Burn in Temp for GA-170X Gaming 7 and Core i7 6700K Skylake

[azmothman]

Hello,

Recently I upgraded my computer to utilize the following components:

•   NZXT Phantom 820
•   GA-170X Gaming 7
•   Intel Core i7 6700K
•   Noctua NH-D15  (utilized Noctua supplied thermal paste)

Prior to applying the Noctua thermal paste I verified that the Intel processor was clean and afterwards I applied approx. a pea size of the thermal paste within the center of the processor and then applied the heat sink.

As of today I have been performing burn in tests utilizing Prime and Intel Burn In test to verify my system is stable based on its default clock speed  (not overclocking)

I would appreciate if you could advise if this is what I should expect based on the performance of the Noctua ND-D15 and my system.

Any comments from your expertise would be much appreciated!

My ambient temp in my office is 80-82 degrees.

[autotech]

Your high temps do seem to me way to high. I have never seen mine go past 55c. After looking online reviews for that cooler out of 12 pages I saw 1 review with your temps the rest were all below 50c.

[azmothman]

Thank you for your reply, I was thinking the same and did end up removing the heat sink to clean and reapply the "PEA" size Noctua thermal compound that comes with the Noctua NH-D15 air cooler. 

Afterwards I ran tests using Prime95 and Intel Burn Test which I have listed below.

I do live in Arizona and the ambient temp was around 84-85 F.

[azmothman]

and Intel Burn In Test.

[ElectroStingz]

Hello,

If you want to maintain default clocks at 4Ghz consider changing your Vcore voltages to hang around 1.2Xv and not exceed 1.265v under load. This will get you closer to 60 Deg C, I imagine lower with that cooler.

Your screenshot shows +1.4V

[shadowsports]

And to add (if relevant).  "pea" size dollop of thermal paste.  If its oozing out the sides, that's too much.  Less is more.  You need to find the right amount that covers just the top of the CPU, and creates a (evenly distributed) conductive conduit between the surface of the CPU and heatsink.  Too much actually robs the ability of your HSF to dissipate heat efficiently (it can actually build up), too little does the same thing.  If applied unevenly, it can also create hot spots.  It does take a little bit of burn in before maximum cooling performance is achieved.  Enough on this though, I'm rambling now.        

[joevt]

I think I get about 89°C at 4.7 GHz, 1.4 V with that cooler, CPU, motherboard in a Corsair Carbide Series Air 540.

Usually I run at 4.6 GHz, 1.212 V, 69°C max.

[azmothman]

Thanks to all of the above for your responses.

Just to respond to each accordingly:

In the bios I have not changed the default VCore but if I recall its default was 1.28, how did it go from 1.28 to 1.4? If I do change the Vcore will this have any impact, meaning will the processor run slower than 4 GhZ?

As per the thermal paste, yeah it was only pea size and definitely understand your concern. I have seen other people (on YouTube) put gobs of paste and they think they are helping when in fact they are not.

Like you said once the burn in has completed then it should help the cooling performance as well.

Cheers!

[azmothman]

I think I get about 89°C at 4.7 GHz, 1.4 V with that cooler, CPU, motherboard in a Corsair Carbide Series Air 540.

Usually I run at 4.6 GHz, 1.212 V, 69°C max.

Just out of curiosity Joevt, when you are achieving 4.6 GHz while staying under 69°C then what did you use to test your baseline? Plus what is your ambient temp? I live in Arizona so generally speaking its around 78F night, 82F day.

For me running at default clock speed 4 GHz and using Prime95 I stay at 66°C, however if I use the more brutal test Intel Burn Test then it stays under 73°C

Thanks!

[ElectroStingz]

With default settings Intel have a feature enabled known as Turbo Boost, for the 6700K it increases the Frequency from 4Ghz to 4.2Ghz when under load with the additional voltage increase.

If you were to disable Turbo boost and manually set the Vcore to 1.26 the opposite effect will occur: When under load the Vcore will decrease slightly.

As to Frequency, no it will remain 4Ghz unless you also have any power saving features enabled, such as Intel EIST.
When the CPU is idle it will drop down to 800Mhz with a 0.7v Vcore <Disable if you wish to maintain a constant 4Ghz.

[joevt]

Just out of curiosity Joevt, when you are achieving 4.6 GHz while staying under 69°C then what did you use to test your baseline? Plus what is your ambient temp? I live in Arizona so generally speaking its around 78F night, 82F day.

For me running at default clock speed 4 GHz and using Prime95 I stay at 66°C, however if I use the more brutal test Intel Burn Test then it stays under 73°C

For 4.6 GHz, I used the 4.6 GHz setting in BIOS. In Windows 10, I run the stress test in CPU-Z. CPU-Z will show the current frequency and voltage (usually 800 MHz at idle). I used the Gigabyte SIV app to see the temperature. I don't know what the ambient temperature is. I have air conditioning and like to keep the room around 24°C. The SIV app shows a system temperature of 40°C. I'll double check those numbers and try the Intel Burn Test app tomorrow.

For 4.7 GHz, I use the auto tuning result from Gigabyte EasyTune then manually increase it to 4.7 GHz which appears to be stable but I haven't tried it for very long. EasyTune sometimes forgets the 4.7 GHz setting, and I'm not sure about how to transfer the settings to BIOS to avoid that. The 4.6 GHz setting in BIOS is much easier to set, doesn't go away unless I reset BIOS, and the extra 0.1 GHz is probably not worth the hassle, or the extra heat.

[joevt]

Ok, using Intel Burn Test v2.54, RealTemp 3.70, CPUID HWMonitor PRO,

I get stable results (according to Intel Burn Test) at 4.6GHz, 1.3V, 84°C, 133.9 GRops. Before, I didn't realize that the voltage also changes during the test.

During idle, I'm at 800MHz, 0.71V, 32°C.

Hard drives and graphics card temperatures are between 41°C and 46°C which (along with the CPU idle temp) sort of gives an indication of ambient temperature inside the case.

I guess the CPU-Z stress test wasn't very stressful in comparison, but I wonder what kind of real world apps will behave like Intel Burn Test?

[azmothman]

With default settings Intel have a feature enabled known as Turbo Boost, for the 6700K it increases the Frequency from 4Ghz to 4.2Ghz when under load with the additional voltage increase.

If you were to disable Turbo boost and manually set the Vcore to 1.26 the opposite effect will occur: When under load the Vcore will decrease slightly.

As to Frequency, no it will remain 4Ghz unless you also have any power saving features enabled, such as Intel EIST.
When the CPU is idle it will drop down to 800Mhz with a 0.7v Vcore <Disable if you wish to maintain a constant 4Ghz.

Very interesting I was not aware but am now.  :-)

I will take a look at the BIOS and let you know what I find. Thanks!

[azmothman]

Ok, using Intel Burn Test v2.54, RealTemp 3.70, CPUID HWMonitor PRO,

I get stable results (according to Intel Burn Test) at 4.6GHz, 1.3V, 84°C, 133.9 GRops. Before, I didn't realize that the voltage also changes during the test.

During idle, I'm at 800MHz, 0.71V, 32°C.

Hard drives and graphics card temperatures are between 41°C and 46°C which (along with the CPU idle temp) sort of gives an indication of ambient temperature inside the case.

I guess the CPU-Z stress test wasn't very stressful in comparison, but I wonder what kind of real world apps will behave like Intel Burn Test?

Hi Joevt, yeah the Intel Burn Test is supposably the king of the CPU stress test applications and even has the warning label that clearly states the "Load temp will be up to 22°C higher than any of the other competing software such as Prime95, and they are right. LOL.

If you can keep your CPU cool using Intel Burn Test then you should not have any problems with any apps and like you I doubt any applications would even come close unless you work at Nasa, at least with that mind set that is what I am thinking.

BTW the highest stress level I ran under Intel Burn Test was HIGH but have ran more times under the standard setting.

Personally I like that the Intel Burn test only has to run once and not in a long cycle like in Prime95.

[dmdilks]

And to add (if relevant).  "pea" size dollop of thermal paste.  If its oozing out the sides, that's too much.  Less is more.  You need to find the right amount that covers just the top of the CPU, and creates a (evenly distributed) conductive conduit between the surface of the CPU and heatsink.  Too much actually robs the ability of your HSF to dissipate heat efficiently (it can actually build up), too little does the same thing.  If applied unevenly, it can also create hot spots.  It does take a little bit of burn in before maximum cooling performance is achieved.  Enough on this though, I'm rambling now.        

A lot of people don't understand why we use Thermal Paste. All it is use for is to fill in the cracks in the metal that trap air. The air is the real problem that cause problems. You really need metal to metal contact. There has been times where I have upgraded a CPU and never even added new paste. There was enough paste still on the heatsink base.