Processor Overheating

[ÆONFLUX]

Ya, 1 & 2 I agree with. The problem is you might be forced to do one of the two. You might have the voltage to your CPU being too high for what you need also.


But 60C idle is NOT Normal. At least with my Q6600 the maximum recommended (correct me if I am wrong anybody) temperature from the intel site is 71C....With 70+ under load you have a cooling problem definitely that could damage hardware.

If all else fails look into a

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...08,1779-8.html

The folks over at Toms Hardware LOVED this one. It was horrible to install but the air cooling was magnificent. 62.5C max load max temp with a Core 2 Extreme QX6850 3.0ghz stock.

If you look at that article too you notice ALOT of posers. Some of these big bad 120mm fan rigs run 15-25C+ over the cooler I mentioned.



If you think its power and dont care about your heat shutoff settings change those in your BIOS to something higher and test out boxing again?

[sikerdebaard]

[..] thermal paste [..]

How much thermal paste did you use? Usualy, spread out the paste evenly on the core, but make the layer of paste as thin as possible, altough not too thin. Usualy, a drop at the size of a Pea (Y'know, like these) is enough. Creditcards are godlike when it comes to spreading the paste evenly.

I've seen quite a few PC's overheat due to large amounts of paste. It works like an insulation if theres too much of it.

[Razma]

I've reformatted my computer just to see it's effects as underclocking my CPU and lowering the voltage. I really don't like having to do that but I haven't crashed since doing so. Temps don't jump to 70C+ anymore either. Not exactly steps I want to take but since they are working for the moment I guess they'll have to do until new power supply comes and I can see if that helps. Hopefully the old one not supplying enough power to the vid card is the cause, though I'm not fully seeing how that'd be the case for over heating the cpu.

[Ozbert]

EDIT: Oops, Sikerdebaard replied with exactly the same advice while I was typing my reply ^^

How much thermal paste are you using? If you use too much, it'll act as a thermal insulator rather than a conductor.

When I apply paste to my CPU's, I put a tiny spot about the size of a matchhead on the CPU die, and then use the straight edge of a plastic card to spread it out into a thin smooth layer over the whole surface.

For Core 2 CPU's, the metal cap on the CPU is quite large, so you'll need more than a matchhead sized dollop, but it still needs to be smoothed out into a thin layer.

This has always worked well for me.

[bugilt]

These reviews mention some problems with the Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler. It might help you find your problem.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...OnlyMark=False
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rk=False&Page=

[Ughmahedhurtz]

EDIT: Oops, Sikerdebaard replied with exactly the same advice while I was typing my reply ^^

How much thermal paste are you using? If you use too much, it'll act as a thermal insulator rather than a conductor.

When I apply paste to my CPU's, I put a tiny spot about the size of a matchhead on the CPU die, and then use the straight edge of a plastic card to spread it out into a thin smooth layer over the whole surface.

For Core 2 CPU's, the metal cap on the CPU is quite large, so you'll need more than a matchhead sized dollop, but it still needs to be smoothed out into a thin layer.

This has always worked well for me.

I hate to pick nits but this is misleading. If you use any of the good quality brands like Arctic Silver or the OEM stock stuff that is thermal PASTE (as opposed to thermal GLUE), you should never experience this problem as long as your motherboard, CPU cooler mounting adapter and heatsink are all within proper spec. When I install these things, I just put a blob in the middle, spread it out to about dime-size and then push the heatsink straight down onto it while I'm attaching the mounting spring/clip/screws/etc. I've been doing that since I started working at Compaq in '98 and I've yet to have a CPU experience a thermal bloom due to bad thermal conductivity. I had one device fail on me due to heat once but it was because the paste I was using was old and had lost its viscosity and, thus, developed an air bubble in the middle of the CPU's thermal block. Once I added some newer paste to it and re-mounted it, things were fine again.

Just my experience. For the lurkers, if you know enough about this subject to be confident in understanding the ramifications of paste quality, this is probably not news to you. If the above doesn't make sense, you may be better served to have it done by a professional.

[zanthor]

The heatsync your using is aluminum, I've always prefered copper for it's superior transfer of heat... I'm also not a big fan of the heat pipe models, there's something satisfying about a solid block of copper sitting on your cpu, fins of the heatsync right there...

of course, I'm not an engineer either, so maybe it's just my preference.

Edit: It's nickle plated copper...

http://www.engineersedge.com/properties_of_metals.htm

According to this chart Nickle is rated at 52.4 btu / (hr - ft - f) and Copper is 231 btu / (hr - ft - f)... Had they left the copper block uncoated and the pipes uncoated this may rock as long as it' mounts well (reading the reviews many users had mounting difficulties).

[Qlimax]

I had the same problem with 2 8800 Ultras and a 6400+ BE X2 inside a Thermaltake Mozart Case. FYI, this case has no intake whatsoever for the mobo area... I couldnt see this from pictures. As dirty as it may seem, I have a fast/semi loud fan blowing directly into the side case (door removed) and I spray it with Co2(l) every few weeks because of the more dust built up without a side. It works quite well, also make sure you have good exhaust. I also ended up buying 3 slot fans and made some holes in the excess space.