cpu overheating even after re-applying thermal paste and underclocking

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Harree App

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i have an fx 4170, no matter what i do it always seems to get random temperature spikes and underclock itself during gameplay, thus lowering my fps to unplayable number for 10 or so seconds before shooting back up.

ive tried re-applying thermal paste, underclocking, installing a fresh OS, nothing helps.
also my core temp reading seem a little sketchy, it idles at about 5 degrees, going up to about 20 when loading programs and peaking at about 50 during gaming on ultra settings, which all seems fine, but if i alt tab out during one of the fps drops, its says the cpu is 150 degress, which cant be correct?

any ideas?
 
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makkem

makkem

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Jan 22, 2012
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Hi
Unless you live in the arctic it cannot idle at 5 degrees as any non-refrigerated cooling solution cannot drop the temperature below ambient room temperature.
Are you using too much thermal paste ?
You might want to try a better cpu cooler.
 
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Supahos

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Do you have any decent airflow in your case? if there is nothing blowing enough hot air back out of the case you can have the best heatsink in the world and still overheat. Computer parts don't sweat just blowing air on them does nothing, they need cool air to successfully remain cool, where are you getting your temp readings?
 
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Supahos

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A lot of AMD cpus show stupid numbers when idling, several dont' get accurate till 40+C, and who cares if its not above 40C why bother with it? lol
 
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i have 1 fan blowing air in the side, 1 blowing air in the front, and 2 blowing air out the back, all running as fast as i can set them
im getting the readings from coretemp, but razer gamebooster gave me the same readings, i know they cant be right.

i may be using too much thermal paste, but i used about a pea, and did it exactly the same as last time i applied it about a year ago, which ran fine up until a week ago :/ it only happens in some games, i can still somehow run black ops 2 on full graphics at 125fps with no problem, and cod4 promod full graphics at 250fps, but then i play americas army proving grounds at 50 - 70 fps fluctuating and withing 10 minutes it just drops to 10 - 20
 
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Supahos

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So that would almost certainly be thermal throttling. What kind of CPU cooler do you have? did you clean off the old paste before you installed the new paste? Any chance the fan is going out on your Heatsink? Is the heatsink dirty? Is it possibly your gpu that is getting hot and not the cpu?
 
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R

RED41

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years ago I had CPU temperature problems. very disturbing. the reason was that the old paste had NOT been COMPLETELY removed before applying the new paste. problems can be as stupid as this. good luck.
 
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my cpu cooler is the stock amd one, but i did very thoroughly clean it before applying the thermal paste

i used this to remove the old thermal paste, and it was spotless before i applied the new paste
http://www.dabs.com/products/akasa-hi-performance-thermal-compound--5g-syringe---spreader--and-tim-clean-fluid-bundle-5DCT.html

as for the fan going out on my heatsink, this is a possibility, although it doesnt look like its spinning any slower than usual or anything? any way to troubleshoot this?

i dont want to buy an evo 212 just to find out that the heatsink wasn't the problem, cause i was already happy with the performance and how quiet my computer was before this problem
 
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Harree App

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thanks for responding so fast btw

but sadly i did clean the cpu very thoroughly too :/ and yeah i know but i was planning on getting an evo 212 anyway, cause im also planning on getting a new mobo and an i5 or an fx 8150, but not till February as im low on money, was hoping to push this rig till then
 
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at what temperature would my graphics card underclock itself to avoid damage? if it would at all.. i have an msi hd7870 and it never gets hotter than 60 - 70 degrees to my knowledge
 
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Supahos

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do not, I repeat DO NOT buy a 8150... get an 8320 or 8350, not an 8150 they are hunks of junk and I wouldn't use one as a paperweight for fear it might sneak into my computer at night and slower it down... The i5 is a fine option as well, just not any X1XX series amd processor. I would say buy the 212 as it comes with AM3 and 1150 hookups so all it will cost you extra would be new paste when you upgrade. I think you'll be fine. its not wasted money its just present money.
 
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ah i meant to say 8350 lol sorry :) yeah its just not really in my budget atm im jobless lol, being able to put off buying it at least till christmas would be a big help to me

dextermat, the psu is a fairly new corsair CX 750w which ive been using for like 4 months with no problems
the motherboard however is fairly old, maybe 2 years, its an MSI 760gm -p21 fx, so a pretty shitty board
could any other hardware that could be affecting it?

so there isnt really much i can do? maybe try re-applying thermal paste again and hoping i put too much on last time and that's the cause?
im really stumped D:
 
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Supahos

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you can always try to reapply heck you might have misallinged the Heatsink in the first place and just reseating it may help. as I said earlier blow all the fins out on the heatsink itself and blow out the heatsink on your gpu, see if any of this helps, and blow out any dust covers you may have over any of your case fans.


and good remember don't let a X1XX series cpu near a good cpu, It just might slow down out of sympathy for the poor thing (yes I know you have a 4170, but I'm sure at the time the X3XX series didn't exist.
 
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