CPU Temp Help please!

[erwinna]

Greetings earthlings!

My Antec Kuhler is on the fritz so while I wait to get a new one shipped I have placed thefan/heatsink which comes with the i5 2500k as primary CPU cooler.

One 2 occassions I noticed my CPU get ABOVE 70 degrees C once when watching a you tube vid, and once when on the sign-in screen of World of Warcraft. This concerns me!

Is this normal? Should I be concerned? Are there any things I may have overlooked? I was told I should be ok to play my games with the stock cooler even. Please! Any insight would help!

I will mention: I do not yet have my GPU in there (back-ordered), so I am using on-board graphics.

****Other fans I have going: One front panel (blowing into case), One side panel (blowing into case), One top (blowing out of case), one back (blowing out of case).

 

[erwinna]

please!

 

[trapper]

Had you used the stock cooler before? Did you apply new thermal paste before attaching the fan, or did you just install it from its box?

 

[erwinna]

There is thermal paste on the cooler itself so i just used this. I did not clean off the thermal paste from the liquid cooler but I thought this would be ok...

 

[geekapproved]

You always have to remove the old paste, you have to re-apply any time you take it off and put it back on, otherwise you have thermal gaps.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

geekapproved is 100% right, but I would also recommend dropping down on your OC a bit (as I see you're OC'd to 4.3) or even going back to stock, until you get the replacement Kuhler.

 

[erwinna]

Thank you so much! I am actually currently running at stock (3.3) just have not changed.specs

So when I apply the paste, should I clean oft both the cooling plate as well as CPU and fully reapply? Also, any cleaning tips?

Thanks again for the advice! Its Really appreciated!

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

So when I apply the paste, should I clean oft both the cooling plate as well as CPU and fully reapply? Also, any cleaning tips?

Yep, make sure both the CPU and HSF are completely clean. The easiest and best way to do it is with isopropyl alcohol on a lint free cloth, but a damp paper towel will work in a pinch. Just watch out for lint.

 

[erwinna]

Also: how confident are you that this is what is causing the overheating? (The gaps that is...) Seems to make sense that the old paste was creating gaps, but I sad not sure if paste hardens or stays malleable...you live you learn, Lol.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Pretty confident, actually. It doesn't matter if the paste is old or new, it's like you said, that the tiny air pockets that are created when you use what was there before, will create and uneven surface.

 

[erwinna]

Best answer selected by Erwinna.

 

[erwinna]

Thanks so much! Temps are definitely better and WAY more stable!

This noob has been schooled

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

No problem at all, and glad we could help!