High Temp

[ksweet]

Hi, I've been interesting in overclocking my cpu for sometime now but have not started to adjust any of the settings yet. I wanted to run a bench test to see what kind of temperatures my cpu was at before doing any OC'ing. When I start up Prime95, my cpu temp instantly goes from under 40c to 85c on PC probe and over 100c on RealTemp. I know that is really hot (and I did stop the test right away). I'm curious if thats normal for it to heat up that fast (in 1-2 seconds) and also cool down INSTANTLy (back to 40c) after stopping the test. I haven't ever noticed my cpu getting this hot when gaming, although I haven't checked it in a while. Could this be a thermal paste issue, or an incorrect reading of some sort? As I said I"m very new to this, so I apologize for the lack of knowledge. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

 

[SMOKEU]

What kind of processor do you have? What cooler do you have? What thermal paste are you using? What's your case airflow like? What are the room temperatures?

 

[ksweet]

sorry i thought I had my sig working but I guess not.
Its an i7 950 with a Zalman CNPS10x cooler. Its in the Coolermaster HAF922 with the extra 200mm fan. Ambient temp is around 19-20 degrees. Not sure about the paste. At idle my cpu sits around 39c and will instantly jump up to ~50c+ under small loads, after which it immediately pops back to 38-39c within seconds.

Other info:
P6X58D-E mb
Asus Nvidia 460 GTX
Enermax 625w psu
6gb Kingston Hyper-x
1tb WD black hd

Thanks

 

[EarthDog]

Seems normal to me really...What are your TRUE load temperatures (run Prime95, torture test, small fft for 15 mins).

 

[Conumdrum]

50C-60C is just fine. Even watercooling with full on custom watercooling many processors run in the 50C range under load.

Like Earthdog said, Run Prime etc for 15 minute sand let us know.

 

[radmax03]

80 degrees C instantly is not normal. Even under load it should take 30+ seconds to reach that level. Re-apply the heatsync or at least make sure it's screwed on straight/tight.

 

[EarthDog]

With air cooling it takes but a few minutes for the heatsink to 'saturate', so temps jump instantly upon heavy load to a few C below the peak temperatures.

 

[ksweet]

Okay so I ran Prime 95 for 15 minutes. The temps instantly jump up to 93-100 and remain within a degree during the whole test. it takes about 5 seconds for the temps to drop back down to 40c after I stop the test. I've attached a picture during the Prime 95 process with a couple different temperature monitors active. I guess my next step is to go buy some paste and reseat the heat sink?

 

[Conumdrum]

Yep, you need to learn about CPU cooler mounting. Look in STICKIES at the top of this forum for help. You might of done it wrong, it happens a LOT with new folks... LOTS......

You also need to understand fan speeds and ensure your cooler fan is actually increasing speed as temps increase.

You know about your Mobo bios and fan control? Is your CPU cooler connected to the Mobo or a PSU connector?

Does your cooler have a knob for fan control>

Run Prime 95 for 10 Min and Use Realtemp for your temps.

You have enough posts, please make a sig like MANY of us have it helps.

 

[ksweet]

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm going to reseat the heatsink today. I'll have another read over the stickies you mentioned, thanks. My cpu fan is connected the mobo, and it is variable depending on load (temperature). I have it setup using a peice of software that came with the mobo (is that okay to use?). I was also curious as to why there is a great difference in the temperature reported from PC Probe (36c at idle) and RealTemp or CoreTemp (both slightly over 50c at idle). Thanks again, the help is much appreciated.

 

[ksweet]

Alright, I reseated the CPU cooler (cleaned and reapplied paste), and blew out a bit of dust build up. My cpu is sitting at 15-20c cooler at idle. So, I'm assuming my paste job was adequate. The tech who originally installed the fan put too much paste on I think (pic below).

Is it okay to startup prime 95 right away? Or should I let the paste seat itself for a bit first? Thanks

 

[midlight21]

Yeah that's definitely too much thermal compound. Good job on re-seating the heatsink. I'd run your computer for a few hours while monitoring the temp and then start up Prime 95 and run it.