Cannot cool my CPU no matter what

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

I'm having a nightmare right now.

I recently built my own PC and it has been running fine, apart from one thing. I cannot properly cool my CPU.

Before I go any further, here are my specs:
AMD Athlon X4 740 Quad Core Processor (3.2ghz)
Kingston Beast 2x4gb 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 806MHz
MSI A55M-E33 Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 2GB
SAMSUNG HD502IJ 500GB HDD

Nothing is overclocked and it is an average PC. With my stock cooler, which I first had, I was averaging around 80*c on full load and idling at about 55*c. I then purchased a Zalman CNPS5X Performa giving me some improvement but not loads. I was now at about 75*c on full load and idling at around 53*c. I still wasn't happy with these temperatures, so now I've tried water cooling and bought myself a Cooler Master Seidon 120V AIO kit. I installed today and it I'm quite sure I did everything correctly. Now I'm idling at 47*c and at 100% load about 66*c. I'm so frustrated because I read reviews on both of the coolers I bought and everybody was getting great temperatures, under 40*c on full load and idling at around 25*c.

I'm getting closer and closer to just selling my CPU and losing a bit of money, to see if that solves the problem. What can I do? Any suggestions? I live in the East of England so it is far from warm here. Thanks for any help!!

Someone Somewhere · May 28, 2014

Make sure that you clean off the old thermal paste, then apply the new stuff.

snowctrl · May 28, 2014

Bear in mind that some examples of any given CPU will run hotter than others - you may just have a particularly toasty example

Wolfshadw · May 28, 2014

Also make sure you're not using too much thermal paste. A small pea sized dollop in the center of the CPU should be enough.

-Wolf sends

snowctrl · May 28, 2014

A while back Toms did a great series comparing thermal pastes which included discussion of how they're best applied:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

I always clean off the thermal paste and re-apply using one of my two Cooler Master compounds. I apply around a pea size in the middle of the CPU. Maybe my CPU is just supposed to run hotter?

snowctrl · May 28, 2014

Maybe... but if you're computer is running fine, then let it - it's running hotter than you'd like, but with the new closed loop cooler you have fitted it's far from too hot...? Why make work for yourself?

LucoTF · May 28, 2014

Out of interest, where are you getting those high temperature readings from?
What are your CPU temperatures as reported in the BIOS?
What is your thermal margin under load (as reported by AMD overdrive)?
What is your motherboard's CPU socket temperature as reported by HWinfo?

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

LucoTF :

I am getting my temperature readings from Speccy.
When I start up my computer and check the BIOS, my temperatures are at around 25*c.
My thermal margin under load as reported by AMD overdrive is 55*c.
As for my motherboard's CPU socket temperature, where can I find this on HWinfo?

Thanks for your help.

LucoTF · May 28, 2014

HDMatthew2 :

1/ Speccy doesn't read the 740/750k/760k/A-series very well
2/ 25 is superb, does it climb a bit if you leave BIOS open?
3/ 55 is again superb
4/ open HWinfo (or HWinfo64 if you're running 64 bit OS) and run 'sensors only', then look for the temperature that is similar to the temperature readings you got in BIOS (so, not far from the 25 degrees). It might be called 'CPU' and will rise very smoothly under load (not jumping around).

From the sounds of it, your temperatures are great and speccy is giving a false reading.

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

LucoTF :

Would you recommend a better program to read temperatures? SpeedFan doesn't work for me, it is unable to read my CPU temperatures (reads as -46*c) and also doesn't allow me to change the CPU fan speeds.
It did climb to 33*c over 10 minutes on BIOS and then stuck at 32*c after that.
As for HWinfo64, I'll just send you a print screen of everything on the sensors screen:
1) http://uploadir.com/u/su5lhq8h
2) http://uploadir.com/u/pksosup7

LucoTF · May 28, 2014

Best program is AMD overdrive although it's pretty useless at idle temps.

In HWinfo that bit that says 'fintek' is your motherboard sensors, so CPU socket temp is one of 'T1', 'Auxiliary', 'Motherboard' and I reckon it's T1.

Just keep an eye on your socket temps (core temps are unlikely to be wildly different anyway) and watch the thermal margin. A margin of 20 degrees under load is more than enough.

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

LucoTF :

Where should I go from here then? Should I just keep things as they are? I never see my temperatures hit 70*c anymore (stress tested CPU) so I suppose it is quite an improvement. Perhaps fitting an additional fan into my case would be a good idea, as I have one spare since installing my cooler earlier today?

LucoTF · May 28, 2014

HDMatthew2 :

I suspect that your actual temperatures are nowhere near 70 degrees so there's no need to go any further unless you plan to overclock (and you'd need a 750k / 760k for that anyway).

Hell, even if you did plan to OC you could do it with your current setup

HDMatthew2 · May 28, 2014

LucoTF :

HDMatthew2 :

I suspect that your actual temperatures are nowhere near 70 degrees so there's no need to go any further unless you plan to overclock (and you'd need a 750k / 760k for that anyway).

Hell, even if you did plan to OC you could do it with your current setup

Thanks very much for your assistance. You've really helped me out today

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