I7 2600k 4.2ghz idles at 60C

[Gaary]

Judging by many other threads I have read, my cpu is running too hot and should be around 30-40C even with stock cooler and OC. As the title says mine is running at 60-63C idle and around 85-90 while gaming, I cannot perform a full load test because the temps immediately jump into the 90s and the tests stop. I'm looking for suggestions on what might be the cause of the problem before purchasing a 212 evo cooler.

My relavent specs:
- i7-2600k O.C. to 4.2ghz using OC Genie II, VCORE 1.33-1.35V, stock cooler installed
- MSI z68-gd650 g3 motherboard
- Thermaltake Commander mid tower case with 3 noctua fans, 1 front intake, 1 top exhause, 1 rear exhaust.
- ambient temp is roughly 25C
- gtx 560 runs at 30-35C idle which makes me think it is not an airflow issue

Steps I have taken:
- used several programs, OCCT, speedfan, coretemp, all reported the same results
- removed the OC which only decreased temps by 1-3C
- reseated and rethermal pasted the cooler (paste was arctic silver, method was single vertical line)
- verified that the cooler was in fact fully clamped, the pins at the back were all through, even, and secured
- verified that the fan is spinning (at roughly 1600rpm)


Could there be an issue with bios not reading thermal sensors correctly with my motherboard? What type of thermometer is best to use for manual readings? (Amazon link would be great)

Any help at all would be appreciated, I really am stumped on this one and would like to avoid installing an aftermarket cooler but it may come to that.

 

[geekapproved]

So you thought you would idle at 30-40c with cpu overclocked to 4.2ghz on a stock cooler?

LOL

Set cpu to stock speed, problem solved. Or get aftermarket heatsinkfan or watercooler.

There's no reason you overclock your cpu with a single low end graphics card, you could run 3 of those and still not need to overclock.

My i3 at stock 3.1ghz idles at 42/39c with the same fan in a 79f room.

 

[Gaary]

Removing the OC decreases the temp by 1-3C as I wrote in the op...

 

[geekapproved]

Cpu's always idle hotter in bios than desktop.

Use Hardware Monitor to monitor your temps.

 

[$hawn]

So you thought you would idle at 30-40c with cpu overclocked to 4.2ghz on a stock cooler?

Dude if its hitting 60C on idle, even though its a stock cooler, it indicates that there's a problem somewhere else.....A 95W rated CPU barely draws 15W under idle conditions.....and a stock cooler is more than sufficient to keep that under control...

At full load however, a stock cooler is an amazingly rotten idea

 

[$hawn]

Removing the OC decreases the temp by 1-3C as I wrote in the op...

Its not entirely the stock coolers fault....something else is wrong here......are all the holes in the case well ventilated or r they covered up?

If ur CPU is shutting down after crossing 95C, it probably is a thermal shutdown issued by the CPU itself....so i doubt the mobo has anythin to do with it.....

btw are all 4 cores reading almost the same temps?

 

[geekapproved]

Dude if its hitting 60C on idle, even though its a stock cooler, it indicates that there's a problem somewhere else.....A 95W rated CPU barely draws 15W under idle conditions.....and a stock cooler is more than sufficient to keep that under control...

At full load however, a stock cooler is an amazingly rotten idea

He's checking those temps in the bios, and in the bios the cpu does not use speedstep, it runs full speed.

 

[$hawn]

He's checking those temps in the bios, and in the bios the cpu does not use speedstep, it runs full speed.

hmmm...yea ur rite, but even while in the bios the cores will still not be executing any instructions that can cause serious heat-up rite.....most probably they'll be repeatedly executing NOP instructions
Plus he's already stated that removing the OC only drops temps by some 3C, which clearly means its not the OC that's causing these high temps!

 

[geekapproved]

True. I agree his heatsink isn't attached correctly or something. Maybe he didn't take the plastic off the bottom of it?