Question Is 60°C Idle bad? What should i do to fix it?

[GamePlayer123321]

My AMD Athlon X4 870k is Idleing at 60°C
and when gaming then 80°C.
Is it too high? Please help!

 

[DSzymborski]

That is quite hot and point to something wrong with the cooling solution. Remove your cooler, put on fresh thermal paste and reinstall. Failing that, replace the cooler. If you provide more information as to your specs and the status of any overclock, may be able to help you further with what's going on.

 

[GamePlayer123321]

I haven't overclocked my cpu. And I was just planning on buying some thermal paste.

Specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 870K
GPU: RX 570 4gb
RAM: 8gb DDR3
HDD: 500gb
SSD: no ssd installed

 

[DSzymborski]

And what cooler are you using? If it's an AIO, listen for if the pump is working.

 

[Will_1_Am]

Thermal Interface Material (TIM or thermal paste) is a must! This is probably why your cpu is running very hot. The thermal paste allows for better contact and thermal transfer between the cpu (IHS) and your cooler. Additionally, you may want to have a peek at your system resources (task manager) and see if Windows is doing something ugly like running unneeded programs 😂

 

[WildCard999]

What software are you using to measure the temp? Some 3rd party software may not be reading it correctly, I would suggest using AMD Overdrive.
https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/amd-overdrive

 

[GamePlayer123321]

I think its GAMMAXX 300 but im not sure.

 

[Will_1_Am]

What software are you using to measure the temp? Some 3rd party software may not be reading it correctly, I would suggest using AMD Overdrive.
https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/amd-overdrive

From your personal experience would you say that the BIOS temperature readings are accurate? Just curious for my own education tbh.

 

[Will_1_Am]

I think its GAMMAXX 300 but im not sure.

So its an air cooler? With a fan and heatfin stacks. I agree with the mods advice with taking off the cooler and possibly reseating it and applying a fresh layer of thermal paste.

 

[WildCard999]

From your personal experience would you say that the BIOS temperature readings are accurate? Just curious for my own education tbh.

Possibly but when your in the BIOS temps are usually slightly higher then when your idle in the desktop since the CPU is active in the BIOS and doesn't downclock until idle.

 

[Will_1_Am]

Possibly but when your in the BIOS temps are usually slightly higher then when your idle in the desktop since the CPU is active in the BIOS and doesn't downclock until idle.

So the CPU only runs at base speed in the BIOS? I had no idea. Guess you learn something new everyday! Although, wouldnt the software get the temperature readings from roughly the same sensors that the BIOS does? If the cpu is already hitting 60°C just in idle there either is a error with the temperature sensors or your cpu isnt making good enough contact with your cooler.

 

[jsmithepa]

What software are you using to measure the temp? Some 3rd party software may not be reading it correctly, I would suggest using AMD Overdrive.
https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/amd-overdrive

If u fire it up the first time after the machine is been sitting there stone cold, the it immediately jumps to 60, then don't rely on whatever you are using to read the temp.

 

[mdd1963]

So its an air cooler? With a fan and heatfin stacks. I agree with the mods advice with taking off the cooler and possibly reseating it and applying a fresh layer of thermal paste.

Since OP said something about intending on getting some paste, I'd be curious to know if any paste of any type is currently being used at all...(which would certainly explain 60C temps)

 

[InvalidError]

Since OP said something about intending on getting some paste, I'd be curious to know if any paste of any type is currently being used at all...(which would certainly explain 60C temps)

Simply knocking on the HSF while cleaning after whatever paste was on it has fully settled over several months and tons of thermal cycles would be enough to cause 60C idle by breaking the packed-down paste.

 

[Will_1_Am]

Since OP said something about intending on getting some paste, I'd be curious to know if any paste of any type is currently being used at all...(which would certainly explain 60C temps)

Thermal Interface Material (TIM or thermal paste) is a must! This is probably why your cpu is running very hot. The thermal paste allows for better contact and thermal transfer between the cpu (IHS) and your cooler. Additionally, you may want to have a peek at your system resources (task manager) and see if Windows is doing something ugly like running unneeded programs 😂

I completely agree with your thoughts @mdd1963, the way that OP phrased his post leads me to believe that no Thermal paste was used.

 

[GamePlayer123321]

I applyed new thermal paste yesterday. The temps are alot better.

Thanks for the help!