I'm having a tough time with my Intel 14900KF CPU; it's consistently running at 99 or 100 degrees Celsius, even when I'm only using 7% of the CPU. I have a Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce X II 360 ICE AIO cooler, which I was told would be suitable when I bought it from PCCaseGear. I've applied thermal paste generously and made sure the cooler is seated correctly, but I didn't think I'd have to undervolt the CPU with water cooling. Is there anything else I can do to fix this issue? I'm a bit apprehensive about undervolting, fearing it might impact performance.
8 Answers
At that kind of load, your CPU shouldn’t be that hot! I think it could be a bad mount or maybe the AIO pump isn’t working properly. Have you checked those?
Make sure the pump speed is maxed out, and also check your CPU fan speeds. If you're gaming a lot, consider turning off hyper-threading, using only the 8 e-cores, and locking the P-cores to 5600MHz while overriding voltage to 1.25V. You might actually get better FPS in games this way!
I used my 14900K for about 1.5 years before switching to a 14700K, which has way better temps without affecting my gaming. My setup included an Arctic III 420 cooler with good airflow, and it kept my temps below 85°C, but that was with my air conditioning on and fans running at 70% max.
Honestly, it shouldn't be running that hot at all. You may want to try remounting it and ensure everything’s working as it should.
Did you update the BIOS right after getting your CPU? Those 13th/14th gen chips have some quirks that can be fixed with a BIOS update. Also, most times, undervolting won’t really hurt performance and will help keep the temps down.
I did update the BIOS. I might try reapplying thermal paste and reseating the cooler to see if that helps!
When you're gaming, do the tubes feel hot? If they do, there’s a chance your pump has failed. Might be worth checking that.
I'll definitely need to check the AIO pump again and make sure it’s working properly. Thanks for the tips!
If the block is mounted correctly, then it sounds like the pump isn't functioning well. There's no way you should be hitting 100°C at just 7% usage otherwise!
Or maybe you forgot to peel off any protective film on the cooler!