[CPUs] E8400 Temps too hot.......anyone?

[Lovebird]

Hello all. After lurking this forum for a while I decided to finally create an account and see if anyone can help out . First off I am far from a PC expert. I have an E8400 Core 2 duo Wolfdale CPU @ 3.0ghz that I had a friend use to build my PC 2 years ago. I am using the stock cooler that came with the system.

I decided to try overclocking the other day and I am now on 3.6ghz. In CPU-Z the core voltage is 0.928V. At idle, it is 47~50C. However when I decide to play a game the temperature INSTANTLY shoots up to 70C and from there the core temps continue to rise up to about 85~87 and stay there ( this is using core temp) .

Today I recognized a HUGE ton of dust inside of my PC (the side of my PC is open) and i cleared a lot of it out and temps went down (from yesterday) by about 15C for my GPU (Radeon HD 4870) and about 8C for my CPU so that was a good thing..... (Yesterday my GPU temp was 80C idle and CPU temps were reaching 90-100C when gaming..... no joke...)

I have no idea, is it supposed to be that hot/is this normal? Is there something wrong inside of the PC? What can or should I do to get the temps lower/a bit more reasonable?

 

[Uther39]

Your main issue is your using the stock cooler, so the first thing you need to do is buy a decent aftermarket cooler like the CoolerMaster 212, after that you need to look at your cases layout as far as ventilation is concerned, what case do you use? how many fans does it have and what size are they, 80mm, 120mm? Also in what configuration are they, how many pulling cool air into the case and how many exhausting hot air out? All these are things you need to consider when OCing any of your hardware. So let us no what you have got and we will work from there.

 

[Uther39]

And for now, until you have sorted your heat issues out remove the OC, also use a decent monitoring software like Hardware Monitor http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[Lovebird]

Your main issue is your using the stock cooler, so the first thing you need to do is buy a decent aftermarket cooler like the CoolerMaster 212, after that you need to look at your cases layout as far as ventilation is concerned, what case do you use? how many fans does it have and what size are they, 80mm, 120mm? Also in what configuration are they, how many pulling cool air into the case and how many exhausting hot air out? All these are things you need to consider when OCing any of your hardware. So let us no what you have got and we will work from there.

Thank you Uther for your reply! One of my concerns is that I've heard from plenty of places that this processor should be able to reach 3.6ghz overclocked with the stock cooler with no problems. I don't want to spend extra money If it's something I can fix or just a slight problem. I have done some research and read that my CPU temp sensor could be damaged, and perhaps I need to remove my heatsink and apply new thermal paste (should I do that?). Again, I am no expert.

Is the heatsink the circle of silver/greyish metal thats underneath the CPU fan? Because I decided to test it out and touch it while playing some pc games (where my CPU temp usually skyrockets). It was not scaldingly hot by any means. It wasn't cool or cold, but it wasn't hot at all so I figured maybe that hypothesis was right and for some reason it's reporting incorrect temps.

My case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147113
The case has two 120MM fans, one in the front and one in the back. I do not have any extra fans in my PC (should I buy more?). It may be important to note that I no longer have the side of my case anymore ( i no longer have the side/part of the case that closes my PC). I only have two fans and I do not know which is pulling cool air into the case or out. As far as configuration is concerned, I downloaded speed fan and have the fans running @ 100%.

 

[xerb]

This processor doesn't need a better cooler than the stock. However, if your going to overclock go ahead and buy an aftermarket cooler. I would suggest trying to reapply the thermal paste and make sure the heatsink makes good contact with the processor. If that doesn't work go ahead and get a new aftermarket cooler.

 

[Uther39]

"Is the heatsink the circle of silver/greyish metal thats underneath the CPU fan? Because I decided to test it out and touch it while playing some pc games (where my CPU temp usually skyrockets). It was not scaldingly hot by any means. It wasn't cool or cold, but it wasn't hot at all so I figured maybe that hypothesis was right and for some reason it's reporting incorrect temps."

Yes it is the greyish metal under the fan, and the fact that its not scaldingly hot,could also been down to the fact that the heatsink no longer has a decent contact with the CPU and therefore needs taking off, cleaning thoroughly along with the cpu to remove any old paste and the reseating with some Arctic Silver 5.

Also the main reason i told you to buy a coolermaster 212 is because its a huge improvement over the stock cooler, it has a better securing system than the intel push pin rubbish, it will lower your cpu temps and therefore prolong the life of your cpu and even enable you to push your cpu beyond 3.6ghz, maybe even 4 ghz.

 

[xerb]

Yes, that is the heatsink. If you take out the heatsink, you'll see the thermal paste. I would suggest getting another cooler, if you see temps go that high here are a few.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-910-HTX3-G1-130-Watt-Hyper/dp/B0028Y4S9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310668433&sr=8-1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118048&cm_re=lga_775_cooler-_-35-118-048-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118030&cm_re=lga_775_cooler-_-35-118-030-_-Product