Intel core i5 2320 overheating to 99 Degrees while Gaming

Likely, you did not mount the cooler well, or it has come loose.
----------------how to mount the stock Intel cooler--------------

The stock Intel cooler can be tricky to install.
A poor installation will result in higher cpu temperatures.
If properly mounted, you should expect temperatures at idle to be 10-15c. over ambient.

To mount the Intel stock cooler properly, place the motherboard on top of the foam or cardboard backing that was packed with the motherboard.
The stock cooler will come with paste pre applied, it looks like three grey strips.
The 4 push pins should come in the proper position for installation, that is with the pins rotated in the opposite direction of the arrow,(clockwise)
and pulled up as far as they can go.
Take the time to play with the pushpin mechanism until you know how they work.

Orient the 4 pins so that they are exactly over the motherboard holes.
If one is out of place, you will damage the pins which are delicate.
Push down on a DIAGONAL pair of pins at the same time. Then the other pair.

When you push down on the top black pins, it expands the white plastic pins to fix the cooler in place.

If you do them one at a time, you will not get the cooler on straight.
Lastly, look at the back of the motherboard to verify that all 4 pins are equally through the motherboard, and that the cooler is on firmly.
This last step must be done, which is why the motherboard should be out of the case to do the job. Or you need a case with a opening that lets you see the pins.
It is possible to mount the cooler with the motherboard mounted in the case, but you can then never be certain that the push pins are inserted properly
unless you can verify that the pins are through the motherboard and locked.

If you should need to remove the cooler, turn the pins counter clockwise to unlock them.
You will need to clean off the old paste and reapply new if you ever take the cooler off.
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There may be 2 problems;

1st, your i3 2120 is a 65 Watt TDP (Thermal Design Power) processor which was boxed with a corresponding 65 Watt TDP cooler. Your i5 2320 is a 95 Watt TDP processor was originally boxed with a corresponding 95 Watt TDP cooler. When viewed from the top, the coolers look similar, but when viewed from the bottom, the i3 cooler is all aluminum, while the i5 cooler has a large copper slug in the center.

The 65 Watt cooler you're using is inadequate for a 95 Watt CPU. You should replace the cooler.

2nd, although your 65 Watt i3 cooler is inadequate for your 95 Watt i5 CPU, it should still work well enough at idle to keep temperatures within a reasonable range. However, since your idle temperatures are very high, it's very likely that your stock cooler has popped a push-pin loose from the motherboard, which is a common problem. This causes poor contact pressure between the cooler and the CPU, resulting in high temperatures in BIOS, as well as in Windows at idle, and especially at 100% workload.

You can troubleshoot this problem by pushing firmly on each corner of the cooler for about 30 seconds while watching your load temperatures. When you see a significant drop, you've found the loose push-pin.

The push-pins can be deceivingly tricky to get them fully inserted through the motherboard and properly latched.

(1) To re-seat a single loose push-pin, release the latch mechanism to the retracted clockwise position, then reset it to the counterclockwise position, but do NOT push on it yet.

(2) To get the pin fully inserted through the motherboard, push only on the leg, NOT on the top of the latch.

(3) While holding the leg firmly against the motherboard with one hand, you can now push on the top of the latch with your other hand until the latch clicks.

(4) If you're re-seating the entire cooler, then be sure to latch the pins across from one another, rather than next to one another. Use an "X" pattern, so as to apply even pressure during installation.

CT

aroy3639,

Please read my post above carefully. To quote myself, I said:

" ... your i3 2120 is a 65 Watt TDP (Thermal Design Power) processor which was boxed with a corresponding 65 Watt TDP cooler. Your i5 2320 is a 95 Watt TDP processor was originally boxed with a corresponding 95 Watt TDP cooler. Although they look similar, the i3 cooler is all aluminum, while the i5 cooler has a copper slug in the center.

The 65 Watt cooler you're using is inadequate for a 95 Watt CPU. You should replace the cooler..."

As a rule, Intel processors are very robust and nearly bullet-proof. Since each Core has it's own individual Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) which all function independently from one another,, it's extremely unlikely that all 4 DTS arrays are faulty. That would be like a 4 engine aircraft losing all 4 engines.

Also, as your CPU is a 2nd Generation Sandy Bridge processor which uses a soldered Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) instead of Thermal Interface Material (TIM) which the newer processors use, in my opinion, 2nd Generation Sandy Bridge processors were the last thermally well behaved CPU's that Intel manufactured.

I seriously doubt that there's anything wrong with your i5 2320. You simply can't use a Dual Core cooler on a Quad Core CPU.

You could get away with that, but the better choice is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO with Arctic MX-4.

You could get away with that, but the better choice is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO with Arctic MX-4.

The CM H 103 has 3 pipes with a 92mm fan, while the CM H 212 EVO has 4 pipes with a 120mm fan which is a better cooler for about the same price.