CPU Overheating

[beholder_46]

Hello guys...
I spent a bit part of today between my computer and eggexpert, and I wanted to post here as well.
My computer started freezing up and so some color discoloration at starups. I thought it was the video card (happened to me before) but it seems to be doing alright (there are no weird visual issues) and I tested both heat for the video card and the CPU..

My CPU unit was working in the 60 degree areas after I cleaned the computer thoroughly (I also removed the fan from the heatsink, took it a part, cleaned from dust, installed it again, made sure the fan is running...) but after I tried to run a somewhat more demanding game, the computer shut off after a few minutes. I waited to turn it back on, checked the heat, and saw the CPU is above 90, running into beyond 100... I turned off the computer, opened it up again, and yes, the CPU fan is working, other fans are working.. the CPU fan seems to be placed well in place. Turned on computer... yeah, CPU is still at 100.

I'm not sure what's going on, or how to fix it. Any suggestions? More tests I should run? Thank you so much!

My specs are below:

System Specs
VGA:MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Monitor:Acer AL1916 w 19" LCD
MB:Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
OS:Vista Ultimate 64bit
Browser:Firefox
CPUualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, 2000 MHz Sound:n/a (using MB)
CPU Pps:Games/Design/Internet/Documents
Memory:Corsair XMS2 CM2X1024-6400C4 (x 4) = 4gb
PSU:er, don't know right now, but pretty new Brand:n/a
HD:Western Digital 500GB SATA Cooling:n/a Misc:

 

[mikes1992]

is the temp at 90-100c during idle or while it's under load? Is your CPU at stock clock speeds? Did you remove the heatsink or just the fan? If you removed the heatsink you may not of place it back onto the CPU right, also if it's a stock cooler that uses clips one could've come loose while taking off the fan (if you didn't take the heatsink off).

I'd recommend you take the heatsink off and re-apply the thermal paste if you have already checked what I've said.

Hope this helps

 

[beholder_46]

Hi Mikes,

The temperature was fine until I played the game, and now it's just high even if I let the computer run idly for a while.. it seems that when it hits up, it doesn't cool down, which makes me even feel more positive about a cooling problem. my CPU is not overclocked, never bothered with it.

The fan has these four pins which were a real pain for me to figure out. I bent them (by mistake) but I made sure I put them back right.. it's not loose anymore, and the fan seems to be right on top. I'm not sure how else I can make sure it's in place because it all seems to be ok.

When cleaning, I took the fan off the cooler (by carefully praying the two plastic clamps open) and cleaned it. It seems to be sitting in the right place on top, and also pretty stable in place. It clicked back in when I put it.

So again, I took the heatsink off, took the fan off, cleaned both, put the heatsink back (took me an hour to figure it out.. ), then the fan.

The only thing I didn't do is to re apply thermal paste. I don't have any, I will buy some from Newegg, is there's a specific one I'm looking for? Can I clean the remains of the old one (and the fan blades and such ) with alcohol or should I use something else?

Can the paste make all the difference in this case? really?

 

[xunicronx]

Yes, you definitely need the thermal paste.

 

[mikes1992]

Thermal paste does make a big difference as long as you apply the right amount. I've heard of people running CPUs without thermal paste but I have never tried this and would recommend against it. as for a recommend paste I would say Arctic silver but any should do fine, just make sure you don't put too much on or too little (pea sized dot in the middle of the CPU is what most people recommend). I recently removed my heatsink and just used ear buds/cotton buds to clean the thermal paste off. Make sure you clean it all off as the different pastes could chemically react with each other.

Does your heatsink screw or clip on?

If it screws on make sure you tighten each size evenly and don't just fully tighten one then move onto the next one. I've never heard anybody say much about this but I learnt it doing automotive engineering at collage. If you don't do this it may cause the heatsink to be making inefficient contact with the whole CPU and could be on an slight angle and also puts extra stress on the CPU surface, I normally tighten diagonally adding slight pressure to each screw after they're all in.

If it uses clips check each clip is inserted correctly as sometimes people believe it's right when one the the clips is only half inserted. (I've personally never used clip on heatsinks)

 

[beholder_46]

I'm learning as I go, so I understand most market heatsinks come with the plastic clips (the four plastic clips you turn a quarter circle), which is what I have. I am getting the Arctic Silver. Hopefully it will fix the problem...

 

[mocchan]

Yes definitely help/solve your problem. Running a pc without thermal compound will make it run 20-30 degrees hotter (From personal experience, anyways.).

 

[jasont78]

put your finger on your heatsink if it is burning hot (if its like 70c u will get burnt after a couple of seconds) and feels the temperature that is being reported your heatsink and thermal paste is working. if it doesnt feel hot you have it mounted wrong or the tim is no good

 

[kilobyte]

Definitely use thermal paste, and definitely make sure the heatsink is correctly mounted - I figured that out a few years ago on a Pentium 4 system I had. The cpu fan had packed up, and after I replaced it, I thought I had put it on correctly (it was just a stock Intel fan/heatsink with the 4 clip things you described), but when I turned my computer back on, it was over heating.
I took the side cover of the computer off (the one underneath the motherboard), and realised one of the screw/clips was not screwed down properly.
As soon as I re-mounted the heatsink (correctly this time), it worked perfectly fine!

 

[tractorntrainguy]

STOP! Turn off your PC and put a "Can't touch this" sign on it. (MC Hammer music optional)

Never run you PC without something between the CPU and the heatsink! A quick solution while you wait for your Arctic Silver paste to arrive is to buy Dielectric Grease at your local auto parts store if you can't find a Radio Shack nearby.

Before anyone flames me on dielectric grease I read a comparison on one of the overclocking websites a couple years ago and the stuff didn't work that bad. I use it on all my cheap rebuilds that I do. It cost me $8 dollars for a lifetime's worth of paste.

Another option is Desitin diaper rash cream, it works but don't put too much on.

I use Artic Cooling MX-2 on my high-powered builds and it works great.

 

[beholder_46]

So I got the Arctic silver and all of that...
But for the life of me, I can't get the stupid f****** fan and heatsink back on the CPU! The stupid white plastic pins would not go into the holes, and I've been trying more than an hour. This has been a pain in the ass last time too, but not it's just damn impossible. One of the white plastic "teeth" already broke off, but I figure if I can get the three just sit right it will still be stable in place... but I keep bending them, thinking they're in when they're not, and I'm worried if I keep it up I will break it enough that I will have to buy a new sinkfan. I don't think my motherboard has room for an aftermarket one, I have to deal with the stupid pins.

Anyone have any insight on that? please help, this is very frustrating.

 

[beholder_46]

OMFG I did it. These push pins... seriously... person who invented them.. yeah.
I had them locked and extended (that part is common sense I figured that out) but then I had to play with them carefully unti the white got in the hole, and THEN I had to unlock them, push them down slowly from opposite angles and keep the balance, and then lock them AGAIN.

I have one pin a bit wiggly because it's broken, but over all the heatsink is sitting right and I just ran a game and all, the temp didn't go above 43, 45. Good. Real test will be tomorrow... I should probably get a new heatsink when I get the chance though.