i7 9700 High Temperatures

[MJB15]

Hello! i recently just upgraded from an i5 8400 to a i7 9700 non K version. i’m currently using a Noctua NHU 14S as my CPU cooler and i’ve noticed that the temperatures average at around 80-85 C and max out at around 92 C when I was running AIDA64 for 20 minutes. Is this normal temperature range for the CPU and cooler? I’m using an NZXT H500 with ambient temps of about 24 C in my room. Thermal Paste is Noctua NT H1. Any help or insight is much appreciated! I have thermal Grizzly Kryonaut in stock but I’m not sure if that’ll make much of a difference. Thank you so much!

[RONOTHAN##]

That is hotter than it should be, but not by all that much. Those chips are known for running pretty darn hot, even with good cooling, so it's not all that out of the ordinary. Considering the NZXT H500 isn't known for having great airflow, my guess is that would be what's having it run so hot. Upgrading the thermal paste won't do all that much to help, as Noctua makes some pretty darn good thermal paste. What might be the problem is that the mounting pressure or thermal paste application. I would remove the cooler and try repasting it with the Noctua stuff, but first making sure that the entire IHS was covered and the mounting pressure was centered in the center of the IHS. I would expect 92C under a synthetic load, though at idle and in a Cinebench run I wouldn't expect it to run above 80C

[MJB15]

2 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

That is hotter than it should be, but not by all that much. Those chips are known for running pretty darn hot, even with good cooling, so it's not all that out of the ordinary. Considering the NZXT H500 isn't known for having great airflow, my guess is that would be what's having it run so hot. Upgrading the thermal paste won't do all that much to help, as Noctua makes some pretty darn good thermal paste. What might be the problem is that the mounting pressure or thermal paste application. I would remove the cooler and try repasting it with the Noctua stuff, but first making sure that the entire IHS was covered and the mounting pressure was centered in the center of the IHS. I would expect 92C under a synthetic load, though at idle and in a Cinebench run I wouldn't expect it to run above 80C

Thanks for the reply! During gaming it never goes above 85 C though, I was just concerned since I know that the cooler is a beast and hitting 90 C was quite surprising during the synthetic loads. What do you think would be the best way to apply the paste?

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, MJB15 said:

Thanks for the reply! During gaming it never goes above 85 C though, I was just concerned since I know that the cooler is a beast and hitting 90 C was quite surprising during the synthetic loads. What do you think would be the best way to apply the paste?

Just make sure to apply enough paste and have it spread evenly. The line method works well for me, though it has been tested and the method used doesn't really affect it, as long as you apply enough paste. Also, those chips are rated to run at temps up to 105C, so as long as you're below that, you're fine.