Solved My 13700KF is getting murderously hot

jvickers · Aug 4, 2026

Catnip said:
I just lowered my Vcore to 1.15 Volts. The temps are way better, but my Passmark test fell 30,000 ponts on the CPU. I went from 93rd percentile to 55th percentile. So I guess it's back to auto Voltage.

I am going to try one of the CPU brackets that MysteriousBox recommended and see what happens.

I just looked up the ideal voltage for your CPU. You may have lowered the voltage too much.

Gemini pulled this information together:

Stock / Auto Load: 1.35V – 1.45V+ (often runs too hot and hits thermal limits easily)
Optimized / Light Undervolt: 1.28V – 1.33V (ideal for lowering temperatures while keeping full multi-core boost performance

PerpetualCycle · Aug 4, 2026

Ghot said:
Good plan.
If the heat sink is full of dust, clean that first.

The following is one of, if not the best thermal compound...

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1 g Thermal Paste (TG-K-001-RS) - PCPartPicker

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1 g Thermal Paste (TG-K-001-RS)

pcpartpicker.com

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut has great reviews as well.

It is very good performing paste but it pumps out pretty fastfast (the paste migrates from the middle to the sides) so it needs replaced yearly, maybe less. I switched to Noctua NT-H2 (which comes with that cooler) which performs a little bit less but doesn't pump out fast. I eventually moved to Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet, which doesn't pump out at all. It performs well and is very easy to apply (just drop it in).

PerpetualCycle · Aug 4, 2026

Catnip said:
The CPU fans are set at full speed. I am not partial to fiddling with fan curves. I just leave it running full blast. I can't hear it anyway.

I am using the original retention frame. I had an AIO, but it really underperformed and I got rid of it. I am going to try adjusting the voltages and see if that helps.

Funny thing is, I rattled the heatsink this morning and now my temps are lower. I checked yesterday and I thought it was solid (and it still is), but my idle temp has dropped 10 degrees. I'm going to tear it apart again.

That's the plan. If this cooler can't handle it, I guesss I'll have to get another AIO

I was using an old version of Passmark. The CPU test was the one that caused the high temps and throttling. The others were fine.

Thank you for all of the advice, everyone. A big hug to all. It's very much appreciated. Here is my plan of attack:

1. Redo the TIM material on the heatsink and reseat the cooler
2. Re-run the Passmark test and verify temps
3. If necessary, start the undervolt tuning
4. Repeat #2
5. If I can't resolve this, an AIO is in my future.

I presume you are using the Intel profile. Undervolting by offset to the core voltage works well with that profile. Other methods faslsely trigger some of the other Intel protection methods like CEP, and can kill performance.

Once you tame the temperature a little, you can throttle your processor at a specific temperature in the in the BIOS. I have mine set to 85c. This is the Asus board so I am not sure the Gigabyte board has such a setting, but I bet it does. My 13900ks rarely reaches that temp on the latest passmark test or others and does not affect performance foe me. YMMV.

Good luck.

MysteriousBox · Aug 4, 2026

PerpetualCycle said:
It is very good performing paste but it pumps out pretty fastfast (the paste migrates from the middle to the sides) so it needs replaced yearly, maybe less. I switched to Noctua NT-H2 (which comes with that cooler) which performs a little bit less but doesn't pump out fast. I eventually moved to Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet, which doesn't pump out at all. It performs well and is very easy to apply (just drop it in).

Pumpout does not really occur on desktop type CPUs because the mounting pressure is high enough to keep it where it needs to be. It's more an issue for GPU or laptop where the mounting pressure is significantly lower.

Desktop CPUs are hardy, and I come from the Arctic Silver 5 days where repasting was practically unheard of unless you were one of the niche groups squeezing every last bit of OC. Noctua's paste is fine.

PerpetualCycle · Aug 4, 2026

It certainly is an issue with desktop coolers, but it depends on the paste and mounting plates, and the amount of heat. With processors that run hot, the diffusion is accelerated. That is why I gave up on thermal grizzly on my nh-d15. Other pastes do not pumpout as much as the TG.

MysteriousBox said:
Pumpout does not really occur on desktop type CPUs because the mounting pressure is high enough to keep it where it needs to be. It's more an issue for GPU or laptop where the mounting pressure is significantly lower.

Desktop CPUs are hardy, and I come from the Arctic Silver 5 days where repasting was practically unheard of unless you were one of the niche groups squeezing every last bit of OC. Noctua's paste is fine.

Scott · Aug 4, 2026

Catnip said:
I am going to try one of the CPU brackets that MysteriousBox recommended and see what happens.

I went with the contact frame as well. Here's the issue with the stock 1700 retention bracket:

Techie007 · Aug 4, 2026

Catnip said:
I just lowered my Vcore to 1.15 Volts. The temps are way better, but my Passmark test fell 30,000 ponts on the CPU. I went from 93rd percentile to 55th percentile. So I guess it's back to auto Voltage.

I am going to try one of the CPU brackets that MysteriousBox recommended and see what happens.

The CPU has a new feature that causes it to downclock when inadequate voltage is present, to avoid crashing/freezing. If you lower the voltage, it will automatically lower the clock speed to match. It's part of Intel's attempts to squeeze ever tighter frequency margins out of their outdated silicon.

Steve C · Aug 5, 2026

I have the same CPU and fan. You need to be careful to setup the CPU thermal settings in the BIOS. I undervolt slightly and limit the CPU temperature to 80C. The PC only ever hits the thermal limit of 80 in Cinebench and the performance hit is minor, never in normal office use or gaming. I can post my BIOS setup if you are interested.

Catnip · Aug 5, 2026

Ghot said:
@Catnip

Also, if you used the thermal compound that came on/with the CPU cooler, that could also be an issue.
The stuff CPU cooler companies include is not the greatest.

Using a decent 3rd party thermal compound is much better.

I usually use Arctic Silver 5, but this time I used the cooler manufacturer's thermal compound. I had best change it. Sigh. I hate ripping my machine apart

Catnip · Aug 5, 2026

PerpetualCycle said:
I presume you are using the Intel profile. Undervolting by offset to the core voltage works well with that profile. Other methods faslsely trigger some of the other Intel protection methods like CEP, and can kill performance.

Once you tame the temperature a little, you can throttle your processor at a specific temperature in the in the BIOS. I have mine set to 85c. This is the Asus board so I am not sure the Gigabyte board has such a setting, but I bet it does. My 13900ks rarely reaches that temp on the latest passmark test or others and does not affect performance foe me. YMMV.

Good luck.

I was using the Intel profile. I think my problem is mechanical, rather than a BIOS issue. It's hitting over 100C. No way it should.

Scott said:
I went with the contact frame as well. Here's the issue with the stock 1700 retention bracket:

I ordered a new contact frame. I am waiting to get it before I tear the PC apart.

PerpetualCycle · Aug 5, 2026

Catnip said:
I was using the Intel profile. I think my problem is mechanical, rather than a BIOS issue. It's hitting over 100C. No way it should.

I ordered a new contact frame. I am waiting to get it before I tear the PC apart.

If that doesn't work it may be the solder between the cooler heatpipes and it's base has broken, though that is a solid solder, so probably unlikely. Only thing I can think of. Also you could check if it is a frame issue by swapping in the original motherboard frame.
What frame?

Cheers

Ghot · Aug 5, 2026

Catnip said:
I usually use Arctic Silver 5, but this time I used the cooler manufacturer's thermal compound. I had best change it. Sigh. I hate ripping my machine apart

Yeah... AS 5 dries out.
The slightest vibration will crack the paste.

PerpetualCycle · Aug 5, 2026

@Catnip

Hi, mentioning the original motherboard standard locking mechanism jogged my memory. Noctua's cold plate is slightly convex. When the CPU is clamped in with the standard locking mechanism in becomes slightly concave. So they match well. When you use a replacement contact frame, the CPU is flat, so the cooler cold plate and CPU surface don't mate as well. contact frames work better with water coolers, most of which have flat cold plates.

This doesn't account for the temperatures you see, but you may want to think about standard locking vs. contact frame.

GCG1000 · Aug 5, 2026

You might be interested in: Camomile - Free CPU Optimizer, Reduce PC Temperature & Noise I have been using Camomile for some time with good cooling results.

Cheers.
GCG

kciN · Aug 6, 2026

Can’t really run these unlocked on air. Basically have to kill the equivalent of asus mce on your board. Also these will always run at 90 degrees even direct die if they are kept unlocked. They are simply made this way and the very definition of unlocked. For example all direct die did for mine was greatly raise my all core clocks but temps are still 90. hope it makes sense

Steve C · Aug 6, 2026

kciN said:
Can’t really run these unlocked on air. Basically have to kill the equivalent of asus mce on your board. Also these will always run at 90 degrees even direct die if they are kept unlocked. They are simply made this way and the very definition of unlocked. For example all direct die did for mine was greatly raise my all core clocks but temps are still 90. hope it makes sense

I run mine unlocked using the same Noctua fan. I do limit the temperature to 80C in the BIOS. The performance hit is only a few per cent in Cinebench. Note the CPU never hits 80C in normal use even gaming.

kciN · Aug 6, 2026

Yeah something else is definitely wrong if going over 50-60 while gaming even with just air. My thoughts were more full load situations. That noctua should be enough for gaming while maintaining good temps. Its just that they can’t really handle prolonged loads. Also nothing wrong with limiting with temp or amperage. In fact it is almost necessary with the raptors.
On side note i do so much regret moving my i9 to the closet. It absolutely decimates my current cpu in every day stuff and I still give it the edge gaming at 4k

Steve C · Aug 6, 2026

FWIW I've listed below the BIOS settings for the i7-13700K CPU on my Asus TUF Gaming Z790 Plus motherboard. Setting no thermal limit gave a Cinebench score of 31062 and the limits I set below gave a score of 30285, only 2.5% less than the score without the thermal limit. The CPU never gets close to 85C in normal use. I used Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut thermal paste with my Noctua NH-D14 cooler which I reused from my previous PC build using the Noctua NM-i17xx-MP83 Mounting Kit.

Max CPU temperature 85 C

Long term power limit 253 W (Intel Performance spec)

Short term power limit 253 W (Intel Performance spec)

Asus Multicore Environment Disabled enforce all limits (Auto gave higher VCore)

SVID behaviour Typical

IA CEP Disabled

CPU Core / Cache Max Current 307A (default)

IA VR Voltage Limit 1400 mV

Global Core SVID CPU Voltage Offset -0.075 V (adaptive)

Intel Dynamic Tuning Enable

Intel GNA Enable

XMP memory XMP1

Aura LED Off

Fast Boot Disabled

OS Type Windows UEFI Mode

Armoury Crate Disabled

Catnip · Aug 6, 2026

I tore the cooler off and reseated it with new paste. I am going to run Cinebench and Passmark and see how hot my CPU gets.

Great thoughts from all of you, thank you. I have many things to look at if reseating the cooler doesn't help. I am considering one of those frame buckles from Amazon that was linked earlier in the thread. I think that is my next step if I get no success.

As a side thought, I much prefer AMD's cooler mount. It has that snap lever that really holds the cooler. Intel uses those four screw things that never seem to stay in place. Not exactly forward thinking on their part.

jvickers · Aug 6, 2026

Catnip said:
As a side thought, I much prefer AMD's cooler mount. It has that snap lever that really holds the cooler. Intel uses those four screw things that never seem to stay in place. Not exactly forward thinking on their part.

I agree. AMD has a much more user-friendly cooler mount design. Thanks for your feedback! Good luck with the temps!

Solved My 13700KF is getting murderously hot

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