Question CPU running so hot

[TanSinCos12]

my 2700X (stock clock, stock cooler) is running so hot with 55-60 degrees Celsius idle and currently hitting 85 degrees Celsius when I ran CSGO, even spikes up to 91, even with only 5% usage(measured using MSI Afterburner)
Should I replace the CPU cooler with some liquid cooling, or try to ventilate my PC better first? It has 3 front fans and 1 back fan, and a 3-fan GTX1080 is my GPU.
My case is the VKS-30

 

[Phaaze88]

That just sounds like a bad cooler mount.
Remove the cooler and old thermal paste(alcohol).
Apply new paste(a small pea), mount and secure the cooler in a 'X' formation - do not fasten the screws all in one go, do a couple turns at at time .

 

[Shaina11]

Definitely as @Phaaze88 said. I'd suggest removing the heatsink and cleaning both it and the chip with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol not lower than 90% otherwise it won't evaporate as well.

What I typically do is remove the heatsink, and if the thermal paste still appears a little wet, use a few q-tips, run and spin it slowly and gently over the top of the CPU and heatsink, and when it looks clean enough, then go over it again by wetting another q-tip in rubbing alcohol and running that over both the CPU and the heatsink, letting it dry before you apply any thermal paste, all while changing the q-tip often.

I typically use Antec Formula 7 Nano-Diamond Thermal Compound personally, but the choice is yours. The thing with this particular one I use is that diamonds are Really good for transferring heat, and the paste is non-conductive, so it's safe if it accidentally leaks a bit.

When applying the paste, there are Many different methods out there and it all depends on your particular CPU shape, and heatsink type, as well as personal preference.

Most will do the small pea-sized amount of thermal paste, and that's all fine and good, but some heatsinks don't do so well with that shape, and can't spread it well enough, especially the older socket heatsinks like socket A for example because of the odd way the heatsink has to be mounted which isn't perfectly flat when you first start attaching it. Modern heatsinks are a bit easier but still vary.

What I personally do, is if the CPU or GPU chip has no integrated heatsink,(That large silver metal piece over the chip.) then I'll apply a small amount of thermal paste to the chip, and then wrap my right index finger in scotch tape, being careful not to touch the underside of it where I'll be using it. I then press my finger down gently onto the paste on the chip and slowly spread it around, evening it out, I then throw away the tape and apply the cooler. If your cooler has 4 screws, or 4 push pins, do as @Phaaze88 said and tighten them in an X formation. Being sure to screw the screws a little at a time on each one until they're all tightened properly.

(X formation being like, tighten the top left corner, then bottom right corner, then either the bottom left or top right corner next, etc.)

Note that many people will say against what I have with spreading the thermal paste, but let's also take note that due to just how thick the Antec paste is, it sometimes needs a bit more help. This is what I've been doing for years now. For chips with an integrated heatsink, depending on the heatsink, I'll sometimes just put a pea-sized amount in the center and let the heatsink weigh it down and spread it, or other times, an X shape with little dots between the X arms.

Hope this helps.

😉

P.S. I'd also recommend looking up different thermal paste applying methods and their results yourself as well to find something that you like the most personally.

P.P.S. Antec Formula 7 requires no setting time, unlike most pastes.

 

[TanSinCos12]

That just sounds like a bad cooler mount.
Remove the cooler and old thermal paste(alcohol).
Apply new paste(a small pea), mount and secure the cooler in a 'X' formation - do not fasten the screws all in one go, do a couple turns at at time .

tried it, still getting a consistent 85 degrees Celsius when I put it under load with a game.
Also, I'm also having heat issues now with my GPU, so I'm just generally looking to add a few fans and reconfigure the airflow

 

[Barney-]

Are you using the default fan curve (or at least a sensible fan curve)? If so and there is nothing wrong with your mount/thermal paste, then I can only assume it's a faulty cooler (check what actual RPMs you are getting) or a faulty CPU.

 

[JayGau]

I would not trust MSI afterburner for anything beside the GPU stuff. If you have a Ryzen 2700x use Ryzen Master to monitor your cpu temp, usage, voltage and current. Current should no be 100% unless you run 100% load or your power plan is set to "performance". Your voltage should never go above 1.45V and even this value should be just for short periods of time. Is your cpu clock always high (like 4.2 GHz)? At Idle the 2700x clock speed should be pretty low most of the time if it's not overclocked, like 3.7 GHz and below.

Also can you hear your fan spinning up when your temp get higher? Did you try to put you cpu fan curve to 100% in the BIOS to see if it changes something?

This thermal paste thing that everyone always consider as the root of all temp issues is very unlikely to be your problem since your temperature is way hotter than what a thermal paste issue would do. Some tests showed that no thermal paste at all makes a 6-7 degrees difference and the way it's applied and the amount used doesn't change anything (see this video).

If I was you I would first make sure that the cooler fan is spinning up when your temp increases, set a more aggressive fan speed curve in the BIOS but before anything you should download and install Ryzen Master to monitor you temperature, usage, clock speed and voltage.

 

[Captain.Kirk.2788]

A trick I read on here was to go into system settings/power&sleep/additional power settings (to the right)/select AMD Ryzen balanced/click change plan settings (to the right)/change advanced power settings/scroll to processor power management/expand and select maximum processor state, and bring that number from 100% to 99%. I did this little trick and my voltage stables out a good bit. I still see 1.42v every now and then but not as often and when idle it is usually lingering around .960v-1.30v at max. Hope this helps

 

[Captain.Kirk.2788]

A trick I read on here was to go into system settings/power&sleep/additional power settings (to the right)/select AMD Ryzen balanced/click change plan settings (to the right)/change advanced power settings/scroll to processor power management/expand and select maximum processor state, and bring that number from 100% to 99%. I did this little trick and my voltage stables out a good bit. I still see 1.42v every now and then but not as often and when idle it is usually lingering around .960v-1.30v at max. Hope this helps

P.S. I have the same processor and had some of these issues with heat. I would recommend an aftermarket cooler ( I currently run the Noctua HD15) its huge but gets the job done.