Is there thermal paste on my CPU?

Hi, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to cooling and I'd like some advice.

I recently bought a 2600 Athlon system and it's running at 50c idle and up to 75c when CPU is 100%! That's way too hot for my liking.

Admittedly I haven't added any case fans yet but the temps still seem way to high. I'm wondering what the problem might be. The CPU fan is rotating at about 3000-4000 rpm, is that normal? I was also wondering if there may not be thermal paste on the cpu/heatsink. Is that possible or would my CPU have blown by now without it?

I'm using PC Alert 4 to get the temperature and fan speed. The room temperature is pretty low. Sorry I can't provide any more info at the moment but I live away from home during the week and only have access to my PC at weekends. I'll try to find out more info if needed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
The Pants.

Your CPU is most likley ok (as in it hasn't blow). If you didn't put the HS on then there is most likley thermal tape on there... not really good but it does the job. If you plan on overclockering you should probably get a new HS (I am guessing it's stock... if not maybe not) and some Arctic silver.

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS

Thanks for the info CrashO,

So you think those temperatures are ok? I was a bit concerned that 75c is close to 'melting' point.

I probably will get some AS3.

I forgot to ask - If I remove the HS to see if there is any paste and there IS paste, will I spoil the 'connection'?

Thanks again'
The Pants

Generally, yes. I recommend not removing the HSF until you have at least some generic thermal grease handy for putting it back together.

You can make a rough test of your current case flow by taking off the side panel. Do not attempt to blow cool air in with an external desk/stationary fan. Under this configuration, a drastic improvement in CPU temp means you have miserable case flow when the panel is on.

If you choose to remount the HSF, be sure to thoroughly clean (with acetone or other strong solvent) the HS and core when you're preparing the (hopefully) long-term AS3 mount.

I would actualy recomend ceramique, as I remember when I was a wee cooling noob I killed my duron with too much artic silver. Ceramique is non-conductive of capacitive so its safe if you spill is elswhere.

or some as5, isn't that supposed to be non conductive also?

They are all non-conductive, but anything with metal in it is capacitive, and that can kill a processer too.

Yuriman said:

They are all non-conductive, but anything with metal in it is capacitive, and that can kill a processer too.

Click to expand...

I am pretty sure AS is conductive... Almost posotive... Its hard to mess up on a processor though I wouldn't worry too much about that as long as you apply it the right way.
Your temps arn't good (50C is the max I allowed when I had air cooling) but if you arn't overclocking and your computer is stable they are fine. Its always better for it to be cooler though, so if you wanna putting on some real thermal goop (and a better HS probably) is a great idea, just like they said.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I was at home yesterday so I did a test with the side panel off. The temps were down to 42c idle and 60c at 100%. So it looks like airflow is a significant problem.

Meanwhile, I've ordered some AS3 (I'll be extra careful how I apply it) which will hopefully shave a few more degrees off the temps.

Stick a couple of fans in there and my CPU should be a lot happier

Thanks,
The Pants

Ya, still 60C for load is high (perhaps the AS3 will help) but that is a good deal better. I would get some more or larger case fans 4 sure.