I recently installed an Intel i5-14600KF along with a Liquid Freezer III Pro cooler. I'm using the included MX-6 thermal paste, but I'm a bit worried about the temperatures I'm seeing. At around 30-40% CPU usage, the temps hit about 65°C, and they can reach 80-85°C at around 80% usage. Is this normal? Should I consider undervolting? I'm new to high-performance CPUs, so any insight would be appreciated!
2 Answers
Those temps sound a bit high, especially for a liquid cooler. Have you checked if the cooler is seated properly? That can make a big difference. I have an i5-13600KF, and mine rarely goes over 50°C, even under heavy loads.
It's worth checking the thermal paste. If the MX-6 has a gummy texture, it might be a bad batch. I had a similar issue with mine, and switching to Noctua paste fixed it for me. You might want to give a different thermal paste a shot!
Yeah, it did feel kind of gummy. I'll definitely try a different paste to see if that helps.
It is seated correctly, and I've also tried reseating it and reapplying the thermal paste just to be sure.