Help With CPU Overheating, Fan Speeds And Thermal Paste

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digbyrotten

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Jan 18, 2015
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Gday all, il start with a brief explanation I got to where I am now. A few months ago games started running real choppy with really low frame rate. This had happened before and I opened up the computer and cleaned the dust out and it was sweet.

This time I decided to take off the heat sink on the cpu to give it a real good clean, which I did. But I also forgot to clean the thermal paste and reapply new stuff and didn't think of that for a few days. After things weren't running smoothly still I remembered this and took it back apart, cleaned the old thermal paste and applied some I had laying about from an old xbox ring of death repair kit from ebay, (so probably not the best quality aye).

When I put it back together, games were fine, everything seemed pretty groovy but now I after installing speedfan to keep an eye on my temperatures the cpu shows the burning icon and fluctuates between 55c and 62c within 5 minutes of starting the computer. Is there a way to tell if iv completely bunged up the cpu, the thermal paste was no good, my fans arnt operating like they should or what.

Also my computer has never shut off or had the blue screen, it just feels and reads that its quite hot.

My Specs

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
AMD FX 8120 3.1ghz 8 core
16gb ddr3 ram
NVidia GeForce GTX560-1gb

Cheers in advance

Digby
 
Solution
volcanoscout
Redoing the thermal paste should help. Lowering the ambient temps works wonders as well, as you noted. Have you tried the table fan test? You'll never get your system temps (the temp inside the case, not just your CPU temp) below ambient without using something like liquid nitrogen, but getting it down TO ambient or as close as you can get to it will make your components happy and reduces your CPU cooler's workload.

Check your system temps (at idle and/or under load), then take off the side panel and direct a fan on the interior; see what temp changes occur. If none, then direct reattach your side panel and drive on. If there was a temp drop, then your a candidate for "Pimp my cooling system!" In other words, consider replacing...
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Jan 5, 2014
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The only real way to test paste application is by monitoring temps. I would recommend getting new tube of paste from your local PC shop, recleaning your CPU with isopropyl alcohol (91% or better by preference), coffee filters and some q-tips. Give it a few minutes to dry then reapply the paste. (When you take the cooler off, look to see whether the paste covered most, if not all, of the CPU lid. If it covered the whole thing and dripped over the edges, use less this time. If it didn't cover the CPU well, then apply more.)

You can test how well your fans are performing by measuring the temps at idle and load, then take off the side panel and direct a table fan into the case. If you get a significant reduction in temperature, you need to improve your case ventilation - cable management, clean intake filters, check fan configuration and possibly add or replace fans.
 
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digbyrotten

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Jan 18, 2015
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4,510
Ok, will get some better quality paste and try that in the next few days. Just as an example, im installing the game Evolve and CPUID is showing the CPU temps at 64c. Should I even be using the computer at this temp? I read somewhere that the AMD FX8120 shouldn't get hotter then 61c.

Cheers
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Jan 5, 2014
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If you're not using AMD Overdrive, you should use that to monitor your temps. I've seen temp recommendations everywhere from 62C to 90C, with the apparent concensus that mid-60s and lower is "safe". You'd do much better to use overdrive and go by the thermal margin readings - that basically tells you how much temperature headroom you have between your current temperature and thermal throttling. Here's a good guide on AMD temps:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2122665/understanding-temperature-amd-cpus-apus.html
 
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digbyrotten

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Jan 18, 2015
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4,510
Ok, thanks for the replys. Iv just installed AMD Overdrive and although its not as straight forward to understand as CPUid, its giving me a little bit better readings. Iv olded some arctic silver 5 thermal compound off the internet so will be waiting for that before I start gaming. Also I noticed last night the top of the computer, as in where the power box is, was immensely hot. I sat a bag of frozen corn on it and it helped it a lot, making me think tha its not getting enough airflow. Iv got stock coolers in my pc and have had t for near 3 years, but didn't really want to fork out money for new cooling as im going to be building a gaming computer towards the end of the year.

Thanks for your help
 
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digbyrotten

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Jan 18, 2015
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Nother thing, On AMD Overdrive where it has the thermal readingsi its between 20-30c at idle and the frequencys for all 8 cores are in the red at 3400mhz.
What does that mean?
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Jan 5, 2014
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The red indicates that the cores are running at boost P-States. Judging from the displayed freq, they're at P1 - see below for definitions:

P0 Performance State
While a device or processor is in this state, it uses its maximum performance capability and may consume maximum power.

P1 Performance State
In this performance power state, the performance capability of a device or processor is limited below its maximum and consumes less than maximum power.

Pn Performance State
In this performance state, the performance capability of a device or processor is at its minimum level and consumes minimal power while remaining in an active state. State n is a maximum number and is processor or device dependent. Processors and devices may define support for an arbitrary number of performance states not to exceed 16.
 
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digbyrotten

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Jan 18, 2015
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4,510
ok so its pretty warm here (Tasmania) at the moment and the last week or two. Iv just oped a door and a window and am getting a very cool breeze flowing straight into the pc and its bringing the temps down dramatically. I guess il have to wait for thermal paste and replace/upgrade fans to see if that does the job. Thanks for all your help mate
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

Dignified
Jan 5, 2014
2,861
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14,960
Redoing the thermal paste should help. Lowering the ambient temps works wonders as well, as you noted. Have you tried the table fan test? You'll never get your system temps (the temp inside the case, not just your CPU temp) below ambient without using something like liquid nitrogen, but getting it down TO ambient or as close as you can get to it will make your components happy and reduces your CPU cooler's workload.

Check your system temps (at idle and/or under load), then take off the side panel and direct a fan on the interior; see what temp changes occur. If none, then direct reattach your side panel and drive on. If there was a temp drop, then your a candidate for "Pimp my cooling system!" In other words, consider replacing your stock fans with some good quality high-airflow fans. The usual fan sizes are 120mm and 140mm - you can take them with you when you upgrade your system and install them in your new case.
 
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