Are your idle CPU temperatures consistently high and your clock speeds low during games?
Are your idle CPU temperatures consistently high and your clock speeds low during games?
Hi smart people,
My desktop specifications are as follows:
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (stock cooler)
GPU: RTX 2060 6GB
RAM: 16GB (8GB x 2)
I’m experiencing an unusual issue. When idle, my CPU temperatures are unusually high—often reaching about 70°C, sometimes even up to 80°C—while the clock speeds stay between 3500 and 4100Mhz.
However, when I start a game or apply more load, the clocks drop significantly below 1000Mhz, yet the temperature stays steady around 80°C. This is strange; it feels like my CPU is working against its limits.
Is this indicative of thermal throttling? Or is there another problem at play? What should I do?
I’ve attached some HWiNFO, CPU-Z, and NZXT cam results. The benchmarks from CPU-Z show much lower scores than expected:
THE FINALS, on low preset: around 44fps. CPU temperatures match the very low clock readings.
These are the HWiNFO results when idle.
Welcome to the forums, newcomer! Here are your system details: CPU Ryzen 7 3700X with stock cooler, GPU RTX 2060 6GB, RAM 16GB (8GB x 2). I noticed a Lenovo 3728 in the screenshot—what is its model and SKU for your prebuilt machine? Are there any pending BIOS updates? You're using a stock cooler; consider cleaning it to see if temperatures improve. If your chassis has limited airflow or space, you may have fewer options.
During the time I had that CPU, temperatures above 60-65°C would almost stop any performance gains or even cause a drop at lower frequencies. When was the last time you adjusted the paste in the cooler?
I believe a year ago was the issue?
Hi, thank you for your suggestion!
The SKU is: LENOVO_MT_90Q1_BU_Lenovo_FM_Ideacentre G5 14AMR05
Regarding pending BIOS updates, I don’t think so.
I’ll attempt to clean the dust and post an update.
But do you really think dust is the main problem? The temperatures seem so strange—could it just be some dust?
This is clearly a cooling issue. The 3700x starts throttling at 85c and its max temp is 95c. Looks like yours constantly runs in that range (or close to).
The cooler may not be installed properly, or is not working well (dirty heatsink, or a dead fan, or a bugged fan control software, etc).
Could also be a bad case airflow, but if the high idle temp happens right after you turn on the PC, it's most likely a problem with the cooler itself.
As suggested, clean up the fans and heatsink. Then make sure the fans are spinning and ramping up with the CPU temp. If everything looks ok but you still get the high temperature, remove the cooler and reinstall it carefully (tighten well). Make sure you apply enough paste. There is still a strong myth saying that too much paste is bad and you shouldn't put more than a small pea. It's bs. You need to put enough to cover the whole die (but don't exaggerate or you will do a mess on the board).
Hi, thank you for the feedback. I’ll give it a try and might share an update once it works. I also noticed something intriguing while adjusting the settings. In Lenovo Vantage, the thermal mode was set to balanced, but when performance mode was selected, throttling stopped and performance stayed stable. Temperatures even climbed to over 95°C. I’m sure you’re correct about the cooling problem, but why are the clocks high when the system is idle? It seems odd since the CPU is boosting during idle time. I changed the power plan to balanced without any noticeable change. To get the clocks down while idle, I had to manually adjust the maximum CPU power limit.
Performance settings often enable the CPU to increase its clock speed more readily (or reduce restrictions), even when it's not necessary or temperatures are high. This might be why you stop throttling and achieve higher temperatures when selecting performance mode—telling your CPU to disregard elevated temperatures and maintain boost. AMD CPUs include a precision boost function that adjusts frequency based on workload, but this can be turned off or modified. I would recommend removing the Lenovo software myself. Who can tell what effect it has on your CPU? Afterward, reset the BIOS back to its default configuration. Then adjust the Windows power settings to balanced if needed.