CPU temperature issues

[Boon: Bong Rip]

Edit: Issue is resolved for now, thank you!


So, this PC's CPU temp is usually pretty good, I have decent(?) cooling in the unit as of although I haven't opened it in a bit, but when I'm trying to play Elden Ring the temperature CONSISTENTLY goes to 90-100 Celsius

I want to play but if I'm literally at 95-100C for the majority of my gameplay I can't imagine it's gonna let my PC last, and I'm not an amazing tech or anything so if I need to do more stuff internally I'm not entirely confident in what I can do. Anything software wise I could try to see if I can make the temperatures more manageable?

For context the computer usually idles around 40C, and no other game really ever hits more than 80-85 when the graphics are good

For elden ring I'm running ALL low setting, and windowed mode with a pitifully small ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ resolution and still it's putting my CPU temp into the "fry an egg" range

[[-iD-]]

what cpu do you have?

[Boon: Bong Rip]

An
"Intel i7-9700k @ 3.60 GHz"

[[-iD-]]

so max temp of that cpu is 100C. you are effectively throttling so you aren't getting that speed out of it when you play.
look at cleaning your heat sink out and re-applying thermal paste making sure its pointed in the right direction when latched in.
you should not be hitting throttling temp at all if you have a good heatsink/fan/cooling unit and its seated properly.

[Xengre]

First off, software will not fix this issue aside from noticeable undervolting. There is something wrong if your temps are getting that high.

First, how hot is your room that you idle at 40c? That would be the first thing to consider. You do not "have to decrease ambient temp" but it sure as heck would help to do some decrease because I can almost immediately tell this is probably a notable factor. Is your PC possibly in an enclosed/suffocated space? Are there other heat sources blowing noticeably heated air in its area?

Second, do you have very poor cable management heavily impeding airflow? Don't underestimate loose cables hanging around causing airflow issues. Mostly easy fix even for someone not tech savvy. Also clean any dust that could be impacting airflow.

If temps are getting that high your thermal paste could be going bad, especially if you regularly run it at warmer temps like 85 and stuff and have several years on this system. It could also be it was just never put on right in the first place or has bad contact and thus not transferring heat well. This requires more effort to fix and wouldn't be my first look but definitely something to keep in mind.

Your cooling solution may also simply not be sufficient for your CPU with your setup and it might just not have been visible due to CPU not being readily pushed prior.

Do you have any software causing auto overclocks or more noticeably major voltage increases due to auto overclocks or have you done any yourself or did you mean to say it is, in fact, definitely at stock settings?

[Boon: Bong Rip]

Maybe I messed up something earlier then, idk it's an issue I'm only really having when it comes to Elden Ring right now, the occasional times I've had issues temp wise at other points was trying everything out on max in other games + a ton of projectiles and ♥♥♥♥.

Just annoying, I don't really want to have to go through all the effort of the extra cash involved just to play what I own, the previous patch's performance practically fixed all the temperature issues then the next hotfix made everything crap again

[Boon: Bong Rip]

Originally posted by Xengre:

First off, software will not fix this issue aside from noticeable undervolting. There is something wrong if your temps are getting that high.

First, how hot is your room that you idle at 40c? That would be the first thing to consider. You do not "have to decrease ambient temp" but it sure as heck would help to do some decrease because I can almost immediately tell this is probably a notable factor. Is your PC possibly in an enclosed/suffocated space? Are there other heat sources blowing noticeably heated air in its area?

Second, do you have very poor cable management heavily impeding airflow? Don't underestimate loose cables hanging around causing airflow issues. Mostly easy fix even for someone not tech savvy. Also clean any dust that could be impacting airflow.

If temps are getting that high your thermal paste could be going bad, especially if you regularly run it at warmer temps like 85 and stuff and have several years on this system. It could also be it was just never put on right in the first place or has bad contact and thus not transferring heat well. This requires more effort to fix and wouldn't be my first look but definitely something to keep in mind.

Your cooling solution may also simply not be sufficient for your CPU with your setup and it might just not have been visible due to CPU not being readily pushed prior.

Do you have any software causing auto overclocks or more noticeably major voltage increases due to auto overclocks or have you done any yourself or did you mean to say it is, in fact, definitely at stock settings?

Well this PC was a nightmare to set up out of the box, the thing barely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ran but it has good parts in it so I went through the effort of making it functional. Aka, it -had- a hybrid drive that made the PC barely function and I ended up replacing it

There is software that can make the PC overclock which I unfortunately can't seem to uninstall (via Alienware, the pc was a gift otherwise I wouldn't have anything from the brand lmao) but the overclocks say that they're not being used, however the CPU usage tends to show that it's on the higher side

The PC has been in use for like, 5-6 months total? But it was sitting around idle in a drawer for like a year or so due to frustrations with what it took to get the damn thing to work.

Ambient temp is usually around 60 degrees or so I believe? And the airflow for the computer should be fine, it has plenty of room with where it's situated to move air unhindered

EDIT: Also take into account I manually put the fans at their max speed when playing Elden Ring just to attempt to get lower temperatures. The game usually starts and the temp goes to around 60-70 or so, if I TP to a open area (think church of Ele) I end up at 80-85, then the game will spike to 90+ if I attempt anything online or just exist too long there and it doesn't go back down until the game gets shut off

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by Boon: Bong Rip:

Maybe I messed up something earlier then, idk it's an issue I'm only really having when it comes to Elden Ring right now, the occasional times I've had issues temp wise at other points was trying everything out on max in other games + a ton of projectiles and ♥♥♥♥.

Just annoying, I don't really want to have to go through all the effort of the extra cash involved just to play what I own, the previous patch's performance practically fixed all the temperature issues then the next hotfix made everything crap again

how warm is your rooms ambient temps?

nvm i see your second answer there. the heat sink or its thermal paste is what i'd look at.

[DamZe]

Elden Ring is badly optmized, it has technical bottlenecks all over the place. It likes to hammer a single thread with some visual effects like poison smoke or when a boss or monster dies the particle explosion hammer the FPS forcing it to dip below 60, because they aren't offloaded to the GPU.

This game is worst optimized FROM game since DS:PtDE.

I have a beefy cooler on my CPU (i7 9700 @4.5ghz) and yes it still ramps up to high temps, and only notably when playing Elden Ring.

This game is more demanindg on the system than Furmark it would seem but only still renders 60fps while cooking your system.

[Mikoto]

Your cooling is dying. This is not an elden ring issue but a major hardware failure incoming. Get a new cooling unit and thermal paste asap.

[Boon: Bong Rip]

Originally posted by Kai:

Your cooling is dying. This is not an elden ring issue but a major hardware failure incoming. Get a new cooling unit and thermal paste asap.

Welp I'll have to look up how to do that then, uh, recommendation for what kind of thermal paste then?

Originally posted by DamZe:

Elden Ring is badly optmized, it has technical bottlenecks all over the place. It likes to hammer a single thread with some visual effects like poison smoke or when a boss or monster dies the particle hammer the FPS because they aren't offloaded to the GPU. This game is worst optimized FROM game since DS:PtDE.

I have a beefy cooler on my CPU and yes it still ramps up to high temps when playing Elden Ring. This game is more taxing on the system than Furmark it would seem.

And yeah, the PC I have is suppose to be "high end" and all but I don't want to run the game if I'm gonna harm the computer

[DamZe]

Originally posted by Boon: Bong Rip:

Originally posted by Kai:

Your cooling is dying. This is not an elden ring issue but a major hardware failure incoming. Get a new cooling unit and thermal paste asap.

Welp I'll have to look up how to do that then, uh, recommendation for what kind of thermal paste then?

Originally posted by DamZe:

Elden Ring is badly optmized, it has technical bottlenecks all over the place. It likes to hammer a single thread with some visual effects like poison smoke or when a boss or monster dies the particle hammer the FPS because they aren't offloaded to the GPU. This game is worst optimized FROM game since DS:PtDE.

I have a beefy cooler on my CPU and yes it still ramps up to high temps when playing Elden Ring. This game is more taxing on the system than Furmark it would seem.

And yeah, the PC I have is suppose to be "high end" and all but I don't want to run the game if I'm gonna harm the computer

First of all ignore people who claim that the issue does not lie with the piss poor optimization and are solely on your end.

Second. You can check your temps by downloading prime95 or CPU-Z and stress the CPU and monitor the temps. If your temps are around the 70-80 degree celciius mark on an air cooler when running these then you are good.

[[-iD-]]

your computer protects itself by throttling, you wont harm it. i ran a broken WC setup that sent my cpu to throttling for half a year before i realized it was taking place. don't worry about it too much but you definitely want your full cpu spec to be used otherwise its just a waste. and i mean lowering the temp of your cpu will lower the overall temp of your system too which is a good thing.
the type of thermal paste isn't a big deal, just look at some reviews and get a good value one.

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by DamZe:

Originally posted by Boon: Bong Rip:

Welp I'll have to look up how to do that then, uh, recommendation for what kind of thermal paste then?



And yeah, the PC I have is suppose to be "high end" and all but I don't want to run the game if I'm gonna harm the computer

First of all ignore people who claim that the issue does not lie with the piss poor optimization and are solely on your end.

Second. You can check your temps by downloading prime95 or CPU-Z and stress the CPU and monitor the temps. If your temps are around the 70-80 degree celciius mark on an air cooler when running these then you are good.

lol, my temps go up from 25C to 35C when i play. i don't think its the optimization, stop throwing out red harrings when he has a real issue. a good thermal paste applique and proper heatsink will soak up all heat the cpu can throw at it. and yes i am overclocking.

[Boon: Bong Rip]

Originally posted by DamZe:

Originally posted by Boon: Bong Rip:

Welp I'll have to look up how to do that then, uh, recommendation for what kind of thermal paste then?



And yeah, the PC I have is suppose to be "high end" and all but I don't want to run the game if I'm gonna harm the computer

First of all ignore people who claim that the issue does not lie with the piss poor optimization and are solely on your end.

Second. You can check your temps by downloading prime95 or CPU-Z and stress the CPU and monitor the temps. If your temps are around the 70-80 degree celciius mark on an air cooler when running these then you are good.

Sounds good then, yeah I mean I tried just running, well, other games and checking temps during them, but Elden Ring is the outlier for really bad performance overall, and it's a shame considering how much I like the game, but it doesn't justify fizzling out my CPU

I'll look into those programs later and come back with what temps I end up getting

[Xengre]

Originally posted by DamZe:

First of all ignore people who claim that the issue does not lie with the piss poor optimization and are solely on your end.

Second. You can check your temps by downloading prime95 or CPU-Z and stress the CPU and monitor the temps. If your temps are around the 70-80 degree celciius mark on an air cooler when running these then you are good.

Bad advice. The issue here is distinctly on the hardware side which we could tell based on the very first post.

Why? Because even if it were poorly optimized and OP were doing Prime95 small test or something like OCCT with AVX2 instructions it still should NOT be getting that high under a stress test unless, again, there is something wrong on the hardware side (or OC which I covered and OP answered). Yes, poor optimization will cause it to run hotter but not THIS hot. This is simply an issue that OP was not aware of because his CPU wasn't being readily pushed in other cases and now is leading to their discovery.

You're telling them to run Prime95 and expecing them to magically report back they're getting around 70-80 degree but the less stressful Elden Ring is pushing them to 100... You're insane.