[SOLVED] Newly assembled desktop CPU heating up

[rajeshja]

I recently assembled my desktop into an old case. The configuration is:
i5 9600K
Asus Prime B360M-A
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3000MHz C16
Western Digital Green PC 240GB M.2 SATA III
Deepcool ALTA7 CPU Cooler

I'm using Arctic Silver 5 for the TIM.

Now the computer worked well for a few days. I'm running Windows 10 Pro, and mainly intend the computer for playing and learning to develop games, but I'm still looking for a good deal on a graphics card (mostly one of GTX 1650 or 1660).
In the meanwhile I've downloaded and am playing around with Unreal Engine 4.

Yesterday I was fiddling with a tutorial in UE4 where I had loaded a Paragon character (pretty complex one) and was designing a landscape, and for the first time the machine locked up. On rebooting it complained that the CPU was too hot. I let it cool down, took off the cooler, cleaned the cooler and CPU both with 99% isopropyl alcohol, reapplied the thermal paste and reattached the cooler. I did this a couple of times because the first time I'd not put enough paste and the idle temperature of the CPU (just loading the BIOS, not booting into the OS) was around 52℃. After reapplying the thermal paste and attaching the cooler a couple of times, I got the idle temperature down to 42-45℃.
Today I downloaded and ran the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool and all tests passed. The temperature reported in most of the tests was 89-100℃, though. The first two tests were at between 55-62℃.

I then waited for a while before I loaded the UE4 project again. The PC locked up twice, requiring a reboot. I've not turned it on again since then.

Now here are the reasons I could come up with for this happening:

1. I've assembled a desktop for the first time, so it's quite possible I've messed up attaching the cooler. Too much or too little paste or air bubbles.
2. The CPU cooler isn't pressing down on the CPU tightly enough, so the paste isn't spreading as much as it should. Is this possible? The cooler seems snug enough after the push pins lock in place.
3. My current configuration simply isn't good enough to use UE4 without a dedicated graphics card. But then shouldn't it just run slowly rather than overheating the CPU?
4. My case fan isn't currently working and needs replacing. The case is full size though, and the motherboard temperature stays at low to mid 30s, so I'm not sure if this is relevant.

Which one of these is more likely? And how do I go about figuring out what is happening? Are the idle and test temperatures I'm seeing normal or too high?

Note: I am NOT overclocking - my motherboard doesn't support it.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[jeremyj_83]

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/dominic-moass/antec-a40-pro-c400-air-cooler-review/ - review of the C400. This review also has the 212 LED and Cryorig H7 in it for reference.

 

[AllanGH]

You would be doing yourself a huge favor by replacing that side panel intake tube with an intake fan--after everything is otherwise taken care of.

 

[rajeshja]

You would be doing yourself a huge favor by replacing that side panel intake tube with an intake fan--after everything is otherwise taken care of.

That's a great idea, but after installing the C400, I won't have enough clearance for a fan

 

[AllanGH]

Yeah....I can see that happening. I forgot that my case is a bit on the "fat" side, which is what I'm used to, and you'll be dealing with tighter dimensions.

 

[DavidM012]

That plastic frame underneath the drives looks like it's a housing for an intake fan, should have a few tabs on the corners that you'll need to depress to pull it off. I don't know if the front facia is removable, looks like a couple of tabs around the sides, so you'd take the front facia off and that will present the four corner tabs on the frame for the fan housing. You could use the fan housing or, take off the fan housing and simply screw the fan in with the fan screws instead, if it has holes for them. Ah the details of fan mounting frames, the inside of the frame may house a smaller than 120mm fan, maybe a 110mm or 100mm fan, you'll have to measure the dimensions again with the ruler.

 

[rajeshja]

Thanks for the great advice all. I went out and got a new cooler today.

I got an Antec C400 Glacial (White) because the black Elite that's mentioned in all the reviews wasn't in stock. I also got a 44 CFM Cooler Master case fan to replace my dead case fan.

The C400 comes with Antec AT-1 thermal paste. Should I use it or my Arctic Silver 5?
Also, I will be setting up the cooler with the fan facing the rear of the case, which would put it close to the new rear fan. Does that make sense? Facing the memory or the PSU seem like the wrong thing to do.

One last question. A ThermalTake Contact Silent 12 was available for a little more than the Antec C400. Did I make the right choice? I couldn't find any reviews comparing it to the C400 but I wasn't very impressed with the reviews in general.

 

[DavidM012]

Here's a toms hardware article on thermal grease there's 1c in it between the arctic silver and the antec, neither are the top performers so it's much of a muchness, some don't like arctic silver I think it's slightly capacitive so don't spill any

'Not Electrically Conductive. Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. (While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads.'

Set the fan to push over the fins of the heatsink on the other side of the cooler to that and exhaust from the rear, I take it you've also figured out the front intake.

 

[rajeshja]

I take it you've also figured out the front intake.

Yes, I did! Don't know where I was looking that I didn't see the front intake bracket before.

 

[rajeshja]

All setup. New C400 and chassis fan are installed as shown below. CPU is now running at least 20℃ cooler than before.

The Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool was previously reporting temperatures as high as 100℃, but now shows a high of 78℃.

The only thing left to do is install a front intake fan. @DavidM012 this is a better photo of the slot for the front intake:

Any tips on how to figure out the size of fan that would fit here? The plastic frame comes off easily. The screw holes are approximately 75mm apart. Hard to take an exact measure because of limited space in there.

Thanks again for all the help. I'm really grateful for the patient guidance.

 

[DavidM012]

Spacing between screw holes. Should be an 80mm fan, 72mm between the holes centre to centre but it looks like you'd have a difficult time fitting if it's 3mm off. Well give it a bit of margin for error if you couldn't measure the distance precisely. Not many 80mm fans and they are both so relatively noisy with a low cfm airflow.

This noctua is about as good as it's going to get for an 80mm fan, roughly equivalent specs to a standard 120mm fan, and it's pretty much the case that something is better than nothing. However it is also somewhat more expensive than a 120mm fan. Tough break on the front intake fan.

Best take out and measure the plastic mounting frame to be sure it's gonna fit.

I think you have got the cpu cooler fan on the wrong side of the heat sink. Put it on the other side to blow through the heat sink over the fins and towards the exhaust.

 

[rajeshja]

Best take out and measure the plastic mounting frame to be sure it's gonna fit.

Yes, I'll try that today.

I think you have got the cpu cooler fan on the wrong side of the heat sink. Put it on the other side to blow through the heat sink over the fins and towards the exhaust.

Ah, I understand now. I misunderstood how the fan works in conjunction with the heatsink.
Thanks for this.

 

[DavidM012]

From the photo the exhaust fan looks the wrong way around too, you want to ventilate the warm air from the case. Don't set them to huff against each other put them both in the same direction so the warm air from the heat sink is being expelled from the case not blown into it.

 

[rajeshja]

From the photo the exhaust fan looks the wrong way around too, you want to ventilate the warm air from the case. Don't set them to huff against each other put them both in the same direction so the warm air from the heat sink is being expelled from the case not blown into it.

Fixed both. Tested wind direction with a strip of paper to make sure too. Not sure how popular that technique is.

I figured out how to get the front panel off and measured the distance between the center of the screw holes. Looks like 71mm.
This 80mm fan is available.
Max. Air Flow : 21.8CFM
Noise : 20dB(A)

 

[DavidM012]

Here's the specs, at a mere 21cfm it wouldn't be my choice but that's the problem with most 80mm fans, half the airflow of a 120mm, however if nothing else is available, something is better than nothing.

The result will be a slight negative pressure because the exhaust is stronger than the intake, which is less than optimal a slight positive pressure is preferred to prevent dust build up.

Airflow direction is easy to determine, most fans huff in the direction of the label on the fan, that is, front to back the fin side pulls in the air pushes it out the side with the frame and label though I have seen one that does the opposite, which was a fan off an arctic xtreme heat sink, that's all a function of the fan design and construction. Most fans are front to back airflow direction.

The trouble is that if you did reverse the airflow to rear intake/front exhaust, although it would be slight positive pressure the warm air from the heatsink is going to blow directly over the drives and since warm air rises, the relatively weak 80mm at the floor of the case under the drives isn't going to do the optimal job as an exhaust. Nothing you do will get it to match the technical standards of a modern chassis, but to my mind, it's not that big of a deal. You have a case that will do the job, only not necessarily the finest job.

I suppose you could try and find a larger fan that will wedge under the drive bays like a 110mm, have to measure the space there. maybe 120mm fits. That would be preferable if you can.