Concerned about Core's Temperature

[jsandhu]

Hi,

Lately I was having some trouble playing games on my pc and a friend of mine suggested a program "SpeedFan" to check the temp of my pc, when I checked the temp there were 3 that concerned me : -

1. CPU = 56 (at idle) reaches to above 75 (after gaming)
2. Core 0 = 76 "" "" 98 "" ""
3. Core 1 = 76 "" "" 98 "" ""

So, I searched online for possible causes and one of them pointed out that the Fan and the Heat Sink should be without any dust, so I opened up my panel and inside I could see the Fan and the Heat Sink covered in deep dust so I removed both of them, and cleaned them thoroughly and installed them back (I am not a Technician but I have learned to do this through trial and error on one another comp before), so after this I started my pc and checked the temp again, and now they read : -

1. CPU = 38 (at idle) reaches to above 55 (after gaming)
2. Core 0 = 58 "" "" 75-76 ""
3. Core 1 = 58 "" "" 75-76 ""

Also, I see some improvements while gaming like the lag has gone and they seem to run smoothly.

My Question is are these temp ok now? , or do I need to do something more, My computer is 3 years old and as far as specifications go I don't know much, so If those are required, Kindly tell me how to provide the specifications, and I will do it, all I know is that it's a dual core processor, Intel, motherboard ??, 1.5 GB Ram, that's all I know, I am running Windows XP and that's it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Supernova1138]

Those temps are still rather high for a gaming load, but not as dangerous as before. Before you cleaned the cooler you were hitting the point where the CPU was throttling back performance to save itself from thermal damage, that's why you had performance problems.

If you removed the cooler from the CPU, you need to clean off the residue from the old thermal paste and apply some new thermal paste, that will ensure your cooler runs at optimum effectiveness. The old dried out thermal paste is probably why your temps are still rather high.

 

[jsandhu]

Actually no paste of any sort was there, do you think that could be the reason, should I buy one and apply?

 

[a_tractor]

yes There was no thermal paste!!! thats exactly why!! get some thermal paste now.

 

[13thmonkey]

thermal paste is needed, between a pea and a grain of rice amount.

what cpu is it?

 

[jsandhu]

Ok, I don't know much about this but I am telling what I see in system properties :

Genuine Intel(R) CPU 2140 @ 1.60 GHz 1.60 GHz

 

[jsandhu]

I am going to get some Thermal Paste first thing in the morning.

 

[jsandhu]

Ok, Here's the update, I got the thermal paste first thing today and opened up the panel, took the fan and the sink apart and applied a thin coat as was directed on the tube, assembled everything back, started the pc and my readings were :

1. CPU = 19 (at Idle) went to 45-46 (after gaming)
2. Core 0 = 38 "" 60-61 ""
3. Core 1 = 38 "" 60-61 ""

I am really amazed to see these results, I doubted that the paste would make this much difference.

I am really thankful to all for helping me and I think these temp are Ok now?

Thanks

 

[jsandhu]

Best answer selected by jsandhu.