Hey everyone! I have an i5 14600K paired with a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE, and I'm noticing a huge difference in temperatures since I first set it up. Initially, after installation, I ran a stress test using Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. It performed well, never throttling, with temps peaking around 80 degrees and mostly sitting around 60. Now, however, during stress tests, the temperature skyrockets to 100 degrees almost instantly and throttles soon after. I've tried disabling XMP, but that didn't seem to fix the issue. I'm seeing my CPU pulling about 200W under stress. My motherboard is an ASUS Prime B760-plus D4 and I have a 750W PSU. I've heard CPU bending could be the culprit and I'm considering getting a Thermal Grizzly contact frame. Would that help? And if so, any tips for installation since I hear it can be tricky? By the way, I bought the CPU and cooler back in January.
6 Answers
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You might be worried too much about those benchmark temps; real-world usage generally won't stress your CPU like that. If everything is stable during normal use, consider setting a power limit to around 125W just to keep things cool and forget about stressing the CPU all the time.
It sounds like you're dealing with some thermal paste degradation, which can happen over time. Regular thermal paste can dry out, especially if you've been running it hard. I recommend reapplying new thermal paste, and a contact frame can help with LGA1700 chips like yours. It should give you a 2-5 degree improvement, so it's worth the small investment!
Absolutely, ambient temperature has a huge impact on CPU performance. In winter, I barely break 58°C, but come summer, spikes above 70°C are common for me. Just make sure you're using the same stress tests every time, as the methodology can really affect results.
Before you jump to conclusions about CPU bending, I’d suggest trying some straightforward steps first. Reapply thermal paste and properly reinstall the cooler. If things still aren’t right, waiting for winter could help too—ambient air is a crucial factor!
Have you checked your BIOS version? If it's on an outdated version from 2022, that might lead to weird power usage like that 200W you're seeing. Cleaning out your PC and applying fresh thermal paste can also help a lot. Plus, take note of your ambient temperatures—they do play a significant role in the cooling performance!
Yeah, my BIOS is really old, so that might be worth checking out! The ambient temp has gone up a bit this summer, too—could that really make that big of a difference?
Just to clarify, the PA120 is an air cooler, and that can only do so much depending on the environment.