CPU Temperatures High... Or a Wrong Reading

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jawlesspython04

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I bought a PC around 2-3 years ago with an i7 920 2.67GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GT 220 1GB, 475W PSU and a Dell 0X501H Motherboard (It is a Dell Studio XPS 435T). After a few months of owning it, the GPU Fan died. I bought the PC in the first place for slight gaming and i had gotten more into gaming so i bought a 750Ti. Thats the only mod i have done to it. I have played games like GTA V for continuous 2-3 Hours on it without any problem so it must be stable right? Yesterday i downloaded SpeedFan just to see if i could control my fans and to my surprise the CPU temps were around 70°C mark. Sometimes they reached to 80°C and sometimes even 100°C. So i turned off the computer worried and started looking for Thermal Paste, CPU Coolers to buy online etc. Then i tried to diagnose it myself by cleaning out the pc with compressed air (specially the CPU heatsink) after that, still the problem persists. But right now max temp is displaying 74°C but when i touched my CPU Heatsink it was cold. i could literally keep my finger on there without feeling burnt on my finger. Can the temp sensors be wrong? I have tested it with HWMonitor and same temps are there. One thing is that if i leave my computer idle for about 15 minutes, temps drom to 60°C. and just as i launch Opera browser suddenly they jump to 75°C in one tick, not even gradually. like in the blink of an eye. Should i be worried about this or just assume the temp sensors are wrong and go on with my day?
Help would be appreciated.
 
Solution
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The idle temps are far too high, and the spikes to 100°C confirm that the CPU is not getting enough cooling.

Also, when you say that the heatsink isn't getting hot, we probably already found the culprit: The heatsink is not making (enough) contact with the heatspreader of the CPU anymore and/or the thermal paste should be replaced.

So remove the heatsink and old thermal paste, put on some new thermal paste and put the heatsink back on. Idle temps for the CPU should stay below 45°C, usually 30-40°C.
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ZRace

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May 12, 2017
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The idle temps are far too high, and the spikes to 100°C confirm that the CPU is not getting enough cooling.

Also, when you say that the heatsink isn't getting hot, we probably already found the culprit: The heatsink is not making (enough) contact with the heatspreader of the CPU anymore and/or the thermal paste should be replaced.

So remove the heatsink and old thermal paste, put on some new thermal paste and put the heatsink back on. Idle temps for the CPU should stay below 45°C, usually 30-40°C.
 
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Solution
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ZRace

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Yes, if you want a more quiet CPU cooler you should definitely replace it. I don't know about the specific model, but heatsinks I tend to recommend wo people that don't overclock are top-down blowing coolers like the Scythe Grand Kama Cross 3 or the Noctua NH-L9i and NH-L9x65 models. A small tower like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo would also do the job, though I'd recommend it less.

If you want to overlock (in the near future), a tower cooler like the Enermax ETS-T40/-T50 series (not the ETS-T40S series) and Noctua NH-D14 model are recommendable
 
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jawlesspython04

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Thanks a lot for your help. The problem is that this is the only LGA 1366 supported Cooler that is available in my country and thats why i am going for this one. I might even unscrew this one and put back on the stock cooler when i sell this pc because i am planning to build a Ryzen system soon which i might overclock so this should come in handy.
 
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ZRace

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The Scythe and Enermax series I listed are all compatible with LGA 1366, as well as the Noctua NH-D14. Are all of them unavailable in your country? Must be a pretty dire situation then o_O

Edit: Looked up the cooler you're looking to buy. It won't be very quiet (though still more quiet than stock). But on top of that, overclocking capability is very limited on it. If you're going for Ryzen soon anyway, you might as well save the money, cause Ryzen CPUs come with very decent stock coolers ;)
 
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jawlesspython04

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Yep, most things like those are unavailable here :/ Ill give you some more examples of things that are not available here:

MSI B350 Tomahawk Mobo
Ryzen Threadripper
Alot of CPU Coolers
etc etc. + things are lot more expensive here. for example a ryzen 3 1300X costs $140 -_-

Also i live in a pretty remote area in my country so that makes it even more difficult for me to get these parts.
 
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jawlesspython04

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Also wanted to ask that right now i have my A/C On and temps are in the low 60s till the md 70s. Can i atleast use my computer for stuff like internet browsing and pdf reading? i have lots of notes on there that i need to read. i don't really have another computer so can't use that and m just uncomfortable reading such small text on mobiles
 
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