Cpu Overheating?

[kingarabian]

Well today, first time ever, my all of my cpu cores hit 71C. I ran two smarts and it hit that and I got worried. However I did not experience any lag or freezes...

My story, 7 months ago-ish I built my first ever budget computer for gaming. The cpu I got was an AMD Athlon ii x4. At that time my temperatures for my cpu were 36C at idle and 45-50 under load. Anyway I bought a VERY cheap psu, and it burned out everything on my rig. So I returned everything and got replacement items. I built it again, and this time my cpu was at 45C idle and 60 under load. It now has reached 50C idle, and I got that fricking 71C under load. So I bought some thermal compound, yet I see no difference...

Do you think I installed my cpu cooler wrong?
Should I get an aftermarket heatsink/cooler for my cpu?
Should I add that compound again?

My case as I am now noticing it has a lot of dust, do you think thats contributing to the problem?

[Capricorn]

Dust will make temperatures skyrocket.

Also stock heatsink/fan? And what type of thermal paste?

If you use a good aftermarket paste and cooler I'd say your temps should never reach higher than 60C, especially just running only two smarts.

Edit: Having a case with bad air flow will hurt your temperatures too.

[kingarabian]

Dust will make temperatures skyrocket.

Also stock heatsink/fan? And what type of thermal paste?

If you use a good aftermarket paste and cooler I'd say your temps should never reach higher than 60C, especially just running only two smarts.

Yeah just went in and took care of the dust, however I need to some how reach for the intake fan to clear the dust off there.

I am using AMD's stock heatsink/fan and I am using Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound... Its running at 55C with just firefox open, gonna get cooler masters heat sink, has a lot of positive reviews.

[Mr.Klean]

Check case airflow. Take the side panel off and note temps. Make sure the fins of your heat sink aren't clogged with dust/dirt. Make sure you heatsink is making full contact on the CPU, be sure to use proper amount of thermal paste (more is not better)

I run into this issue a lot with Intel's 775 stock coolers. They never seem to seat properly. They work but down have enough down force on CPU so they run hot.

[kingarabian]

Check case airflow. Take the side panel off and note temps. Make sure the fins of your heat sink aren't clogged with dust/dirt. Make sure you heatsink is making full contact on the CPU, be sure to use proper amount of thermal paste (more is not better)

I run into this issue a lot with Intel's 775 stock coolers. They never seem to seat properly. They work but down have enough down force on CPU so they run hot.


Well this is how I install my cpu:

I place the chip into the socket, then add the paste to the heatsink. Then I try to eyeball everything and place the heatsink over the chip... So I dont know if its making contact.

Oh yeah the case cover is now off after that 71c bump, and I put an external fan blowing in.
Anyway I'm thinking of getting this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028Y4S9K/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Oh yeah anyone have any recommendations for an aftermarket cooler, I only got 30 bucks for usage.

Edit 67C and going up with only 2 smarts open and firefox.

[grats]

Yeah just went in and took care of the dust, however I need to some how reach for the intake fan to clear the dust off there.

I am using AMD's stock heatsink/fan and I am using Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound... Its running at 55C with just firefox open, gonna get cooler masters heat sink, has a lot of positive reviews.

Don't waste money on better thermal compound, a guy did a test with toothpaste vs the best thermal compounds and there was less than a 1C difference.

A better heatsink / fan will do you way better.

[Jelloman]

I had similar problems with my build, upgraded the heatsink/fan and now it runs quite cool
its a cool master brand, they are good quality and generally quite cheap

this is basically the one I have, it is very large though and almost doesn't fit in my case
http://www.newegg.com/ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103075&cm_re=cool_master-_-35-103-075-_-Product)

[Capricorn]

Don't waste money on better thermal compound, a guy did a test with toothpaste vs the best thermal compounds and there was less than a 1C difference.

A better heatsink / fan will do you way better.

Use toothpaste as thermal paste and leave it there for 3 years.

[grats]

Use toothpaste as thermal paste and leave it there for 3 years.

Oh my god, 3 years!!!!! that's so short what ever will someone do!

Way to let my point fly over your head.. cpu heatsinks come with thermal paste, meaning you don't need to buy anything more expensive..

the minty freshness is well worth a 5 minute thermal paste change every 3 years :p

[Smartzkid]

Tiny industrial-use diamonds work wonders as thermal paste. Enough to cover a CPU will cost you about $40 on ebay. Lapping your CPU/heatsink never hurts. Finally, make sure you don't apply too much thermal paste - overapplication can cause a 10+ degree celsius increase in temperature.

[kingarabian]

WELL got my aftermarket cooler, a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus(Was a bitch to install). Temperatures are 40C under load and 25C idle lol. A very good 25 dollar investment however.

[noidea]

Just btw, most AMD cpus need to stay under 60C.

[kingarabian]

Just btw, most AMD cpus need to stay under 60C.

Yeah thats why I started spazzing out when my cpu hit 73C.

And right now under load its at 30C and idling at 19C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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