i7 920 CPU overheating, is the CPU fan okay?

orero

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Jul 3, 2013
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18,510
I wasn't sure whether this belongs here or in the components forum, my CPU is overheating and I'm wondering if it's a problem with the fan, because the following happens when I use the Asus utilities to change fan speed:

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If I understand this correctly, the bottom window is supposed to show how many RPM the CPU fan can go through when it's at 100% work load, or 40% work load etc. so it should be the most RPM at 100% and the least at 20%. but that's not what I'm seeing here and I checked it a few times with identical results. In fact, after switching fan control to highest turbo mode, the most I'm seeing is around 1050RPM and the least I ever saw is 937RPM - this all seems very different than the 1000-5000RPM I'm seeing when people talk about fan speeds online (I think the fan is whatever came with the motherboard and CPU, here's a picture).

As for the CPU, the overheating seems erratic. Right now I have firefox open with many tabs and I'm at 45C which seems fine, but yesterday I was constantly at around 70C. A non demanding game like Portal gets me to 75C and a simple pixel game gets me to 85C. Any ideas?

Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6T SE (LGA1366)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
AMD Radeon R9 270
6GB RAM
 
Solution
RealTemp and Coretemp are reading the actual temps of the CPU cores as the name suggests. Speedfan, ASUS software ect. read the pkg temp. I'd be more concerned here as these temps are higher. Do you plan on using this system for awhile yet? If so, and you plan on replacing compound anyways, it might be best to replace the questionable cooler as well. Many of these come w/ preapplied compound as well. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is very popular at a lower price.
Might want to use Coretemp or Realtemp to check CPU temperatures. If you haven't done before, you may want to try cleaning your fan w/ some canned air and clean and re-apply some fresh thermal compound. Over the years, it can dry out. Your right though that your RPMs are low. 1000 RPM doesn't sound right for a stock Intel cooler.
 

orero

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Jul 3, 2013
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Thanks guys, I almost missed your replies. There is actually something pretty weird about these programs, Speccy, RealTemp and CoreTemp always show higher temperatures than SpeedFan and a couple of Asus software I used. Usually by about 10 degrees, sometimes less. So according to the software you recommended, the situation is actually worse.

I did clean all the dust but I would need to ask someone's help with the thermal compound, which is why I wanted to eliminate the fan as the problem first.
 
RealTemp and Coretemp are reading the actual temps of the CPU cores as the name suggests. Speedfan, ASUS software ect. read the pkg temp. I'd be more concerned here as these temps are higher. Do you plan on using this system for awhile yet? If so, and you plan on replacing compound anyways, it might be best to replace the questionable cooler as well. Many of these come w/ preapplied compound as well. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is very popular at a lower price.
 
Solution

orero

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Jul 3, 2013
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18,510

I figured I could count on the ASUS info to be more correct because they actually manufactured the motherboard but I guess I was wrong. I do plan to use this system for a few more years so as you suggest, I will replace the compound on the CPU first and see if that helps, then move on to the fan and the metal... thing it sits on. I'll post updates for future google visitors. Thanks!