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i7 860 running at 100c practically idol

K

KillFeed

Junior Member
Hey there and thanks for your time.

I am currently running a:

Gigabyte H55 UD3H
i7 860
Heatsink that came with the i7 (I know 🙁)
Corsair 2x2GB ddr3 1600mhz (Waiting for 4x4GB Vengeance 1600Mhz delivery)
Some 600W Power supply which I cant find anywhere anymore

I have had this system for over a year now and hadn't had any problems with it until I checked CPUID Hardware Monitor to find the following:

hvHiI.png


I have no idea how long this has been going on for without me noticing but the temperature bounces from 97c to 99c and never seems to go above that 😵. I should no that I have not overclocked this computer in anyway.

In case maybe there was some sort of temperature/software fault I turned the computer off overnight to see if the temperature would still be high in the morning. As soon as it booted up, I checked again and the temperature was at around 80c. Would it be possible for a computer to climb so high from cold?

I have ordered some Compressed air for tomorrow and hoping that the problem is just dust in the fan, if this doesn't do it I might be looking to buy a Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler or something along those lines

Thanks for your help! 😀
 
Have you reached down and touched the base of the heatsink? Is it really that hot? You probably never go over 99 because that could be the max value the sensor is able to report.

When you do reapply the thermal paste, check to see if it actually distributed.

1e4akp.jpg


Check for that distribution pattern. Yes you'll need to pull the hsf off twice, once to clean what you got now (the thermal pad), then once to check for the distribution pattern you see on the left side of the above image.
 
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Did you check to see if your heatsink did not fall off, or is falling off? Those stock coolers have plastic tabs which have been known to break.
 
Sorry, but thermal paste has nothing to do with it. He could have none, and it wouldn't get that hot, or he could have way too much, and it wouldn't get that hot. The heatsink has to be nearly fallen off for that to happen, if the readings are accurate.
 
Ferzerp said:
Sorry, but thermal paste has nothing to do with it. He could have none, and it wouldn't get that hot, or he could have way too much, and it wouldn't get that hot. The heatsink has to be nearly fallen off for that to happen, if the readings are accurate.
Click to expand...

Um.. what? Thermal paste helps transfer heat. If there is none then you're screwed. For single core thermal paste is optional but this is a quad core....
 
T_Yamamoto said:
Um.. what? Thermal paste helps transfer heat. If there is none then you're screwed. For single core thermal paste is optional but this is a quad core....
Click to expand...


Your heat transfer will be poor, yes, but even if there is none, you will not reach 99C at idle. Under load? Likely, but idle, no. those temps at idle suggest a major mechanical issue with the heatsink (as in, it's not seated).
 
KillFeed said:
I have ordered some Compressed air for tomorrow and hoping that the problem is just dust in the fan
Click to expand...

This could very likely be the culprit, if you have NEVER cleaned it out before now. If it looks like this:

intel-cpu-heat-sink-dusty.jpg


Uh, yeah. Clean that sucker off. No need to remove it or reapply thermal compound.
 
Ferzerp said:
Your heat transfer will be poor, yes, but even if there is none, you will not reach 99C at idle. Under load? Likely, but idle, no. those temps at idle suggest a major mechanical issue with the heatsink (as in, it's not seated).
Click to expand...


I agree with what you are saying. At idle with a heatsink properly on it wont hit 100c...That suggests the heatsink is on VERY loose, so loose that it is likely "tilted" and not touching a large portion of the cpu at all. Even a 1mm gap between the cpu and HS is enough to cause temps like that.

As far as thermal paste goes, I reccomend IC diamond. The stuff is among the best out there, its EASY to apply [unlike Tuniq Tx 4 iirc] and it can be used on a large assortment of items.
 
Also another issue might come down to the software reporting the wrong values...Download CPUZ and check your mhz at load real quick as soon as you boot up.

Lets say your Cpu is 3000mhz for example. If your Cpu is *really* hitting temps that are that insanely hot then your Cpu will throttle down very quickly once it reaches 90c+. Cpuz will show your cpu cutting its mhz down more and more as needed to not destroy itself. If it never throttles down under load then most likely your software is lying.
 
Haha, I had a PentiumD that would do this - and then shut down, of course. It would run for a couple minutes and then shut off.

Of course, one of the pins wasn't "popping" through like it was supposed to, I had somehow turned the the black tab to the wrong position.

And don't those suckers get tough to put on after they have been used once or twice and the white plastic pieces are spread so they won't go through the darn holes! I have had to resort to taking out the motherboard more times than I care to admit - to the point where I only very grudgingly use the Intel HS - like in my WHS where I know that I will be playing with the hardware only very minimally. GL OP.
 
Zap said:
This could very likely be the culprit, if you have NEVER cleaned it out before now. If it looks like this:

intel-cpu-heat-sink-dusty.jpg


Uh, yeah. Clean that sucker off. No need to remove it or reapply thermal compound.
Click to expand...

Zap, even with no fan, will the stock HS keep it under 100 idle?

Actually, a good test for this is to leave the system off until it has had a chance to cool. Boot it up and immediately check the temps. If they are already 99, if they are accurate, I would suspect heat isn't transferring to the HS at all. If it takes a while to heat up, but eventually does reach it, it's likely you have 0 airflow but are "cooled" as long as it takes to bring your HS up to 99C
 
I have tested this myself on an i5-750: With no hsf at all, I turned on the computer and put my finger on the middle of the heatspreader. Then I waited to see how long it took to get "hot". (To where I had to remove my finger, about 60C)

I work with FPGAs that run at 60C all the time so I have a good feel for temps.

Anyway it took about 30 seconds for the chip to get really hot. So its not like these things are real cookers. I think even with that dusty fan shown above, it should not idle above 60C.
 
Thanks for your responses guys, after checking the heat sink it seemed to not be moving at all, I cleaned it off with some compressed air and put it back on (I do not have any Thermal Paste right now, but have ordered some good grade stuff for tomorrow, which means I'm running my computer with hardened old thermal paste for now being careful.)

I remembered that I changed a setting in BIO's to get the RAM to work at 1600Mhz it was supposed to work at instead of the 1333mhz it has been running at for a while. It turns out that changing that option back fixed my problem. Because I removed the heat sink and could not reapply the thermal paste my system is prone to sudden heat spikes if I'm not careful.

My question now, is why does my computer think that my RAM is at 1333Mhz instead of the 1600Mhz it is capable of?

Thanks for all of your Reply's, Extremely helpful 😀
 
Haha, thank goodness for overtemp protection! A decade (or less) ago you would have just smoked that thing and it would have been dead (or on fire!?!).

Have some alcohol on hand and take your time. Hopefully this will be a once and done activity for this PC.
 
Killfeed I really see no way that changing your RAM from 1600mhz to 1333mhz could fix this problem.

Take the advice already in this thread and before you do anything else try another couple of pieces of software to confirm those temps are accurate. If they are you would be better running with no TIM compared to what you have at the moment, if it has dried out and started to break up it will cause large air pockets between the cpu and the heatsink.

So

1. Double and triple check with different software those temps are accurate
2. If the TIM really is dried out and cracking up remove it
3. Buy new TIM and while you are messing about in there give the heatsink a good clean
4. Consider not running the pc until the problem is fixed
5. Maybe look into an aftermarket CPU cooler for a relatively small outlay you will get much better cooling than the standard intel one.
6. Get in the habit of keeping a temp monitoring program open in the background at all times, excessive heat will kill a CPU just as surely as excessive voltage will.
 
Not sure when intel IMC'd its CPUs, but I know that on my SB setup which does have IMC that when I slowed the RAM from 1866 to 1600 it did result in a few degrees of cooling. Makes sense as the IMC is not working as hard -- less heat. Now I would definitely doubt more than 8 deg drop just from downclocking the RAM.
 
Thanks all, Especially Puppies. I have taken everything and now have a very healthy CPU:

EyaNY.png


I wasn't sure what kind of response I would get from posting on this site but I'm glad that I did, because I got a brilliant response.

Thanks all again!
 
KillFeed said:
Thanks all, Especially Puppies. I have taken everything and now have a very healthy CPU:

EyaNY.png


I wasn't sure what kind of response I would get from posting on this site but I'm glad that I did, because I got a brilliant response.

Thanks all again!
Click to expand...

You are very welcome 😀
 
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