Temp variation across cores

[Sasha the BOLD]

Hi, all.

After a mammoth building session, I assembled my new computer and POSTed on the first try. (Yay!) Unfortunately, I'm worried that I screwed up with my heat sink. I've never used thermal paste before, so when I was putting it on I put a tiny dollop (size of a small pea) in the middle of the chip and slapped down my Noctua-D14.

My problem is that under load, the temperatures vary significantly across cores. RealTemp 3.70 is giving me variation of about 7c -- I'm maintaining spreads like "48 / 56 / 54 / 49" consistently.

Two questions:

1. How big a problem is this?
2. What would it take for me to fix it?

I thank you for any help you can provide.

 

[galeener]

Well to fix it you could remove the cooler clean all the thermal paste off both the cpu and the heatsink. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9VSDkB-3st4

 

[jsc]

Right. Remove the old paste. You can also use a clean lint free rag (old T-shirt is good) and isopropyl alcohol. Shouldn't use rubbing alcohol. It usually contains lanolin and will leave a film.

Suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=0

Then, if you still have the variation across all the cores, it's because of the difference in the thermal sensors in the CPU.

A 7 C difference, while a little high, is not too unusual.

 

[neon neophyte]

ive seen and been told to apply paste the exact same way you did.

however i should point out doing this doesnt cover the entire surface of the die and the cores of the cpu arent in the center of the die. on sandybridge for example, they stretch across the die in a straight line. thus, if u used the method u did to apply paste, all the cores would not be covered. just a thought

 

[galeener]

There is also the thin line method where you put a thin lin on the processor and spread it out very thinly with an old credit card.