[Review] Quick Thermal Review (Sky X4C)

8600k 4.7 with locked voltage at 1175mv
1080 with a curve of +150 flattened after 925mv to 1860mhz
Delidded? and Liquid Metal done by reseller/authorized dealer, not eurocom
will have to crack this open when I have some LM and take pictures
61f Ambient
fan mode of "overclock"
will post more later probably like a full stock run
will probably buy some LM and a copper shim and try to get it MUCH colder



and here's full stock

 

Try to run something like mafia 3 demo instead of heaven, it is much more CPU demanding than heaven.

 

Aida64 is running

 

Yeah, Aida does stress your CPU quite a bit, but heaven is the GPU benchmark, I think something like Mafia 3 would stress more cuda cores etc. and make your GPU use more. Since right now it's only around ~140Watts, pretty sure mafia 3 would bump it up to ~170 or 180Watts on the GPU.

 

You could also try 3DMark Fire Strike

 

What if you just play a demanding game (Mafia 3 could be the example) without running AIDA64 in the background? What are the temps like after 30 minutes or so? I know you stated that the fan mode was "overclock" in your first post. Are you actually hearing the fans howling full blast, which they should be starting to do around 80-85°C, or simply relying on the fan mode being set to OC? If you start off with the machine cold, use FN+1 for full fans before it gets hot does it get just as hot or stay a lot cooler? I asked because the fans may be lazy and responding when it's already too late to correct the problem.

 

Mafia III Demo is a pretty big download so here's PUBG which I already have

 

It got a little bit warmer than ideal, but not as bad as it seemed before. I jumped through to different places in the video so I might have missed something weird, but I did not notice any thermal throttling. HWiNFO64 shows it did on a couple of cores. If you fix your GPU voltage static for around 0.915-0.925V those temps should come way down. Since it has a unified heat sink, reducing the GPU temps may help reduce the CPU temps. Since one of them is constantly puking heat onto the other, they have a Siamese Twin type of relationship that they would be better off without. This is a flawed and unfortunate engineering concept the most of today's laptops are cursed with.

That said, there is definitely room for improvement. The model you have is notorious for being challenged with thermal management, so how much improvement can be gained remains to be seen. I would focus my efforts to confirming and improving CPU to heat sink contact, but the heat sink and fans are too small to enjoy really nice temperatures with the P57X model line. That has been the case all along, going back to at least the 4790K model. Adding a 30mm*30mm*0.5mm (or 1.0mm) copper shim between the IHS and heat sink, and removing the c-clips on the screws for the CPU side of the heat sink may help shave a few degrees of the CPU temps. This was a constant battle for me with the P750ZM. I even replaced the heat sink, but at the end of the day it was just too small to do a great job with such a powerful CPU.

 

Yeah but the issue is it already is liquid metal'd supposedly so... not very good, and I know someone who can stick around 66c in a hotter room than mine @ 4.7ghz @ 1125mv whereas I sit in 90c+ when both are using the cpu-z stress, to specify these tests were done in a room @ 61F and theirs was 70F+

 

Here are some things about liquid metal that often get overlooked:

• Liquid metal between the die and IHS is almost always excellent because fit/contact is almost never an issue.
  (This is almost irrelevant and will not help much if the fit is poor between the IHS and heat sink.)
• Liquid metal cannot be used to fill gaps. If the fit and contact between the CPU IHS (or GPU die) and heat sink is sloppy the temps will be worse, not better. The sloppy fit will also allow it to dry out quickly and become ineffective just like regular thermal paste.
• Liquid metal between the CPU IHS (or GPU die) produces consistently superior results if and when the contact is good in all mating surfaces. About as good as a soldered connection. Nothing is better in this scenario.

So, without knowing if the liquid metal is in both places (above and below the IHS) and without knowing if the heat sink contact is good, there is not enough information to get excited about at this point.

This was previously mentioned as an option if contact is poor. So, don't overlook this in any case.

If the heat sink contact is poor, using a really thick thermal paste is the best option. IC Diamond really shines in this scenario. Its thermal conductivity is not as good as Kryonaut, Phobya Nanogrease Extreme or Gelid GC Extreme, but it does a better than normal job of plugging the gap on sloppy fitting parts compared to those thermal pastes with superior thermal conductivity ratings because they are lower viscosity. They may start off better, but swiftly degrade due to pump-out, dehydration and broken contact due to air space.

So, your first task is to investigate heat sink contact. If it is really good contact, using liquid metal on top of the IHS may help a great deal. It will not overcome the inadequacy of a heat sink that is too small and fans that are too weak, but it will get you the best temps you will ever be able to get if everything fits well.

Be sure to use something like a foam dam if you end up using liquid metal between the IHS and heat sink. If you leave it on a desk all of the time, you don't really need it, but if you take it on the road and toss it around in a backpack, you really need to do that.