Question i5-14600K Reaching 100°C on MSI Z790 – Not Actually Hot to the Touch, Possible Sensor or Mounting Issue?

[shakaxl007]

Hi everyone,
I recently built a new PC with the following components:

• Motherboard: MSI Z790 Gaming
• CPU: Intel Core i5-14600K
• RAM: New DDR5 modules
• Cooler: Generic air cooler with plastic push pins (4 white legs + black clips)
• Thermal Paste: Generic brand

After assembling the system and powering it on, I immediately noticed the CPU temperature jumps to 100°C, even though the heatsink and the CPU surface don't feel that hot to the touch.

Initially, I noticed that the CPU fan header was incorrectly connected, and the UEFI showed 0 RPM for the CPU fan. I corrected this, and now the fan is spinning properly. However, the temperature still starts around 50°C and quickly rises to 100°C.

I also noticed the case fans are spinning(3), is Ok the temperature. They are connected to a built-in hub via 6-pin connectors, and the system reports 0 RPM for system fans as well.





Things I’ve tried so far:

• Reseated the cooler
• Reapplied thermal paste
• Updated the BIOS to the latest version

Still no improvement.


Could this be a sensor misreading, a cooler mounting pressure issue, or something else related to BIOS configuration? Any suggestions to properly identify the root cause would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance!

 

[In2Photos]

Was there plastic on the bottom of the heatsink that didn't get removed?

 

[daveybrat]

What cpu cooler are you using exactly?

"Generic air cooler with plastic push pin" <--- That doesn't sound like enough to cool a 14600K.

 

[tcsenter]

Sounds like you may be using 95W TDP cooling solution for 125W CPU. There is no system fan either e.g. 0 RPM? Can you get a new screen shot with fans working?

There probably high performance and turbo power mode settings/options enabled in BIOS, that will push the thermals up. I don't know what they might be called for this gen Intel hardware. Check through Advanced Settings or in the User Manual.

 

[shakaxl007]

What cpu cooler are you using exactly?

"Generic air cooler with plastic push pin" <--- That doesn't sound like enough to cool a 14600K.

Not dear, the heatsink is of before motherboard, and searching on internet and forums is the wrong , this is the link of heatsink: COOLER PROCESADOR DEEP COOL ALTA 9 ( DP-ICAP-AT9 ) P/ LG

 

[tcsenter]

Not dear, the heatsink is of before motherboard, and searching on internet and forums is the wrong , this is the link of heatsink: COOLER PROCESADOR DEEP COOL ALTA 9 ( DP-ICAP-AT9 )

Worse than we thought. That is a 65W rated cooler. From DeepCool's website product TDP matrix:



Upgrade to an adequate CPU cooler, and not one with plastic push pins but screws to a backplate.

 

[Heartbreaker]

Not dear, the heatsink is of before motherboard, and searching on internet and forums is the wrong , this is the link of heatsink: COOLER PROCESADOR DEEP COOL ALTA 9 ( DP-ICAP-AT9 ) P/ LG

Searching that cooler name shows this: Yikes!

That looks worse than the box cooler for my i5-12400. Just unlocking the power limit was too much for my lower end clock locked 6 core.

Plastic push pins are absolute garbage. I upgraded to a simple 120mm tower, and my 12400 is cool and quiet with unlocked power limit.

For a 14600K, I would want something like a Thermalright Peerless Assassin. It's one of the best cooling/dollar options, capable of handling 14600K:

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Review: Incredible, Affordable Air Cooling Performance

Shockingly cool and quiet, less than $40!

www.tomshardware.com

 

[coercitiv]

Was there plastic on the bottom of the heatsink that didn't get removed?

I would start again from this suggestion.

If the CPU reaches 100C while in BIOS, then clearly something is preventing the cooler from transferring heat. Yes, the cooler is very underpowered for this CPU, but it should still be able to prevent the CPU from reaching Tj Max under low load, especially while in the UEFI. Look at the image the OP has posted, the CPU is @100C while VCore is just under 0.8V, that CPU is using very little power and still cooking itself.

 

[mikeymikec]

Another possibility is that the cooler isn't securely installed so it's not making good contact with the CPU. With the machine off, try wobbling the cooler and see if there's *any* play at all. If there is, disconnect the cooler and try again (you'll likely also have to re-apply the heatsink paste).

I had a situation semi-recently with an Ivy Bridge-era PC that some other small company had built and I just had a hunch about the noise level and wondered whether maybe the paste wasn't properly applied, and instead I found Intel's default three stripes on the base of the HSF that had literally never touched the CPU. It was impressive that it had lasted ~10 years like that though!

I think I once made this mistake on a i7-920 and started with CPU temps at 50C as soon as the system POSTed. I smelled a rat and double-checked the heatsink

I completely agree with others saying that that heatsink won't be enough for that processor, but it should be doing a better job than it is; I'd expect about 35-40C as an idle temp (in approx 20C ambient) if the HSF is doing its job properly. Under load the temps will skyrocket in no time.

Make sure that a CPU overclock isn't in effect in the BIOS. I've started using MSI boards again recently and found that by clicking on that 'CPU' icon in the BIOS as soon in your photo, it does an auto OC.

 

[Heartbreaker]

Another possibility is that the cooler isn't securely installed so it's not making good contact with the CPU. With the machine off, try wobbling the cooler and see if there's *any* play at all. If there is, disconnect the cooler and try again (you'll likely also have to re-apply the heatsink paste).

Push pins are easy to mess up the lock, and the cooler has very little pressure, but even then it should be doing better than 99C at idle if that's what it's doing.

Definitely take that cooler off and check the paste to see if it looked like it was getting compressed, and double check for a sticker on the cooler, redo paste and reinstall. Understand how the push pins lock...

Properly installed temps should be reasonable at idle. Then apply a power limit of about 65W in bios, until a better cooler installed.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Looks like a wraith stealth with a much crappier mounting system. Even mounted properly with the fan on 100% it is not going to hold up under prolonged CPU loads.

There is also a newer beta bios with the latest microcode patch for raptor lake, I suggest you install it ASAP.

 

[511]

Make sure you set both PL1=PL2= 65W for this cooler as if you don't set PL2 it will boost to moon and hit 100C.