i7-9700k normal idle temps

gillmanjr

Member
Hey everyone. My build (below in my signature) is nearing 4 years old now (I built it around Nov-Dec 2018 timeframe) and the idle temperatures have gone up significantly from when it was new. For some additional background, I run the i7-9700k overclocked to 4.9 GHz and a Corsair H115i AIO cooler for it. This is the way its been since I built it, nothing has changed. I'm pretty sure when it was new my CPU was idling around 32-34C. It is now nudging 40C at idle.

I'm wondering if anyone might have some insight here. Do you think its the AIO wearing out? Losing fluid? This is my first AIO so I'm not familiar with their operational lifespans. I'm planning some upgrades this winter and am going to be doing a custom water cooling loop along with a water cooled RTX 3080, but I just want to make sure there is nothing going on with the CPU itself. I also wasn't really planning on doing this for another few months, but I don't like the temps I am seeing here. FYI I have no intention of upgrading my CPU unless I have to.
 

Intel_man

VIP Member
It's hard to determine based on those values alone, I mean.. all this could just be the ambient temps in your room having gone up by the 6-8 deg.

There's usually a few things you can do to narrow down increase idle temps (ordered from least annoying to most).
  1. Clean the radiator and fans
  2. Reapply thermal paste
  3. Fresh install of Windows (increase background processes could be a culprit to increase idle temps)
I would expect if none of the above would bring down the temps, it's quite possible the AIO's wear and tear is the culprit to the increase in temps or it could be the increase in ambient.
 

gillmanjr

Member
Its not due to an increase in ambient temps, I am 100% sure of that. Its been in the same room its whole life, and in the same location. My house is kept at 68 in the winter and 70 in the summer. Always has been.

I also clean out my PC at least every few months. I have an air compressor and air gun, I blow the whole thing out frequently.

I agree could be thermal paste and I would think the most likely culprit.

I doubt its a Windows related issue unless the automatic updates to Windows 10 would cause it. I haven't really installed anything new on this machine in the last 2+ years other than Steam games. There is literally nothing running in my tray or background that hasn't been there since I built it. But I suppose its a possibility.

I hate to redo the thermal paste and re-install the H115. I think I'm just going to do the custom water cooling I was planning. Probably going with a full Corsair hard line kit and 360mm rad. Maybe I'll just get that first and cool the CPU by itself, then I can add the a water cooled 3080 and an additional rad at a later date...
 

gillmanjr

Member
Now I find out the 4000 series RTX cards are releasing AND 13th gen Intel chips. God I hate this hobby....now I might just need a whole new build. :p
 

gillmanjr

Member
So a couple of weeks ago I decided to try changing the thermal paste just to see if it would help, I had some arctic silver leftover from the build and it was still good. Only took me a few minutes so what the hell...it didn't make any difference. So I bought a new cooler, this time an H115i Elite Capellix. I was going to be in my case to put in the new GPU anyway, so I got the new cooler at the same time. My temps have dropped by almost 15C! It was idling at 40C with the old one, now its down around 26-28C, which is cooler than it was when I first built this system. Clearly the Elite Capellix is a better cooler than the older H115i pro.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
So a couple of weeks ago I decided to try changing the thermal paste just to see if it would help, I had some arctic silver leftover from the build and it was still good. Only took me a few minutes so what the hell...it didn't make any difference. So I bought a new cooler, this time an H115i Elite Capellix. I was going to be in my case to put in the new GPU anyway, so I got the new cooler at the same time. My temps have dropped by almost 15C! It was idling at 40C with the old one, now its down around 26-28C, which is cooler than it was when I first built this system. Clearly the Elite Capellix is a better cooler than the older H115i pro.
So this might have been fixable with software. Since idle temps are kind of moot, and 40oC, while warmish for idle, is not remotely detrimental to leave it at that. It might be set up to prioritize noise over temperature when at lower idle temps. Might have just needed to adjust the fan curve, as those coolers should be pretty comparable in performance being basically the same model.

Some GPU's do this I know, and fully shut off the fans when at idle, which results in seemingly high idle temps, but it's intentional.
 
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