I agree with the other posters! ^ It's very possible it's a cooler issue. Although your cooler is rated for 150w, your CPU has a TDP of 125w (at base clocks), it draws much more than 150w at boost speeds, and whilst stressing. In fact it can draw up to 251w (PL2). It's very possible the cooler just isn't adequate enough at high clocks/load. Which Noctua paste are you using? H1/H2 have optimum operating temps between 70-120c, so that paste is good enough. As @hotaru.hino and @dorsai suggested, check cooler is seated correctly. You will obviously have to re-paste. Noctua's instructions suggest best method is to put a pea sized blob in centre of CPU. 2-3mm in diameter. Then seat the cooler. If the cooler has 4 screws, then tighten them in a criss-cross pattern from one corner to the opposite diagonal. This will ensure as you tighten down, you get an even spread of paste. Answer from Roland Of Gilead on forums.tomshardware.com
🌐
OCBASE
ocbase.com › benchmark
OCBASE/OCCT : Benchmark leaderboards
Ocbase is the home of OCCT, the most popular all-in-one stability / stress testing / benchmarking / monitoring tool available for PC
🌐
OCBASE
ocbase.com
OCBASE/OCCT : Free, all-in-one stability, stress test, benchmark and monitoring tool for your PC
With real-time temperature monitoring and intelligent alerts, OCCT helps you maintain optimal performance while safeguarding against potential overheating issues. Dive deeper into diagnostics, identifying issues such as voltage drops or frequency throttling, ensuring your system operates at its peak efficiency. ... Compare your CPU and Memory performance using our built-in benchmarks providing valuable insights into your system's capabilities.
Discussions

Stress Testing bringing CPU temps to 100C instantly
Hi guys, So I've been doing some Prime95 stress testing to try and solve another problem I've been having. This has all been in the last 3 or 4 days. Initially, the CPU was maxing out at about 75C, occasionally up to 80C. I've done about 10 CPU stress tests ranging from 5 mins to about 45 mins... More on forums.tomshardware.com
🌐 forums.tomshardware.com
23
0
May 6, 2021
100 degrees C temps in OCCT CPU stress test, should I be concerned?
100C might be concerning, depends on your case airflow and ambient temperature. The bigger issue is the crashing. Modern CPU's should throttle when they get hot, not crash. I would recommend running OCCT in CPU mode with the instruction set on SSE and AVX for an hour each. Repeat with the Memory mode, it also has an SSE and AVX option. Then do 3D Standard for an hour and VRAM for an hour. This should help you find which component is causing instability. PS, 218 watts under load is fairly high for a 13600K. Either your chip is overclocked or you are running an old BIOS version which uses too much voltage. This is known to damage 13th/14th gen chips. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/buildapc
5
1
May 10, 2025
Is it normal that cpu/cpu package to be at 100c for the duration set in occt test ?!
Yeah, it's sort of normal that things get a bit crazy in stress tests. Those 100°C sound suspiciously like the speed where the CPU will start limiting its boost speeds. You can have a situation where when you improve your cooling, the temperature doesn't go down because the CPU will just increase speed and boost higher and you'll end up back at the same 100°C. To decide if your cooling is working well, you have to look at the power usage numbers, not just the temperature. Those 100°C are bad if the power usage is low, but if the power usage is very high, then the 100°C are normal. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/overclocking
10
1
September 8, 2024
How reliable is OCCT for a stability test?
Games never push your GPU to the same degree OCCT would, but you could still encounter instability issues from time to time. Loads are very different between games - while it would run fine in 9/10 games, the tenth game it starts to crash constantly. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/overclocking
25
4
February 6, 2025
People also ask

How long does it take to run an OCCT benchmark?
With OCCT you can run stability tests on your hardware from one minute to as long as ten hours. However, it is advisable to stress test your CPU for at least an hour.
🌐
techspot.com
techspot.com › downloads › 4665-overclock-checking-tool.html
OverClock Checking Tool (OCCT) Download Free - 17.0.3 | TechSpot
Is OCCT free?
OCCT is free for personal use, but some features such as the Stability Certificate are reserved for paid users. For commercial use there are paid versions that start at $5 per month that include more features such as unlimited time duration.
🌐
techspot.com
techspot.com › downloads › 4665-overclock-checking-tool.html
OverClock Checking Tool (OCCT) Download Free - 17.0.3 | TechSpot
Can I use OCCT to benchmark my CPU and GPU?
OCCT is primarily a stress test tool used for checking stability issues. With this program you can stress test your CPU, GPU and determine the memory usage on your system. You can configure the app to stop the test when the temperature is too high or when it finds any error so you can prevent hardware failures.
🌐
techspot.com
techspot.com › downloads › 4665-overclock-checking-tool.html
OverClock Checking Tool (OCCT) Download Free - 17.0.3 | TechSpot
🌐
Linus Tech Tips
linustechtips.com › the workbench › troubleshooting
OCCT power stress test yields 100C cpu temps - Troubleshooting - Linus Tech Tips
July 9, 2021 - https://linustechtips.com/topic/1354935-occt-power-stress-test-yields-100c-cpu-temps/ More sharing options... Followers 1 · Go to topic listing Troubleshooting · Buying a Fairphone charger · Didaka · 1 hour ago Posted in Phones and Tablets · 5 · Persistent BSODs almost exclusively during cold boot - extensive testing completed ·
Top answer
1 of 4
1
I agree with the other posters! ^ It's very possible it's a cooler issue. Although your cooler is rated for 150w, your CPU has a TDP of 125w (at base clocks), it draws much more than 150w at boost speeds, and whilst stressing. In fact it can draw up to 251w (PL2). It's very possible the cooler just isn't adequate enough at high clocks/load. Which Noctua paste are you using? H1/H2 have optimum operating temps between 70-120c, so that paste is good enough. As @hotaru.hino and @dorsai suggested, check cooler is seated correctly. You will obviously have to re-paste. Noctua's instructions suggest best method is to put a pea sized blob in centre of CPU. 2-3mm in diameter. Then seat the cooler. If the cooler has 4 screws, then tighten them in a criss-cross pattern from one corner to the opposite diagonal. This will ensure as you tighten down, you get an even spread of paste.
2 of 4
0
Yeah I have an old GPU I can try if needs be. I'll see what happens when I remove the RTX from the system entirely and go from there. Haha to be honest, I decided to build this PC not because I needed anything in particular but because I fancied a bit of a project so now I have the means to fiddle with things I may well get obsessed with thermal paste soon too! Yeah, I will definitely get you posted! Thank you so much for your help so far, I've really appreciated having someone to throw ideas at me! No worries, glad to offer help. That's the best thing about TH forum. Everyone bouncing ideas around, learning lot of good stuff as we go along! Love it!
🌐
Overclock.net
overclock.net › home › forums › benchmarks › benchmarking software and discussion
Post your OCCT Benchmark results here | Overclock.net
1) Download OCCT here: OCBASE/OCCT : Free, all-in-one stability, stress test, benchmark and monitoring tool for your PC 2) Run all four CPU benchmarks 3) Submission Format: Take a screen snip of your bench result in addition to the CPU and MEMORY tabs of CPUz, like this: For now, it's merely...
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/buildapc › 100 degrees c temps in occt cpu stress test, should i be concerned?
r/buildapc on Reddit: 100 degrees C temps in OCCT CPU stress test, should I be concerned?
May 10, 2025 -

Troubleshooting Help:

What is your parts list? Consider formatting your parts list.

CPU: i5-13600KF

CPU cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin

RAM: 32GB DDR5

Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI

GPU: XFX RX 6950 XT

PSU: Corsair 850x (2021) 80 plus gold certified

Storage: Samsung 980 2TB NVMe SSD, Samsung 850 evo 500GB SSD, 1TB 7200 RPM HDD

OS: Windows 11

System BIOS: A. 70

Describe your problem. List any error messages and symptoms. Be descriptive.

I was playing Deadlock on the recent patch and at some point, after about 5 minutes in game, my PC crashed to a blank screen. I still had sound, but my fan (I believe GPU fan) was on full blast and I had to manually restart the PC. After restarting, my second monitor would not be recognized. I fixed this by disabling and re-enabling my graphics driver in windows settings. Now I'm running some tests to find out what happened, and while running OCCT I noticed some high temps under the load from the test. I have screenshot here of the test while it was running. I ran it for a little over 15 minutes with no crashing or issues. What could be causing the crashes? And are these temps cause for concern?

List anything you've done in attempt to diagnose or fix the problem.

Furmark and OCCT tests

Post relevant photos of build/parts here.

Provide any additional details you wish below.

🌐
GitHub
github.com › OCCT-Download
OCCT Download · GitHub
OCCT benchmark suite for performance testing and system validation. Real-time monitoring, error detection, and hardware stress analysis. Compatible with power supply evaluation and thermal testing.
Find elsewhere
🌐
TechSpot
techspot.com › downloads › 4665-overclock-checking-tool.html
OverClock Checking Tool (OCCT) Download Free - 17.0.3 | TechSpot
3 hours ago - Download OverClock Checking Tool (OCCT) - This application will let you benchmark and overclock your system components.
Rating: 4.4 ​ - ​ 298 votes
🌐
Overclock.net
overclock.net › home › forums › graphics cards › graphics cards - general
OCCT GPU test temps 20c+ higher than anything else. Normal? | Overclock.net
June 20, 2011 - My card would easily hit 100c in a minute or two of doing that testing when I had it air-cooled. Now that it's water-cooled I can actually go through an entire test (assuming my OC is stable) that's 5 minutes long, but I don't bother doing any more than that. ... That's completely unnecessary and a waste. OCCT/Furmark is good to test your cooling and that is it.
🌐
Linus Tech Tips
linustechtips.com › computer hardware › cooling
R9 9900x 100c during OCCT Power Test - Cooling - Linus Tech Tips
May 21, 2025 - I just completed my new build. Did a little gaming. Went to bed. Got constant memory error messages when I woke up the system the next morning. Cold booted and everything worked fine. I decided to do a few stress tests to try to identify any issues. Ran OCCT CPU + RAM test for 1 hour. No problem....
🌐
Exxact Corporation
support.exxactcorp.com › hc › en-us › articles › 23617063201431-OCCT-Windows-Benchmark-System-Validation
OCCT Windows Benchmark & System Validation – Exxact Corporation
June 10, 2024 - Document Scope OCCT is a comprehensive stability and performance testing software. CPU, GPU, Memory VRAM are tested in the most efficient and accurate way possible. The following documentation expl...
🌐
Filehorse
filehorse.com › windows › system tuning
OCCT - Download for Windows - FileHorse
It enables you to fully test your computer's stability, using 4 different tests: CPU:OCCT and CPU:Linpack aimed at testing the CPU, GPU:3D for the GPU stability, and Power Supply, a combination of CPU:Linpack and GPU:3D to fully load your Power ...
Published   2 days ago
🌐
Softpedia
softpedia.com › windows › system › benchmarks › occt
OCCT - Download - Softpedia
3 weeks ago - Download OCCT 17.0.1 - Benchmark your computer's CPU as well as push it to its limits by overclocking it with the help of this useful and user-friendly tool
🌐
Steam
store.steampowered.com › app › 3515100 › OCCT
OCCT on Steam
May 14, 2026 - With OCCT’s Stability Certificates, you can validate your system’s stability like never before. After passing a complete series of stress tests, receive a personalized, shareable certificate proving your hardware's robustness. Perfect for benchmarking, troubleshooting, or simply showcasing the performance of your setup.
🌐
Occt
occt.io
OCCT | Free Stability Test & Hardware Monitoring
Compare CPU and memory performance with built-in benchmarks.
🌐
MAINGEAR Support
help.maingear.com › maingear support › knowledge base › occt - hardware stress test
OCCT - Hardware Stress Test - MAINGEAR Support
September 23, 2025 - Please download OCCT which can be found here: OCBASE/OCCT : Free, all-in-one stability, stress test, benchmark and monitoring tool for your PC Depending on if
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/overclocking › how reliable is occt for a stability test?
r/overclocking on Reddit: How reliable is OCCT for a stability test?
February 6, 2025 -

Hello, I have a few questions about OCCT as a stability test. How reliable are these tests? I was testing my GPU overclock using the 3D Adaptive "extreme" test, testing various overclocks. I set +200 on core clock and +1500 on memory clock in MSI Afterburner. Other benchmarks and games were always stable but as soon as I ran the OCCT test it showed me a lot of errors. So I decreased core clock to +150 and left memory clock at +2000 and let it run for another half hour. This time I had no errors. Does this mean that my first overclock despite being stable in games was indeed NOT stable? And does that mean that my second overclock now should be in fact stable as there were no errors?