I5 3570k Using far too much than it should

[ThreeDog]

Last night I noticed something rather odd occuring with my cpu. I was converting a video when a pop up appeared saying "Warning, CPU temp 70c" at first I figured it was a virus as I'd never seen it before, then I realised it was Asus Suite II telling me this. Realised shortly after my CPU was running at 100%.

Quickly closed it and fiddled around to see what was wrong, nothing so far has done anything to help. Playing Team Fortress 2 takes my CPU to 70c+ and uses 50-80% load when before it would use 30-40..

I really don't understand why all of a sudden it's using far more to do the same as it used to. I can no longer render videos or play any games without the CPU going into dangerous temp levels. And I don't want to fork out £60 for a cooler that can keep it low when it's 100% load when it shouldn't even be at 100% load

Any suggestions would help a lot, I've not found any answers for this at all.

 

[twelve25]

Even if your CPU was running at 100% all day long for a week, you should not be getting high temps like that. Is your fan still working? Can you open the case while the computer is on and check? Also check to make sure you don't have major dust buildup.

 

[ThreeDog]

Even if your CPU was running at 100% all day long for a week, you should not be getting high temps like that. Is your fan still working? Can you open the case while the computer is on and check? Also check to make sure you don't have major dust buildup.

The temperature is only high due to the load that shouldn't be there. I'm just using a regular CPU fan that came with the CPU itself which explains the temps

But when my CPU was actually functioning correctly it never went above 60c.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

First download and run HWMonitor I have found it gives me the best temperatures with the 2nd and 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors.

Based on what you said above I am going to guess that you are using the stock HSF (heatsink/fan). So reach into the case and grab each one of the twist clips in turn on the stock HSF and see if you can pull it straight up. If you can pull any of them straight up they were not seated well and this is the reason for your high temperatures.

Just so you know the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K can reach up to 105c without damaging the processor but you dont want to run it that high.

 

[twelve25]

Well you can troubleshoot the load or the cooling first, but regardless of the CPU load, you should have cooling that can handle it. I can leave my CPU running at 100% processing large video for hours and it doesn't overheat. So that's a problem.

If you are having phantom CPU load, time to download process explorer and start hunting down the source.

 

[ThreeDog]

First download and run HWMonitor I have found it gives me the best temperatures with the 2nd and 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors.

Based on what you said above I am going to guess that you are using the stock HSF (heatsink/fan). So reach into the case and grab each one of the twist clips in turn on the stock HSF and see if you can pull it straight up. If you can pull any of them straight up they were not seated well and this is the reason for your high temperatures.

Just so you know the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K can reach up to 105c without damaging the processor but you dont want to run it that high.

I checked my heatsink/fan earlier and they were in correctly. And my thermal paste is still 'intact' as the CPU is only a few months old. But as previously stated the temps aren't really my problem; it's the fact it's using far too much for tasks it wasn't before, nobody seems to be able to explain why that is

 

[ThreeDog]

Well you can troubleshoot the load or the cooling first, but regardless of the CPU load, you should have cooling that can handle it. I can leave my CPU running at 100% processing large video for hours and it doesn't overheat. So that's a problem.

If you are having phantom CPU load, time to download process explorer and start hunting down the source.

I wouldn't really say it's 'phantom' load as it's just tasks using more than they did only a week or so ago. I used to render videos in Vegas and my cpu never went past 50.
Any game I played wouldn't go past 50 either, now the same games are 50-80 and rendering is 100% all the time

 

[twelve25]

Your CPU should hit 100% rendering video. Games should spike to near 100% occasionally. That's normal. You want to be getting the performance your CPU is capable of, not running stuff at half speed.

 

[ThreeDog]

Your CPU should hit 100% rendering video. Games should spike to near 100% occasionally. That's normal. You want to be getting the performance your CPU is capable of, not running stuff at half speed.

There's no difference in performance. My games ran at 60 fps max settings before with barely any load - now they run the same, but with just a much higher load. When I rendered it never hit 100% but I could render a 30 minute video in around 11-12 minutes (fast enough for what I use it for)