Question about I7 4790K Temps

Hey folks! I was advised to check this webpage out by a professor of mine. I am not currently overclocking my CPU, however I have some concerns about the temps, and if there's any community that would know about temperature ranges it's the overclocking community. I posted a similar post on intel's support forums a little bit ago and haven't received any replies, so I'm posting here as well.


I recently put the following build together:

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.1 GHz
Cooler: Stock Cooler
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz
Hard Drives: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSDD & Seagate 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 3.5" 7200rpm
Optical: LG DVD+-RW
GPU: Asus STRIX GTX970 4GB GDDR5
Case: Corsair Carbide 200R
PSU: Corsair CX750M 750 Watt
Windows Version: 8.1 Professional

Min CPU Temp: 39-40C
Max: 77C under load (momentary, and goes back down to around 70C-72C quickly)

The Temperature in the room where the PC is located is 20C.
The PC is partially enclosed in its location (not an option to change its location, otherwise I would as I know this can help with overall temps as well)


I am using CPUID HWMonitor to monitor my temperatures. I am receiving around 40C during non-stressful operations on my Package/Cores. During PC gaming sessions I am hitting the low to mid 70's, the highest reading I got was 77C. The processor seems to sit at around 70C while under load, and creeps upwards to mid 70's as gameplay continues, then tends to settle back down to low 70's.

My knowledge about temperatures in regards to hardware is limited, and I am aware of the 74.04 TCase IHS spec for the 4790K. Is this the temperature that my cores should not go past? At what point does my CPU start to take damage from heat? Are there tweaks that I can make with an adept, but not expert understanding of BIOS/Software suites? Does an aftermarket cooler void my warranty on my CPU?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

The temperature is fine. You're good to ~90°C.

That said, it'll be a LOT quieter and cooler if you get a decent heatsink for ~$30.
It won't void your warranty

Thanks for the prompt response. So what exactly is the TCase temperature listed on intels spec site for the 4790K? What does it mean, I guess. I know it is the internal heatsink temp, but do any of the temperatures reflected by the sensors in the CPU actually show the IHS temp?

http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

It is listed under package.

I was also referred to this link:

https://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-23517

Would it be wise to use the XTU to tune my processor? Obviously tech support from the manufacturer says these settings will help, however because I am new to tuning a CPU, I am hesitant to dive right into it.

No, there isn't a sensor that shows IHS temp.

I would get a better heatsink before doing anything.

Like ATM said a better cooler will do you wonders. Try not to overcomplicate this. As long as the cores are below 90c the cpu is just fine. Were you only stressing the CPU with Games? That's not really the type of stress test you should use. Try something like IBT on very high .
Or the stress test in XTU

Gaming wasn't intentionally a 'stress test', I am aware there are actually programs that will test the CPU under load such a Prime95, however upon build completion I used it as an opportunity to see how my processor performed under load. I am looking at either http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2771 or http://www.corsair.com/en-us/hydro-series-h50-quiet-cpu-cooler as a new cooler for the CPU. Any thoughts?

(Also thank you everyone for your responses)

Do you plan on overclocking the system at all? If not then just get a Hyper 212 if yes then get something better than what you have listed. If thinking of an AIO cooler get something with at least a 2x120 rad. The 4790 needs it once you start raising th speed.

I don't plan on overclocking right away, but I may want to in the future.

I said that since you have the parts to do it. The choice is yours buy cheap now and upgrade later or make do with the stock cooler till you're ready to upgade cooling/OC.
The CM Hyper 212 is pretty decent for $30 but wouldn't give a lot of headroom to overclock.