Persistent Heat Issue

Core i7 920, stock HSF, stock speeds.

My computer was idling at 45C and loading at 82C. So I opened it up, vacuumed out all the dust, and replaced the thermal paste with perfectly-applied Arctic Silver 5. Then I chilled my room and started her up again, seeing idles of 25-35C. Perfect, right? Hum. Every day it went up a little more, and now I'm idling at 46-50C in the same ambient temperature! Load temperatures grazed 70C but never really went higher, stabilizing around 65. Should I be concerned? The paste bottle said it would go down over time as the paste set in, but it's been rising very gradually. I'm pretty freaked out. (48C totally and completely blank of programs as I write this. Sitting in the BIOS I get the exact. Same. Temperature.)

Sounds like the HSF is not well seated on the cpu ... a retention clip is not locked.

Try removing it and reseating it again - simply check the grease is evenly applied when you take it off but no need to put more on I'd say.

Here is a great little guide ...

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview [...] 385&page=2

The i7's pump out some heat when loaded up ... very fast though.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/c [...] oup-test/1

If you have little joy I'd consider an aftermarket cooler.

Good luck !!

Hey - thanks, but I've reseated the cooler several times, and reapplied the paste in the "strip" shape exactly as shown in the guides. Initially I lined it up wrong so it went in between the cores, but when it shot to 80C in the BIOS I redid it and it dropped to 25 over time.

People tell me it's fine, and I know it's not damaging - it's the radical shift that concerns me.