CPU at 2 to 5% usage, 99° Celsius

[Kloszard99]

I bought the NH-D15S today, will keep u posted if it was the cooling or nah. It’s gonna arrive tomorrow.

 

[Macro Device]

I agree with toothless.

I am the one actually using my machines and I know what cheap coolers can do and what they cannot do. Hitting over 90C and getting supersonic aeroplane level noise is what I'd rather avoid. That said, cheap (under $20 tower coolers) require me to either pick something that's not i7-13700K, or deliberately limit my use cases to those below some specific number, or spend my time in BIOS adjusting this CPU the way it doesn't blow under some sub-20 dollar cooler, which are usually not ideal.

$40 coolers are low mid range, they are not cheap. Just inexpensive. My point was I don't need either of that, low power i5-12400 does my work none worse than a hungry i7-13700K. I'm GPU limited after all.

Also thinking I'm a panic machine who can't stand temps over 30C is just a straight up insult. Why are you like that.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Also thinking I'm a panic machine who can't stand temps over 30C is just a straight up insult. Why are you like that.

First, 30°C was an arbitrary number I picked (like 55°C was too) to illustrate the point. While I arbitrarily chose 30 and 55, those are realistic values based on technical fact, not opinion.

Your $20 and $40 numbers were arbitrary too. Only what you call "midrange" may be expensive to some on tight budgets. For others, $40 might be considered cheap - especially when there $100+ coolers around. So really, your numbers are just your opinion, and not based on technical fact.

Second, you never mentioned 30°C and I never said, implied, or suggested anything about anyone, especially you, panicking about temps over 30°C. So why would you make up falsehoods like that? That is deceitful. And since it didn't happen, why would you be insulted? That makes no sense.

Just because someone does not agree with your "opinions" in a technical discussion that is no reason to (1) take it personally or (2) take it as an insult. That's just being childish.

I am the one actually using my machines and I know what cheap coolers can do and what they cannot do. Hitting over 90C and getting supersonic aeroplane level noise is what I'd rather avoid.

Good for you. But note no one here suggested 90°C was acceptable. And just because your own specific scenario fits your claims, that is just anecdotal and in no way suggests it fits the masses.

I note again, it is the case's responsibility to remove heat from inside the case by creating a sufficient flow of cool air through the case. The CPU cooler need only toss the CPU's heat into that flow.

While an "inferior" (I purposely did not say "cheap") cooler "may" have too small or a poorly made heatsink, that does not automatically imply it was inexpensive. Nor do high CPU temps automatically mean the CPU cooler is failing to do its job. It could be a poor application of TIM, or inadequate case cooling - or something else entirely.

 

[Waldorf]

@Kloszard99
didnt the cpu come with a cooler you can install for testing?
you stated old mound on the way, but not sure what you meant by that.

@Beginner Macro Device
from some exceptions, having a silent rig is virtually impossible with air cooling,
as one of the main advantages is having the ability to set the rad as exhaust, lowering case/vrm/pwm/drive/gpu temps
as well, much harder and usually more costly with air only, as i need a case with the cpu cooler (completely) separated from the rest of the components.

while i also get the benefit of higher gpu clocks, as Nv drops one boost step per 6C above 43C (at least for my gpu),
so with my card staying at/below 50Cat full load, means i have full boost clocks of 2-2.2ghz ALL the time,
not just for the first "30 min" until stuff gets warmed up.

its fine if you dont care, but others do, and i rather spend more on cooling, than having to hear any fan,
as my old setup used a passive res/rad combo with 3.5L coolant, rad&silent pump 6ft away, so yeah ZERO fan noise,
as all case fans where throttled 8dba fans.

the same way a +100K 2 door coupe isnt getting you faster from a to be (as long as there are speed limits),
but it doesnt mean everyone needs to stick with a used car for 5K

@Bill_Bright
except when your looking at ryzen chips as example.
they are designed with a max temp in mind, clocking faster if below that "limit".

especially with amd chips, what/how stuff worked in the past, might not anymore the best way to do it,
and the main reason why most amd "enthusiast" users are on high end air/decent AIO coolers,
as lower temps=better.

 

[Macro Device]

having a silent rig is virtually impossible with air cooling,

I know it but it's not my concern. I don't mind coolers being a bit noisy. However, being too audible isn't welcome either.

i also get the benefit of higher gpu clocks, as Nv drops one boost step per 6C above 43C (at least for my gpu)

Doesn't work the same way on AMD GPUs. Hard to notice the difference either way, I had a 1080 Ti and this 1 to 3 FPS difference (70-72 VS 73) didn't make me bat an eye.

My current GPU isn't thermally limited. I need more current/voltage for it to clock higher but can't dial it without physically modifying the GPU and I decided on that being not worth the hassle.

the same way a +100K 2 door coupe isnt getting you faster from a to be (as long as there are speed limits)

This is exactly why I don't buy top-tier CPUs with high wattages. I don't need them. My rig gets me exactly the same gaming experience with either i5-12400 or i9-14900KS. I'm GPU limited at 4K60. And I'm limited hard, it's just a pesky 6700 XT.

 

[Bill_Bright]

@Bill_Bright
except when your looking at ryzen chips as example.
they are designed with a max temp in mind, clocking faster if below that "limit".

Sorry, but I am not following. Please be more specific. What do you mean by "except when"? What I said still applies. Cooler does not suggest better performance, more stability, or longer life, as long as it is operating within normal limits. Maximum temps "allowed" are still that, maximum allowed. Designed to work at that maximum temp does not mean it will be more stable, perform better, or last longer when maxed out all the time. It just means it won't go up in smoke or constantly throttle down - in theory anyway.

***

Let's be careful not to hijack @Kloszard99's thread with these side topics.

 

[Waldorf]

@Beginner Macro Device
part of the reason i bought the card with a full block from the maker.
all gpu chips nowadays get binned, so my card not only has a faster chip than any air cooled variants (from Gb),
but has more power phases for gpu/vram, as well as higher power limit (140% over their "stock" cards),
so my real "limit" is vcore only.

in my case, it was cheaper to get a 5950 (from 5800), and not waste funds on a new board/ram/cpu to go AM5,
while i can now play most games at 2166 with power saving profile in win (cpu perf limit to 50%), as i get almost the same ram/bus thru output,
compared to running the x5800 with 3600 ram & balanced profile for win, and still enough perf for some vid editing/encoding here and there.

@Bill_Bright
look at some reviews testing ryzen with different coolers, and the impact of (lower) temps.


but now, btt..

 

[Macro Device]

part of the reason i bought the card with a full block from the maker.
all gpu chips nowadays get binned, so my card not only has a faster chip than any air cooled variants (from Gb),
but has more power phases for gpu/vram, as well as higher power limit (140% over their "stock" cards),
so my real "limit" is vcore only.

In my case, liquid cooling would be a several hundred dollar investment. This alone is enough for a higher tier GPU purchase. I'd get myself a mediocre 3080 over a top-notch 3070 Ti just because it will be faster regardless. Might end up undervolting just for the good measure and call it a day. My headphones won't let me hear the fans whilst gaming and fans aren't doing anything whilst I'm not anyway.

 

[Kloszard99]

@Kloszard99
didnt the cpu come with a cooler you can install for testing?
you stated old mound on the way, but not sure what you meant by that.

@Beginner Macro Device
from some exceptions, having a silent rig is virtually impossible with air cooling,
as one of the main advantages is having the ability to set the rad as exhaust, lowering case/vrm/pwm/drive/gpu temps
as well, much harder and usually more costly with air only, as i need a case with the cpu cooler (completely) separated from the rest of the components.

while i also get the benefit of higher gpu clocks, as Nv drops one boost step per 6C above 43C (at least for my gpu),
so with my card staying at/below 50Cat full load, means i have full boost clocks of 2-2.2ghz ALL the time,
not just for the first "30 min" until stuff gets warmed up.

its fine if you dont care, but others do, and i rather spend more on cooling, than having to hear any fan,
as my old setup used a passive res/rad combo with 3.5L coolant, rad&silent pump 6ft away, so yeah ZERO fan noise,
as all case fans where throttled 8dba fans.

the same way a +100K 2 door coupe isnt getting you faster from a to be (as long as there are speed limits),
but it doesnt mean everyone needs to stick with a used car for 5K

@Bill_Bright
except when your looking at ryzen chips as example.
they are designed with a max temp in mind, clocking faster if below that "limit".

especially with amd chips, what/how stuff worked in the past, might not anymore the best way to do it,
and the main reason why most amd "enthusiast" users are on high end air/decent AIO coolers,
as lower temps=better.

By old mount i meant the one that i was using on my previous pc, it doesnt fit though so i already bought a new one and it’s supposed to arrive tomorrow. And no my processor didnt come with a cooling system since i ordered the version without it since i knew i already had my AIO

 

[Waldorf]

@Kloszard99
for the next one (cpu), order with a cooler if possible.
always good to have another option for trouble shooting, or temporary use if cooler gets switched (sale/repair etc).
(one reason i kept 1 intel and 1 amd cooler from ppl i upgraded to "better" cooling).

 

[A Computer Guy]

@Kloszard99
for the next one (cpu), order with a cooler if possible.
always good to have another option for trouble shooting, or temp use if cooler gets switched (sale/repair etc).
(one reason i kept 1 intel and 1 amd cooler from ppl i upgraded to "better" cooling).

That's a great point about having a spare/temp cooler around especially if you have a custom loop at least you have a temporary option to use if you have to tear down or maintain the loop for whatever reason and you need to use your PC in the meantime.

I had run out of coolers for testing and ended up running a 5950x on wraith stealth and NH-L9a for a short time. Sure it ran at 90c but it ran (thermal throttled) and didn't overheat and was quite usable dispite high fan noise of course. You could even temper that a bit and fix the fan speed for lower noise and the CPU will just continue to downclock beautifully as needed to stay in it's thermal limit.

With CPU's that will throttle rather than overheat you don't necessarily need to have the perfect cooler however without a good enough cooler you are leaving performance on the table for sure.

 

[Kloszard99]

@everyone
Good news guys! It was in fact the cooling system that was the problem. Now with the noctua its stable between 35 degrees and 60 while playing last epoch on highest graphics. Thanks a lot to everyone that contributed to this small victory

See you around!

 

[Bill_Bright]

Great! Glad you got it sorted out and thanks for coming back and posting your followup.