CPU Temp, issue?

[mudpuppet]

I have some serious concerns about my PC and figured I'd give a go here to pick some brains.

Formerly my brothers PC, the machine was built roughly within the last 10 months. I haven't had any major issues with it besides the fact that it's fairly loud. After installing SpeedFan, I noticed the CPU running around 84*C and GPU listed as 53*C. I've still a lot to learn, but this seemed like a big red flag that something's not right. The odd thing is while, in this case, Diablo 3 is the active window on screen 1, speed fan on screen 2 shows the CPU drop some, between 65-81*C (usually in the 70s during play). From what I've read... this is on the extreme side of things.

I've done the little things of opening it up, check the connections and the fans as well as dust it out. The next thing would be to examine the heatsink and possible have to reseat it. I have a tube of Silver Oxide Compound Paste, however having not done this before I wanted to get some opinions/suggestions before I start. I know there are different pastes, do i need to make sure to grab some Artic Silver or what I have should be ok. Gonna find some Isopropyl Alcohol and Qtips to clean it off with as well before applying the new thermal stuff.

Because I didn't build it, I'm not 100% on the type of fan however just from a glance, I would say it resembles a Zalman CNP9500 AT. I suppose the heatsink/fan may not be adequate for the CPU as well but I want to check the other stuff before starting to explore other cooling options. I've double checked the case fans as well to make sure they were installed and working right. I know they are because of how much louder it is compared to my old Core2Quad. Front and side are sucking in and back and top and blowing out, PSU is mounted on the bottom of the case.

I greatly appreciate any concerns, tips and advice. SF screenshots provided below and a summary of the system.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f375/mudpuppet/SF1.png

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f375/mudpuppet/SF2.png

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
8.00 GB RAM
Windows 7 Home Prem, 64bit
AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series
5878 MB Total available graphics memory
3320 GB Total Disk Space

 

[notlim981]

Your CPU temp is really really high for a 2500k. Is the cooler box or aftermarket? Also I see your 2500k is OC'ed. Set it to the default settings on BIOS and check to see if there is any decrease on temps.

Wish I could help on the thermal paste issue, but as the average Joe, I'd recommend the Arctic Silver.

Best regards.

 

[mudpuppet]

I redid the thermal with no real change. I did a little digging though and found AI Suite II. The probe says that the CPU is running at 24*C with a threshold set up to 85*C. Again I didn't build this PC and I haven't done any of the OCing so im not sure if SpeedFan is incorrect, or if the probe is reading some other CPU temp from something...

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I redid the thermal with no real change. I did a little digging though and found AI Suite II. The probe says that the CPU is running at 24*C with a threshold set up to 85*C. Again I didn't build this PC and I haven't done any of the OCing so im not sure if SpeedFan is incorrect, or if the probe is reading some other CPU temp from something...

Yep. SpeedFan is wrong. That seems to be a major problem with the newer Intel chipsets. It's horribly wrong for me too because it gives me basically the same CPU temp, when my core temps at idle are <30C.

I've stopped recommending SpeedFan altogether now and just stick with recommending HWMonitor (which still shows CPUTIN wrong a lot of the time), Core Temp and RealTemp.

 

[mudpuppet]

Just pulled up RealTemp and its 33-36*C. Pulled up Diablo3 to take a look and its about 35-42*C. That looks a lot better and I guess I didn't need new thermal, oh well.

I've been having a lock up Issue running diablo. it seems random and I don't know what brings it about. Drivers are up to date and my thought was that the CPU was running too hot and my system was locking up. Really, the client is locking up, im allowed to move the cursor, and when speed fan was open, control the fan speed still. I can't ctrl/alt/del however, and web pages become unresponsive and fail to load. After about 5 minutes or so, things go back to normal and if I was in a game, im DCed back to the main menu. If I was on the AH or just at the menu, things resume as normal after the time has passed. Connection to skype is lost and calls would need to be redone.

I guess I shall continue my search to find the problem. If you read this and have ideas, please let me know, otherwise thank you for the help guys. =)