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Scratching my head: why are idle CPU temperatures so high

Z

zobsky

Junior Member
CPU: Phenom II X6 1100 BE
MB: ASUS M5A97 EVO : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131757
Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Pro

I'm pretty sure everything is installed correctly. I tried two separate installs with different TIM (one with Arctic Silver, and the other with the stock Cooler Master heatsink goop). The idle CPU temperature is about 50 - 55 C (this is with the case side open, air blowing through the heatsink and out through the rear of the (rather large full sized antec tower) case and all rear exhaust fans on. I even tried adding another fan to the heatsink in push-pull config but to no avail. The heatsink fins are slightly warm and warmer still nearer the CPU core. Ambient temperature is about 27 C (80 F). See picture for other details on voltage , MB temperature etc.

When I removed the heatsink in between the experiments with AS and CM compounds, the TIM seemed to have spread out thinly and evenly.

This is for a new build, so I don't have any OS yet.

I'm contemplating putting on the stock phenom heatsink (yet unused) to compare, but would anyone have any other ideas before I get to that this evening. It's going to be a bit of a process (taking the MB out of the case, reinstalling stock rear plates on the motherboard ...)


Thanks



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When you change between compounds, I hope you cleaned the mating surfaces very well. Small particulate can prevent the mating surfaces between the CPU and the HS/fan. Windex works well to remove old compound.

When you apply the new stuff, use a VERY thin coating. The compound is intended to fill microscopic gaps between the surface of the HS and the chip. Anything more will impede thermal transfer, not improve it. I usually put a small BB size drop on the chip and use my finger to spread it.

Windex removes it from fingers, too. 😎

In this previous thread, others and I gave similar advice, and the OP reported that his CPU temperature went down 8°.

Good luck. Hope that helps. 🙂
 
Welcom to the forum 😀

You do realize that your idle temps in bios are not idle temps at all don't you. I'm sure once you load an OS and check your temps you'll notice a very nice drop in idle temps. Currently your temps most likely would be comparable to playing a game that is multi-threaded 🙂
 
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Thanks.

1. I always clean both heatsink and CPU with high purity rubbing alcohol in between installs. I've done this many times over the years. I tried both the dot and line methods for applying heatsink compound this time.

2. Yes, I used as thin a layer as possible, barely covering the engraving on the CPU. I also filled in the grooves between the heat pipe and the aluminum

2. I will try installing a windows OS, and report back later this evening. I didn't realize that monitoring via BIOS loaded the CPU cores .

Thanks for the helpful advice.
 
As an aside, the hyper 212 is a screw down type of cooler install. How do I know how much to tighten the 4 bolts ?
 
zobsky said:
As an aside, the hyper 212 is a screw down type of cooler install. How do I know how much to tighten the 4 bolts ?
Click to expand...

I'm no expert on the hyper 212+ as I've only installed one on a S1155 MB but when I tightened it down till the screws stopped I could still move the heatsink around a little bit. I don't think you can over tighten them. I used my fingers tho 🙂

Gotta love that Asus UEFI bios I had to do a double take as it looks just like my P8P67 Pro's
 
Kenmitch was right. I installed Win 7 64 bit and used the Asus utility and speed fan to independantly verify that the temperatures were not out of control .

To load test, I used Prime95.

Steady state idle temperature = 38 degrees
Full load temperature ~ 56 degrees
Motherboard temperature ~ 34 degrees

Are these acceptable?

Here's a picture of the ramp up and ramp down temperature vs time graph



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If your cooler can hang during prime95 I doubt you'll have any temp related issues unless by some chance your coolers fan stops working 🙂
 
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