Is my i7-950 faulty?

[dadoka]

Hi there,

I'm wondering if my i7 is faulty, it's running in windows idle at 70-75c with 15% Load. I'm pretty new at this so it might seem obvious to everyone else but not me :|.

Initially when I first installed the cpu, the HSF wasn't seated correctly and it started to overheat and the failsafe shutdowns started.

I took the motherboard out, carefully re-seated the stock HSF, applied a thin layer of Antec Formula 5 thermal paste and seated the HSF. I checked thoroughly that it was correctly seated, all the pins were fully through the back of the motherboard.

Upon boot into windows, I opened up Real Temp 3.40 and the idle temperature is 70-76c on the four cores.

Is the i7 faulty, should I return it? Or am I doing something wrong? I have ordered a new noctua HSF to replace the shitty stock one but it won't arrive til tuesday.

My setup is:

Asus GeForce GTX460
520w CoolerMaster PSU
Geil 4gb ddr3 1333mhz
P6X58D-E Intel X58 Motherboard
i7 950 @ the default 3.07ghz

Thanks!

 

[jerryl]

This doesn't sound right of course.

I have a 930 with the stock HSF and my idle temps are in the low 30's

A couple of things....thin, means really thin, at least in my case. I was running an idle at first of about 45 and went in and took off about half the paste and got it down to about 38. I then added some case fans (2) x 120, side and front, and got the idle down to about 31. Also, my 930 now runs idle at case temp + 1 (32, or 33)

What is your case temp? I'd start there. If it is in the 40s you cpu idle will be higher. Less paste?

Even with your after marked HSF coming, these will still apply.

As a side note, stock HSF, can be fine. I am running my 2.8 930 @ 3.2 w/stock and hitting only the mid 60's in Prime95.

If all else fails, and you can not get the temps down, then yes, it could well be your processor.

Also last note, use ASUS probe II to get a heat reading, it is another tool and may report someting different.

 

[werxen]

The chances of a chip being faulty is EXTREMELY low. CPUs, IMO, are the best regulated products in the world. Since they work on such intricate pieces of hardware there are extensive tests on each one before they are sold to retailers. That being said:

1)What are your ambient temps
2)Where is the location of your computer? Hopefully not locked in a cabinet
3)Exactly what is a 'thin layer' of thermal paste. You might have put too little.
4)If your temps are the same then you still did not seat the HS correctly. I felt like I was going to break my mobo when installing my CPU. If they are push pins they will feel the same way.