I7-870 temperature jump

[dakaye]

I built myself a computer a few months ago - i7-870 @ 2.93GHz, 8gb RAM, Windows 7 64-bit, HD Radeon 5770 GPU. I'm using the CPU fan that was included with the chip and a side fan in an Antec Sonata II case. Normally the computer runs around 35-45'C, but if I try to convert a video file or even write a dvd sometimes, the CPU temp jumps to 74'C, I see around 95% in CPU usage at the time when the temp goes up, and my mobo alarm goes off. As soon as I stop the process everything returns to normal within 5 seconds or so.

Is this normal?? I'm not sure if I should install a better fan or if there's a hardware issue or maybe 74'C is normal, but it seems pretty high!

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

It is high! Have you cleaned your cooler since it looks to be on load issue with ok idle temps?

 

[dakaye]

It is high! Have you cleaned your cooler since it looks to be on load issue with ok idle temps?

Yes, I checked inside and it's practically spotless, so dust definitely isn't the issue...

 

[rolli59]

Your fan is speeding up as the load increases?

 

[dakaye]

Your fan is speeding up as the load increases?

Ok so after a fresh startup from being off overnight, here's what I've got:

Fairly idle system:
CPU temp: 25'C
System temp: 28'C
CPU Fan: 1285 rpm

After 2 minutes of Video processing:
CPU temp: 70'C
System: 30'C
CPU Fan: 1917 rpm

10 seconds after stopping video processing:
CPU temp: 40'C
System: 30'C
CPU Fan: 1530 rpm

Now (about 5 minutes after video processing):
CPU temp: 32'C
System: 32'C
CPU Fan: 1421 rpm

Should the CPU fan be running faster during intensive processing?

 

[rolli59]

Yes it should to try to keep up with the heat. Your load temp is not acceptable two things you can do disassemble and reapply thermal paste hoping that is the issue or go all the way and get an after market cooler.

 

[dakaye]

Yes it should to try to keep up with the heat. Your load temp is not acceptable two things you can do disassemble and reapply thermal paste hoping that is the issue or go all the way and get an after market cooler.

Thanks rolli59 for all your help so far! Do you know if 1900rpm is a high fan speed? I'm just wondering because if you say that the fan should try to keep up with the heat, then how high should the fan speed get in order to keep the temp normal? Do you think there's anything I can look at in the BIOS that might be preventing the fan from speeding up before I re-apply the paste?

 

[rolli59]

I am not familiar with the fan speed on Intel CPU's but std AMD go up way past those RPM's. It is worth a look in BIOS whether there are fan settings usually under health or H/W monitoring http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bios-a-z,1200.html