Can't seem to keep my CPU cool

lifetaken

Honorable
Jul 6, 2013
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10,510
Hey guys, I'm new to this forum so I'm gonna try to explain the best that I can.

I got a 4690k, and I noticed that the temps were very hot when I was running games, going into the 70s and 80s. So I was like "well, I will buy a Hyper 212 Evo since I have an amazon gift card".

I got the cooler and, using the stock thermal paste it came with, put it on. I decided to use prime95 to benchmark the CPU and use RealTemp to see how hot it got. After about 15 minutes of p95, it went into the 90s.

At this point, my friend told me to reseat it, and it still was just as hot. He then recommended Arctic Silver 5 paste. I just got that in the mail today, put a little pea-ish sized dab in the middle and put the heatsink on. Tightened it down, and temps are still in the 90s on prime95.

This is with an aftermarket cooler and some of the best thermal paste on Amazon. People I know with similar setups don't go above 80c.

At this point, is this a hardware issue? I had an old 3470 that ran 28c idle, this thing runs about 50c idle. The only thing I changed besides my CPU was my mobo, I upgraded to an ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME. The heatsink is on tight and I am almost positive i have enough thermal compound on.

Any suggestions?
 
You could have too much thermal compound, but it doesn't sound like that's the problem.
Are you running at stock voltages? Some motherboards might boost voltages by default causing higher temps.
Is the fan on your cooler running at full speed? You may need to adjust the fan speed settings in your bios.

To find the source, you can trace the flow of heat. You know your CPU is getting too hot. From there, the heat should be flowing via thermal paste to your CPU cooler. Is the cooler hot when your CPU is? If your cpu is running at 90, your cooler should be almost as hot. If the cooler is not getting hot (especially the heat pipes), heat is not transferring correctly-look at the thermal paste and mounting. If the cooler is getting hot, then look at the fan sending air through your cooler and the airflow in your case. Make sure that your cooler is pushing air in the same direction as your case fans. It should be either blowing toward the back of your case or up if you have a vent on top.
 
If you're using prime95 you should be using v26.6 with small fft's. The latest version can cause excessively high temperatures. What are your new gaming temps with the 212 evo? It could also be a performance profile selected in the bios giving your cpu a slight overclock. What are your ambient room temperatures? I have a bigger air cooler than the 212 evo on my 4690k and idle temps will get into the 40's when the temps heat up to 92f/33c or so sometimes.
 

lifetaken

Honorable
Jul 6, 2013
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10,510


I don't think have too much. I put it on and nothing came out of the sides, so I think I have the right amount of it. I think I am running at stock voltages but I have Turbo mode on, so that will bump them up to what my PSU allows. My fans don't seem to run full speed, so I will look at that.

How do you think I should go about finding the source? I certainly do not want to touch a hot heat pipe, but I suppose I could find a thermometer. My fans are going in the same direction.
 

lifetaken

Honorable
Jul 6, 2013
9
0
10,510


I've been using 28.5, I'll try 26.6. I haven't measured my gaming temps, the little thing that ASUS packages with the mother board allows me to monitor my temps, and it says it is about 55c during gaming on BF4 and other games like that. Now, I don't really trust this because this thing also shows 80c when I am pushing mid 90s (accoding to realtemp) while using prime95.

Maybe possible that RealTemp is off?