Core i7 930 reaches 95°-100°C

[Potatoes]

My Intel Core i7 930 seems to have a heating issue. Prime 95 shoots the processor up to 100°C, intensive games bring it up to 95°c. At idle loads, the CPU averages 50-60c. Occasionally ill get the warning message that the CPU overheated during boot. My motherboard is a ASUS P6x58d, and every other component in the case runs very cool. The CPU cooler is the stock that came with the processor.
Heres a screenshot of the temps at full loads

Hot Hot Hot!


I installed the heat-sink for the first time rather loosely, so I reinstalled it again. Maybe im doing something wrong, but all the pins snap in place and the cooler itself is tight. Here's some pictures of the heat sink and cpu.





I know bad installations will fetch rather high CPU temps, but...100°C?

 

[hunter315]

First, STOP USING YOUR SYSTEM!!! 100C is more than enough to do permanent damage to the CPU.

Second, the source of your overheating is likely the re installation of the heatsink without reapplying thermal paste. When you remove a heatsink you need to reapply the thermal paste because there are now air pockets that keep the heat from getting transferred to the heatsink efficiently.

 

[enzo matrix]

Second, the source of your overheating is likely the re installation of the heatsink without reapplying thermal paste.
Personally think you also applied a bit too much thermal compound, causing some insulation.
That would certainly not cause an increase on load of 40C above normal though.

100C is more than enough to do permanent damage to the CPU.

*cough* thermal protection *cough* But yeah, I still would not run it at that temperature for an extended period. You are approaching where the thermal protection would kick in also. The CPU would either throttle itself or shut down.


1. What are your ambient temperatures?
2. What is your case fan setup?
3. Is there any dust?
4. When you put your hand on the heatsink, does it actually feel that hot?
5. That is extremely hot. I would double and triple check to make sure that heatsink is secure and tight.

 

[Potatoes]

1. What are your ambient temperatures? Living Room Temperature is 23c, or 78f. The case is inside my desk,

2. What is your case fan setup? I have 2 230mm fans, and about a 1X0mm fan in the front. Its a HAF 932. Every other component in this computer is very cool, more so than I thought. But the processor is creating global warming heat.

3. Is there any dust? No dust whatsoever, this is a 3 day old machine.

4. When you put your hand on the heatsink, does it actually feel that hot? It does feel hot!

5. That is extremely hot. I would double and triple check to make sure that heatsink is secure and tight. No kidding! Ill keep working with the heatsink. I know improperly seated heatsinks cause thermal problems, but just getting that hot is worrying.

Two Questions:

*How can I safely remove thermal compound from the processor and heatsink?

*Could this be a defective/bad processor? Or can any bad heat sink set up cause that?

 

[Scotteq]

To remove the thermal compound: Scrape with a suitable object (not metal) - a credit card works great. Then wipe down with isopropyl alcohol and a lint free rag.


As far as defective processor: I doubt it.

 

[Potatoes]

Ok, so I tried reseating it twice now. The max temp dropped about 5C.

Any other suggestions?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Did you replace the thermal paste every time you re-seated the HSF like hunter315 suggested? My only thought is that you're installing the HSF with the pins turned in the wrong direction. The pins need to be turned the OPPOSITE direction as the arrows for installation. A lot of people miss that one very important section of the instructions. If you continue to have problems then you can just replace the stock cooler with one that bolts down to completely eliminate the push-pins.

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

 

[thestrangebrew]

How much thermal compound are you putting on it? And are you 100% positive you've seated the HS properly? If you are and temps are still running that hot, I'd maybe try an aftermarket cooler.

Here's some directions from Arctic Silver on application to an i7:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

 

[blackhawk1928]

Okay here is what i would do.

Take your case out of your desk and put in the middle of the room where there is plenty of open space around all sides of it.

Clean the top of your CPU and heat sink of the thermal paste with maybe an alcohol wipe or something. Once there, apply a tiny amount of thermal paste onto the heat sink and spread a very thin layer, and when I mean thin...it means extremely thin. Thermal paste is supposed to fill in microscopic imperfections in the machined metal surfaces...not act as butter between two pieces of bread. Also put your computer on the side so the heat sink is laying on the CPU, gravity will tell you weather it is on tight enough.

But on the other hand, i'd dump your heatsink and thermal paste and pick up a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ HSF and Artic Silver MX7 or 5 thermal paste.

 

[Potatoes]

Yeah, im going to buy a new heatsink and everything. Ive re-heatsinked it about 5-6 times today with new thermal paste. Hopefully installation is easier.

I really wanted to save some money for Audio Technica's.

Im going to try shortstuff_mt's method a few more times then ill choose a best answer.

And I think I ruined my HSF with all the scratches I got on the copper surface.

 

[Potatoes]

Update: Well I took everything apart and reseated the HSF in the opposite direction.

The processor maxes out at around 75C.

Apparently thats still hot, but 25C is a giant improvment. I may get a new HSF later on after some headphones. Thanks guys!