I recently upgraded to an AMD 9800X3D and paired it with an X63 Kraken 240mm cooler. While my overall temperatures seem solid—about 65-80°C while gaming and 40-44°C at idle—I notice occasional spikes into the low to mid 90s on the Package and CCD during initial game starts. I suspect this might be due to shader compilation. The room temperature is around 23-24°C, and I used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme paste for the CPU. Is this behavior typical, or should I be concerned about these temperature spikes?
5 Answers
Totally normal. I just set a thermal limit for mine to 80°C to smooth out those spikes. What games push yours up the most? I usually see high temps with something like BF6, but a minor undervolt has kept my gaming temps around 60°C.
The way cooling works is that there’s a limit to how quickly heat can be dissipated. It really depends on how efficiently your cooler conducts heat. So, spikes are common, but if you’re worried, consider how well your AIO is functioning—it might be worth checking if it's getting old or underperforming.
Yeah, my AIOs usually last around 5-7 years. Definitely want to keep an eye on that!
Your temps are still within safe limits. The 9800X3D is designed to boost until it reaches around 95°C, which then causes throttling. Just keep an eye on cooling; my buddy’s 360mm AIO keeps his CPU around 60-70°C, but he sees those brief spikes too. It’s fine for longevity, but lower temps are always better!
That’s good to know! Thanks for the reassurance. I'm just cautious after spending a lot on this setup.
It’s pretty normal for the X3D chips to spike up a bit when starting games. Seeing temps above 90°C during initial load isn’t unusual—as long as your sustained temps don’t hover above 80°C during gameplay, you’re in a good spot. Those spikes happen mostly because of shader compilation and other prep tasks that hit the CPU hard at launch, but they shouldn't last long. You're doing fine!
Thanks for confirming! I was worried since the chip is such a powerhouse. I’m playing at 1080p on a 240Hz monitor, so I know I’m pushing it quite a bit with the refresh rate.
Yeah, AMD chips are known for that behavior. I've had them spike too but nothing major to worry about if they're back down quickly.
I had similar experiences when I first got mine. Shader compilation definitely ramps up the CPU temps, but it's typically not a concern. If you want, you could try undervolting—it’s worked wonders for a lot of us on these chips by lowering temps while not sacrificing performance. Just a thought!
That sounds interesting! I hadn’t thought about that. Might give it a shot.
BF6 is a tough one! I've seen my Package hit 78°C and CCD at 81°C after an hour at 1080p, 170 FPS. I’m just surprised how high it can go on first starts!