Do you have any issues with your 13900KF, Arctic 420mm, MSI Pro Z790-a?
Do you have any issues with your 13900KF, Arctic 420mm, MSI Pro Z790-a?
I recently purchased a completely new setup with all updated components about ten months ago. I've noticed many users sharing similar experiences using the same Arctice LF II 420mm paired with the 13900K (my model is KF, though it still works...). They report excellent stability and cooling performance, and some even boost their clock speeds. Initially, when I acquired these parts, I expected to run two cores at 6GHz. However, that didn't happen—my CPU consistently reached 100°C in Cinebench regardless of power consumption, which is quite high. To cope, I reduced the core voltage to 1.250 during the first week, but even then, performance remained at around 271W. I haven’t increased clock speeds and believe I can’t go higher without risking damage. I’ve learned about the "Lit Load" feature on these MSI boards and attempted setting it to mode 3, though results didn’t change much. I also disabled multi-core enhancement and turned on the "water cooling" option in BIOS, but I’m uncertain if this would affect performance since I can monitor voltage and power draw directly.
I’m considering limiting my CPU to a maximum of 250W just to avoid further issues. While 270W is substantial for any cooler, I’ve seen others succeed with similar setups. My main concern is whether these components are functioning correctly. It’s possible the Arctic cooler is inadequate, or that my motherboard or RAM might be the issue. I’m also curious if my RAM plays a role in the situation.
I don’t have much experience with these topics. Online comparisons show others achieving better temperatures with the same 13900KF and identical 420mm Arctic coolers. I’m trying to figure out if something is wrong on my end.
The cooler and CPU pairing doesn't necessarily indicate identical configurations among users. It's possible they're using different TIMs, performed various IHS modifications, or something similar. The i9-13900K/KF is known for its strong cooling capabilities and tends to reach high temperatures quickly before stabilizing.
Regarding clock speeds, if you're maintaining around 5.4-5.7GHz during a full workload, pushing the CPU harder isn't likely to be an issue. However, if your speeds drop significantly below 5.0GHz, it might point more toward cooling challenges rather than performance limitations.
Well the thing is I've seen them say that they're just using the same cooler. Or any other thing I've seen have better results than I do. It's all fine when playing games but I have productivity tasks for my work that often utlize the CPU to its max limit and it does hit 100c. I'm not hoping to overclock, I just want it to remain at stock settings and not hit 100c. I know that it has to be possible because I have seen many Cinebench runs of the 13900K online where it hit a much more reasonable temp target than mine. So I know it has to be possible unless I have something faulty in my PC.
What are you using to read the temperatures? If it's a single value, then you need another temperature monitoring app like HWiNFO. If it's multiple values and most of them aren't 100C, then its only a small portion of the CPU hitting that. But in any case, Intel's CPUs since 12th gen are designed to hit the thermal limits first, then start dialing back things. If you look at most CPU benchmarks that report temperature, almost all of them will say the i9-13900K hit 100C. Considering Intel's in no rush to "fix" something, and that AMD also joined that boat, this isn't anything to worry about.
If you
really
want to see temps below 100C because it'll help you sleep better at night, the only option I can think of is to disable turbo boosting by going to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings -> Change Advanced Power Plans -> Processor Power Management -> Maximum Power State and set it to 99% or to whatever makes it stop running so hot.
I use HWinfo and have already checked how Intel and AMD both say it's acceptable for the 100c. However, I notice that HWinfo also indicates thermal throttling on those cores that exceed their limits.
I try to stay calm, but when my productivity software runs calculations and keeps the CPU cores at 90-102°C, I feel anxious about them overheating.
Still, looking at other examples on YouTube and elsewhere, people seem to achieve better results. I wonder if with just 1.25v I shouldn't expect such high temperatures with this cooler, but I'm not sure.
Check out the last three minutes of this video—it shows a standard installation followed by Furmark's CPU burner test, hovering between 80-85°C. It looks like stock clock speeds were being used. During my research on this AIO, this was likely where temperatures should have been monitored properly. Running this exact test gives me an instant 100°C reading, which is unsettling.
Overclocking your CPU is happening even if you believe the motherboard stock is not doing so. The actual settings you choose could actually improve performance by avoiding reaching the thermal limit, as the system may assume water cooling and push too hard, leading to thermal throttling before achieving maximum speed.
If you're focused on lowering temperatures, explore this detailed discussion about removing a 13900. Before proceeding, temperatures were between 90 to 100C. After removal, they dropped to 77C.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threa...id.303763/
There are numerous videos explaining how to delid a CPU. Your choice depends on whether you prefer direct die cooling or swapping the solder with Conductonaut liquid metal and reattaching the IHS.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRgpVDwQ9hw
https://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/produ...extreme-en
Standard cautions remain in place. Attempting to delid may result in a non-functional CPU.