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I7 4790 cooler

Dallascisco

Platinum Member
Put together an i7 4790 build on the msi z97 pc mate motherboard. For some reason with the stock cooler the cpu temp got up into the 80s. I've never had this happen before. I then got an alpine 11 rev 2 cooler and had some serious trouble installing it. 2 of the latching pins wouldn't go all the way down. I thought maybe because the caps on the north side of the cpu socket but the alpine 11 rev 2 is slanted on both sides. Anyone have any advice?
 
hmmmm, well under just the bios it got up to about 91c and and during windows install it just froze. Then refused to boot until I let it rest for about and hour. That is what led to me to believe the cpu was overheating. CPU cooler was always operational. 1400ish rpm fan speed.
 
If that is the case then why did the machine refuse to boot after getting past the msi splash screen for over an hour without rest?
 
hmmmm, well under just the bios it got up to about 91c and and during windows install it just froze. Then refused to boot until I let it rest for about and hour. That is what led to me to believe the cpu was overheating. CPU cooler was always operational. 1400ish rpm fan speed.

If your cpu is actually running at 91c just idling in the bios, there is definitely something wrong.

Sounds like both your stock heatsink and the Artic cooler's push pins weren't installed properly. Can almost guarantee you that the heatsink wasn't making proper contact with the CPU.
 
You've got to make sure the cooler is properly and firmly attached. Give it a good tug when you think it's attached properly. You may find one pin was not locked.

The stock cooler on a 4790 should be okay if installed correctly and no overclocking is involved.

Also, there is no way it would take an hour to recover from thermal throttling if the HSF was attached properly. It would cool back down quickly.

So I have to conclude that you are not getting good contact with the heatsink.
 
I thought I had good contact with the stock one. The thermal paste was all over the cpu when I removed it and all the locking pins were down. I'm getting another alpine 11 today so I hope I can get it installed but the caps just north of the cpu socket make me a little anxious.
 
I thought I had good contact with the stock one. The thermal paste was all over the cpu when I removed it and all the locking pins were down. I'm getting another alpine 11 today so I hope I can get it installed but the caps just north of the cpu socket make me a little anxious.

Don't you think it's time to leave the dark ages, join the 21st century and invest into a CPU cooler with heat-pipes. It is a breakthrough technology that will knock almost 20°C off your temps, operating at 800 RPM with an inaudible 140 mm fan, consuming < 1W and actually saving power. They actually have a very small footprint as well, towering well above caps and DDR DIMMs even.
 
If I remember correctly, make sure the locking pins are all turned clockwise (?) as turning them counterclockwise unlocks them (I might have that backward) and it will unclip itself. It also takes a fair amount of pressure to get them to lock into place. You should hear them very clearly click when they lock in.

If the cooler is installed correctly, it's not the cooler that's causing your crash, but something else. It's very possible you received some DOA hardware - perhaps a bad stick of RAM or a faulty motherboard.
 
I just put together a 4790k system and have the same problem. The stock cooler Intel provides is a piece of crap. I wouldn't mind paying another $20 for them to include something adequate, but they would rather penny pinch to keep costs down I suspose and include a piece of junk.
 
I just put together a 4790k system and have the same problem. The stock cooler Intel provides is a piece of crap. I wouldn't mind paying another $20 for them to include something adequate, but they would rather penny pinch to keep costs down I suspose and include a piece of junk.

Even the cheapest cooler would not have the chip idling at 91C, though.

Yes, for the K, you need a different cooler. But the 4790 is only 3.6 / 4.0 and 80W.

The 4790K is unlocked and stock speeds are 4.0 / 4.4 and tdp is 88W.

The new TS15A cooler is what should have been with the 4790K.

http://hexus.net/tech/news/cooling/85604-intel-ts15a-lga1151-twice-size-retail-lga1150-cooler/
 
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Maybe your entire case was overheating? The heatsink could be mounted perfectly, but if it's trapped inside a greenhouse of furnace-hot air, the heat from the heatsink will have nowhere to go.

If your case is cool, then I'd reconsider whether proper installation was achieved. Even if the thermal paste spreads all over, you may still not have sufficient pressure to get good heat transfer.

You could try touching the heatsink (ideally use a thermometer) to see if it's hot like the CPU during BIOS. Like, if your CPU is 90 degrees C during BIOS, that's almost boiling water, but you touch the heatsink and it's merely warm to the touch, then you know the installation is not proper because the CPU and heatsink should be close to the same temperature, at least the base of the heatsink near the CPU.
 
The stock cooler and alpine cooler use the plastic push pins. The stock pins all locked the the alpine ones did not. The overall construction of the alpine was pretty shitty with 2 of the plastic pins not being able to thread the mount holes. I've ordered a coolermaster h series heatpipe and hope the board is still ok after having to basically cut out 2 coolers.
 
saga continues, installed the new heatpipe and now the machine powers up for a few seconds and then restarts. This loop continues infinitely. Probably garfed the board during one of the cooler removals. RMA in process.
 
I don't know, I've installed and removed the Intel style push pin coolers lots of times. I can't recall ever having much trouble. Both stock and Arctic versions.

Once one of the pins was not all the way up when I tried to put the pins into the holes. This caused the little tabs to spread apart, rendering them unable to go through the hole first. However, I simply pulled the pin out all the way, bent the tabs back in, and all was well. It went back in and locked down correctly.
 
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