New build CPU severely overheating on stress test

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King Schulz

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I know a variation of this question has probably been asked 2,000 times, but I need a more specific, 2014 answer. I got a whole box of brand spanking new individual parts from Newegg for Christmas to do my very first custom build.

Got the whole thing built and the OS installed and after installing all of the system drivers, decided to do a stress test. Prime95.

Basic parts of the system:
1)Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI mobo
2)Core i3-4330 3.5Ghz cpu (dual core)
3)Rosewill 550W 80 plus gold psu
4)G.Skill 8GB (4x2) RAM
5)Case is a cheap but nice Rosewill Blackbone

Using CPUID's HWMoniter, the CPU idles around 30C but when I start up the Prime95 stress test (default settings) the CPU immediately jumps to about 90C and hovers between 87C and 97C. I've never let it go more than 12 minutes because it's so hot.

I'm wondering what the problem is. The Prime95 test defaults to 4 "workers" (threads). Should I only be doing 2 workers on a dual core cpu? Is that the problem? Or is it something more technical like the build configuration or the (UEFI) BIOS settings?
 
Solution
Zircoben


That is not normal. The CPU should go right into place. I have built several systems, and always, you will put the CPU in, make sure the covering is locked...
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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Check your heatsink. It may not have 'clicked' in. I made this mistake with a build I did just about a week ago, and the temperatures were soaring around 90 degrees C and it turned out the thermal paste wasn't even touching the CPU.

Hope this helps :)
 
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King Schulz

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I thought of this already and I'm not sure what more to do. When I installed it, I pressed down on the four corners of the standard Intel processor heat sink assembly and they clicked. Then I turned each corner counter-clockwise to "lock" them. I'll shut down my PC and take another look at the heat sink though right now. Thanks for the response.

Update: 20 minutes later: I shut down that rig and opened up the case. It definitely wasn't a problem of the heat sink failing to touch the CPU. There is thermal paste transfer on the bottom of the heat sink and the paste I just applied 3 hours ago appears slightly burnt. Not black or anything, but it's definitely been heated. Repeat, the heat sink assembly was definitely in place properly.
 
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Sig2525

Sig2525

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thats odd for a core i3 - check thermal paste bro and the heatsink if it fits correctly. its always also good to buy an aftermarket cooler cuz its always better than your stock heatsink - most would go hyper 212x.

got my i5-4460 max temp at 64 degrees while doing prime95, bought a gammaxx 300 cpu cooler and the max temp went down to 56 degrees. - i also use deepcool z9 thermal paste.
 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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Turning them actually unlocks it. You only turn it when you are removing the heatsink. Do you have thermal paste? I would try reseating the heatsink with new thermal paste.

Make sure to put them opposite of the direction of the arrow, and keep them there. Push them until they click.

Hope this helps.
 
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King Schulz

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You're right that turning them counter-clockwise in the beginning actually unlocked them. But after fixing that whole thing it had nothing to do with it. Temps are still soaring north of 80C with two workers in Prime95 and north of 95C with 4 workers in Prime95. I'm going to buy an after market CPU heat sink/fan and wipe off the old thermal paste and reapply with the new heat sink, not that the stock Intel heat sink should be so ineffective. Something else is still wrong. Maybe it has something to do with the Haswell chip.
 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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Don't waste your time or money on an aftermarket cooler, I have personally owned the i3-4330 and it ran nice and cool, idling at 32-33 C and maxing at about 64 C.

If you have tried reseating the CPU and following the directions in the Intel manual exactly, then just RMA the CPU. It may have a faulty temperature sensor or heatspreader.
 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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An i3 with a stock cooler, if everything is fine, will NEVER run this hot. They are made to handle workloads and stay below about 70 C, even with the stock cooler.

He is using HWMonitor, same as I used with the exact same CPU.
 
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King Schulz

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Question about seating the processor, was it supposed to be very difficult to lock it into place? I had to use considerable force to close the bracket. The swing arm even flexed. Is that normal?

 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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That is not normal. The CPU should go right into place. I have built several systems, and always, you will put the CPU in, make sure the covering is locked in, and then the lever swings right in quite easily. I would take things out and redo the whole process.
 
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bmacsys

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4 threads because the i3 is hyperthreaded.
 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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What? He already knows this, he is wondering if the reason it is running so hot is because it is using 4 threads.
 
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King Schulz

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So I took it all out, wiped off the paste (which I had applied too much of by the way) and redid the whole thing. When I booted up I ran Intel's XTU stress test for several hours and the CPU never went above 75C. I think I'm good. I haven't rerun Prime95 and probably won't because all over the internet people say not to use it with Haswell chips. And since I'm also not a gamer, I think everything will be fine. Thanks for the help.
 
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