i7-6700k not dissipating heat to the integrated thermal spreader

[idata]

After much testing I have determined my i7-6700k, which I purchased late September, is not dissipating heat to the integrated thermal spreader. At idle my temperatures fluctuate quite rapidly between 30 degrees and 60 degrees Celsius. Under a modest real-world usage load with all cores in-use, the temperatures rise to 80-90. I've decided not to run a torture test as I'm already a solid 30 degrees above what I would consider the comfort zone. All of these temperatures aside, my H100i never gets warm. I've re-seated the block around 10+ times and tested a few air coolers with little to no difference at all. I work at a repair shop so I have access to a lot of parts, making it easy for me to test this type of issue. Running the block on an FX-8350 overclocked to 4.4GHz (just below the voltage wall) runs at a maximum of 47 degrees Celsius for the entire duration of a 1-hour Prime95 torture test. I'm aware that I shouldn't expect similar temperatures from different processors, I'm just using the 5-year-old 125-watt overclocked AMD processor as a reference point. At 47 degrees Celsius with the FX-8350 you can feel the heat coming off the radiator. At 90 degrees with the i7 6700k it just feels like cold air, even with the air coolers.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI, running 16 gigs of g.skill RAM at 3200MHz using the default XMP profile. All other BIOS settings are default/auto. I can post temp snapshots or any additional info when I get home from work tonight. I am currently running revision F6 of the BIOS for my board, but there is a new one that just came out last month (F20). The only reason I haven't flashed to it yet is because of the description:

1. Support next generation CPU* This BIOS prohibits updating to earlier version BIOS

I'm a little uncertain of upgrading to any BIOS that prevents me from downgrading and I've had issues in the past upgrading a BIOS to include 3rd gen processor support.. Thereby disabling support for the 2nd gen processor already in it. If anyone can assure me this is not the case, I'd have no problem trying this upgrade to resolve my issue. I've heard the default voltages on certain motherboards are a bit high and who knows, maybe they fixed it.

I can post temperature snapshots or any other additional information when I get home later tonight. If this can be resolved without resorting to warranty or replacement, I'd be grateful. But I'm not against it.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I recently upgraded to this i7-6700K from an i5-6600K using the same board. Prior to the upgrade my temperatures were as I expected them to be. No issues with that processor whatsoever.

[idata]

The fact that the heat of the i76700K is not being dissipated seems to me to point at a common problem: you may be using too much thermal paste between the top of the CPU and the heat sink. At a certain point, the thickness of the paste starts actions as an insulator. Maybe make sure you have a very small amount of paste applied to the top of the CPU before attaching the hear sink. It really needs to be a very thin layer. One method I use is to put a small dot of paste in the center of the CPU, no larger then two grains. Then put in the spreader.

Wishing you good luck.

[idata]

I re-paste processors all the time. I assure you, that is not the problem here. Like I said, I re-sat the cooler 10+ times and even tried using several air coolers to test if there was a problem with mine. I even ran an old FX-8350 on the cooler for comparison. Based on the fluctuations of 30 to 60 degrees Celsius at idle I can only assume that either the processor is defective of there is not the proper amount of paste underneath the lid, since they recently switched to using that in lieu of soldering the die directly to the lid. I used @BIOS last night to upgrade my BIOS to the latest revision, F20, with no change in temperatures.. At first. I noticed this morning my processor was just barely managing to idle down to room temperature, but I still see spikes up to 50 degrees Celsius. For now.. It's acceptable. I was able to run a torture test and it didn't exceed 80 and I noticed my vCore had been reduced significantly. It's currently at 1.016v. I'll keep performing tests and come back with results if anything changes, but I'm most likely going to open up a service ticket as soon as that section of the site starts working properly again.

[idata]

I apologize, did not mean to offend. I tend to run off the mouth sometimes. I agree with you that you probably have a bad unit. By now you should have obtained better results.

[idata]

You didn't offend me sir, you were just trying to help and I appreciate that. I come off as abrasive sometimes and I am indeed frustrated with this issue. I've been monitoring the situation since I got the processor in September and every time it seems like the problem is getting better, it doesn't. I'm going to run some extended tests tonight to see if the BIOS I flashed last night fixed the problem, I have a screenshot on my desktop of idle temperatures prior to the flash so I'm going to see if there's a difference in the vCore and we'll go from there.

[idata]

evoporto, thank you for the assistance provided

To: GoshentaHello Goshenta,In regard to your concern, at Intel, we do not support overclocking.In order to provide you further assistance, please set your BIOS to default, and let me know if the issue persists, if that is the case I will provide you additional troubleshooting steps.Hope I can hear from you soon.Regards,Angie

[idata]

The i7-6700K is not, has not and will not be overclocked nor have I said it was. I am aware that it voids my warranty and have decided to leave it stock for the duration of the warranty for this exact reason. It's more than I need for what I do and I have no need to overclock it. I was comparing its thermal performance to that of an overclocked processor, the FX-8350, which is outside its warranty. My BIOS is completely default except for the stated XMP profile setting for my RAM. Here are some temperatures I took today while loading into Windows / opening Firefox to check this thread. Perhaps you can tell me if I'm interpreting these numbers wrong, but this is the best I've seen out of it so far.. The temperatures fluctuate very rapidly on the cores and package, but I notice the motherboard reports an entirely different temperature, which is where I expect it to be..

EDIT: I should mention that I am unfamiliar with this temperature monitoring program and usually use Core Temp. I booted it up for the first time today in a while and there was an update. Installed it, checked my temperatures on that.. and they're where they should be. I wonder if it was just an issue with software not being able to read temperatures from the sensors properly? Or perhaps the BIOS update really did change something... I have no idea. Regardless, I will continue to monitor.

[idata]

Hello Goshenta,

Thanks for your reply.I would like to kindly ask you if you could download our Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool and please let me know the results and any screenshots. You can download it at the following link:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool Intel® Processor Diagnostic ToolPlease let me know how it goes.Best regards,Angie

[CCris2]

Hi Goshenta ,

From that monitor utility what I think that the CPU voltage is a bit high if it is not overclocked.

That CPU with Prime 95 can go to 60-70 degrees depending of the CPU cooler. Even the slightest overvolt of the CPU leads to higher temperatures. My 6700k voltage on default settings is max 1.280 on Asrock z170 Extreme 7+.

What I advise you is to test that CPU on another mainboard (Gigabyte mainboards don't have to many voltage settings options) and with a cooler like Noctua nh-d15s (from what you said you work in a computer repair shop). Then if is running in normal voltage and temperature range test with the water cooler.

[idata]

Ronin, thanks for your assistance.

To: GoshentaHello Goshenta,Could you please download our Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool and please let me know the results and any screenshots. You can download it at the following link:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool Intel® Processor Diagnostic ToolAlso, you can try with the recommendations provided by Ronin.Please let me know how it goes.Best regards,Angie