CPU Overheating Within 10 Minutes Of Any Game

Roman200333

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Mar 19, 2012
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Hey guys, so as of yesterday I've got a problem that I'm fairly concerned about. My CPU seems to be overheating within 10 or less minutes whenever I launch a game. The problem started happening yesterday, but I didn't worry too much about it and just went to bed. Today it's still an issue and I am afraid to do anything intensive on the computer because I don't want to break any components. I've already opened up my case, and checked for dust however the PC is very clean inside, and was cleaned less than a month ago.

My CPU is the I7 3820 3.6Ghz 8GB

I've noticed that according to SpeedFan my Temp1 temperature is idling at 66C, and whenever I turn on a game spikes up to 100+ within minutes.

Temp. according to Speedfan:

GPU: 39C
Temp1: 67C
Temp2: 37C
Temp3: 37C
HD1: 32C
HD0: 33C
HD6: 39C
Core 0: 57C
Core 1: 57C

According to the task manager the CPU usage also spikes all over the place whenever a game is on going from 20% to 100%.

I have no idea what to do in this situation, and would rather not go to a local computer repair shop to have them look at the issue. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advanced guys.

Edit: The games I've tested so far include: DOTA 2, CS:GO, WoW, Heavily Modded Skyrim, and Hearthstone.

All of them except Hearthstone overheat within minutes.
 
Solution
You might look at the radiator to see if it is full of dust. otherwise, something is very wrong with your cooling solution. you might want to check all the intake/exhaust fans to insure they are spinning.

Roman200333

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Mar 19, 2012
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Yup, it spins to about 4k RPM during the overheating, and seems to only be increasing from there onward before I turn the game off.
 

Roman200333

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Mar 19, 2012
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What I forgot to mention was that the fan itself never spins past the 2k mark usually, so going up to 4k is not something that it's supposed to be doing. As for the cooler itself I can't tell you 100% because I have a prebuilt alienware aurora R4 which I got a couple of years ago, but I do know that it's liquid based. I'm also going to open my PC and let you know if it's all properly secured, will probably take a few minutes.

 

angelice

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Mar 22, 2013
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You might look at the radiator to see if it is full of dust. otherwise, something is very wrong with your cooling solution. you might want to check all the intake/exhaust fans to insure they are spinning.
 
Solution

angelice

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Mar 22, 2013
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Thermal paste does break down over time but should not be to this extent unless they used really cheap paste.

If you decide to reapply make sure you use a quality paste like artic silver.

Clean the processor/heatsink thoroughly (if you can wipe with a alcohol wipe/cotton swab dipped in 98% isopropol alcohol.)

Make sure that you apply thermal paste correctly (their are video's all over the web). But basically place a small dab on the center of the processor, spread evenly (A THIN LAYER adding extra paste does not help the process) across the processor.

Reapply the heatsink making sure to only torque the screws down to the manufacturers suggested rating as to insure not to damage motherboard/socket/processor.
 

Roman200333

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Mar 19, 2012
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The radiator is fairly clean as far as I can tell, and all the fans work. As for the cooling solution I have no idea how to diagnose it, and the guys who repaired my PC after a burnout I had with my old GPU and hard-drive told me that this cooling system doesn't really need care with the way it was designed, when I asked them about it.
 

Roman200333

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One thing that I have noticed is that it could be a software issue, seeing as my Alienware Thermal Control is displaying all temperature at 28C, while SpeedFan is saying they're at 35C for Temp2 and Temp3, with Temp1 at 56C. So with that said is it possible that it's faulty software causing this?
 

angelice

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Mar 22, 2013
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YOU MAY WANT TO UPDATE THE THERMAL CONTROL SOFTWARE TO INSURE THAT IT IS CONTROLLING THE FANS CORRECTLY AND MAKE SURE THAT SPEEDFAN IS NOT ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL THE FANS AND DISABLING THE OTHER PROGRAM.
 

angelice

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Mar 22, 2013
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