CPU suddenly running hot

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Santiak

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
68
0
4,630
Hey folks,

While I know it's an oft asked question, I couldn't quite find a fitting case for my scenario.
Earlier this evening, i was merrily playing Quake Champions, CPU maxing out at 60-62C (Idles at 40).

Later, the new add-on for Diablo 3 came out, so I updated and of course gave it a go.
An hour in, I started noticing random stuttering, and being paranoid, went to check HWMonitor - my usually somewhat cool CPU was now running at 97C.

Quit the game, closed the launcher, no reduction.
Shut off the computer, let it sit for a good 5 - 10 minutes.
Tried turning it on again. Checked fan was running, that the heatsink felt secure, etc., and if there is a difference, I couldn't tell.
Got a CPU above temperature warning, went into bios, didn't see anything changed (I think); everything set to automatic via ASUS' software.

Booted into windows, checked temperatures, and same scenario, albeit here it did manage to cool down rapidly if I left it alone - but opening a browser or some such would cause it to immediately spike to 90+ again.

Question is: Is this the thermal paste that's gone "bad" and needs replacing, or is it something more severe than that?

For reference:
CPU: i7-2600k (non-OC)
CPU cooler: Arctic Freezer Xtreme Rev.2
PSU: Corsair RM850i
MB: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme (non-z)

And a screenshot of the temperatures shortly after I had booted it up again (+ slight browser utilization, was going to attempt posting from my main rig, but decided against it - which is why you might see a couple of typos or auto-corrections here).

pYPDS42.jpg
 
Solution
mwryder55
I had to replace the thermal compound on my 2600K recently as I was getting temperatures up to 100C. I have a Corsair water cooling setup and the thermal compound was a thick block when I removed the heatsink. Replacing the "junk with Arctic Silver lowered my temperatures back to normal.
Sort by date Sort by votes
mwryder55

mwryder55

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2011
520
3
19,215
I had to replace the thermal compound on my 2600K recently as I was getting temperatures up to 100C. I have a Corsair water cooling setup and the thermal compound was a thick block when I removed the heatsink. Replacing the "junk with Arctic Silver lowered my temperatures back to normal.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
S

Santiak

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
68
0
4,630


Cheers, will give that a shot tomorrow as well (3AM here) - just hope the local store has some decent thermal compound for the job.

On a slight aside, I did remove the fan from the heatsink and fastened the heatsink a bit more to the CPU (Arctic Freezer Xtreme Rev2 fastens on the front without the need for a backplate), but I still got the overheat error, so decided there'd be no point in booting it all the way up.

Anyway, cheers again - will try changing the thermal compound tomorrow -- sounds more than likely too, since the current compound is going on 5 years now. Just odd timing had me pondering if something could have overclocked it without me noticing somehow (never dabbled in OC before, so wouldn't know where to check; or at least, what reference values should be).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Santiak

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
68
0
4,630
Just to follow up on it:

I replaced the old caked MX-2 thermal compound with what I could manage to find near where I live - Cooler Master EC1.
While it helped the overheating issue mostly (i.e. booting with no issue), the temperatures are still much higher than previously.
Before, my i7-2600k would reach 60-62C at high load (gaming), now, it seems to reach 68-74C.

Is this variation all down to the different compound, or something else?

On an aside, while I was cleaning the old compound away, a flake dropped down in between the edge of the CPU pcb and what I imagine is the inner-edge of the CPU socket. Tried shaking it out and, when that didn't work, gently tease most of it out with a pointy object, but I didn't manage to get it all - a spec or two caught in the inner most corner of the socket.
If my computer is running (currently writing via it), should I worry about those specs?
If yes, how should I go about removing them when they're so close to the socket?


Edit: Nope, just did a test - it still reaches 97C, just better at cooling itself down, it seems.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Santiak

Reputable
Oct 19, 2015
68
0
4,630
Update 2:

Suspect it's the CPU itself that's failing. Can't really explain how the idle temp is okay-ish but it still spikes into 97C after the thermal paste replacement.
Just in case it is something software related (as it began right after I updated Diablo 3), I'm going to try a clean format first, and hope for the best. Otherwise, it's shopping time.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom