AMD Phenom II x4 945 running hot, suggestion?

[dbruce1990]

Hi, I hope I am posting this in the correct place!!!

I have a AMD Phenom II x4 945 (not BE):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

I have been reading more about computers lately and have realized my CPU runs pretty hot, I think almost dangerous temps? I discovered the famous prime95 the other day and have been running tests (none 12 hours yet, but i think 5 hours 0 errors though last night), and I have been watching my cpu temp in AMD overdrive as well as CPUID-s HWMonitor and both give the same reading at full load I sit at 90 degrees celsius, and at a fresh boot from being turned off all night, it's still at like 53... Since building this in 2009 I've always looked at my pc as a heater lol...but i never really thought anything of it, and i didn't want to drop anymore money cause I felt like i dropped too much for my purposes at the time.

Anyways, after playing poking my nose around toms and some other sites, after having the idea to build a pc, as it's been 4 years, I was gonna build a new one until some people suggested otherwise. Before I discovered the high temps.

After running some benchmarks in prime95 and comparing to some prime95 benchmark tests with other cpu's (i could not find any 945 editions but i saw 940 and 955, and i beat all of 940's times...(I just realized i never checked the 955 lol...)) and obtaining a gtx560 for next to nothing from a friend... I've decided instead that it might be better to invest money in a SSD and some new ddr3 1600 16GB(cause that's all my board supports), I am only on 6gb and on average i consume 4 or more gigs pretty steady unless I close out programs regularly. As well as look into some new cooling options.

So now my questions are:
a) should I spend some money on a new heatsink and fan and get some fresh thermal paste for the processor? Will this cool the cpu enough to cool my nerves, as I am uneasy about it. Seems as if 35celcius seems to be the desired temp at idle, where i am roughly 53? (though I almost always have some program loaded up I am not one to close out of stuff unless it is not important to me(personaly)).

b) if a new processor is not a whole lot more($50?) than better cooling, do I just go with a new CPU? and at that point do i grab a new mobo as well? I have an asus m4a78t-e 790gx chip am3 socket supporting up to 16gb dual channel(so i think my upgrade abilities are getting slimmer this day in age, no?) I just don't want to put money into it if I will end up replacing them in like 12-18 months...

c)do i get a new case as well? I have thought about getting another fan...but hell, I can not imagine where you would put it...my PSU has so many damn cables going every which way..it's just a mess and i have all the extra's just zip tied away because i'm nervous of them dangling and a lot of them sit really close to my processor (they don't touch i made sure of it, just uncomfortable to me)

this was my first build ever, and I have enjoyed the hell out of it until the last few months here, even after a fresh install of win7 64 pro. I do not mind, but I want to seek advice from people who have done this a lot more than me this time around, as I feel I could have got more bang for what i put into it originally. I apologize this turned into a short novel, but I feel it is necessary if you are to give me informed advice.

If I am forgetting anything important, or you have other suggestions, I am all ears.

Thank you all so much for the advice in advance!

 

[cmi86]

pull the cooler off and re apply new thermal paste. clean old paste off CPU and cooler using 80% alcohol and a lint free rag. After you have cleaned the components apply a small amount of quality thermal paste (like Arctic Silver 5) roughly the size of a BB in the center of the CPU. Re apply the cooler and check temps.

 

[dbruce1990]

So I went to best buy to grab some thermal paste...walked out with an Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System and some antec formula 7 thermal paste:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209053

Wasn't 100% if it had paste on the heatsink already, so I just bought it, 15$ to make sure I didn't have to drive around again haha. GLAD I bought it cause after 3 hours of sitting there like "dafuq...how do i attach backplate?" and finally getting it all hooked up after watching some very helpful tutorials (glad i'm not the only one that opened the instruction pamphlet and was like..."where are the instructions?!" since they were so vague) I bump the heatsink trying to attach it to the cpu chip....*sigh* scraped and cleaned it up and pressed down nice and firm using the BB/pea method, ( i may have been a little generous on how large of pea's we're talking but i didn't see anything oozing out the sides or anything, so I assumed I was in the clear....might have been a dumb ass assumption though)

I'm not sure if going the liquid cooling route was overkill, but for 70 bucks, it says it fits up to am3+ or the 1155 sockets(dunno much about intel honestly correct me if i'm wrong) so whenever i get a new cpu/mobo it should fit in there. Ended up being pretty easy install once I understood what the backplate was for lol. And I feel much safer looking into overclocking as I have been running prime95, 100% cpu load, at 34 degrees celcius for the last hour. I'm sure it will hit roughly 40 today as it is a pretty cool morning, we shall see.

Also how long does thermal paste last for future reference so I don't run into this problem again? When I took the stock heatsink off, remembering how it was spread when I originally put the cpu in, I kind of laughed at myself. I was dried up and scarce, no wonder it was so hot! Made me feel like I was the idiot who goes to change the oil in their car, and only puts new oil in, because there was no oil to drain out! It did run roughly 4 years with that paste...

Lesson learned.

 

[cmi86]

Good deal. Probably just needed new paste then. Always nice to replace the stock cooler though.