Hey everyone! I've been running my i5-14600K with a Thermalright Assassin King 120 SE for about three weeks now, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned about the temperatures. Under heavy load, I've seen it peak at 93°C. In gaming, the temps usually sit around 70-75°C, which doesn't drop much lower, but the idle temps are okay at around 35-40°C. My full setup includes an MSI PRO H610M-E motherboard, an MSI Shadow 3X RTX 5070 GPU, and an MSI MAG Forge 121A case which seems to have decent airflow. I'm wondering: 1. Are these temperatures normal for the 14600K, or is the Assassin King 120 SE struggling? 2. Would switching to a Thermalright Peerless Assassin make a noticeable difference? 3. Are there any other options I should explore before upgrading my cooler, like undervolting or adjusting power limits? I'd love to hear from anyone using a 14600K, especially those with air cooling. Thanks!
2 Answers
Consider getting an LGA1700 contact frame; it can help flatten the IHS for better heat transfer to the cooler. The 14600K can pull a hefty 175 watts at stock speeds, which is a lot for a single-tower cooler like yours. While 93°C is still within safe limits and below the throttle point, it’s not ideal. Upgrading to a better cooler could improve your temps and allow for quieter fan operation, although hitting 75°C in games isn't too bad for any CPU.
The i5-14600K definitely benefits from solid cooling. If you're limited on budget, why not consider a 120mm AIO? It could offer decent cooling performance. That said, if cost is a concern, the Peerless Assassin is a good choice too, as it seems many AIOs don’t perform significantly better than it for the price.
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