What's the best way to raise the core temperature of a gaming PC? I don't know, take it out in a blizzard" (opens in new tab) Chinese content creator 苏打baka (the name translates as "sparkling idiot") is trying to prove that you don't need LN2 to get your high-end CPU below freezing. to sub-zero temperatures on high-end CPUs. Walking through the snowfields north of the city of Mohe, China, where temperatures hit a record low of -53°C, icy PC gaming thermals were created.

Rather than stay indoors for a nice cup of tea, 苏打baka decided to take advantage of the sub-zero temperatures and brought his Intel Core i9 13900K (open in new tab) and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (open in new tab) combo gaming PC into the snow for a quick session (via WCCFTech (opens in new tab)).

One of our main concerns about the Intel Core i9 13900K was its core temperature, and the main drawback we cited was that it was "hot" - lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X's 96°C (open in new tab), but still pushing the limits of what this CPU can do for extended periods of time would be a cause for concern if one is going to be pushing the limits of what this CPU can do.

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 is at least a bit better, with a maximum temperature of 66°C. Still, it will need a lot of cooling to keep up with machines with this top-class combo.

Initial testing with Mohe's -53°C wind successfully brought the Intel 2nd/3rd generation CPU down to -2°C as the standard operating temperature. Also, when faced with the AIDA64 benchmark stress test, the maximum temperature was about 3°C when the cooler was not used at all.

Then came the Intel 13th generation monster, tested with the AIO cooler. For a short period of time anyway. However, after replacing it with a Noctua NH-P1 passive heatsink, the CPU dropped to about 10-15°C. With such headroom, Suzutakyo confirmed that the chip itself can run up to 6.18 GHz, even though the maximum frequency of the P-core turbo is 5.8 GHz.

As for the RTX4090, the temperature remained at about -40°C, with a maximum temperature of 30°C at full load.

A strange choice of game, and perhaps a joke given the temperature spikes. In any case, this at least proves that the creators are not so glittering idiots after all. If you have a temperature problem, just take a quick flight to northern China. It's that easy.