F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Overclocking Is there a temperature problem with the i6700K+ROG Hero Alpha+Kraken X61?

Is there a temperature problem with the i6700K+ROG Hero Alpha+Kraken X61?

Is there a temperature problem with the i6700K+ROG Hero Alpha+Kraken X61?

L
louis139
Junior Member
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5
05-17-2016, 05:57 AM
#1
Hello everyone, I’m reaching out for advice from those with more experience. I’ve come across several online guides using the same configuration, yet their CPU temperatures stay below 70°C. Could anyone with a similar build share their readings? I’m curious about possible causes.

What confuses me is the widespread mention of idle temps around 20°C, never surpassing 70°C under full load—even when running at a moderate overclock (4.5–4.6GHz). However, I consistently reach near 70°C at stock settings and only start to climb above that once I enable overclocking.

Regarding the 4.6GHz overclock, my core temperatures are higher than others: they often exceed 80°C. Here’s a snapshot of the current readings:

CPU
Current Min. Max. Avg.
CPU 35 29 67 45.8
CPU Core #1 31 25 84 44.7
CPU Core #2 37 30 87 47.5
CPU Core #3 28 25 79 41.9
CPU Core #4 29 26 81 42.3

I’m using the following BIOS settings:
XMP profile, BCLK 100, CPU Core Ratio Sync All Cores, Multiplier 46, CPU LLC Level 6, Intel Speedstep enabled, Cache limits at 255%, Min/Max ratios set to 8/42.
CPU core voltage: 1.32V @ 4.6GHz
VCCIO voltage: 1.1V
System agent voltage: 1.1V

For 4.6GHz baseline, I’ve disabled Q-FAN in UEFI, but it didn’t significantly affect temperatures. I also connected a water pump cable from the Kraken X61 to the W_PUMP pin on my ROG VIII Hero Alpha m/b, with two fan cables linked to Molex and SATA power, and a USB cable routed to a header on the machine.

I suspect this configuration may be bypassing the Q-FAN control in UEFI. Before turning off Q-FAN CPU control, I could see both pump and fan speeds in CAM, and disabling it didn’t change anything.

System details:
Motherboard: Asus ROG VIII Hero Alpha Rev 1.XX
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K
Memory (part number): Kingston HyperX (KHX266C15D4/8G)
Graphics Card #1: Gigabyte G1 Gaming 1080GTX
Sound Card: ROG SupremeFX 2015 8 CH
Monitor: Benq XL2430T
Storage #1: Intel 750 PCIe 400GB
Storage #2: Seagate 2TB (ST2000NM0053)
CPU cooler: NZXT Kraken X61
Case: CoolerMaster Mastercase Maker 5
Power supply: Corsair RM850i
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Chroma X
Mouse: Logitech G402
Headset: Plantronics Gamecom 777
Mouse pad: Razer Goliathus
Headset/speakers: Altec Lansing MX5021
Operating System: Windows 10
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L
louis139
05-17-2016, 05:57 AM #1

Hello everyone, I’m reaching out for advice from those with more experience. I’ve come across several online guides using the same configuration, yet their CPU temperatures stay below 70°C. Could anyone with a similar build share their readings? I’m curious about possible causes.

What confuses me is the widespread mention of idle temps around 20°C, never surpassing 70°C under full load—even when running at a moderate overclock (4.5–4.6GHz). However, I consistently reach near 70°C at stock settings and only start to climb above that once I enable overclocking.

Regarding the 4.6GHz overclock, my core temperatures are higher than others: they often exceed 80°C. Here’s a snapshot of the current readings:

CPU
Current Min. Max. Avg.
CPU 35 29 67 45.8
CPU Core #1 31 25 84 44.7
CPU Core #2 37 30 87 47.5
CPU Core #3 28 25 79 41.9
CPU Core #4 29 26 81 42.3

I’m using the following BIOS settings:
XMP profile, BCLK 100, CPU Core Ratio Sync All Cores, Multiplier 46, CPU LLC Level 6, Intel Speedstep enabled, Cache limits at 255%, Min/Max ratios set to 8/42.
CPU core voltage: 1.32V @ 4.6GHz
VCCIO voltage: 1.1V
System agent voltage: 1.1V

For 4.6GHz baseline, I’ve disabled Q-FAN in UEFI, but it didn’t significantly affect temperatures. I also connected a water pump cable from the Kraken X61 to the W_PUMP pin on my ROG VIII Hero Alpha m/b, with two fan cables linked to Molex and SATA power, and a USB cable routed to a header on the machine.

I suspect this configuration may be bypassing the Q-FAN control in UEFI. Before turning off Q-FAN CPU control, I could see both pump and fan speeds in CAM, and disabling it didn’t change anything.

System details:
Motherboard: Asus ROG VIII Hero Alpha Rev 1.XX
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K
Memory (part number): Kingston HyperX (KHX266C15D4/8G)
Graphics Card #1: Gigabyte G1 Gaming 1080GTX
Sound Card: ROG SupremeFX 2015 8 CH
Monitor: Benq XL2430T
Storage #1: Intel 750 PCIe 400GB
Storage #2: Seagate 2TB (ST2000NM0053)
CPU cooler: NZXT Kraken X61
Case: CoolerMaster Mastercase Maker 5
Power supply: Corsair RM850i
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Chroma X
Mouse: Logitech G402
Headset: Plantronics Gamecom 777
Mouse pad: Razer Goliathus
Headset/speakers: Altec Lansing MX5021
Operating System: Windows 10

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S
Saricck
Member
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103
05-24-2016, 07:44 PM
#2
Have you considered changing the thermal paste on the CPU? It could be either too thick or too thin, and you only need a small amount, roughly the size of a grain of rice.
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S
Saricck
05-24-2016, 07:44 PM #2

Have you considered changing the thermal paste on the CPU? It could be either too thick or too thin, and you only need a small amount, roughly the size of a grain of rice.

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K
kyanator
Member
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55
05-24-2016, 08:20 PM
#3
Have you considered changing the thermal paste on the CPU? It could be either too thick or too thin, and you only need a tiny amount, roughly the size of a grain of rice.
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K
kyanator
05-24-2016, 08:20 PM #3

Have you considered changing the thermal paste on the CPU? It could be either too thick or too thin, and you only need a tiny amount, roughly the size of a grain of rice.

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E
ev3_builder
Junior Member
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3
05-24-2016, 09:52 PM
#4
Have you considered changing the thermal compound on the CPU? It might have been too much or too little, but only a small amount was needed—about the size of a grain of rice.
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E
ev3_builder
05-24-2016, 09:52 PM #4

Have you considered changing the thermal compound on the CPU? It might have been too much or too little, but only a small amount was needed—about the size of a grain of rice.

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O
oobaileyx
Member
Find
209
05-24-2016, 10:39 PM
#5
Through some trials and advice from a knowledgeable Reddit user, we discovered:
The NZXT Kraken X61 exhibits significant issues. The water pump cable appears to interfere with the software or M/B, leading to elevated temperature readings or reduced cooling efficiency. Switching the connection to the CPU_FAN header (rather than W_PUMP) resulted in a noticeable drop of about 10C across all measurements using CAM software for Kraken.

I likely received a subpar silicon selection, as Core#2 tends to overheat compared to the other three cores. While others achieve 4.6GHz @ VCore 1.31 with LLC level6 underload at below 70°C, my chip maintains similar performance even at higher temperatures.
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O
oobaileyx
05-24-2016, 10:39 PM #5

Through some trials and advice from a knowledgeable Reddit user, we discovered:
The NZXT Kraken X61 exhibits significant issues. The water pump cable appears to interfere with the software or M/B, leading to elevated temperature readings or reduced cooling efficiency. Switching the connection to the CPU_FAN header (rather than W_PUMP) resulted in a noticeable drop of about 10C across all measurements using CAM software for Kraken.

I likely received a subpar silicon selection, as Core#2 tends to overheat compared to the other three cores. While others achieve 4.6GHz @ VCore 1.31 with LLC level6 underload at below 70°C, my chip maintains similar performance even at higher temperatures.

Reply
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