Is it alright for an i9 13900k to run at 90+ degrees C for prolonged periods?

[CrunchyTech]

Basically, I'm a bit of a noob. I bought parts and got a repair shop to help me assemble.

 

I've got a gigabyte z790, an rtx 4090 and an i9 13900k. My cooler is an arctic LFII 360.

 

When I run UE5 or any game (from Terraria to Cyberpunk) the CPU temp shoots to 90-100 degrees C and stays there until I close it.

 

I got worried at first and tried various things, like undervolting, but nothing had any effect. People online say that I should either disable enhanced boost in the BIOS (which I can't find) or redo the thermal paste and put in a contact frame. The guy from the shop says that I should get a new cooler, preferably a corsair (any corsair) and not an arctic one. According to him there can't be anything wrong with the thermal paste and he thinks I should go for a 240mm cooler, so it will fit better in my case. Some people online have told me that it's perfectly normal behaviour for my CPU, I shouldn't worry at all and just let it sit at 99 degrees as much as it wants to.

 

What do you recommend? I have no idea anymore.

[bezza...]

its technicly ok as it is in spec but it is not ideal and you will be loosing performance. i would get a better cooler

[CrunchyTech]

5 minutes ago, Tomberry said:

its technicly ok as it is in spec but it is not ideal and you will be loosing performance. i would get a better cooler

Thanks for the reply. Would it be fine to get a 240mm corsair, as my shop guy says, or should I get a larger case so I can accommodate a larger cooler than that?

[Monsterkater]

7 minutes ago, CrunchyTech said:

The guy from the shop says that I should get a new cooler, preferably a corsair (any corsair)

Wow, like is he a Corsair rep or something?

 

While the Liquid Freezer II might not be the best cooler on the market, it's just plain wrong to say ANY corsair cooler would be better. As @Tomberry stated already, your temps are within spec but it does sound like it's thermal throttling. Get a better cooler and since you're ripping apart your setup anyway, also throw in the enhanced contact frame and use a high-quality thermal paste. 

 

1 minute ago, CrunchyTech said:

should I get a larger case so I can accommodate a larger cooler than that?

Which case are you currently using? Since you mentioned that your current cooler is a 360 mm LFII, I'd guess some other 360 mm AIO should fit as well.

[PDifolco]

2 minutes ago, Monsterkater said:

Wow, like is he a Corsair rep or something?

 

While the Liquid Freezer II might not be the best cooler on the market, it's just plain wrong to say ANY corsair cooler would be better. As @Tomberry stated already, your temps are within spec but it does sound like it's thermal throttling. Get a better cooler and since you're ripping apart your setup anyway, also throw in the enhanced contact frame and use a high-quality thermal paste. 

 

Which case are you currently using? Since you mentioned that your current cooler is a 360 mm LFII, I'd guess some other 360 mm AIO should fit as well.

AFAIK the LF2 *is* amongst the best coolers on the market, and a Corsair 240 will be much much worse

90C on a loaded 13900K is pretty good, with no throttling, to get better temps you need a custom cooling with 2 rads

Are the fans full speed ?

 

[Monsterkater]

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

AFAIK the LF2 *is* amongst the best coolers on the market, and a Corsair 240 will be much much worse

Wasn't sure about that first part, that's why I worded it cautiously. Agreed, any 240 mm AIO would be worse.

 

3 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

90C on a loaded 13900K is pretty good

It is. OP stated it sits at 99 °C though, which is why I deducted thermal throttling. Might be mistaken, maybe I misread OP's post, my bad.

[BobVonBob]

I think you've got a problem with your thermal paste, your cooler, or your CPU. Any 360mm liquid cooler, including the Arctic LFII, absolutely should not be hitting 100C in low spec games (Terraria!) if everything is working right, with or without a contact frame (or the magic of sales commissions on a new cooler).

[CrunchyTech]

14 minutes ago, Monsterkater said:

Which case are you currently using? Since you mentioned that your current cooler is a 360 mm LFII, I'd guess some other 360 mm AIO should fit as well.

A Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case. There were some issues during installation, where the cooler didn't fit properly. It was a Arctic LFII 420, but the case was too small to fit everything. He also had to remove a rear fan. When he first called me with this, I said I could get a larger case, but he had rather I get a smaller fan. He managed to take some parts out of the case and finish it after all. He said there were no temperature issues. But now that I have the machine, it seems hot. The 360mm AIO only just fits, that's why he's prompting me to get a 240mm one.

 

I don't think he's trying to sell me a corsair cooler, as I would buy it and bring it to him to re-assemble. I just get the feeling he doesn't want to take all of it apart again and re-assemble in a new case. I'm not sure why he's adamant there's no issues with the thermal paste.

The cpu runs at 94-100 in most cases. I think CS:GO got it to run really cool at about 87 degrees.

 

Edit: Is there any way to test this stuff? Is there a software that will let me test CPU temp at different loads? Maybe the software I've been running happens to be very poorly optimised and it's actually fine?

[PDifolco]

5 minutes ago, Monsterkater said:

Wasn't sure about that first part, that's why I worded it cautiously. Agreed, any 240 mm AIO would be worse.

 

It is. OP stated it sits at 99 °C though, which is why I deducted thermal throttling. Might be mistaken, maybe I misread OP's post, my bad.

OOops indeed, 99C is throttling. That's too high for a 360 cooler in a big case, something in the cooling must be badly installed or not working normally

@CrunchyTechWhat's your idle/desktop temps  ?

[Mister Woof]

It shouldn't get that hot by just running Terraria. I'm guessing whoever installed the cooler did it poorly, or it has some insane kind of voltage set up, or you have something eating CPU cycles beyond your awareness.

[CrunchyTech]

6 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

OOops indeed, 99C is throttling. That's too high for a 360 cooler in a big case, something in the cooling must be badly installed or not working normally

@CrunchyTechWhat's your idle/desktop temps  ?

about 45 degrees, regardless of fan speed

[CrunchyTech]

Just now, Mister Woof said:

It shouldn't get that hot by just running Terraria. I'm guessing whoever installed the cooler did it poorly, or it has some insane kind of voltage set up, or you have something eating CPU cycles beyond your awareness.

I did a clean boot, so unless it's a virus, I'd find it unlikely there's something eating my CPU

[PDifolco]

2 minutes ago, CrunchyTech said:

about 45 degrees, regardless of fan speed

Isn't that pretty high for Intel ? Think it should be 30ish, that's 15C too high unless your ambient is 35C

Then it's defo a cooler issue, or crazy BIOS settings, reset CMOS to be sure

 

[Mister Woof]

14 minutes ago, CrunchyTech said:

about 45 degrees, regardless of fan speed

Download and run HWInfo64, click on the max cpu/thread usage to open up a graph, and also the cpu package temp and open up a graph, and also CPU package power to open a graph.

 

Then play your game, and screencap the results

 

for example my 13700KF while playing CP2077 for a few minutes:

 

 

Tops out at 77C, max cpu thread usage of 73%, max package power of 162w. CP2077 is hugely demanding on CPU compared to the likes of Terraria...you shouldn't even be pinging 1/4 of your CPU playing that game.

[Mister Woof]

Just now, PDifolco said:

Isn't that pretty high for Intel ? Think it should be 30ish, that's 15C too high unless your ambient is 35C

Then it's defo a cooler issue

 

if ambient is around 20c (68f) in the wintertime, you probably should be looking at around high 20c to mid 30c for idle temps. I wouldn't say 45c is alarming for idle temps 

[Andi123]

I don't think it's good for the CPU, maybe you should get a better cooler.

 

[CrunchyTech]

13 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Isn't that pretty high for Intel ? Think it should be 30ish, that's 15C too high unless your ambient is 35C

Then it's defo a cooler issue, or crazy BIOS settings, reset CMOS to be sure

 

Will try to do a reset when I finish my taxes

12 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

Download and run HWInfo64, click on the max cpu/thread usage to open up a graph, and also the cpu package temp and open up a graph, and also CPU package power to open a graph.

 

Then play your game, and screencap the results

 

for example my 13700KF while playing CP2077 for a few minutes:

[image]

Tops out at 77C, max cpu thread usage of 73%, max package power of 162w

Will do this too, I'll post here later

11 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

if ambient is around 20c (68f) in the wintertime, you probably should be looking at around high 20c to mid 30c for idle temps. I wouldn't say 45c is alarming for idle temps 

It's quite close to an electric heater, but I'd say it's low 20s here. I could turn it off and open the windows. If it's 10 degrees in the room, it shouldn't reach 45?

[Mister Woof]

Just now, CrunchyTech said:

Will try to do a reset when I finish my taxes

Will do this too, I'll post here later

It's quite close to an electric heater, but I'd say it's low 20s here. I could turn it off and open the windows. If it's 10 degrees in the room, it shouldn't reach 45?

taxes? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMIND ME OF THIS EXISTENTIAL DREAD

[CrunchyTech]

Reset CMOS, nothing.

 

Ran the test @Mister Woof, also ran CP77. Didn't play, just went into the bit where you have to press space to get to the menu. You can see when I start it.

 

[Mister Woof]

7 minutes ago, CrunchyTech said:

Reset CMOS, nothing.

 

Ran the test @Mister Woof, also ran CP77. Didn't play, just went into the bit where you have to press space to get to the menu. You can see when I start it.

 

Yeah, cooler installed wrong or pump is dead. 64w and 100c is BUSTED. Check mounting pressure and hopefully they used the correct mounting kit for LGA1700.

[Monsterkater]

On 3/3/2023 at 7:18 PM, Mister Woof said:

Yeah, cooler installed wrong or pump is dead. 64w and 100c is BUSTED. Check mounting pressure and hopefully they used the correct mounting kit for LGA1700.

Absolutely, 100% this! I can't put enough emphasis on how wrong that cooler must have been installed.

 

On 3/3/2023 at 5:37 PM, CrunchyTech said:

The guy from the shop says that I should get a new cooler

On 3/3/2023 at 5:37 PM, CrunchyTech said:

According to him there can't be anything wrong with the thermal paste and he thinks I should go for a 240mm cooler

On 3/3/2023 at 6:00 PM, CrunchyTech said:

He said there were no temperature issues.

On 3/3/2023 at 6:00 PM, CrunchyTech said:

I would buy it and bring it to him to re-assemble. I just get the feeling he doesn't want to take all of it apart again and re-assemble in a new case. I'm not sure why he's adamant there's no issues with the thermal paste.

I'm sorry if I should overstep my boundaries here, but might I suggest finding another repair shop or maybe doing the installs yourself? I don't know how to put this mildly, but that guy either really doesn't know what he is doing or he knows full well, but just doesn't care as long as the money's right. In the first case he clearly missed his job, in the second case it's just a rip-off. Either way, you're better off avoiding that shop in the future.

[SenseiWizard]

The i9 13900k automatically ramps up performance until it hits 100c, 80-90 is not only common, its normal with the new high end CPU's. I haven't heard of an aio yet that can keep it below 80c during demanding game play