CPU Overheating?

[TorQueMoD]

Hey all.

So I recently got a brand new Intel Q6850 3.0GHZ CPU that I installed in my system (Not overclocked). I have an EVGA 680i motherboard, 4 1GB sticks of OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 RAM an EVGA 8800GTS 320MB videocard, 1 Samsung DVD writer and 3 Hard drives (2 500GB and 1 250GB) running off a Silverstone Strider 600W PSU inside an Antec NineHundred case with stock fans.

My system has been rebooting itself randomly while playing games, sometimes after a few hours and other times after maybe 15 - 20 minutes.
I figured my system might be over heating, so I downloaded SpeedFan and Prime95 to stress test the system. The first time I ran Prime95, the system rebooted after maybe 5 minutes. The second time I ran Prime95 it lasted for about 16 minutes before rebooting. The highest recorded temperature by SpeedFan before the reboot was 70C on Core 0 with an average temperature of about 66C on that core. (60C - 64C on the other cores)

I'm guessing my bios is likely set to reboot the system if temperatures surpass 70C (I'll double check after I make this post) but what I'm really wondering is if an average temperature of 66C is abnormal under full load for a setup similar to my own?

Maybe I just need to raise the temperature that my system resets at by a few degrees. To something around 73C?
Or is my system actually running hotter than it should be?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I can't find anywhere in my BIOS to set the temperature my system will reboot at.

 

[Kraynor]

Make sure the heatsink and fan are seated correctly. If not, remove it, clean off the thermal paste on it and reapply. Your system is running hotter than it should be, so there's something up with your cooling.

 

[englandr753]

I'd say the BIOS is set to shut down at a certain temp. You should be running around 30-35*c. Do as Kraynor suggested and remove your heatsink, clean thoroughly and reapply a good quality thermal paste and make sure its properly reseated and retry.

Don't increase the BIOS temp as that will allow your cpu to reach its failure point and will cost you your cpu...

 

[Proximon]

Yes that temp would be too high, however we do not know that the temp is accurate.

Get the newest version of CoreTemp or RealTemp to see what they say.

70c should would not necessarily cause a reboot. It would more likely cause the CPU to throttle back. Perhaps your MB reboots, but I would think you would get some notice.

The difference in time to reset could be due to ambient temps.

If you have a stock cooler you should just get a quality CPU cooler and paste before replacing.

 

[TorQueMoD]

The heatsink should be seated correctly, though I did use a generic thermal paste, but I doubt that would cause such serious overheating. Also forgot to mention that the cores average 50C at idle. I guess I'll visit my comp store today and see about getting some better thermal grease and a better cooler, though I thought the stock Intel heatsink/fan combos were pretty good?

 

[Zorg]

You should test your load temps with Prime95 (use small FFTs) and Core Temp or Real Temp. Make sure you run it at least 10-15 minutes or until the temps stabilize. Get the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 with the XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket. It works well and is inexpensive. If you decide to use it, then be sure to cover the whole CPU IHS with a very thin film of TIM, because the heat pipes don't allow for proper spreading through contact. An alternative, as per Lupiron, is to run a bead down each exposed heat pipe on the base.

Your temps are borderline too hot, I would get the aftermarket HS. If you don't want to do that, then I would read the Core 2 Quad and Duo Temperature Guide. Do the calibrations and be sure that your Tcase is where it is supposed to be.

 

[TorQueMoD]

Thanks a lot of r all the help guys. I bought a brand new OCX Vendetta heatsink and fan and replaced the generic thermal grease with some Arctic Cooling MX-2 and now the system has dropped 17 degrees under idle to a nice 37C degrees and after running Prime 95 in Torture mode, it clocks in at 53C degrees! So I'm sure my system's stability will be fine now.

I'll keep you posted if it keeps crashing!

 

[Zorg]

Congratulations on those temps. At least you will know any problems aren't temp related.


Have you tried running Memtest86+?

 

[englandr753]

Yes, good to hear it was that simple. I was pretty certain that was all it was...

 

[Viking9]

I seem to be having the same issue with my Q9550. It is in a Coolermaster Cosmos 1000 chassis, Intel DP35DP motherboard and 8GB of RAM. After using it for just a while I realized it was not handling applications/games with the ease it should have been so I downloaded SpeedFan/Core Temp/CPUID and they all put the core temps in the 70s. Max: 79, 72, 77, 74. I assume this is far too hot. I've closed a bunch of apps and my Core temps have stabilized around 55-62.

When I was installing the fan that came with my cpu, I had a lot of trouble getting all four push pins to click down into the mobo. I found that the first pin I'd push in would click easily, the 2nd might click in and other other two I'd push as hard as I could without breaking the mobo. They wouldn't "click" like the first one did, but the fan would be relatively secure.

So I'm assuming that was my problem. My question is, is it normally so hard to get the fan to click into the mobo holes? Is there some trick for getting it seated right? I'm going to open it up and try getting it in better, but if I can't I guess I'll buy an after-market cooler, perhaps the same TorQueMoD bought. I'm not overclocking.

 

[Viking9]

After fooling with the intel cpu fan, I don;t think the issue is it being incorrectly secured. I guess it just doesn't do the job.

 

[englandr753]

Its still a slight possibility of it not being fully seated 100% securely. Also it could be a combo of that and the thermal paste used. Im guessing you are using the factory paste placed on the heatsink.

If you simply removed the fan and reinstalled it then the paste is part of the problem. You should clean the surface, reapply a new "thin and even" coat of thermal paste and reaseat each time you remove the heatsink to make sure you have adequate paste even across the cpu surface.

 

[Viking9]

The paste was probably contributing to the problem as I'd picked the heatsink up off the processor a couple times when I initially installed it trying to get it into place securely. I've just removed the old thermal paste and installed a OCZ Vindicator heatsink/fan. This has helped slightly, but the temps are still running hot, upper 50s, low 60s after just 20 minutes of running firefox, itunes and a game (colonization).

The computer also just doesn't 'seem' like it is running like it should. Everything feels a bit slow. It is certainly running applications (VMWare Workstation) worse than the X2 3800 I replaced. The system boot time is extremely long. After pressing the power button, there is just an underscore in the top left of the screen for 45+ seconds before proceeding to the RAID screen and then Intel BIOS screen. The overall boot time until Windows asks for my password is just over 2 minutes.

One thing I just noticed is that when running Core Temp, the Frequency reading keeps switching between 2833.00MHz (333.29x8.5) and 1999.77MHz (333.29x6.0) about every second. Is this normal?

Any ideas as to what might be going on? Are there any diagnostic software utilities I can try?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Proximon]

It would not be normal for the frequency to switch so often. It's normal for it to switch however.

Your system may still be throttling back to avoid the higher temps.

So you replaced the heatsink with another heatsink that also uses push pins? Sigh.

What kind of thermal paste did you use? How much did you apply?
You should only need about the equivalent of a grain of rice.
Did you clean off the old paste with a lint free item such as a coffee filter?

Run CPU-Z to check CPU and memory speeds.

 

[Zorg]

Bite the bullet and get a good aftermarket HS with a backplate, befor you damage your CPU. A HS is cheap a new CPU is expensive.

 

[TorQueMoD]

I agree with Zorg. My heatsink cost me about $60 which was only a mid range heatsink, but it does a beautiful job. I did a lot of research to find a heatsink that does the best cooling job for the lowest price. The OCZ Vendetta was the best bang for my buck.

You want your CPU to be around 55 degrees max when under full load so if its any higher under idle, that's really not good. Also sounds like there might have been something wrong with your heatsink installation or possibly even with the cpu, though most likely its the heatsink install. I found after closer inspection of the push pins that they actually rotate to a position where there's a little tab sticking out on the side that applies pressure to the plastic part that actually snaps into the mobo holes, so make sure the pins are rotated into the proper position otherwise they won't snap in place properly. Originally I thought you had to screw the pins into place because of the screwdriver tops, but that's actually for unlocking the pins, not installing. Take a closer look at them when you re-apply the thermal grease and I think you'll see what I mean.

At first glance the pins are a little deceiving, but after a closer look they're actually a very good way to attach a heatsink and a lot easier than the old system. I just wish the manual had a better description of how they work.