Overheat Concerns

[darshie]

Hello,

First off, I'd like to mention that I'm not actually overclocking anything, but this seemed like the best place to ask any questions related to overheating and cooling.

I recently (< 3 days ago) built a system for the second time. The important parts here are: a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 AMD Motherboard, an AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE with stock cooling, and a Cooler Master Haf 922 Blue, with 1x120mm fan and 2x200mm fans.

I'm not sure if this is pertinent information, but I'm using a 730W Raidmax PSU

Nothing is overclocked.

Here's the problem: Gigabyte's "EasyTune" lists my system as running at 46C/114F, and my CPU as running at 51C/123F, continuously. This is with no load at all. As this was a bit of a pre-emptive buy, I don't really have anything that I would be able to test it under load with.

I don't know much about system temperatures, but it's listed as red in ET6, and a bit of Google searching has told me that these numbers are on a very high side for a system at rest. However, I'm not inclined to believe them since when I put my hands inside the case, the air there doesn't feel particularly hot/warm at all.

So is this system poorly built/cooled? Or is ET6 bugging out on me? I tried to download Everest to do a double check, but Windows muttered something about "digitally unsigned drivers" at me (not giving me a yes/no option), and the "sensors" in Everest only display HDD temperatures, which are at a 28-32C/82-90F spread.

I'd appreciate any help!

Thanks,

 

[purple stain]

Try download HWMonitor for your temps.

Do you AMD Overdrive installed?

Your temps shouldn't be anywhere near 51c for being idle.Since i''m asuming you have AMD Kool&Quiet still enabled your temps should be very low because that program downlocks your processor
.Anyway it is very possible you installed the Heatsink wrong.Those stock heatsinks are awful but it shouldn't be in the 50's at idle.
Did you apply thermal paste or was it pre applied?

 

[darshie]

Thanks for the reply,

No, I don't have Overdrive or Kool&Quiet installed, nor have I even heard of either of them! The only thing that was on the CD accompanying the hardware was AVG and "Core Line," something that seems incredibly pointless.

I'm also fairly sure that I installed the heatsink correctly. The thermal paste was pre-applied to the heatsink, and I worked it in as I installed the heatsink. Given the pressure it took to lock the fan in place, that was probably completely unnecessary.

The ET6 now reads the system temp at 40C/104F, with no change in the CPU temp. This is a first, and considering that I haven't actually changed anything with respect to keeping the system at idle or cooling down the room (which is at standard room temperature), I'm fairly confused.

I think I'll try leaving the case running completely open, and see if that changes the temperatures in some way. I'll also take a look at that AMD software and give that a go.

EDIT: I downloaded the HWMonitor, and it's giving me some different readings. The CPU is looking better, with all cores at ~45C/~112F (I'm not sure if this is still normal or not for idle). It's saying the "TMPIN0" of my graphics card, a Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850, which comes overclocked by default a little bit, is at 73C/162F. Is that normal? The "TMPIN2" of the MOBO also seems high, at 80C/176F.

Thanks,

 

[simon12]

Those temps are still not good the 80C one is most likely a faulse reading I find there is always 1 sensor that isn't there on the 4 AMD builds i have done in the last 2 years. Unless your room temp is around 35C your idle temps should be lower. Idle temps are not that relevant though try running Prime 95 and see what temps you hit but stop it if the CPU temp goes over 60C

 

[purple stain]

AMD Kool&Quiet is software that is pre-installed on your motherboard.You cannot remove it,you can only disable it.But you don't want it disabled because it saves you money on your electrical bill.

You should rely more on the temps you see in HWMonitor.Try leaving HWMonitor open and do something stressful to the CPU.Then check the temps and see what the max temp you get.

Also I forget to mention the maximum rated temperature for the 965 is 62c.Do'nt exceed that or you risk frying the chip.

 

[RetiredChief]

For Your GPU (6850). open up CCC, go to the overdrive page. Click the unlock and change fan speed from auto to manual and up the fan speed.

As indicated above, need to test CPU under load. To do this download and install prime 95. Open up your HWMonitor and then run Prime 95. To check temperatures it will reach close to max within 15 minutes - Turn off if cpu temps get to high!!. Prime 95 will set the CPU load much higher than normal usage. For normal max, try running a game while monitoring cpu/gpu temps. Prime 95 will also verify system stability (memory and cpu), but for that you would need to run for a min of 4 hours - Can not do that if cpu temps are maxing out at too high of a temp.
For checking case airflow/cooling - yes, remove side panel and place a house fan blowing in to case.

Added:
On PSU, I could not find a review of your specific PSU, But generally Raidmax are NOT held in very good standings here at Tom's. You might want to try and find some reviews - do not use newegg "reviewers" as a reference for PSUs other than if it has a high number of reviews and shows a high percentage of 1/2 eggs.
For Ex Raidmax RX 730 has a 15% 1/2 egg out of 386 reviews while the corsair only has 9% out of 534 reviews.

 

[purple stain]

Unistall Easy Tune.It's possible you might hit an Auto Overclock function by accident and it's not a good program anyway.

I would advise not to download prime 95 just yet.If your already getting 51c I would imagine your CPU temps will hit max(62c) within a minute espically with the stock cooler.Don't run Prime 95 just paly some games and leave HWMonitor open while oyu do it.

 

[darshie]

Ah, games. When I did play games, I was bit of a retro gamer. Diablo 1/2, Warcraft 2/3, original Starcraft, that kind of thing. I don't see that taxing my system much. I'd switched my power saving options to High Performance in order to avoid a crackle in sound that was starting to irritate me (I do a bit of music production, and it got in the way). After switching it back to balanced, I've got drastically lower CPU temps, at ~40C/104F. I'm still not sure if that's normal, but it seems better.

Checking out CCC, it seemes as if in overdrive, the defaults had my GPU fan set at a permanent 50%. I'll browse around for something interesting on Steam tonight/tomorrow, and take a look at how my system reacts under stress. If it's relatively stable, then I'll take a look at prime 95.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[purple stain]

50% is fine 60% is prolly better but you might hear the fan.

Those games only utlize a single core so it is likely that your not really stressing it.Balanced setting turns down the power on your CPU and other essentials.It's still not good to see that your computer is in dangaring of overheating just be turning power saving functions off.It's not desidnged to be like that.The stock heatsink is meant to take the maximum power of your processor or else they would make it differently.

What i'm trying to say is that you shouldn't have to turn on power saving functions just to stop your computer from overheating,theirs a problem somewhere.

 

[soundguruman]

The first problem is the stock cooler. You should use a cooler master or similar...You should also use the arctic silver thermal paste. You will see the temp go down 10-15 degrees with a better cooler.