstable). If you want to try messing around with them, the PLL voltages can help reduce the amount of VCore you need for a specific clock speed, though these tend to sweet spot so whether or not you want to play around with them is your call.
What is your voltage under load? Your 13600k was 1.375 at stock, but in R23 Lite mode it dropped to 1.15v under load and fell into the 70s for temperature. Try starting with a manual voltage of 1.2v and gradually increase until you reach the desired level, then lower it again until you hit the crash point before bringing it back up slightly.
Initially, I was quite occupied at work and haven’t provided any updates. I heeded your suggestion and set up the Thermalright contact frame, and the outcomes have been really impressive. I plan to explore more adjustments and go deeper with overclocking and undervolting, but I’ll wait for some free time before diving in further. I’ll keep an eye on what you share when the opportunity arises. Thanks! For reference: https://imgur.com/a/nvLhj7T