Q6600 running at extremely high temps

[DemonicSoul]

Hello everyone, I've recently done a slight upgrade to my computer about a week ago, I removed my 9600GT and got a Gigabyte 7770OC, and the card messed up my Vista installation so I had to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit. I've only played two games on the computer, the first being Arkham City, which I ran through DX9 at maximum settings and had a few FPS issues (wondered why but I figured it was badly optimized anyway). Then I installed Witcher 2 and ran it throug maximum settings fine as far as I can remember through the tutorial, then after the tutorial the game would barely run at 20+FPS intense scenes, I figured I'll notch the settings down, but there's still no change in FPS. My games would start out smoothly then the FPS would drop faster than a bowling ball in freefall. Anyways I figure the CPU is throttling my GPU, so I check the CPU temps and they're going over 80C on full load.
I haven't really cleaned or applied new thermal paste to my CPU since 2009, but what really got to me is why this all happened after installing Windows 7, maybe I had not noticed my temps in Vista but my 9600GT was using it's full power to run a game. I'm about to buy some thermal paste, but I'd like to know whether this was just a concidence or is my CPU running strangely after installing Windows 7. Can it be a BIOS thing, or my fan isn't running at full power? I've noticed the stock fan on my Gigabyte GX-X2B case isn't working either anymore. How do I fix the CPU temp issue and make the case fan work again?

Here's my rig:

GZ-X2B Case
Gigabyte 7770OC
4GB RAM
Q6600 Quad Core running at stock temp (2.4GHz)
600W PSU (sorry forgot the manufacturer but I will check)

Sorry for the long post, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[obsama1]

Try updating your BIOS and GPU drivers. If that doesn't work, get new paste.

 

[GhislainG]

I wouldn't update the BIOS unless you are absolutely sure taht it will help. Check the fan configuration in the BIOS and replace the case fan if it's defective.

 

[obsama1]

I def. wouldn't flash it from within Windows. If you can flash it within the BIOS, do that. Also, update the mobo drivers. Maybe one of them is incompatible with 7?

 

[knightdog56]

Could have bumped the CPU heatsink and fan when you installed the new video card, check heatsink and fan are mounted properly! What is the make and model of the power supply?

 

[DemonicSoul]

I'm pretty sure I didn't touch the CPU when I was installing the new card, my PSU is an FSP Epsilon 600 (600W). My motherboard is a Gigabyte EP35-DS3L, and a run through the Gigabte website shows they haven't updated drivers since 09/10. (Am I supposed to be checking the Intel or the Gigabyte website for drivers in the first place?)

I don't want to remove the heatsink since I have no thermal paste atm, how can I make sure the 4 pins are in place instead?

Here's a pic of the CPU/motherboard and case fan.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/img2012090100588.jpg

The case fan seems to have a small very short cable sticking out on the right of it and I have no idea if this needs to be connected and where it should be.

 

[obsama1]

Check a schematic of your mobo to find the fan header.

 

[GhislainG]

I don't want to remove the heatsink since I have no thermal paste atm, how can I make sure the 4 pins are in place instead?

Pull and push on the pins to make sure they are tightly inserted. If one pin moves, then you know that it isn't fully inserted.

 

[DemonicSoul]

I haven't checked the schmatic of my mobo yet, even though I haven't played with any cables in that sector. I tried pushing on all four pins and they seem to be all the way in even though one of them takes very little force to pull out. Could this have occurred as an incompatability or a BIOS issue? I mean my CPU only started throttling once I installed Windows 7, even though my mobo looks like it's compatible with Win7. Strange this issue popped up of a sudden, but my max temp on one core went to 95C when checking a few minutes ago! I'm guessing thermal paste won't fix this by taking off 50 degrees, and the thing doesn't look that dusty to me... Do I need a new HSF?

 

[blakwidowrsa]

Hello everyone, I've recently done a slight upgrade to my computer about a week ago, I removed my 9600GT and got a Gigabyte 7770OC, and the card messed up my Vista installation so I had to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit.

Did you upgrade or do a clean Install of win 7? What exactly do you mean the card messed up vista, details plz...

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello everyone, I've recently done a slight upgrade to my computer about a week ago, I removed my 9600GT and got a Gigabyte 7770OC, and the card messed up my Vista installation so I had to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit. I've only played two games on the computer, the first being Arkham City, which I ran through DX9 at maximum settings and had a few FPS issues (wondered why but I figured it was badly optimized anyway). Then I installed Witcher 2 and ran it throug maximum settings fine as far as I can remember through the tutorial, then after the tutorial the game would barely run at 20+FPS intense scenes, I figured I'll notch the settings down, but there's still no change in FPS. My games would start out smoothly then the FPS would drop faster than a bowling ball in freefall. Anyways I figure the CPU is throttling my GPU, so I check the CPU temps and they're going over 80C on full load.
I haven't really cleaned or applied new thermal paste to my CPU since 2009, but what really got to me is why this all happened after installing Windows 7, maybe I had not noticed my temps in Vista but my 9600GT was using it's full power to run a game. I'm about to buy some thermal paste, but I'd like to know whether this was just a concidence or is my CPU running strangely after installing Windows 7. Can it be a BIOS thing, or my fan isn't running at full power? I've noticed the stock fan on my Gigabyte GX-X2B case isn't working either anymore. How do I fix the CPU temp issue and make the case fan work again?

Here's my rig:

GZ-X2B Case
Gigabyte 7770OC
4GB RAM
Q6600 Quad Core running at stock temp (2.4GHz)
600W PSU (sorry forgot the manufacturer but I will check)

Sorry for the long post, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

Windows 7 Enterprise? Do you realize that Windows 7 Enterprise is only available to companies with Software Assurance licenses? If you're going to pirate software try not to make it so obvious.

 

[blakwidowrsa]

Hello everyone, I've recently done a slight upgrade to my computer about a week ago, I removed my 9600GT and got a Gigabyte 7770OC, and the card messed up my Vista installation so I had to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit.

Did you upgrade or do a clean Install of win 7? What exactly do you mean the card messed up vista, details plz...

 

[DemonicSoul]

Sorry for the Enterprise comment, I meant to say win7 Ultimate w/SP1 .. Anyways what I mean by the Vista thing, it looked like my computer couldn't get rid of the Nvidia drivers completely for some reason, as after installing the 7770's drivers, the card started interferring with almost every application I have. (Firefox/apps/games by shutting them down with the same error everytime), so I did a clean install of Win7 rather than upgrade to get completely rid of the error.

 

[Pinhedd]

Sorry for the Enterprise comment, I meant to say win7 Ultimate w/SP1 .. Anyways what I mean by the Vista thing, it looked like my computer couldn't get rid of the Nvidia drivers completely for some reason, as after installing the 7770's drivers, the card started interferring with almost every application I have. (Firefox/apps/games by shutting them down with the same error everytime), so I did a clean install of Win7 rather than upgrade to get completely rid of the error.

That doesn't surprise me. Windows Vista uses WDDM 1.0 which only supports having a single display driver installed. Windows 7 uses WDDM 1.1 which supports having multiple display drivers

 

[blakwidowrsa]

You might have meant it differently, apologies then. But your CPU is not throttling the GPU. In fact the CPU is throttling itself to stop it from melting, and in turn causes the GPU to wait for the next instruction. --This explains the sudden fps drop as the CPU is processing as fast as possible and the temp skyrockets.

The reason I asked if you did a clean install was because I needed to know if a software issue was not carried over to win7.

But that out of the way, one of your questions was why did it start to happen since installing win7... Well, you kinda said you only got the card recently and when you tried to install it in vista it 'messed' the OS up. Therefore, the high CPU temperature never really had time to show issues in vista, as you never could run the 7770 and the C2Q together, right?

That means the CPU only noticeably started cooking when you could install the 3d drivers and test games. I would think that your CPU is simply working harder as it doesn't have to wait for the 9600 anymore.

Intel ark says the Q6600 has a TDP of around 105 W. Which explains the ~80*C under load.

Take a desktop fan and have it blow directly into the case withh the side panel off, see if the fps drops are better. If it is, reapply thermal paste to CPU.

The only other thing I can think of is that it is only running about 10 degrees C higher than recommended. ie The B3 stepping @ 62.2°C and G0 @ 71°C so a better cooler should take ~10*C off easily vs a stock.

Don't stress too much about it, just check that case-fan too.
I Remember there where Pentium 4's and -D's from the 'Prescott' family that did 80-95*C even more ^^

 

[DemonicSoul]

The problem is it seems to get worse with every time I boot, I tried pushing down the pins and tried another boot and the thing went from 90s to 100s, it had enough in the end and the computer shut down automatically before I tried to shut it down myself, my search for thermal paste failed as shops here in Dubai aren't very tech minded so I'm gonna have to make a long drive tomorrow to find some.

Didn't really pay attention to when the case fan stopped working but it definitely has something to do with why the card started heating and maybe the fact that the thermal paste has dissolved. That case fan is the only fan I got other than the one on the CPU and GPU and it seems to have done me good as I've had this computer for over 3 years and my specs aren't exactly monstrous.

 

[blakwidowrsa]

Agreed.

But now its 90s to 100s ? Woooooot??

I know its warm in Dubai, but is it that hectic? ^^
No, but that is abnormal then



Switch off, switch off...! You might start to seriously damage the cpu with 100+ for long periods.

Let me think......

 

[blakwidowrsa]

As a temporary measure you could seperate the cpu and heatsink by cuttting a piece of tiinfoil the same size as the cpu's surface contact area, dont get oil on it. A single layer where cpu and heatsink meet is enough.

Tin is an excellent conductor, you can try this fix temporarily, until you can get proper thermal paste.

 

[Pinhedd]

As a temporary measure you could seperate the cpu and heatsink by cuttting a piece of tiinfoil the same size as the cpu's surface contact area, dont get oil on it. A single layer where cpu and heatsink meet is enough.

Tin is an excellent conductor, you can try this fix temporarily, until you can get proper thermal paste.

Does that actually work? Sounds a lot like Indigo Xtreme which I've been itching to try out

 

[DemonicSoul]

I can wait on the CPU until tomorrow. I'm not really familiar with CPUs and definitely not this whole pin thing, but are the pins supposed to be really firm? Because the top two come off easy and the bottom two seemed like they won't budge until I use more force.

 

[GhislainG]

I can wait on the CPU until tomorrow. I'm not really familiar with CPUs and definitely not this whole pin thing, but are the pins supposed to be really firm? Because the top two come off easy and the bottom two seemed like they won't budge until I use more force.

All pins have to be firmly in place; otherwise the CPU will overheat.

 

[blakwidowrsa]

Does that actually work? Sounds a lot like Indigo Xtreme which I've been itching to try out

Yes. The tin is soft enough to make a good contact. ^^

 

[DemonicSoul]

I finally fixed the thing! Turns out the heatsink had a broken pin which I figured when they were easily dismantled when I pull the thing. Anyways, I managed to get the case fan running and replaced the heasink, getting in the 30s now while I'm idle.

Thanks everyone!

 

[blakwidowrsa]

Excellent ^^