Just installed Athlon 64x2 5200+. Is this temp too hot?

55C idle is pretty high. I don't think it is normal... How much thermal paste did you put on? AS5 has a nice PDF guide that shows you just the right amount (which is surprisingly very little) - http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5... for AMD Dual Core Processors

Remember when applying thermal compound that more is not always better. Applying too much can act as a insulator and raise your temps quiet a bit. Also, just check that your HS is tight and secure on top of the CPU. If it's not contacting the surface, you'll definitely see high temps.

I used what I thought was a small amount. Maybe too small? It kept sticking to the plastic bag I was using to spread it. Perhaps I should put more on.

Do I need to remove the old paste or can I just add more?

Preferrably remove the old paste and clean the heatsink and cpu surface thoroughly.

OK. Using isopropryl alcohol is safe to remove it, correct?

I wouldn't recommend using a plastic bag to spread it. By doing so you are leaving that chance that there will be air pockets. The best way to do it is to remove all the old compound (I used isopropryl alcohol and a cloth)** I would still be very careful to not get any liquids on anything but the heat spreader. Next apply the thermal compound as directed by the guide and use the HS to spread it. Place the HS directly on top of the CPU and secure it in place. This will give you the most even and air-free application.

yes, you need to remove old paste and clean the cpu too. it is difficult to judge the cpu temp high or low, you cpu heatsink fan maybe controled by temp. so it will not spin at full speed when it just boot up. Good air flow will help lot. and you may lower cpu core voltage too.

What made me most nervous is that my case was open and I was in bios and it was at 55. I thought I secured the heatsink well enough. How hard should I be pushing down on the clamp? It seems secure but if I push sideways against the heatsink it moves veeeery slightly. I figure that's normal.

Yeah they're never 100% rock solid there'll be a bit of wigglage, as long as the clips are down and the lock is on it'll be fine.

Man, I was so nervous about a DOA item when putting this together. Now I have to take out the cpu, clean it, and get the paste on right. I'm such a worry-wort I feel like I'll screw something up and bust the cpu somehow! Crossing my fingers....

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

I think... if memory serves, when you take the HS off, and you end up pulling the CPU out, it was prolly installed correctly. If not... then it prolly didn't have good contact for a seal. So in that case, perhaps only 1/2 the HS was in contacted with the IHS, which would cause idle temps to be awful high.

Turn on the computer, let the CPU heat up, then remove the heatsink by twisting. This should avoid the CPU disengaging from the socket. Clean and reapply the thermal paste. Temperatures below 60°C are okay.

I read from arctic silver's manual online that for my cpu i only needed to apply it in the middle of the heat spreader and could avoid going near the edges. Maybe that's wrong....

Interestingly, after I set the CPU q-fan to "Performance" for the highest fan speed, the cpu temperature is idling at 49-50 in bios. Still too hot?

EDIT: nvrmnd. Heated up to 55 in bios after a while....need more paste. ugh.

OK, so I cleaned the heatsink and cpu, reapplied more paste and put it all back in. I'm still getting a cpu temp of about 48 degrees in bios!
Is this not right? What can I do? I thought I applied enough paste. Maybe I didn't get it all the way to the edgeo f the heatsink. I really don't have a clue. What should my Athlon 64 X2 5200+ run at?

BIOS CPU temperature readings are not always accurate.

Try downloading and running Core Temp instead:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Will do. Thanks bitrate.

I asked this in another thread in the heatsink section but what is the proper way to put the paste on? The arctic silver site says to put a dab in the middle of my heat spreader and then attach the heatsink to spread it by pushing down. However, the forum walkthrough says to put quite a bit on all over the heatspread. Much more than arctic silver says.

So I'm frustrated because I've reapplied the paste twice (after cleaning it off of course) and only got my temp down to 50 idling in bios.

But maybe its really inaccurate like you said, bitrate. I'll try the other coretemp reader.

Keep in mind that when in the bios, the cpu isn't actually idle. There is a load put on it. How much and why, I don't know. To get a good ideal of idle and load temps, use a program to measure them from windows. Try speedfan or something else. To get your maximum load temp run Prime95 stress test with small ffts. Also, if you're worried about temps, turn off fan control in the bios so it stays at 100%.

Yeah, the fan control is off, orangeator. But is it bad that the cpu fan only gets up to about 2900 rpms? I can't change it to make it spin faster.