[Z590] Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero - PCH High Temperature

[EncodeGR]

My PCH temperature is fairly high, which concerns me. I'm used to everything else in my system being pretty chilly, usually around 28-30 C. The airflow is also really good. The *only* thing that gets hot is the PCH, and i don't understand why.


-- Some Backround Info, Setup --

Intel Pentium G6400 4.0GHz (Lol, well... until i get my Rocket Lake chip)

MSI GTX 1070Ti Gaming X (Until i actually manage to find a 3080/3070, if ever...)

HyperX DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz XMP CL17 (4 x 8 GB)

Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero (Z590)

Asus ROG Thor 850 Plat

Samsung 980 Pro M2. NVMe PCIe 4.0 500GB (installed in M2.2_2, cpu bound)

Noctua NH-U12A

Noctua NF-A14 PWM (x6)



-- Things i've tried --

• Updated Drivers. Updated ME FW. Updated BIOS.
  
• Inspected PCH heatsink and thermal pad and resit. No change.
  
• Removed M.2 NVMe drive and GPU. No significant change.
  
• Checked the PCH 1.8v VCCIN voltage, stable 1.8v.
  
• Made sure nothing is "overclocked", using XMP, or enhanced in any automatic way.
  
• Lowered VCCIO and VCCSA to 1.10v, since automatic was pushing both to 1.40 for some reason !! (CPU weak memory controller ?). No change.
  

** I need to mention i couldn't find the PCH Core Voltage, anywhere in the settings. No idea why.


-- PCH Temperature --

PCH temperature starts at 35-38 C, during a cold boot. During the next 5 minutes it climbs and stabilizes at 56 - 62 C, while IDLING.

And that's with a system without GPU, or M.2 NVMe drive. Just the CPU and its iGPU which stay at 24 C, cooled by a Noctua NH-U12A. With a fully assembled system and under load it goes up to 70 - 80 C.


Now... The only thing i have not tried yet, is to completely remove the plastic ROG-logo cover, on top of the PCH, as it may be severely suffocating the heatsink, restricting the airflow towards it.

That would explain the temps under load, but i'm not sure if that explains the initial fast-climbing temperatures while idling. And honestly, without the cover the LEDs underneath it are blinding, so the Aura lighting needs to be completely disabled. Could this be a flawed design ?? I doubt.

I don't understand what's wrong. I've seen people reviewing this mothereboard, while reporting PCH idle temps at 35C and 55C under load. I know that right now, it's not gonna cause any sort of damage. I am however concerned about the longevity and a possible degredation over time, thinking that my PCH is at 75-80 C while gaming.

Sorry for the long post, had to make sure everythong's covered.

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

-- HWInfo & HWMonitor -> 3 minutes after cold boot --
-- Bios Monitor -> 10 minutes after cold boot --

[KotOr368]

I don't know how precise is HWinfo for new Z590 series. But i assume that PCH VCCin is same as for Z490 (I have) PCH core. And on Z590 you have 1.8V and my Z490 have 1.040-1.060V. I think that is crazy different just for PCH. Asus screw this or Intel is scumbag with PCIe GEN4. But maybe Asus in past i saw people that have protective plastic on thermal pad from factory on VRMs or just Asus use too small thermal pad for good coverage. Then talk about hot.

[EncodeGR]

KotOr368 wrote:
I don't know how precise is HWinfo for new Z590 series. But i assume that PCH VCCin is same as for Z490 (I have) PCH core. And on Z590 you have 1.8V and my Z490 have 1.040-1.060V. I think that is crazy different just for PCH. Asus screw this or Intel is scumbag with PCIe GEN4. But maybe Asus in past i saw people that have protective plastic on thermal pad from factory on VRMs or just Asus use too small thermal pad for good coverage. Then talk about hot.

Are you sure you have PCH VCCIN 1.0v or PCH Core Voltage ? They are different things.

PCH VCCIN is fine, it should be 1.8v that's the standard. PCH Core Voltage however should be ~ 1.0v, and from my reading it's 1.704v (VIN2 sensor). There is absolutely no control for PCH Core Voltage in Bios though, which is weird.

I also performed more tests.
Removed GPU, removed M.2, removed plastic rog-logo PCH cover. That is the most ideal / cool scenario for the pch.

Temperature still the same, idling at 62 C. Something is really wrong with that board and its Bios.

[KotOr368]

There is big chance they change name for some reason, but I have Z490 and my chipset voltage is PCH Core and its 1.050V. I don't see any voltage at 1.8V on my motherboard. And if on Z590 chipset voltage is PCH VCCIN 1.8V. That is high and . I own Z170,270,390 and all have PCH 1.050V as standart so why is 1.8V on Z590 ??? That i think is weird.

[Saltgrass]

EncodeGR wrote:
Those photos are not mine. I have removed all thin films from the heatsinks (white) as well as their base (blue).

What the first photo shows, is the M.2 metal heatsink, merged with the plastic PCH cover.
The second photo just shows the pch metal heatsink.

That plastic cover goes on top of the PCH heatsink, essentialy blocking all airflow. No idea why they designed it like that.

I just got my board set up, just installed Bios 605. My chipset is running at 65° C in the Bios Monitor.. Did you ever get it resolved?

[menko2]

I'm on the same situation here.

In idle my PCH temp is 54°C and gaming goes all the way higher.

I'm still in stock BIOS that came with the board.

Did you guys find out something? Do you use the newer beta bios?

[EncodeGR]

I've updated everything. From Bios to the very last firmware / driver.
No change. They don't even include Bios Change Logs.... ._.

Make sure you submit a ticket, this might be a bug with the Bios. I hope a future bios update fixes it.

[Zardoc]

I checked my Strix A wiFi and I have @56 on idle so that is hot without load.

I will also submit a ticket.

[pitderbeste]

Hello all,

I opened a ticket on Feb. 24th but haven't received any feedback yet, did you get any information yet?

Gruß
PiT

[EncodeGR]

pitderbeste wrote:
Hello all,

I opened a ticket on Feb. 24th but haven't received any feedback yet, did you get any information yet?

Gruß
PiT

Hey pitderbeste,

I did receive feedback from both US and Greek Asus Support.

The Greek Asus Support suggested me the following:
They suggested me to RMA the board if it keeps idling higher than 60C, which is completely wrong.
You don't RMA a freaking board for that, and if you do you're going to get a rejection. That makes sense. The guy clearly doesn't know what he's talking about.

The US Asus support however stated the following:
"I am writing this email to provide you an update about your ongoing case. In accordance to the recommendation of our Technical Support Department. The temperature is normal and the PCH Spec can reach a maximum of 108 degrees."

This is a more appropriate answer, as i do know that PCH generally runs hot. My concern was about it running hot while idling. They say that's normal, and to be honest, it kinda looks normal, taking into account the small heatsink it has. It's nowhere near 100C anyway.

Anyway, i replied the following:

"Thank you very much for the information. I do understand that the temperature is considered safe and that i should not worry.
Nevertheless, i would like to replace the thermal pad which sits between the PCH and the heatsink, with an after market high-performance one. So, my last question would be about its thickness.
Could you please inform me about the thickness of the thermal pad on the PCH heatsink ? I would expect it to be 0,5 - 1,5 mm, but it would be really helpful to know the official exact thickness of the thermal pad that was used, as this will ensure proper contact and mounting pressure."

So, i'm going to try to replace the stock thermal pad. I do not expect any crazy change in temps, but regardless, i will give you an update.

[EncodeGR]

*** UPDATE ***

After playing around in BIOS, i noticed that disabling some functionality and controllers that i don't use, lowered the PCH temperature quite a bit.

More specifically:

(Bios -> Advanced -> Onboard Devices Configuration)

Disabled USB Audio
Disabled WiFi Controller
Disabled Bluetooth Controller
Disabled 2nd 2.5 Gb Ethernet Port
Disabled 34 and 56 SATA Ports

My PCH temperature is now idling ~ 46 - 50 C, compared to 56 - 62 C that was before. Nothing too crazy, but you know, every little bit helps. That is with the GPU 0-RPM feature enabled.

Disabling that feature and running GPU fans at 30% (complitely silent), drops the temperature even more ~ 43 - 47 C, since it creates some airflow around the PCH. I will also replace the PCH thermal pad with a better one soon and give you an update on that as well.

You may want to experiment with such settings in BIOS and see what works for you.
Definitely disable stuff you know you won't need. Less power, less heat.

Have fun 🙂