cpu overheating - upgrade heatsink, cpu altogether, case?

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sauronjag

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Jun 29, 2015
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hey all

I have an AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 8-core 3.1ghz AM3+ processor on my computer. it easily overheats with multiple media programs (game+youtube+music). it will randomly restart and monitoring on bios shows cpu too hot.

should I just go for a new processor/upgrade vs upgrade the heatsink vs getting a new case (old, poor ventilation but I do have one side of the case removed and open to air with a fan on it)

thanks
 
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farnell121
Haha, sound like a friend of mine who is doing the same thing with a box fan. I would go ahead and take apart the heatsink and make sure you COMPLETELY wipe away the thermal compound on the processor and heatsink, and I mean make sure every bit is off! Reapply about a grain of rice size in the center of the CPU and then place the heatsink on top. Tighten the screws down in an X pattern going from the top left, to bottom right, to top right, to bottom left screw. slowly tighten them down until the heatsink is fully seated so that it is completely level with the surface.

You may even try rubbing some very fine sandpaper or a ScotchBrite pad on the top of the CPU IHS and on the underside of the heatsink. This helps with bonding the...
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farnell121

farnell121

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May 17, 2014
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Haha, sound like a friend of mine who is doing the same thing with a box fan. I would go ahead and take apart the heatsink and make sure you COMPLETELY wipe away the thermal compound on the processor and heatsink, and I mean make sure every bit is off! Reapply about a grain of rice size in the center of the CPU and then place the heatsink on top. Tighten the screws down in an X pattern going from the top left, to bottom right, to top right, to bottom left screw. slowly tighten them down until the heatsink is fully seated so that it is completely level with the surface.

You may even try rubbing some very fine sandpaper or a ScotchBrite pad on the top of the CPU IHS and on the underside of the heatsink. This helps with bonding the thermal paste between the two surfaces. I also recommend using Arctic Silver 5 or a highly rated thermal paste. There are many cheap coolers out there that sould definitely help with that, and may help you overclock it some too. I know you can get some decent WaterCoolers for under $50 and you can just add extra fans to the radiator.
 
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