i7 9700k overheating issue

[ShakeyJakeUK]

I recently upgraded my GPU to a 3070ti FE which caused me some issues (750W psu wasn't man enough) but while trouble shooting I discovered my CPU is basically on fire all the time.

 

I have a 9700k, Asus TUF Z390 gaming mobo, all stock settings except memory is running at 3200MHz, fitted with a Be Quiet darkrock 4 cooler.

While idle it seems to sit at around 60ºC, and while gaming (Hunt Showdown, Rust) the CPU core temps are almost always in the 90ºC ballpark, peaking at around 98ºC. If I run the OCCT cpu test, all 8 cores will hit 100ºC in less than 10 seconds.

For comparison my work computer is a very similar build ( I specced and built both of them), same CPU, Z390 non gaming mobo, 3200MHz RAM, be quiet pure rock 2 cooler but has a 1060 GPU. I can't run OCCT or games on it, but the idle temps are 30ºC and I am able to run the intel XTU benchmark (will also run it at when I get home for direct comparison), which doesn't get the temps out of the 50's, which is cooler than my idle temps at home! Even an all core overclock to 4.8GHz on the work PC only just hits 60º .

I cleaned and re-fit the cooler with new thermal paste (arctic silver) last night but it made no difference at all. All the fans are running fine, all blowing the correct way (I even have an extra intake fan compared to my work PC) and I haven't done anything stupid like leave the protective plastic on the cooler.

Is it possible my cooler has somehow died? Like the heatpipes aren't working or something? I can't really think what else it could be. I'm sure it was fine when I built it almost 3 years ago (can't remember the details but I'd definitely have checked it to make sure I hadn't done something stupid), but I haven't really monitored it since then until I ran into my recent GPU problems so no idea how long it's been cooking for. The exhaust from the case is pretty warm which would indicate heat is being removed which would contradict my dodgy cooler theory. Any ideas anyone? I can't believe the behaviour is normal, even if I lost the silicon lottery with that CPU.

Thanks for any help!

[Shimejii]

You gotta check your voltages and such. CPU is only running that hot because its pulling WAY more voltage usually. Fan being dead isnt there since youd notice that. Generally Airflow is important, you didnt really say what case your using.

[ShakeyJakeUK]

It's in an old Lian Li PC-8FI with the 3x5.25 bays converted to a 3rd 120mm intake fan (a recent mod to try help with my issue by feeding the CPU cooler with some fresh air that hasn't been sucked through the 3070ti (It lowered my GPU temps by 5-6º, made no visible difference to the CPU temps while gaming)) Cables are tidy and mostly shoved behind the mobo plate other than the GPU power cable and I have 1 mech HDD behind each of the lower intake fans so airflow should be half decent even if the stock case fans aren't the best.
I can check voltages and stuff when I get home later, but I haven't touched anything in bios other than setting ram to 3200MHz, and like I said I'm pretty sure it didn't run this hot when I built it, the only change I've made since the initial set-up is swapping the original 1060 out for a 3070ti, and then subsequently upgrading the 750W PSU to a 1000W one which fixed the issues I was having with that.

Any suggestion on what to monitor the voltage with? I was using Open Hardware Monitor so I could see the max values, but noticed while testing my work PC just now that it doesn't report the same numbers that intel XTU does (XTU realtime shows core hitting 1.31, where as OHM is reporting 1.208 as the max core voltage hit). I don't really mess with O/C and all that, so while I can pretty much build a PC blindfolded after doing it for 25 or so years, this side of things is relatively new ground for me.

Thanks for the help.

[ShakeyJakeUK]

Actually I lied, I did update to the latest mobo bios when I started getting issues with the 3070ti, and then had to re-apply the 3200MHz memory clock as the update set it back to default (auto).

[Gohardgrandpa]

Where to start here

750 watt psu is enough for a 3070ti, if it's a quality psu

9700k shouldn't be getting that hot with that cooler. It must be pushing way too much voltage to it or something. Check your voltage and manually set it

[Mister Woof]

check mounting pressure 

[ShakeyJakeUK]

PSU was a be quiet straight power 11 750W gold, it wasn't enough. PC would randomly reset in certain games (rust and phasmophobia, but seemed fine with hunt), and would instantly reset if I tried to run the power test in OCCT. I now have the 1000W platinum version and everything works fine. TBF be quiets own calculator had my system as needing 735W so assuming that can be somewhat trusted 750W would be right on the limit, which would explain why some games worked while others didn't.

Mounting pressure is fine, I literally remounted it yesterday!

 

Oddly, I seem to have inadvertently fixed my issue. Installed intel XTU when I got home so I could do a direct comparison to the results I got with my work PC (Was the first tool with a CPU benchmark I found that the company network firewall thing would let me download) and got similar results, which you'd expect being the same CPU! Idled at just over 30ºC, cores topped out in the low 60's during the test. So then I ran the exact same OCCT CPU test I've been running the last few days and instead of instantly hitting 100º, it chugged along just fine and topped out at I think 71º...

I'd done literally nothing. I hadn't opened or moved the case, I hadn't touched the bios, I didn't change any of the settings within intel XTU... All I did was install it, re-boot like it told me to and then run the benchmark. I have no idea of the what's, how's and why's, all I know is my CPU is currently no longer on fire.

 

I loaded into Hunt: Showdown for about 10 mins and afterburner showed my CPU sitting at around 65-70º for the most part, peaking at 81º, that's about 15-20º less than it's been the last few weeks.

Literally no idea what (if anything) changed. Could installing/running XTU have overridden some dodgy Asus "auto" setting in the bios? Either way it appears to be operating in a sensible range now. Obviously as it's working I should leave it well alone, but now I've spent a few days reading up on all this stuff I've never bothered tinkering with before, I'm inevitably going to try overclock it and break it again at the weekend :D