High temps - Cpu or cooling issue?

[Mixith]

Heya!

I've had my pc for about four years now but the CPU (i7 7700k) and AIO cooler (Corsair H115i) have both been starting to see very high temperatures during the past year. I've heard that i7 7700k can run quite hot but my cores often reach 90+ celsius and the H115i goes over 45 degrees (sometimes nearing 50), this is when the CPU is below 50% load. This applies for simple games too, such as League of Legends for example. This is also when the cooler is running on performance settings and no overclock on the cpu, i don't even want to imagine what my temps would be if i ran the cooler on quiet or balanced like i used to be able to do earlier.

 

Even after reapplying the thermal paste and frequently cleaning my pc it only slightly lowers the temps. Idle temps after cleaning it and reapplying the thermal paste is usually 35-40 celsius for the cores and 25-30 celsius for the water. As soon as i start a game the temperature will rise rather quickly and even after cleaning my computer and reapplying thermals paste it will still almost always be 80+ celsius on the cores and 40+ on the H115i while playing games. This doesn't seem normal but is it a problem with the CPU or is the H115i just not cooling properly anymore? Is there anything i can do to fix it?

 

Also if this is an issue with the H115i, what do you guys recommend me to purchase instead?

[Haro]

re seat the cooler. and re apply thermal paste again.

listen to the pump and make sure it's working.

[assassinwarrior]

well, it could be a variety of reasons but usually idle temps are normal range as long as it's 30-50 Celsius. 50 being on the hot side. modern cpu's also can withstand and function normally within the 80 celsius range without damage and throttles at around 90 to protect itself.

 

1. the room's ambient temperature will always affect the CPU's temps. the idle temps are usually about 5-10 Celsius above ambient (rough estimate). room temperature also affect the AIO's water temperature to some extent, meaning, if your room is warm already, you're only "cooling" your CPU with already somewhat warm water. (same logic applies to air coolers)

 

2. if this AIO has been operating 4 years already, there might be accumulated dust between the AIO's radiator fan and the radiator which also affects the cooling which you could easily take apart and clean it.

 

if you are looking for purchases for better cooling, i would recommend Noctua's thermal pastes as well as their NH-D15(s) air cooler. (they have a black variety of the default brown color) if you're okay with air coolers since those are the BEST within the market but the NH-D15 is quite large and will depend if it fits in your case..

 

 

[Mixith]

So i took off the whole AIO and cleaned the radiator and fans, reapllied thermal paste too again. Somehow it got worse, at first i thought i just did an iffy job with the thermal paste so i cleaned it off and reapplied it again. I don't know how it could have possibly gotten worse but maybe i somehow bumped it into something while i was cleaning it and accidentally broke something? It is now at the point where i cannot even watch youtube, cores are at 60-75 celsius while just writing this message. The AIO temps is at 48 degrees, i can't hear if the pump is working because the fans are blasting at 2460rpm to try and cool everything down (corsair link does however say that the pump is also working at 3270 rpm).

 

Guess it was indeed the cooler that was causing the problems and i managed to screw it up even more somehow. Memo to self: If it ain't broke don't fix it and if it is broke don't fix it.

[assassinwarrior]

did...did you shut down your pc before you cleaned it? it should be obvious.