Overclocking i7 4790k from 4Ghz to 4.4Ghz = massive temp increase

[HordeSchmorde]

I didn't overclock anything by myself on my Gigabyte Z97 UD5H, I just left everything on auto.

However leaving it like this Intel does its Turbo boost thing to go from 4 Ghz to 4.4 (factory default OC), and temps jump from 55-60 to 70-80 degrees Celsius, for 400 Mhz alone.

The fan on my Hyper Evo ramps up from typical 1200-1400 RPM while gaming to 1700-1800 and sounds like a jet engine. As soon as I disable Turbo boost, fan is silent, highest it goes is 1471 while gaming, and it stays around 853 on desktop environment.

Is this normal? I know 77-80 Celsius is bearable for a CPU but I'd rather not go there for a measly 400 Mhz, although I would like to have them if possible to avoid these massive jumps in temperature and fan speeds, in consequence.

I know its not the HSF's fault, if I leave my computer to be idle the temps on the CPU drop as low as 32-34C in a room where it's 23-24 C.

[Arbiter]

There is no real point in overclocking the 4790K to 4.4Ghz when the turbo boost already achieves it.

Leaving it on auto is likely raising the voltage higher than it really needs to be and causing increased temps and in return increased fan speeds to compensate. Unless you want to overclock further than 4.4Ghz just leave it alone.

[Afrospinach]

To be clear - factory default OC = the turbo feature or did you used a feature on the MB to OC automatically? The latter likes to overcompensate on the voltages to make sure it is always stable.

[Flaim]

There is no real point in overclocking the 4790K to 4.4Ghz when the turbo boost already achieves it.

there is. intel turbo has a few levels. first 2 just increase clock a little bit on all cores, but the culprits are the next two.
level 3 deactivates half the cores to increase the clock even more, but the 4th level leaves you with just one core in order to increase the speed further.
that's why proper OC is usually more benefical than using turbo.

[HordeSchmorde]

To be clear - factory default OC = the turbo feature or did you used a feature on the MB to OC automatically? The latter likes to overcompensate on the voltages to make sure it is always stable.

I left "Turbo Boost" option in the BIOS as Enabled. That's when temps increase. The max speed it goes to is 4.4 Ghz.

I use no other overclocking option in the BIOS, nor manual.

- - - Updated - - -

There is no real point in overclocking the 4790K to 4.4Ghz when the turbo boost already achieves it.

I'm not manually OC-ing.

[Schmeebs]

There is no real point in overclocking the 4790K to 4.4Ghz when the turbo boost already achieves it.

/boggle


yeah....

[chazus]

A few things.

1) I'm a bit confused. Your CPU shouldn't be going to 4.4ghz, really. Usually Turbo boosts to 4.2 (I.e. full load). It only does 4.4ghz if it has only a single thread demanding power.

2) I'd suggest manually OC'ing, for a few reasons. "Auto" and "Turbo" are just that. Automatic. And a lot of times it will crank up your voltage much higher than it needs to be. Thats why proper testing and voltage tuning is important. It might be cranking your voltage up to 1.35v when all you really need is 1.2v.

3) At those temps, I'd double check your thermal situation and cooler. Those temps are a bit high for those clocks. I imagine the problem is either A) Voltage or B) Bade thermal paste placement or the cooler being installed poorly.

[HordeSchmorde]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, the auto OC doesn't do its job right and it would be better to manually OC if I wanted 4.4 Ghz. I've just never done it before and there's a ton of options didn't want to mess around with that.

Temps are normal for me, like I said at idle it goes to 32-34C and now with Turbo mode off it gravitates around 60C. I followed the instructions on Arctic Silver for their own thermal paste, applied a small amount first and spread it everwhere with a credit card, then cleaned off excess with coffee filters, enough to fill in microscopic holes, then I applied the line method as they suggest for my family of processors, placed the HSF, tightened the screws 2 by 2 then retightened them at the end.

The problem with the temps is the jumping with the Turbo Boost left on. Like just launching Firefox the CPU will auto OC to 4.4 and suddenly the fans will start spinning at 1700 RPM because it OC-ed itself, and the temps will jump from 40-65. Then if you launch a game it stays on 4.4 and the temps go to 70+. I imagine in the summer they would easily have reached 80+.

[chazus]

That almost sounds like a voltage thing, then.

My 3570K at 4.4ghz barely every scrapes 60c in heavy use. If I'm not in a raid, it's normally about 45c. The only other thing I can think of is truly awful airflow, or ambient temperatures. Is your computer in a warm room, or has no ventilation? CPU temps are almost multiplicative in a warm environment.

[Zenfoldor]

A few things.

1) I'm a bit confused. Your CPU shouldn't be going to 4.4ghz, really. Usually Turbo boosts to 4.2 (I.e. full load). It only does 4.4ghz if it has only a single thread demanding power.

2) I'd suggest manually OC'ing, for a few reasons. "Auto" and "Turbo" are just that. Automatic. And a lot of times it will crank up your voltage much higher than it needs to be. Thats why proper testing and voltage tuning is important. It might be cranking your voltage up to 1.35v when all you really need is 1.2v.

3) At those temps, I'd double check your thermal situation and cooler. Those temps are a bit high for those clocks. I imagine the problem is either A) Voltage or B) Bade thermal paste placement or the cooler being installed poorly.

I believe it goes:

1 core: 4.4
2 cores: 4.3
3+ cores: 4.2

I may be wrong.

Also, for current gaming, I see no reason to overclock. You could get better temps and power efficiency as needed. One of the great things for non-enthusiasts are the stock clocks on this processor.

That said, at stock clocks, I would not run the stock cooler. I would get a Themis or hyper 212 to bring them down a bit for longer chip life.

- - - Updated - - -

That almost sounds like a voltage thing, then.

My 3570K at 4.4ghz barely every scrapes 60c in heavy use. If I'm not in a raid, it's normally about 45c. The only other thing I can think of is truly awful airflow, or ambient temperatures. Is your computer in a warm room, or has no ventilation? CPU temps are almost multiplicative in a warm environment.

I have a 3770k @ 4.4ghz with probably a much higher vcore than you and get better temps than that(not bragging, I probably have better cooling + the delid). I mention it because I also have a 4790k at stock with a Themis on there and the temps are higher than my 3770k overclock with the high vcore. Those chips just run hotter, and I don't think the stock cooler is sufficient even at stock clocks.

@OP your cpu temp at idle should be really no more than 8c over your room temp. You probably just have a very bad lidding job on the ihs. If the gasket they use sets up too long it can lift the chip up to 1mm off the ihs, you will get one core way hotter than others and/or just generally bad temps. I don't think you can rma the chip, but you can delid and break the warranty or just live with it. Those temps are within acceptable ranges. Even if you get a "bad" tim application, temps really aren't gonna change a whole lot honestly. Make sure your case has good air-flow and if you are still upset with the temps, delid.

With a bad ihs install, you will reach diminishing returns on coolers as well. You may not see any temp improvement with a significantly better cooler if the temp conduction is bottlenecked by poor application of the IHS.

[Tehterokkar]

A few things.

2) I'd suggest manually OC'ing, for a few reasons. "Auto" and "Turbo" are just that. Automatic. And a lot of times it will crank up your voltage much higher than it needs to be. Thats why proper testing and voltage tuning is important. It might be cranking your voltage up to 1.35v when all you really need is 1.2v.

I guess having a higher end Motherboard helps with choosing between Auto and Turbo(better voltage control).

Personally I've ran Auto for 3 years stable now at 4.5GHz on an i5-2500k(never did any testing, just set multiplier to 45 and went with it), my Motherboard cost about 400€ when I got it. Never had any crashes/heating issues.

[chazus]

I guess having a higher end Motherboard helps with choosing between Auto and Turbo(better voltage control).

Personally I've ran Auto for 3 years stable now at 4.5GHz on an i5-2500k(never did any testing, just set multiplier to 45 and went with it), my Motherboard cost about 400€ when I got it. Never had any crashes/heating issues.

This is also... sort of 'yes' sort of 'no'

A higher quality motherboard might function at higher voltages where a lower quality wouldn't. While that's great, that doesn't mean higher voltage is still 'fine'

I have a very cheap board, and I literally can't use 'Auto', because it puts it too high. I have to manually set it to the highest it goes (I think +.16v)

It's also possible that a better board may also simply have better voltage automation too, and not simply have a higher tolerance. I honestly don't know.