• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

I7-4770k overheating? Idle temperature

Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Hello I've got i7-4770k. I've recently noticed that my processor temperatures are high, it may have changed with temperature outside, in peaks it reaches 35 C outside. Idle temperature varies between 45-55 C. While in heavy gaming with 100% usage of most of threads it reaches 90 C on STOCK cooling. I've recently replaced thermal paste so I think it's not it fault. Any advices ? Is this temp. is ok ?
 
My 4770K would hit that temp on a stock cooler. The CPU does a good job throttling once it hits 100C, it'll start backing off 100MHz at a time until it can maintain just under that.

Idle temps look fine for a stock cooler as well.

Other things to look at are your ambient tempratures, that being the the temperature of the air in the room the PC is at. Look at the airflow of the case the system is in, is it restricted, is it limited, is it dirty/dusty? At the end of the day, cooler temps can come from two things with this Haswell CPU:

  • Better cooler, I went with a Noctua U14S and have been happy ever since...it kept my 4770K, 4790K and now my AMD 2700X all at much better than stock cooler temps, quieter too. But you need a case that supports 165mm tall coolers...look at U12S or other shorter coolers if yours doesn't.
  • IHS remove and reseat.
    • That includes removing the integrated heat spread (IHS), applying some thermal paste or liquid metal thermal material to bare CPU die, re-glue the IHS. I was able to drop about 10C on my 4790K's doing so. I used some Collaborator Liquid Ultra between the die and IHS and AC MX4 and/or Noctua NH-1 for the IHS to cooler.
:toast:
 
Hello I've got i7-4770k. I've recently noticed that my processor temperatures are high, it may have changed with temperature outside, in peaks it reaches 35 C outside. Idle temperature varies between 45-55 C. While in heavy gaming with 100% usage of most of threads it reaches 90 C on STOCK cooling. I've recently replaced thermal paste so I think it's not it fault. Any advices ? Is this temp. is ok ?
Temps inside the room?
Change the cooler.
Restricted airflow in case, dirt/filters.
Turn on the AC
Kill processes/bloatware/spyware.
It will take time for new thermal paste to 'seat' and be 100% effective. (IMHO)

  • IHS remove and reseat.
    • That includes removing the integrated heat spread (IHS), applying some thermal paste or liquid metal thermal material to bare CPU die, re-glue the IHS. I was able to drop about 10C on my 4790K's doing so. I used some Collaborator Liquid Ultra between the die and IHS and AC MX4 and/or Noctua NH-1 for the IHS to cooler.
:toast:
That is too advanced when he has not yet changed stock cooler to solve his issue.
 
Last edited:
Jus wanted to know if nothing gonna happen to my cpu with this high temperature. Well question was answered so thanks you ^^ Ive cleaned radiator and fins few days ago and the temperature I told you was after I did this.
 
Jus wanted to know if nothing gonna happen to my cpu with this high temperature. Well question was answered so thanks you ^^ Ive cleaned radiator and fins few days ago and the temperature I told you was after I did this.
OK :)
If it is just started due to it starting to get hotter outside, then it's a cooler issue. . if it is the same temps outside when you didn't notice the issue, and you did what you have already troubleshooted.. you might have some processes causing high cpu usage?

Either way, stock cooler isn't ever advised when gaming.
 
Just grab a Hyper 212 cooler and call it a day.
 
90C is okay if you aren't worried about the CPU lasting more than say 5 years. Even then they tend to be fine, the motherboard is the bigger question. Typically temps over 80C are generally considered life reducing, as a rule I like to keep mine under 75C. By 35C outside do you mean outdoors or outside the computer case?
 
90C is okay if you aren't worried about the CPU lasting more than say 5 years. Even then they tend to be fine, the motherboard is the bigger question. Typically temps over 80C are generally considered life reducing, as a rule I like to keep mine under 75C. By 35C outside do you mean outdoors or outside the computer case?
It's too hot. Change your cooler. Water cooled, my CPU never goes over 36c - 44C Gaming. (but my system sucks and I don't play latest games.. so just saying)
 
Well. For now I'm not thinking of changing cooler, I just wanted to know if its safe for CPU. I'm not playing a lot lately so high it doesn't reach max temp really often.
 
Well. For now I'm not thinking of changing cooler, I just wanted to know if its safe for CPU. I'm not playing a lot lately so high it doesn't reach max temp really often.
For now you could just open the door of the case and point a fan toward the board.
 
Well. For now I'm not thinking of changing cooler, I just wanted to know if its safe for CPU. I'm not playing a lot lately so high it doesn't reach max temp really often.
Intel's stock fans are pretty much crap sized for Notepad use.
So with stock HSF there are no ways to improve situation that much.

Unless it's Intel's bubblegum/toothpaste going bad under the heatspreader.
Wouldn't be the first Intel CPU to do that.
 
As long as it's under 100c it'll be completely fine.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm sitting here at 37C and it's 28C outside .... which is normal + 8 - 10C. Under stress testing all cores / threads, I will hit mid 70s (RoG Real Bench) ... worse gaming temps I have seen is low to mid 60s. GFX cards run at 39C under Furmark (44C with fand topped out at about 650 rpm). And yes, temps will follow a delta T ... if at 23C temp in ya room, 33C means +10 Delta T. Now if it's 35C in ya room, you can then expect 45C. For short term loadings you can get over 90 w/o too much worry. If you are often in the mid 80s or above, you should be prepared for long term degradation. I see OC instability start to creep in simetimes after 5-6 years ... the 4770k box I am typing from for example, I knocked down fro, 4.8 to 4.6 about 6 months ago as it started to act up in some games my son was testing.

As far as addressing the problem, remember delta T ... the difference between room and CPU temps should remaoin a constant. Take a powerful desk fan and after taking off the side panel of your case. If temps drop significantly, then case ventilation should be addresses. Figure one 120 mm fan for every 50-75 watts of componentry (or one 140 mm for every 75-100 watts) .

If you still have a concern, I recommend the $46 Scythe Fuma .... it beats or exceeds the $90 Noctua and Cryorig flagship air cooler and just about every 2 x 120mm CPC type water cooler. If budget is an issue, you could consider the Cryorig C7 or Hyper 212 but the Scyyth beats those by 13C and 11C respectively

 
I'm sitting here at 37C and it's 28C outside .... which is normal + 8 - 10C. Under stress testing all cores / threads, I will hit mid 70s (RoG Real Bench) ... worse gaming temps I have seen is low to mid 60s. GFX cards run at 39C under Furmark (44C with fand topped out at about 650 rpm). And yes, temps will follow a delta T ... if at 23C temp in ya room, 33C means +10 Delta T. Now if it's 35C in ya room, you can then expect 45C. For short term loadings you can get over 90 w/o too much worry. If you are often in the mid 80s or above, you should be prepared for long term degradation. I see OC instability start to creep in simetimes after 5-6 years ... the 4770k box I am typing from for example, I knocked down fro, 4.8 to 4.6 about 6 months ago as it started to act up in some games my son was testing.

As far as addressing the problem, remember delta T ... the difference between room and CPU temps should remaoin a constant. Take a powerful desk fan and after taking off the side panel of your case. If temps drop significantly, then case ventilation should be addresses. Figure one 120 mm fan for every 50-75 watts of componentry (or one 140 mm for every 75-100 watts) .

If you still have a concern, I recommend the $46 Scythe Fuma .... it beats or exceeds the $90 Noctua and Cryorig flagship air cooler and just about every 2 x 120mm CPC type water cooler. If budget is an issue, you could consider the Cryorig C7 or Hyper 212 but the Scyyth beats those by 13C and 11C respectively

Do you think any 120 water cooler would work for him over stock? (Curious)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As long as it's under 100c it'll be completely fine.

Agreed.

I've yet to see a 4770 or 4770K fail because of running at or near the thermal throttle limit, these CPU's do quite well with that management of it, as I said earlier dropping in 100MHz increments to maintain sub-thermal throttle limits (sub-100C). I've seen and deployed a lot, all of which are still in the field or have been re-puprosed and are still running great. That being said, I don't like running so close to thermal limits...but I've seen enough of these run at that limit, my concern about their lifetime is much lower than had I not had the experience with them. Seeing that many Haswells are pushing the 5-6+ year mark, and I've had one Haswell RMA (would hit 100C at idle under stock cooling, assuming TIM application failure between die and IHS) in that entire time impressed me for as hot as they run.

The 4770 that I am running in my server came from an old Dell that a client replaced, the cooler was full of dust, the fan had seized...in fact it was funny, they mentioned their computer used to make this horrible grinding noise but quit a couple of years ago. Needless to say that thing idled at like 65-75C+ depending on if the client had their space heater running next to the tower, and hit 100C very quickly under stress testing or even opening QuickBooks. It was pretty bad, but they said performance was always good, never crashed, no issues.

That very CPU still runs like a champ in my core server, now handles multiple virtual machines and data stores with no issues, sitting under a stock Intel cooler. I can get it up to about 72C load, but I have a spinning fan, tower cooler, and a modified Lenovo TS430 case with decent airflow to keep it cool. Made a great budget home server setup. These are still damn good CPU's. :)

Do you think any 120 water cooler would work for him over stock? (Curious)

I think 120 water would be much better than stock, but I'd go for a good air cooler instead at that price point. Again I'll say the U14S is a fine choice if you have a case to support it. Though the D-series, Cryorig and other suggestions are solid as well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
just buy a cheap air cooler.. no point in running near 100 C when you dont have to..

trog
 
@FreddyAk This isn't the 1st I've heard of the 4770K start to overheat. 99% chance the thermal paste under the IHS has dried up.

And no the cpu will be fine at 100c as Intel puts protections on the chip.. if it overheats it'll just throttle back.

Also didn't see but is your waterblock able to be dissembled to check for gunk and stuff like that?
 
Back
Top