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Need CPU cooling help

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  • NAS / RAID
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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August 28, 2014 12:35:56 PM

Hi, I am having a hard time keeping my CPU cool (I think). I am a video editor and my computer is overheating while rendering my videos to the point where it just shuts down. I feel I have a pretty darn good set up, but I believe I could use more.

My setup:
HAF 932 case
Asus Sabertooth X58 Motherboard
Intel i7 990x CPU
Corsair H60 CPU cooler (shouldn't that be enough?)
Nvidia Quadro 4000 GPU
Areca ARC-1882DIX-12 Raid controller
24GB DDR3 Ram
1TB WD Caviar Black (C drive)
4 10,000 rpm Velociraptor HDD in Raid 10 (media drive)
4 10,000 rpm Velociraptor HDD in Raid 10 (render drive)
2 10,000 rpm Velociraptor HDD in Raid 0 (scratch drive)

My CPU runs in the mid 50's when I first start rendering, but I'm guessing it must go higher at some point because it will render for hours before the CPU activity level drops to 01% and the computer stops rendering, or I come back after letting it render for hours to find the Windows login screen (even though my computer is set to never go to sleep). My longest videos up until this point have been about an hour. This is the first time I've had this problem and I am trying to render a video that is almost two hours long.

I am not a computer whiz, I taught myself just enough to be able to build this computer. Does anyone have any recommendations for cooling? Like a complete liquid cooling kit that does more than just my H60 CPU cooler? Again, being a noob, I don't want to build anything from scratch, but am happy to install a kit. Is there any chance I've already damaged my CPU? Any way to check?

Thanks!
Bryan

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a b à CPUs
August 28, 2014 12:41:51 PM

So, uh, what's overheating and what are the temps?
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a c 111 à CPUs
August 28, 2014 12:44:31 PM

First off, start by installing Open Hardware Monitor and/or Speccy. Use it to monitor your temperatures overall so we know if it is the GPU, CPU or maybe even the case that overheats.

Also, you must have built that PC a while back. Have you recently blown the dust out of it using canned air? You won't believe how much dust clogs up and inhibits cooling.

How is your H60 installed - where is the fan/radiator located and which way is it moving the air. What are the ambient temperature in the location your PC is situated?

What other fans are installed as case fans? You have a hefty load of hard drives, how are they cooled?
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August 28, 2014 12:47:23 PM

BigBadBeef said:
So, uh, what's overheating and what are the temps?


I believe it's my CPU. I'm not getting any alarms, but it's running in the mid to high 50's. I'm told this is too high. At idle it sits around 38C, and the Northbridge is at 61C What are the safe operating ranges? The forums I've gone through all point my symptoms toward overheating.
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a b à CPUs
August 28, 2014 12:50:19 PM

high 50s is fine, id be cautious when it reaches high 60s and into the 70s, thats when you need to change something. but 50 celcius is a great temperature
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a b à CPUs
August 28, 2014 12:56:38 PM

Well just buy something with bigger, wider radiator. You can ones that are as big as encompassing fan slots or even more, some extreme solutions have 6 fan push-pull configuration through the radiator fins that blow the air like a hurricane! :D 

Anyways, I don't think you'll have to go that far, just buy something bigger, fatter and with twin fan mounts.
So this is what you've got:

And this is what you can have:
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August 28, 2014 12:59:57 PM

Karsten75 said:
First off, start by installing Open Hardware Monitor and/or Speccy. Use it to monitor your temperatures overall so we know if it is the GPU, CPU or maybe even the case that overheats.

Also, you must have built that PC a while back. Have you recently blown the dust out of it using canned air? You won't believe how much dust clogs up and inhibits cooling.

How is your H60 installed - where is the fan/radiator located and which way is it moving the air. What are the ambient temperature in the location your PC is situated?

What other fans are installed as case fans? You have a hefty load of hard drives, how are they cooled?


Thanks, I'll try that link. Right now I'm just using the Asus PC Probe II that came with the mobo to monitor temps, but it only has CPU, NB, and MB temp readouts.

I built this nearly 4yrs ago, I do regularly blow it out with canned air including recently.

The H60 is installed per instructions, the fan is at the top rear of the case blowing out. The ambient air varies, but one crash happened last night, ambient maybe low 70's?

The other fans I have are just the factory HAF 932 fans, one in the bottom front that blows in, a large fan on the case door (side) which blows in, the H60 fan top rear which blows out, and a large fan in the top which blows out.

The drives are cooled by the case fans, though I also installed a drive bay which holds four of the drives and it also has it's own cooling fan which blows in http://

Suggestions?
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a b à CPUs
August 28, 2014 1:22:55 PM

http://ark.intel.com/products/52585/Intel-Core-i7-990X-...

scroll down to the tcase, and its at 67.9 degrees celcius. thats what intel says is the safe maximum temp. now, it probably is higher, but even still, your nowhere near those temps. 60 celcius load temps are great temps, you shouldnt be worried at all with those temps.

EDIT: i just read it was 60 at the start of the rendering. check to see what the temps are after 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, etc. the computer should shut down before any real damage is done.

this is a somewhat older setup, i suspect the thermal paste could be dry. i reccomend changing it then see where your temps are at
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a c 111 à CPUs
August 28, 2014 1:35:55 PM

bryanmartin said:


Suggestions?


Feel I'm shooting in the dark still. :)  I was going to suggest you look at the monitors I pointed you at and let's make sure it's a heat issue. It may well be one of a few things, *if* it is heat.

1. Thermal paste may be degraded, impeding heat transfer.
2. the GPU could be overheating, since it too may have some issues with heat.
3. THere may be some issue with your cooler.

4. It may not be a heat issue or it may even be that your PSU is overheating and shutting down.. .:)  You don't mention the make/model of your Power Supply Unit.

While you're waiting for a rendering run and to monitor temperatures, do the following.

Note the make/model of the PSU.
Inspect the motherboard carefully (usually around the CPU) for capacitors that may be leaking or bulging.
With your hands, feel the two coolant tubes running from the pump on top of the CPU to the radiator. One should be noticeably hotter than the other.
With your hand, being careful not to touch any electrical components, press the pump down towards the CPU. Preferably do this while someone observes a temerature monitor. If there is an immediate and noticable drop in temperature, the cooler mounting needs to be redone - that may be the only problem.

If that is, then order some Arctic Slver thermal paste ans well as the arctic silver cleaning kit and re-mount the cooler on the CPU, taking care that the contacts are firm and that the attachment to the backplate is strong with sufficient force to make a good contact.

Post back and we'll discuss how to clean and apply thermal paste. :)  If that is the issue.

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