CPU Overheating! Not Overclocked

[alrasl]

I'm running an Intel E8400 with an Asus P5Q P45 mobo. My case is a Coolmaster Centurian. I drilled out holes for an additional (third) vent on the side panel, and put an 80mm and 120mm fans over 2 of the vents blowing directly onto the mobo. So in total I have an: 80mm fan intake in the front, 80mm and 120mm intake fans on the side blowing on the mobo, a 120mm fan exhaust out the back, and 2 open air vents in the side and back, and the stock heatsink and fan from Intel.

I would call this overkill cooling, considering I have done NO overclocking or adjustuments to the BIOS settings whatsoever. Was considering it down the road, but this is a brand new PC and I want to get everything running tip top first.

I installed Vista and starting doing the OS updates, getting drivers, etc today. Upon a restart I got a CPU Overheating warning and went to the BIOS to check the temp. IT WAS AT 90ºC!!! Of course I immediately shutdown to investigate. I checked out my heatsink, it was securely on the cpu. I removed it and saw that the thermal compound on it wasn't very well spread and had gotten quite hard, so I cleaned everything with some isopropyl and put on a nice thin coating of my own silver thermal compound.

That didn't help. I turned on my pc again (after waiting quite a while for it to cool down) and went straight to the BIOS. The temp was already at 55ºC at startup, and I just sat and watched in BIOS and it just kept climbing and climbing, by the time it started getting over 70º I just shutdown and hopped on the forums on my old rig.

What the hell could be going on?

 

[major53]

alrasl if you leave the side off and touch your fingers on the cpu heatsink.does it start getting hot to the touch.I have the same E8400 and when I build the pc I put a good heatsink and fan on my cpu.In my bios cpu temp stay around 32 c and under load it get up 42 c,but it also said that core 0 =17c & core1 =37.it's is the diode on the cpu reading false .I also check every once and awhile to make sure it stays cool to the touch.intel don't give a good heatsink with the $200.00 cpu I would replace it myself .also make sure those push pins are locked down good.hope this helps you out.

 

[calinkula]

Your air flow is jacked up because you have too much air turbulence in the case. A good rule of thumb is to have more fans pulling air out than fans pushing air in.

 

[Paperdoc]

Major53 has a good point - you can check the heat sink by touching with your finger. But BE CAREFUL - if your system is telling you the truth, there could be something VERY hot in there! And then as Major53 says, the sensors may actually be telling you lies.


If the heatsink and fan are doing the job right, the heatsink will be just a little warm, and likewise the CPU case itself if you can touch it. But if there is inadequate heat flow from CPU to heatsink, the heatsink will hardly get warm at all, and the CPU case will get hot enought to give your finger a nasty burn, which is what your temp readings are saying now.

You did not comment on whether the heatsink fan is running. If it is not, which will be obvious if you can open the case and look at it, the heatsink will get hot quickly because it is receiving heat from the CPU but not losing any to the air. If the fan simply is not turning, shut down and find out why - is is not plugged in, is it defective? Is the CPU fan plugged into the right mobo connector? If yes, make sure it is plugged in the right way.

If the CPU fan is turning but maybe slowly, you need to check out the BIOS fan control settings. Some BIOS's let you set fan controls for full-on at all times, or controlled according to things like setting temperatures for when the fan first starts, when it reaches maximum speed, and when to send out alarms for high CPU temperature and start shutting it down. Make sure those settings are right.

If you feel the application of heat-conductive paste is questionable, go to the Arctic Silver website. They have good clear instructions for how to apply their product.

 

[kylen1487]

I have two words for you all!!

LIQUID NITROGEN

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=evtGvukJ3KI

enjoy!!

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Your CPU heatsink isn't installed correctly. If the heatsink was installed correctly, the pressure would have evenly spread the thermal compound. Did you check to make sure all four push-pins were fully seated? Did you read the instructions on how to install it? The pins have to be turned the OPPOSITE direction as the arrows. I recently did a low-end build using a stock Intel cooler and some MX-2 compound, and my temps are actually pretty low.