I'm having a serious problem with my CPU temperatures. Recently, my computer shut down unexpectedly due to overheating. Initially, I thought the cooler was at fault, and it was, but after testing my CPU with several different coolers, including a well-known AIO and Intel's stock cooler, I still faced issues. When I tried using another motherboard with the Intel stock cooler, the temperature shot up to 85°C in the BIOS, and I turned it off to avoid damage.
I've confirmed that my cooler is working correctly and that I applied thermal paste properly. I also checked the motherboard with a spare i5 14400F, and it seems to work fine, so I don't think the motherboard is the issue. Given all this, I'm suspecting that my CPU might be the problem. Can anyone help me figure out what might be causing this overheating?
Here are my PC specs:
- Intel i7 14700KF
- MSI Z790 Gaming WiFi
- 128GB RAM (DDR5)
- MSI Ventus 3X RTX 5090
- 1 TB boot drive
- ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360
I also have some spare parts:
- Intel i5 14400F
- GT 710
- Unknown motherboard
- 8 GB DDR4 RAM
3 Answers
First, make sure your motherboard is updated to the latest BIOS. Also, check what voltage your CPU is running at. I've heard some 13th and 14th generation Intel chips are facing issues due to faulty power settings from Intel and motherboard makers. Since your i5 14400F works fine, I’d be cautious about potential degradation with your i7 if you haven’t checked these settings yet.
Have you checked Task Manager to see if any process is maxing out your CPU usage? It could also be helpful to see if the temperature changes when you're connected to the internet versus when you're not. You might want to look at the event logs, too; feeding that data to AI could help identify the problem more clearly.
I checked, and nothing's hitting 100% utilization—just sitting at 0.25GHz idle. Even in the BIOS, the temperature still climbs to 85°C, but I didn't want to wait until it hits 100°C to avoid further damage.
The i5 14400F has a TDP of 65W, but your i7 14700KF is set at 253W. It's clear that the Intel stock cooler isn't enough for the 14700KF. When dealing with any AIO, sudden temperature spikes usually hint at a failed pump or blockage in the water loop, which could either need a warranty return or a new replacement.
I did get a prompt for the defaults on the 14400F when I booted, which I chose. In the BIOS, the utilization should be low, right? Just 1-2% at around 20-30W. I did test the 14400F with a spare Deepcool 240mm AIO, but all my Arctic fans broke at once.
Yeah, I'm on the latest BIOS. I actually undervolted my i7 by about 0.075mV and locked my CPU power at 253 PL1 and PL2, with all cores at 5.4GHz.