What's wrong with my air cooling?

[heroicevil]

I recently bought a i5 2500K processor and a Cooler Master N520 Fan, I'm also using Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste. After I installed the fan for the first time the BIOS said it the processor was at 48C while it was idle. Looking at other reviews of the same product they get around 30C. Then I uninstalled it and put it back on again it went up to 60C then I tried again and now it's 71C. I'm really worried PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Dogsnake]

Take off the cooler and remove the cpu. Clean the bottom of the cooler and the top of the cpu with a soft cloth and dampen the cloth with alcohol to remove all the old thermal compound. Inspect the surfaces to ensure they are free of scratches. Install the cpu. Fit the cooler without thermal paste to be sure it seats easily and properly.
Apply the thermal paste using a small amount spread thinly and evenly and tighten the cooler down evenly. Be sure the cooler fan is powered from the cpu fan header on your MB. Check it is running when the comp is on. Please note the temps you achieve are determined by your ambient temperature (the temperature of the air in the room). If your room temp. was warmer than the air in the review then your system will run warmer. The rest of your issues sound like bad cooler install. Use a program such as Real Temps to monitor the temps while in windows.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Also to add to the above, make sure the heatsink cooler is properly screwed down. Make sure it fits tight on the motherboard/on top of the CPU so the surface area connection is at high as possible thus taking away as much heat as possible.

 

[jsc]

Good suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=0

 

[heroicevil]

Oh God, there are MILLIONS of scratches on the bottom of my cooler!!! What do I do?

 

[AdrianPerry]

Its ok, the scratches on there are caused by the manufacturer. Its sanded/smoothed over to give the best surface area where the heat pipes run through. Just apply a thin layer of thermal compound and you'll be fine.

 

[Pearlmam]

If all those suggestions don't work, you can try to put your computer horizontal so gravity is on your side when keeping the cooler flush on the CPU. If it isn't screwed in all the way then the cooler may be separating when you put the computer upright.

 

[AdrianPerry]

The cooler should be tight enough that it doesnt move at all when positioned horizontal. If it does move, then you need to tighten it up otherwise the gap between the heat sink and the cooler will be too large and heat wont be transfered as effectivly as it should be.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Also just to check, what software are you using to monitor the temp? Some 3rd Party software? Or software that was supplied with the mobo? Could be an issue there of incorrect readings. (my idle 2500k runs at about 37-38 idle so dont focus too much on going as low as 30).