Core 2 duo e4400 too hot at idle? Heatsink cold

[weirdoweirdo]

Hello, I'm new here and I want to get an advice or what to do for my CPU that I think it's running hot at idle temp,
my desktop pc is already 3-4 years old never had problem since now that my pc resets itself because I think of the high temperature my CPU reaches.

I used SpeedFan, CoreTemp for temp measures, please see the pic below:

http://oi48.tinypic.com/1zwdhg6.jpg

Average Temp (°C) idle: 54-55

And you might think I have it downclocked because of the frequency/Core speed it shows,
but I have everything in STOCK since I bought this PC.

Also I recently cleaned my heatsink from lot of dust and I here's my main question, should it be the thermal compound? I took pics when I removed the HS also when I touched it, my finger got a bit of it.

1) http://oi48.tinypic.com/2aik55g.jpg

2) http://oi47.tinypic.com/2qc2qkj.jpg

I've checked 2-3 times if the HS is installed correctly sometimes I pushed more than it can be to make good contact, but the problem is that it keeps cold to the touch, I'm afraid I could make a damage to the Mobo if I do a bit more pressure.

Note: If you see on my SpeedFan info. it says that fan1 is at 0 RPM, but I have 2 fans running, and the cooler from the HS is running well. I get around 1800~2000 RPM from the BIOS sensor. Also I have the side panel of the PC removed (whenever I'm using it) and it does not help at all.

Specs:
Acer Aspire T690
C2D E4400 2.0 Ghz
Acer E946GZ Motherboard (intel 946gz chipset)
2 GB DDR2
Win 7 Ultimate/winXP x86
No GPU/Videocard Installed

Thanks for your attention and I'd really appreciate any answers.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Each time you remove the HSF (heatsink/fan) you need to reapply TIM (Thermal Interface Material). The before you put the new TIM on you want to clean off all of the old stuff first. I use a little rubbing alcohol (90%), coffee filters and some Qtips to clean all of the old off. I use about half of a pea in TIM in the middle of the processor and then spread it out using an old plastic card into a shape about the size of a quarter and about as thick as some card stock paper. Then you can put the HSF back on make sure you work the twist clips in an "X" pattern. Once you are done you want to test them to make sure they are seated well. Do this by reaching in and pull each of the twist clips straight up. If you can pull any of them straight up then they weren't seated well and this may cause heating issues.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[weirdoweirdo]

Thanks a lot Christian, I'll follow your steps and replace my old TIM, and make sure the heatsink will be correctly installed, if not I'll get a new heatsink. Thanks again, mate!

 

[weirdoweirdo]

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