CPU temperature question

[nehemiah]

what's a normal cpu temp? mine is running close to 60 and goes up to 68 when i run a couple of programs at a time (media player, browser, and spybot). that's seems too high. all of my fans are working.

the sys temp is normal. around 27-30 degrees.

my pwm temp keeps rising quickly, too, it's up to 35 right now (10 mins after boot).

does anyone have any ideas as to what the heck is going on here?

[Merc]

Nehemiah-
Are you running an AMD or Intel CPU? Do you have a graphics card and if so what are the temps on that? What programs are you running (the newer 3D games will really get the temps up in a case). Most important, has the room temperature where you use the PC gone up? Remember you can only cool as low as the air you are sucking into the case.

Intels run hotter than AMD's. Those temps are cause for concern with an AMD CPU but you are still within acceptable parameters for Intel.

Check for dust bunnies inside the case and inside the CPU fan as well as in the video card fan. IF worse comes to worse you can remove the side of the case and blow air in with a portable fan till the heat wave passes.

[nehemiah]

Nehemiah-
Are you running an AMD or Intel CPU? Do you have a graphics card and if so what are the temps on that? What programs are you running (the newer 3D games will really get the temps up in a case). Most important, has the room temperature where you use the PC gone up? Remember you can only cool as low as the air you are sucking into the case.

Intels run hotter than AMD's. Those temps are cause for concern with an AMD CPU but you are still within acceptable parameters for Intel.

Check for dust bunnies inside the case and inside the CPU fan as well as in the video card fan. IF worse comes to worse you can remove the side of the case and blow air in with a portable fan till the heat wave passes.
it's an AMD athlon 64 3000+. yeah, the temp has gone up over the last few weeks. it's hot/humid like hades in here.

the comp has stayed stable at 60 degrees for the last few hours but i haven't played any games or anything. how do i find my graphics card temp? i ordered a bigger fan for the back and a PCI slot fan to cool off the video card (it's a geforce 5500 256). that ought to do it, eh? i really don't want to replace the fan/heat sink apparatus b/c i don't know how the hell to do that. maybe i'll just drill a hole in the top and put a fan there.

i opened her up and cleaned her out this evening. no change from that. :shrugs:

[pigpen65]

60 is still way to hot for that cpu. What kind if heatsink / thermal compound are you using? The most likely problem is the heatsink not making good contact with the CPU. First thing to do would be to take that off (sorry, no way around it), check to see that there's some thermal compound right in the middle of the processor(and that it is still soft), and then re-seat the heatsink making sure to clamp it down evenly on both sides. If that still doesn't work, you might want to think about buying a better heatsink. There's a few from thermalright (xp-90 & xp-120) that offer great performance for a decent price.

http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/xp-90-21.html

It also could be that you just need to re-apply the thermal compound. Arctic Silver is the best. You can get it at compusa, or from a bunch of on-line retailers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100007

[Merc]

Nehemiah-
Exhaust fans at the top of the case are great but cutting a hole and installing a fan is a pretty big job. You have to remove everything so as not to get metal shavings on sensitive electronics, cut the hole, install the fan and reinstall all the components. If you don't want to tackle installing a new HSF or cutting a hole in the case you have two choices, wait for the outside temperatures to go down or remove the side of the case and set up a portable fan to blow cool air over the insides until fall. Just keep the dust controlled and replace the side when you aren't using the PC so the dog or cat doesn't water your motherboard for you. LOL

[nehemiah]

thanks, y'all. i'm gonna see how the new fans work. if that doesn't work, then i'll move to a new heatsink. if that doesn't work, then i'll cut a hole in the top and install a fan. if that doesn't work, i'm gonna throw the case in the schulykill river and do a case mod with the standing bills symbol on the side made out of tiny little fans. thanks again.

[pigpen65]

thanks, y'all. i'm gonna see how the new fans work. if that doesn't work, then i'll move to a new heatsink. if that doesn't work, then i'll cut a hole in the top and install a fan. if that doesn't work, i'm gonna throw the case in the schulykill river and do a case mod with the standing bills symbol on the side made out of tiny little fans. thanks again.


I think even with a horrible heatsink though, 60 is still way too high a temperature. Better case fans will account for a couple degrees, but you should still be idling somewhere in the 40's at least. Ii would definitely play with that heatsink a little. Even if you don't want to take it off you might want to use your hand to move it around a little. See if it feels like it's not seated correctly.

[Merc]

Just for comparisons: I have a 3500+ (Newcastle Core) CPU in a Lian Li PC60A-Plus case. It is an SLI rig which means two big 6800GT video cards are in there with the CPU and 2 hard drives. Ambient room temps average 76.5f.

My CPU idles in high 30's, moderate loads put it in the mid 40's and at very high loads it reaches 51c max. Those are fairly good temps and you should be in that ballpark or lower.

I have a Zalman 7700CU on the CPU and use Arctic Cooling NV-5 coolers on the graphics cards. They dump the hot air from the GPUs right out the back of the case instead of into the case. A 90mm fan ducts air onto the CPU directly and a PCI slot fan exhausts air from that area out the back. An 80 mm roof fan exhausts out the top and a 120mm intake fan on the front with a 80mm booster next to my Hard drives pushes outside air up onto the nortbridge and GPUs as well as on the drives.

[nehemiah]

all right. just ordered the cleaner and thermal paste. i'm gonna rock this ****! :rockon:

[nehemiah]

few questions for the gurus here.

is overnight a long enough time to let the computer cool before taking the HSU off?

i know i have to clean the old gunk off first. how long should i wait before applying the new paste?

can i boot up right after i get the thing back together?

[pigpen65]

few questions for the gurus here.

is overnight a long enough time to let the computer cool before taking the HSU off?

i know i have to clean the old gunk off first. how long should i wait before applying the new paste?

can i boot up right after i get the thing back together?


So long as you have a working fan on your heatsink, you shouldn't have to wait at all. The heatsink might be a little warm to the touch, but not hot enough to burn you. If you leave your comp running 24 / 7 you might want to let it cool for a couple minutes, but after that you'll be fine.

The old gunk will come off best with a soft cloth (or a paper towel) and some alcohol. Since alcohol evaporates fast you can pretty much put the new stuff on right away. There's two things about applying the new stuff. You can either spread a thin layer over the entire face of the CPU, or you can use the grain of rice method.http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions_big2.htm
Different people report better results with one method over the other. I've personally tried both and found that applying a thin layer over the entire surface produced better temperatures. If you try it one way and notice that your temps haven't dropped significantly, clean it off and try the other.
The other issue is that these thermal compounds have a break in period. There basic function is to fill in the tiny spaces between the CPU and the heastink, aiding the transfer of heat. To do that it needs to warm up and melt into the spaces. This can take up to a week to happen and most of the time you will see your temps gradually decreasing as the compound begins settling in. So you can boot up right after you get it put back together, but give it a week before you decide whether you got a good application or not (unless of course your temps have increased.)

[Merc]

Concur w/ everything Pigpen said. Just remember that this is definitely a place where more is NOT better. Use either method Pigpen discussed above but be very stingy w/ the amount used. If you put too much on then you will actually insulate the CPU from the HSF and get the same or higher temps. Good luck and let us know how it goes. BTW, after about 30 hours my temps had decreased another 3-4 degrees as the paste cured.

[nehemiah]

for the record, i have ArctiClean 1 Thermal Material Remover and ArctiClean 2 Thermal Surface Purifier and ArcticSilver 5 thermal paste (if that changes any of the instructions).

so, let me see if i have this straight.

1. clean both the CPU and the heatsink using the material remover and surface purifier.
2. put some paste on the heatsink and spread it around.
3. remove the paste from the heatsink.
4. put a BB's worth of paste on the CPU (right in the middle of it??).
5. place the heatsink on the CPU.
6. gently twist heatsink slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each (do not remove it after this point).
7. mount the heatsink fully.

thanks again, for all your help pigpen and merc.

[nehemiah]

all right. it took me a while to do but i got the sumbitch up and running. temps are really close to what they were before. maybe 1-2 degrees cooler. the temp gauge is really skitterish, though. is that normal?

[nehemiah]

if anyone else ever has this problem, update your BIOS. :rofl: un-****ing-believable. my CPU temp is now 33.

[Merc]

Nehemiah- A BIOS update wouldn't drop your temps 35 degrees (68 to 33). The only thiing it would do would be top rectify a misreading temp sensor. That isn't the case with your PC as you said the temps have been steadily rising over the last few weeks. A faulty BIOS may read high but it wouldn't steadily rise over a period of weeks, it would just always read high.

Oh well, now you know how to change out your CPU :nono:
You are now an official geek :assimilat

Congrats and good job anyways! Got it right the first time too. I screwed my first paste job up and had to redo the whole thing.

BTW, 33c is an excellent temp for that CPU.

[pigpen65]

Oh well, now you know how to change out your CPU :nono:
You are now an official geek :assimilat

LOL



Congrats and good job anyways! Got it right the first time too. I screwed my first paste job up and had to redo the whole thing.

BTW, 33c is an excellent temp for that CPU.


Time to overclock? hahaha

[35Pete]

If I were designing a controller (PC board) where the CPU approached 60 degrees I would be quite concerned about thermal fatigue of the device over time. See if you can buy another aftermarket heat sink.

[г]

You can put a small frying pan on and cook your breakfast in the mornings

[Merc]

You can put a small frying pan on and cook your breakfast in the mornings :firehair:

With two 6800GT's, both overclocked, an AMD 3500+, overclocked an 2 hard drives all stuffed into a mid size alluminum case, I can heat up my computer room by 5 degrees easily. My PC is an expensive space heater. In the winter the cats sleep in the computer room when I am playing games because it is the warmest space in the apartment. :fireboy:

[pigpen65]

[I]With two 6800GT's, both overclocked, an AMD 3500+, overclocked an 2 hard drives all stuffed into a mid size alluminum case, I can heat up my computer room by 5 degrees easily. My PC is an expensive space heater. In the winter the cats sleep in the computer room when I am playing games because it is the warmest space in the apartment. :fireboy:

Merc, did you get a look at the new 7800 gtx's? What do you think?

[Merc]

Pigpen-
I have read a great deal about them and they are looking to be awesome, albeit expensive, pieces of gear. 24 pipelines but only slightly higher clock speeds w/ improved architecture (like twice as many transistors) so they run cooler than present Ultras (only take up one slot). Love to get a couple but having a kid sooooo. Here is a link to a looong artcle http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Nzg0