New i7-3770 problems

[Nysir]

Hey guys. I'm having some issues with my new CPU that I'm hoping you can help me out with. First and foremost, the temperatures while running a prime95 26.6 test have it maxing out around 83c on the hottest core, which seems terribly hot compared to my old i3-3220. I also downloaded Speed Fan and what I'm guessing is the CPU fan (because it's the only one that changed under cpu load) only gets up to 1090 RPM. Even for the stock cooler, this seems extremely low, right?

On top of that, there's another bit of strangeness going on. I have not initiated ANY sort of overclocking attempts. This is the non-k version, and while I know there is a little bit of overclocking ability with it, I just didn't have the interest. However, running on an MSI Z77-G41 motherboard, it seems it has plans of its own and the multiplier keeps going up to 37, putting me at 3.7 instead of the stock 3.4GHz. I even noticed while I was playing a relatively low CPU-heavy game that it would fluctuate from 3.7 to 3.8 completely on its own.

Could this have anything to do with my terrible temps? Is there anything I can do without spending more money and crossing my fingers to improve these temps? Why is it overclocking itself? And is that REALLY as fast as the stock intel cooler fan gets? Your advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[greatnoob]

Use CPU-Z to check your bus speed, should be 99-100mhz if not, your i7 isn't new and you should clock it back down to that value through your BIOS.

 

[BSim500]

My advice would be to buy a cheap aftermarket cooler as stock coolers in general are fairly rubbish all round (both thermal and noise). I have a CoolerMaster EVO 212 and an i5-3570 (non-K). With a mild OC to 4.0-4.2GHz, it basically averages 50-55c under load and never exceeds 60c even with CPU & case fans at a low 700rpm.

As for your CPU speeds fluctuating that's normal Turbo Boost. Your Turbo speeds are:-

i7-3770 Normal = 3.7GHz 4T / 3.8GHz 3T / 3.9GHz 1-2T
i7-3770 max OC = 4.1GHz 4T / 4.2GHz 3T / 4.3GHz 1-2T

"max OC" includes the +400MHz "limited OC" available on Z77 boards for non-K Sandy & Ivy Bridge i5/i7 CPU's. The chips are safe to use at 83c (personally I'd rather keep them under 70c) but if you're not overclocking, you could always play around with slightly lowering vcore & vdroop settings in the BIOS.

 

[Nysir]

It's running at 100mhz, only the multiplier is changing.

Thanks, BSim. So I guess it's just standard for it to be running this hot with turbo OC?

The only reason I'm holding off on an aftermarket cooler is due to how cumbersome they appear to be to install and the fact that the TDP of the EVO 212 is like double what my procesor currently is. I'd need a new PSU to handle it. But if that's my only option, I guess I'll have to start saving.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check if multi-core turbo / multi-core enhancement is enabled in the BIOS. (Some BIOSes enable this automagically when you enable XMP for the memory.)

That features causes ALL CORES to run at the MAX TURBO, thus hotter temps.

 

[BSim500]

The only reason I'm holding off on an aftermarket cooler is due to how cumbersome they appear to be to install and the fact that the TDP of the EVO 212 is like double what my procesor currently is.

Over-speccing a cooler is what makes it run so cool & silent though.

I'd need a new PSU to handle it. But if that's my only option, I guess I'll have to start saving.

Changing a CPU cooler wouldn't make any difference to power consumption or PSU requirements. It would simply significantly lower heat / noise at any given temp. Even a mild OC is unlikely to require a PSU swap unless you have a particularly bad low-wattage one (and I mean sub 200w). Example : At 4GHz, my whole system's power draw at the wall under full Prime doesn't even hit 100w. Stock 3.4GHz with Turbo disabled doesn't even hit 85w. I doubt you'd need a new PSU.

Edit : Just to clarify, a 180w CPU cooler simply means it can cool CPU's that chuck out up to 180w of heat, not that it'll drive up power consumption to 180w. Your i7-3770 is rated at 77w.

 

[coercitiv]

The only reason I'm holding off on an aftermarket cooler is due to how cumbersome they appear to be to install and the fact that the TDP of the EVO 212 is like double what my procesor currently is. I'd need a new PSU to handle it. But if that's my only option, I guess I'll have to start saving.

The TDP of the cooler does not indicate power consumption, but rather how powerful that cooler is. Actual power consumption when changing coolers might even go down. (cost surely goes up though

What stock cooler are you using, the one from the i3 or the one for the i7?

You might want to enter BIOS and check fan speed configuration, adding some fan speed when temps rise might help alleviate the issue.

 

[Nysir]

Huh. I don't know what I was looking at that said it would increase the power consumption to 180W or so, but thanks for correcting me on that. Unfortunately I did some digging and I don't think the EVO 212 will fit in my case. It's hard to imagine it wouldn't, as it's a pretty standard mid-tower, but I guess the height on that is 159mm and according to my case, it has a max height of 130mm. It seems oddly low considering I've got a 120mm fan mounted on the back.

If anyone knows of a really decent aftermarket cooler that's a bit smaller, I'm all ears! Otherwise, I might have to get a liquid cooling system just to keep this thing under control.

I'll take a look in my BIOS and see if I can disable the turbo for now, though. Hopefully that will get things in control until I can find better cooling. And to coercitiv, I'm using the stock i7 cooler that came with it.

 

[BSim500]

If anyone knows of a really decent aftermarket cooler that's a bit smaller, I'm all ears! Otherwise, I might have to get a liquid cooling system just to keep this thing under control.

130mm seems quite narrow for a tower case. There's no way you need water cooling just for a stock i7-3770 though. Plenty of cheaper air cooled 92mm tower / low profile non-tower designs available. This may be of use:-
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-profile-heat-sink-mini-itx,review-32826.html

Or as mentioned, you could always try a mild undervolting (ie, a -0.05v negative vcore offset in the BIOS).

 

[ShintaiDK]

83C with the stockcooler isnt bad at all in the extreme condition with prime95. Tjmax is 105C.

You dont seem to have any problems.

 

[Nysir]

So I disabled turbo boost in my BIOS and ran a prime95 stress test again. After 5+ minutes, the hottest core reached 69c. Very big difference!

I measured out the depth of my case and it's exactly 7 inches, which is closer to 180mm. Assuming that's the only real dimension concern with the EVO 212, it -looks- like I will be able to get it. The problem appears to be solved, but now that I've had a taste of even a small amount of overclocking, I think I'll try an aftermarket cooler anyway.

I know it'll vary from person to person, but in general what sort of temperature decrease is an EVO 212 going to get me? Based on how hot my CPU was getting, I'd prefer something that's going to keep it under 70c while overclocked.

 

[flexy]

>>
which seems terribly hot
>>

For those CPUs it's really not especially not with stock cooler. You're basically fine. The higher multi you're seeing I guess is just the normal turbo kicking in once in a while?