I have bought an I7 4790K (together with a GTX1070 which is yet to arrive).  Whilst I have installed a new GPU in the past this will be the first time I have tried my hand at installing a CPU.  My question is do I need to apply thermal paste to the CPU or will the paste that came with the stock cooler with my original build suffice?  I am not planning to overclock the CPU .....YET but when I do I plan to get an aftermarket cooler.  

It is just that I am desperate to install the CPU to see what difference it makes with P3D and other programs.  I currently have an I5 4670.

 

Thanks in advance.

the stock cooler is not good enough for the 4790k regardless of overclocking, as strang as it is i have just built the exact same setup and installed a corsair h110gt cooler and run at 4.8ghz with a max of 67c,to answer your question,if you are gonna use the stock cooler, i would use some good after market thermal paste, you can get a cheap air cooler for about 35 bucks that will cool 10 times better than the stock cooler.good luck, p3d runs great on this cpu and the gtx 1070.

 My question is do I need to apply thermal paste to the CPU or will the paste that came with the stock cooler with my original build suffice?  I am not planning to overclock the CPU 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

You said the cooler that came with your "original build"! So not the cooler that comes with your new CPU?

 

That would be a bad idea. It's not designed to cool a 4790K

 

I'm not sure if a stock cooler comes with the 4790K, I think probably not. If it did, then it would be fit for purpose, otherwise Intel wouldn't have provided it. Not good enough for an enthusiast, though. Likewise, any TIM applied would be fit for purpose, otherwise the CPU's would be RMA'd in droves. Louder, warmer, but it would function as intended.

I'm not sure if a stock cooler comes with the 4790K, I think probably not.

 

The 4790k does ship with the stock Intel cooler. And it is dangerously ineffective.

How so? Can you give me an example of the CPU temp?

Don't forget we are talking about stock frequencies here, and that the CPU temp merely needs to be a reasonable distance below TJMax, to be deemed not dangerous.

Edit: Just done a quick google, and some are saying tops out at 80 degrees. If so that's not dangerous at all.

Stress testing with AVX would be a bad idea though. It also depends on ambient temp, clearly those users who reside in hotter climates will have higher temps. Stock coolers are not designed for overclocking or stress testing with AVX, and most of the excessive temps I've just seen with a quick search were using Prime95 and AVX.

Also, some MB manufacturers boards are applying an excessive voltage even at stock..

 

 

https://communities.intel.com/message/260210#260210quote

 

My apologies. I assumed that you were looking to over clock.

No problem.  :smile:

 

Something else that exacerbates the less than stellar performance of Intel Stock coolers, is the mounting method. Very, very easy to mount them incorrectly.