Temperature is high, please assist!
Temperature is high, please assist!
I purchased this prebuilt system just over a year ago. Although the included cooler wasn’t ideal, I figured it would suffice. It struggled with sustained loads at 11600kf and 4.9ghz, but managed stable performance at 4.6ghz across all cores in the 80s. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for me. Recently, temperatures have risen noticeably. The only changes were a switch from 3070 to 4070—something buyers might regret—but that’s a separate issue. Upgrading to a cooler that supports 4.9ghz would likely help, as it uses less power and produces less heat. After the upgrade, shader compilation for The Last of Us increased temperatures to 100°C with frequencies dropping well below the usual 4.6ghz. This has happened before during driver updates or reinstalls; I haven’t seen temps reach that level recently. It’s possible they were normal, but I usually monitor these closely. In-game temperatures stay above 90°C, and I’ve already beaten this game on a 3070. What’s going on? I cleaned the radiator, but it didn’t significantly improve things. Perhaps upgrading to a cooler capable of handling 4.9ghz would be the solution. Would something like that work? You can check this link: https://www.newegg.ca/cooler-master-rr-2...6835103329. If not, what alternatives would you suggest? I’d prefer an air cooler over repasting, or maybe replacing the CPU and motherboard entirely. My motherboard only supports 4x8 lanes, which is limiting. I’ve spent a lot of time on the GPU, but I’m not sure how much different this will be. My main goal is to keep running modern games smoothly at 1440p 60fps for years without overheating. I thought 11600kf would be sufficient, but now it seems risky.
It's possible an air cooler won't fix the issue if your setup can't accommodate it.
I've reinstalled my 3070 and starting to work on the shaders now. It's slow, around 30% complete. Temperatures are coming back to normal levels—still in the 80s, briefly reaching 90 before dropping again. Not sure what’s happening. Is the GPU making the CPU overheat? We still have 70% left, so it might get worse later. My PSU is an Apevia ATX-PR600W. It had some past issues but this one seems fine. Some people mention a noisy fan, but I haven’t experienced that before. I’ll try reapplying the shaders after compilation and let you know what I see. Thanks!
You might be facing some bad luck, and the pressure building up isn't even the issue—heat problems could be the real cause. When repasting, be extra careful with the mounting screws and aim for consistent pressure. My pieces have a sleek silver finish, so I used a chiseled marker pen to mark a small black dot at 12 o'clock while they were loose. Then I turned each one completely and repeated until all four had equal turns. A quick and simple way to guarantee uniform pressure across the whole die.
I reapplied the paste, but it looked wet rather than dry. There was a huge amount left over. The amount of noctua I used seemed minimal compared to what I had, so I went ahead with it as directed. Restarting the machine, compiling shaders, and playing on ultra. The peak temperatures reached 81°C, though most times stayed around the 60s. I believe that resolved the issue. It would be great if we could run at full power 4.9, but I doubt it’s worth the cooler needed to get there. Thanks for your help!
Great job overall. For maximum performance I pushed my AMD 5900x to its limit and achieved a score of 24600 on Cinebench. Although it ran fine during gaming sessions, I faced numerous stability problems. Small errors often caused major crashes, forcing me back to the desktop. I experimented with settings when I first got my new 5900x, but long-term stability is more important than peak speed. Running at low speeds in the 80s is beneficial for your CPU thanks to its efficiency. Keep monitoring temperatures periodically—especially over the next year or so—as reduced flow from the AIO could raise temps gradually. Generally, 3 to 5 years is normal, though some users notice issues after 2–3 years. My first AIO worked perfectly for over six years and remains functional on my wife’s system. If you enjoy building it, you can disassemble, clean, and refresh the fluid.
I understand your concern about stability at 4.9ghz. It seems you're okay with 4.6ghz as long as temperatures remain stable. To reach a consistent 4.9ghz with the current exhaust options, you'd need specific adjustments. The performance impact would likely be noticeable, though it's hard to quantify without testing. Regarding preventing the boost, you might explore registry tweaks or power settings to cap clocks, similar to what you did before. However, this could increase heat and power consumption significantly. Reinstalling Windows appears to have been a viable solution in the past, but it may not be worth the effort if other options don't exist.
To keep the CPU at a fixed speed requires adjusting BIOS settings, which I wouldn’t bother with personally. If the system runs smoothly and everything works well, chasing maximum performance only raises the chance of eventual failure. Running at 4.9 generates excessive heat, leading to instability—not from the CPU itself. With a bigger case and improved cooling solutions, you could maintain stability even at higher speeds. Your PC’s design, space constraints, and personal preferences all play a role in this decision.