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CPU idles at 3 billion degrees.

jpegjpeg ODIE, YOUR FACEScenic Illinois FlatlandsRegistered User regular
edited May 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
My CPU overheated a few times this week because of a problem with my initial application of thermal paste I did when I built the PC.
So I finally sucked it up and reapplied the thermal paste yesterday, but it didn't change the idle temp at all.
Today, I went out and got a new heatsink and fan, and applied fresh thermal paste again (thoroughly cleaning the heatspreader on the cpu, etc etc) and it is still fucking idling at 58C.
Honestly, I have no idea what to do. I have okay airflow inside the case, one intake in the front and one on the side, and one exhaust on the back (not counting the PSU). All 80mm fans.
All of them were cleaned yesterday. I am positive I put the heatsink on correctly, I pushed the pins through until I heard an audible "click", and it does not move from the motherboard at all.
Basically, I have no idea what to do anymore.

For what it's worth, the cpu is an intel Q6600, is just shy of a year old, and ambient temperature in the case is like 30-33C (the room I am in is very warm anyway).


edited because for some reason my text just kept going right and broke the tables.

so I just type in this box and it goes on the screen?
jpeg on

Posts

  • LynxLynx Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    jpeg wrote: »
    My CPU overheated a few times this week because of a problem with my initial application of thermal paste I did when I built the PC.
    So I finally sucked it up and reapplied the thermal paste yesterday, but it didn't change the idle temp at all.
    Today, I went out and got a new heatsink and fan, and applied fresh thermal paste again (thoroughly cleaning the heatspreader on the cpu, etc etc) and it is still fucking idling at 58C.
    Honestly, I have no idea what to do. I have okay airflow inside the case, one intake in the front and one on the side, and one exhaust on the back (not counting the PSU). All 80mm fans.
    All of them were cleaned yesterday. I am positive I put the heatsink on correctly, I pushed the pins through until I heard an audible "click", and it does not move from the motherboard at all.
    Basically, I have no idea what to do anymore.

    For what it's worth, the cpu is an intel Q6600, is just shy of a year old, and ambient temperature in the case is like 30-33C (the room I am in is very warm anyway).


    edited because for some reason my text just kept going right and broke the tables.

    I just opened my case. It lowered the temp about 10C when I did that.

    Lynx on
  • evilmrhenryevilmrhenry Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    How much thermal paste are you using? It should be nearly invisible, just enough to fill in the gaps.

    evilmrhenry on
  • jpegjpeg ODIE, YOUR FACE Scenic Illinois FlatlandsRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    evilmrhenry wrote: »
    How much thermal paste are you using? It should be nearly invisible, just enough to fill in the gaps.

    slightly more than this, I put a line down the middle of the cpu then let the heatsink spread it.

    jpeg on
    so I just type in this box and it goes on the screen?
  • FagatronFagatron Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Way too much paste. You're aiming to recreate what happens when you stick a drop of water in between two sheets of glass. Fill in the slight surface imperfections and create surface tension between the CPU and the heatsink.

    Take it apart, clean the paste off of the CPU and Heatsink, reapply it by putting a little, pea shaped glob of it in the middle of the CPU and reattach the Heatsink.

    You want to be doing this:

    articlethermalcompound2.th.jpg

    Not this:

    02pasteapplied.th.jpg

    And definitely not this:

    p3s.th.jpg



    Ironically all these came from a GIS of "thermal paste, how to, picture" so I guess there is some confusion out there as to the proper technique.

    Fagatron on
  • DemerdarDemerdar Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I'm willing to bet, jpeg, that your temp monitor on your chip is probably broked. At least, that's what I can deduce from past experience. I had the exact same problem ya know. I had built computers in the past that idled around 30 C, but I for the life of me could not figure out why the hell I was idling near 60 C on my new machine.

    The overheating issue probably stems from the fact that your computer is reading different temps than you are actually getting. In fact, with working with temperature sensors, they can be pretty finicky. A slight change in voltage that the thermo-couple reads can drastically change your temp.

    Or I could be completely wrong and your processor is about to fry.

    Demerdar on
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  • evilmrhenryevilmrhenry Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    jpeg wrote: »
    evilmrhenry wrote: »
    How much thermal paste are you using? It should be nearly invisible, just enough to fill in the gaps.

    slightly more than this, I put a line down the middle of the cpu then let the heatsink spread it.

    I'm not sure how well that would work. Last time, I used a dab of paste (about the same amount as in Fagatron's first pix), then spread it around with a used gift card.

    If the temp is still high after this, I'd suspect a broken thermometer.

    evilmrhenry on
  • ApogeeApogee Lancks In Every Game Ever Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Check the temperature int he BIOS right after a cold boot. I'ma ssuming you're using some windows app to check the temp, and they can be wildly innacurate. If the temps are much different at idle, you'll know something is up.

    Apogee on
  • jpegjpeg ODIE, YOUR FACE Scenic Illinois FlatlandsRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    The very first time I booted it up with the new heatsink and fan, I let it sit in the bios for 3-4 minutes watching the temp, and it seemed to stick at 31-33c, but when I booted it up and opened speedfan as programs opened, I watched it go from 49-58c. So while it could still definitely be the thermometer issue or an error on speedfan's part, it isn't totally out of the realm of possibility.

    Just downloaded Core Temp, and it says that I am idling with the average of my 4 cores being something like 35C, up to 45 under load. This is awesome, and makes me think that speedfan just isn't reading my temperatures correctly.

    jpeg on
    so I just type in this box and it goes on the screen?
  • mechaThormechaThor Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    jpeg wrote: »
    This is awesome, and makes me think that speedfan just isn't reading my temperatures correctly.

    Seems like that to me. From my experience Core Temp is very reliable, whereas I've had problems with Speed Fan. Also I'm pretty sure you have to massively fuck up your thermal paste application to make the difference between 35 deg idle and 58 deg, but I could be wrong.

    mechaThor on
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  • MadpandaMadpanda suburbs west of chicagoRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Speedfan can be off depending on your motherboard/cp, I remember before updating my bios I had to take -15c off anything speedfan gave me. Also look up the instructions for applying thermal paste to a q6600, when using arctic silver 5 the "proper" way to do it is to create a thin line from top to bottom in a certain direction.

    Madpanda on
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  • DemerdarDemerdar Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Yeah, also to note in my case.. yeah I was getting GREAT core temperatures with coretemp.. so yeah. I'm willing to bet the thermocouple on your motherboard is busted.

    Demerdar on
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