Is a temperature of 80°C suitable for a 12,700K environment under full load?
Is a temperature of 80°C suitable for a 12,700K environment under full load?
Hi
I'm using an Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI, an i7-12700K processor, a g.skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-7200 (operating on a 6600 with potential speed increases during stress tests), and a Peerless Assassin 120. There are also all together—including two CPU and one PSU fans—a total of 12 fans in the system.
I'm now installing a game, which I've prepared by someone else, and the CPU is at full load. The temperature is around 80°C / 170°F, but it never exceeds 81-82°C.
(Off topic but NZXT CAM claims the CPU is running at 4700Mhz on the 6600; I have limited knowledge about clock tuning or similar topics. I was concerned back then when it really mattered.)
I'm hoping to apply thermal paste correctly, but is this temperature normal under heavy load with this setup?
Currently, the room temperature is 30°C / 86°F—quite warm.
To answer your question: should I reapply the thermal paste, or is this temperature acceptable during constant heavy use?
Also, please note that when the load decreases instantly (in 1-2-3 seconds), the temperature drops to 55°C / 130°F, and then quickly reaches around 35°C (close to room temperature).
Thanks
I'd also appreciate it if the GPU fans could run at minimum speed even when not in use. When I'm not playing, they don't spin up but the system gets hot, suggesting they only activate under load—not just when the GPU is warm. This contradicts my expectations from 20 years ago. I installed the default AMD GPU driver (gbyte rx 9070).
There are also all together (including 2 cpus and 1 psu fans) 12 fans in the pc. What is the make and model of your case? It might be useful to share a picture of your system. That said, should I reapply the thermal paste or is this temperature acceptable under constant heavy load? I’d like to know if reapplying high-quality thermal paste could help reduce the temperatures you’re observing. Do you have any unregulated voltages on the processor?
The issue here is whether the CPU throttles. If not, the displayed temperature shouldn't impact performance. I think you're likely using the default P1/P2 settings at full capacity, which can cause the CPU to reach 100°C and trigger throttling even with a powerful AIO. It would be better if your temperatures were good given that you're using a $40 cooler. You might pay more for lower readings, but the CPU wouldn't perform differently. The tricky part comes when you feel the cooler is too noisy and try to lower the fan speed without causing overheating. Acceptable noise levels differ from person to person.
Yeah, I don't believe I've gone all out with aggressive settings, just chose one of the built-in OC profiles and adjusted the MHz gradually until it became stable.
I'm not looking to be completely quiet or lower my temperature too much if it's fine. It's not risky or near a low-temperature zone.
It doesn't spike up or even reach high levels while gaming. I haven't noticed any game that heavily relies on the CPU, whereas most games I play use full GPU and VRAM with good cooling.
Thanks.
And no, once I found the right RAM speed (6600MHz), it never froze and didn't crash even after hours of Prime95.
At first, my Z970-V handled 7200MHz without issues, but the LED headers stopped working and my case was in an aquarium—so I switched to a similar model. Now it can't go higher. Well, that's fine.
Oh yes, right... my setup is a MSI Y6. It draws air from the bottom and side, expelling it on top and back. I really like it.
I never imagined I'd end up with such a case. Used to skip tapping or unplugging power/HDD LEDs even. But this is top-notch. Like a Jamiroquai video clip from 1995.
When the CPU isn't operating under default configurations (PL1, PL2), reaching 80°C remains quite acceptable.
RAM can be tricky. I prefer DDR5 for stability, but it worked fine with you for hours, except every sixth boot. Intel seems to handle higher speeds better than AMD, though you often have to balance latency against speed. The 6600 is quite fast. After switching from a 12700 to a 13700, the cooler performance is solid. I can handle around 78 on tough tasks with a 360 AIO and fully loaded Noctua fans, though it might be pushing the 4090 to its limits. Consider running another stress test and checking HWInfo64 for accurate CPU speeds. It still seems like the CPU is running cooler than expected.
Maybe I'm just trying to build a solid setup (airflow, thermal paste, etc.) but it's all good. I'll run a test monitoring with HWInfo64 right now. It's odd that the NZXT camera only shows 4700mhz instead of the usual 5000 when unpacking game temps—like 80-85 photos coming through. I'll also take some photos of the BIOS setup. I didn't second-guess trading those fancy LED lights for 7200mhz RAM. 😄
there's really no easy way to insert photos here. (drag&drop i mean or upload)
i don't know why it doesn't go up to 5000mhz when prime95 testing but it does when extracting a game of course they are two different calculations i see that.
temperature was jumping roughly from 75-88 fan going up n down accordingly.
it must be doing that jump in mhz also because of the "intel's fail safe" setting.
i'm not looking for its absolute maximum possible. i think for what i'm using it for is an overkill anyway. 12700K with 32gb @ 6600mhz. i never seen any of these 2 on 100% or close to when playing any game on ultra-ultra-ultra... neither have i heard the fan spinning up much. the gpu does its thing very well. and silently. great investment.
i'll just copy paste imgurl links
https://i.ibb.co/RqQSQ7K/Capture.png
https://i.ibb.co/dYqynGX/foto-no-exif.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/fzNYqr1b/foto-no-exif-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/bMD4KqjG/foto-no-exif-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/gZgHN5qG/foto-no-exif-3.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3mwQrTfy/foto-no-exif-4.jpg
pretty cool
https://i.ibb.co/KjppH8zQ/foto-no-exif-5.jpg
This refers to the Lies? or intentional misrepresentation that manufacturers produce. From your first image, you clearly see the 5000 rate. The issue here is referred to as turbo boast. You only experience this for a very brief moment before the CPU shuts down and the frequency drops.
It appears cut off at the bottom of your first image, but your power settings are restricting what you can see.
These are the P1/P2 configurations. Adjusting them involves significant heat management and higher clock speeds. You’ll notice thermal throttling instead of power throttling.
If benchmark performance is your main aim, you can fine-tune these parameters.
However, for everyday use, the difference between standard settings and overclocking is minimal.
my main aim is to ensure a reliable cooling system that operates smoothly, not just hitting the theoretical limits like a locked 12700KF. i’m not focused on reaching absolute performance benchmarks. i’d prefer to see tangible results from my setup.
the situation reminds me more of the need to check if my current configuration matches expectations—temperature readings and usage numbers should align with what’s expected for this hardware.
(everything remains unchanged on XMP1 default, and ram is at 6600mhz; higher speeds caused problems in prime95 within ten minutes)
i’m certain there are no performance issues, and i wouldn’t mind running a locked 12700 either, since i rarely see cpu or ram usage approaching maximum during gameplay.