Thermal throttling is common when a device faces stress, as it reduces performance to prevent overheating.
Thermal throttling is common when a device faces stress, as it reduces performance to prevent overheating.
Hey there! I hope you're doing well. I'm a bit of a tech oldie, but I'm back here getting into some tinkering again after a long break. I swapped my old 9600K for a used 9900KS on eBay. My goal was to boost my video editing and encoding speeds without having to replace the motherboard—so I wanted a CPU that would fit right in. Luckily, there was a decent price on eBay, and I thought it could be a good match for my current setup. After some testing, the performance is actually improving compared to the old chip, even though it starts throttling right away. At idle it's around 40°C, and it’s reaching 100°C under load. I’ve been using XMP on my MSI Z390-A Pro, but not OC Genie. That setting would freeze Windows during updates, so I left it off. I’m trying to figure out the best way to enable OC Genie without causing issues, and I haven’t adjusted any manual overclocking settings yet.
I also recall that the 9600K was originally installed in August 2019 with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal. When I removed the cooler, the thermal paste turned out to be really hardened and stuck. It was tough to get it off without damaging the surfaces, even with alcohol and a wire brush. Eventually, I used a Dremel with a nylon brush to help, but it still took some effort. After cleaning, I buffed it with a soft cloth to smooth things out.
This time I used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste for the 9900KS because the old one was so hard. Now it’s not overclocked, but it’s still running hot under load. I’ve seen it perform better than the old chip even though it throttles, and I’m not sure if this is normal for a 9900KS. It seems like the high initial speed and heat might be pushing it to its limits, but I’m not sure if that’s a problem.
Let me know if you have any tips on handling OC Genie or keeping temperatures in check!
Cryonaut isn't too stiff—it's mainly made of gallium, it interacts well with aluminum and mixes with copper. It conducts electricity, so any tiny particles forming could move unexpectedly and create problems later. This shouldn't be the main reason for your issues, though; it's mainly a caution during application. A regular paste works better for most situations since it handles temperature variations more smoothly. For the recent temperature concerns, have you confirmed that the MSI Multicore Enhancement feature isn't enabled? Many manufacturers turn it on by default when you activate XMP, and it attempts to raise all cores to Intel's settings for single-core boost. Because it's an estimate rather than a precise measurement, it often overestimates voltage needs, which might explain the excessive heat you're observing.
This seems unusual. I looked at the fan and pump speeds in iCue—around 600 rpm for the fans and 1140 for the pump. Then I ran Cinebench and returned to iCue while it was running. The speeds didn’t change at all. It looks like I might have adjusted the fan connections after installing a new header, which could be the issue!
I'll examine this more closely now, since I'm almost leaving for work. Running Cinebench again and checking the CPUID data showed voltages staying below 1.425 volts. That's not unusual. The highest power usage was 176 watts.
Intel claims a maximum voltage of 1.35v for the core, which is significantly above the recommended range. These processors typically operate safely between 1.4 and 1.42v, but achieving such high voltages usually requires powerful cooling solutions. Such elevated voltages could explain the overheating issues you're experiencing with your AIO.