I7 7700k investigation

[ASušt]

Hello intel.

Today I have recieved a replacement for my 7700k.

The process was quick and easy.

But the "silicon lottery" seems to be not on my side.

The new CPU work.

But in every way it is worse than my old 7700k.

It "spikes" higher.

It has higher idle temp.

It does not handle 4.8Ghz (I know, you do not recommend to OC)

And, for the bonus, it has temp fluctuation while it busy with constant, light, smooth load. (e.g I watch youtube.Nothing it the background. And temp changes twice a second between 32-55) It doesn't look like heat spikes, that is just some inconsistancy...

Don't know, how can a fan curve look like, to fit those fluctuations. If earlier, there were only short spikes, now in addition I have this dancing +/- 7-10c.

I have tried to add delays for fans before they ramp up rpms. But with these little jumps fans still ramp up. Not as high, but delays now cannot help me anymore.

So, now I'm thinking that 99% of the 7700k are "spiky" and there is no point of swaping them.

I would like to hear from you, do you still work on this problem, or your answer, that it's normal is final?

[TGrab1]

Hi Links,

I honestly feel like this problem is just a feature of this chipset. By that I don't mean it is something they aimed for specifically, but I think it is a side-effect of how this cpu handles loads. The new theory in processing is to have a processor complete a task as quickly as possible so it can spend more time in an idle state which reduces power consumption.

This unfortunately leads to the spikes you are seeing and there is no immediate solution outside of what you have already done with tweaking fan settings. I guess you could always change to a quieter fan model, but this is more a band-aid.

Honestly, if you can get the sound aspect under-control then you would never see or notice the spikes and as they are not dangerous to the chip would be out of sight out of mind.

Then again, Intel might be working on a solution for this internally still. We have not received a official statement on this yet so all is not lost.

[ASušt]

TGrable, have You heard something about 6700k? Does it have the same heat issues as 7700k does?

This situation gives me a head ache.

I don't even know what to do now. My store will not accept the cpu back / refund.

And I don't want to manualy adjust the fan speed every time I switch from gaming to mail checking.

Of course, while I browse the web, there will be no problem with overheating or working with a constant low fan speed. Doesn't matter what are vCore, clocks etc.

I haven't played yet, my GPU didn't arrived yet, but how will this work together with this termal situation?

Will cpu spike from "gaming temp" even more than from idle temp?

If yes, those will be spikes up to 90c...because idle temp is now around 50 ("mouse move" load) at stock!

And there will be NO fan curve, that would not ramp fans up on a 90c jump.

Can I use RMA to exchange 7700k to 6700k?

Cuz I think there is no 7700k that work fine in terms of temp fluctuation.

[TGrab1]

I feel that since the architecture of the too are almost identical that you would also have spikes on the 6700k. A quick google shows the same reports that you see for the 7700k on the 6700k.

The big difference here will be the stock speed of both. So the 6700k will run cooler due to a lower stock clock speed, but if that is your aim you can just reduce the clocks on your 7700k to basically make it a stock 6700k.

Adding a GPU to your build could increase temps, but this is more dependant on how the card exhausts the air.. Does it exhaust it out the back of the case or in to the case. If it exhausts in the case then the question becomes more one of how much airflow does you case have. Generally if your case has good airflow you won't notice a huge different here..

Your gaming temp would be dependant on the game. Something like BF1 might produce more heat than most other games for example.

I would download something like AIDA64 which you should be able to download a free trial of.

Then run the stability test with the following checked.

Stress CPU

Stress Cache

Stress System Memory

This might not be 100% accurate to what you will see when gaming (Gaming would still be lower I imagine) but it will give you a general idea of what to expect.

The best way to check would be to fire up a game and see, but without a solid video card atm you will be limited in this area.

[ASušt]

TGrable I have tried those tests before, the point is, that while stressed the CPU tends to spike a lot less.

But I'm afraid, that IF it spikes, while at load with higher temp - i'll get something like a 90c spike.

Answer please, if you know. An AIO water cooler, something like Corsair H115i, or the famous Kraken...

Do they adjust fan's speed by water temp, or CPU temp like air coolers?

If they use water temp, then it could be a solution....as long as water is not boiling , there is no need in high fan speed.

@Amy

Thank you, for the answer.

Pity, that intel doesn't bother to work on a solution with this issue.

[idata]

Hello all,

Links, my apologies for any inconvenience.

I would like to share with you that regarding the spiking situation on the Intel® Core™ i7-7700K Processor there has been an update which you can find here; /message/471425# 471425 https://communities.intel.com/message/471425# 471425, post # 549. I noticed that you already are part of that thread, but I just wanted to let you know that this post is the official statement for this matter.

Regards,

Amy C.

[TGrab1]

So from what I am understanding of your concern you are worried that if in a game and the temps are say 70C and it spikes you are worried it will jump to 90C.

So let me try to explain the spikes. The spikes are basically generated from your CPU going from IDLE to 100% and back down. This can happen for any number of reasons like loading an application or even a windows background task.

Your max temp though and the spikes aren't exactly connected though. So while a higher max temp makes the spikes more... Say your max temp is 80C instead of 70C then your spikes might be 35C instead of 30C tall.

That being said your max temp would be consistant. If you test and your max temp under a hard load is only 65C, then you do not have to worry about the spike pushing the temps over that.

So you will have your minimum temp which can be as low as ambient and you will have your maximum temp. Your spikes will always fall somewhere in the middle and should never exceed those values.

As to your question I am not 100% sure on this, but I think the corsair AIO do let you set fan profile based on water temp. You would need to research that a little more to be sure. You could also consider some quieter fans as well.

[ASušt]

Ok, that's basicaly what I was thinking. No spikes on loaded CPU.

But can we disable the CPU state change? Can I always be at max clock and voltage?

Performance power plan, manual vcore..... why it doesn'e eliminate spikes?

There is a switch for speed shift in BIOS....maybe it will help?

[TGrab1]

I have an ASUS board which does not have an option to disable speedshift. I can disable the state changes, but have no way to disabling speedshift so I cannot give you advice either way on if it would help or not.

I would say it is worth a shot though. I think regardless though the chip is going to spike from usage. reducing states might reduce the amount of the spike, but that might be at the cost of increasing your idle temps.