Why is my cpu overheating so fast

Are you using the stock cooler that came with your CPU? If so, make sure the push pins are seated in properly   I've personally had an issue with this with a friends build   those darn push pins!

I'll have to check its really hard to tell if they are in the slots. but the fan is spinning on the cpu if that means anything

The fan spinning is a good sign   it's just those darn pins. Sometimes they can be a bit of a pain to install, and if it's a bit loose, you may run into issues you're currently having - overheating.

I made sure the pins were in place, and i removed the thermal paste that came stock on the cpu heatsink, and reapplied it. I'm waiting now to see if it over heats again

Did you use just a tiny dab of the thermal paste? Too much is just as bad as too little.

Hope things turn out ok  

well, things ran just fine for the majority of the night, however i turned it on again today and it over heated again   I'm really at a loss at what this could be

I'm actually starting to get concerned with the thermal paste now...As abekl said, too much is just as bad as too little...how much TIM are you using?

i used about a grain of rice sized dab on the cpu die and another grain of rice sized portion on the heating unit so i could cover both surfaces, is this way to much?

Oh yes, definitely too much! Just a rice grain sized dab ontop of the CPU is enough!

When you put the heatsink onto the CPU, the pressure it's applying will evenly distribute the thermal paste onto the bottom of the heatsink and ontop of the CPU so you don't have to worry about applying to both sides.

Thermal compound is basically used to fill in the small gaps between the top of the CPU and the base of the heatsink, too much can actually make your heatsink act like an oven (which is what it's doing now).

Try reapplying it with what I said above and tell us the results!  

Actually I am glad you posted this because your thread has answered a question I just posted in another thread. I wanted to know if Intel was still selling defective heatsink securing mechanisms. I guess it turns out they are. They started doing this at least 5 years ago with the Wolfdales and have been doing so ever since. This has been well documented and frankly it is an outright scandal that the motherboard/cpu industry has not corrected this. And just to be clear--and I'll put this in bold--THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE HEATSINK OR THE FAN, IT IS THE DEFECTIVE SECURING MECHANISM. Another thing I would like to clarify is that it is not the securing mechanism is low quality, but rather that it is an outright defective mechanism. It is an absolute shame that non-overclockers should have to drop 40 extra dollars just to keep their new Intel cpu under 50 degrees Celcius.

Well now I have to get back on newegg and try to find a good aftermarket cooler for the Ivy Bridge I was about to purchase. Any suggestions anyone?

Hyper212 Evo is a good cooler, the 212+ is also a nice option for a bit cheaper.

real quick question to delta, what exactly do you mean by faulty securing mechanism, my seems to be ever so tight. i literally though i was going to snap my chip in half, its a z77 sabertooth asus motherboard so its not an intel mobo. and i was planning on overclocking at somepoint which is why i got the 3770k chip

Basically he's saying the securing mechanism of the stock Intel heatsinks are flawed in design (correct me if I'm wrong).

And he's right. It's an extremely flawed and idiotic design. It's way too easy to THINK you have it right, but not actually be.