AMD proccesor running hot. Suggestions?

[surferdude1129]

I recently built my own computer with the parts below. Everything seems to be working great (aside from the amount of fans supported my the mobo) and I'm pretty satisfied with the components. However, after booting up for the first time, and arriving at BIOS setup, the CPU temp was around 54 Celsius, at pretty much idle. This is a problem... I did have some trouble getting the heat sink on at first, and I placed it on and removed it for ~30 seconds to see if I was missing something important. I don't know if I should have applied new thermal paste (of which I would need to buy) because of this, or if this wasn't even important, but my computer is running hot. The motherboard temperatures were around 29-33 deg Celsius, so it is mainly the CPU.

My question is this. Should I get an after market fan? If so, what do you recommend? its an AM3+ mobo, so the fan needs to work with that too. Also, the mobo only supports 2 of the 4 case fans, so should I look into something like this to get them all running?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812195004

Anyways, thanks for any and all help you can offer ...


Antec 300 Illusion
AMD Phenom II X4 965
Patriot G2 1866 MHz RAM (4x4gb)
MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ motherboard
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1gb
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
OCZ 600W Power Supply
Windows 7 64 bit

 

[dodger46]

I recently built my own computer with the parts below. Everything seems to be working great (aside from the amount of fans supported my the mobo) and I'm pretty satisfied with the components. However, after booting up for the first time, and arriving at BIOS setup, the CPU temp was around 54 Celsius, at pretty much idle. This is a problem... I did have some trouble getting the heat sink on at first, and I placed it on and removed it for ~30 seconds to see if I was missing something important. I don't know if I should have applied new thermal paste (of which I would need to buy) because of this, or if this wasn't even important, but my computer is running hot. The motherboard temperatures were around 29-33 deg Celsius, so it is mainly the CPU.

My question is this. Should I get an after market fan? If so, what do you recommend? its an AM3+ mobo, so the fan needs to work with that too. Also, the mobo only supports 2 of the 4 case fans, so should I look into something like this to get them all running?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812195004

Anyways, thanks for any and all help you can offer ...


Antec 300 Illusion
AMD Phenom II X4 965
Patriot G2 1866 MHz RAM (4x4gb)
MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ motherboard
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1gb
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
OCZ 600W Power Supply
Windows 7 64 bit

AMD stock fans usually very good, but you have to be sure that the two surfaces mate as evenly as possible, any air gaps/pockets will drastically lower performance/efficiency. Before you spend on another fan clean both surfaces thoroughly with an appropriate cleaner and apply quality paste. You can get a kit with 2 cleaners and Arctic Silver 5 which will do the job well.

 

[wr6133]

Anytime the heatsink is removed you must clean off the old paste and reapply that 30 second removal is likely your problem.

 

[surferdude1129]

Thanks for the help.

Can't I just use rubbing alcohol instead of the thermal compound cleaner, or will it not be as effective?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Thanks for the help.

Can't I just use rubbing alcohol instead of the thermal compound cleaner, or will it not be as effective?

That's fine. Most of us use alcohol actually.

 

[dodger46]

Tried to add this earlier but was having probs with replies. Of course alcohol perfectly adequate, but if you have to get paste this is one of the best and you can get cleaners as well.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arctic-Silver-5-AS5-Paste-Articlean-Cleaner-/170809267604?pt=Computing_ComputerComponents_Fans_Heatsinks_SR&hash=item27c5069594

 

[surferdude1129]

Thanks so much, but I don't live in UK so that's not a possibility there... I'll look into the cleaner, but if i pick up AS5 nearby and do alcohol, I think I should be alright....

I'll let you know how it goes, but, again, thanks!

 

[surferdude1129]

Well the new thermal paste didnt do anything... its still running at ~55 celcius so I'm getting a replacement cpu

 

[rds1220]

I really don't think it's physically your CPU it's either your fan/heatsink or you applied to much thermal paste.