Ran CPU without cooler

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DumbassDan

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Sep 6, 2015
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Hey guys, DumbassDan here. So basically what happened was I think my CPU cooler stopped working, so being the genius that I am, I remove it off my CPU and run my CPU without anything to take off the heat to "see the temperatures". It's all foggy to me but I don't think left it running for more than an hour. I looked at the temperatures and I don't think it ever went to 105C for more than a couple of minutes.

I now know that you should barely even leave it running for a couple of minutes.

So I'm probably not gonna do that ever again.

I replaced my cooler with the stock fan now and my computer still runs, but it went straight to 100C in a few minutes before I turned it off out of fear. I turned it back on a couple minutes later and it was at 65-70C before I turned it off again. So what I'm asking is, is this normal?

My CPU is the i5-3570k and I used Arctic Silver 5. I read that you need to have your CPU go to high temperatures and cool off for it to spread but I also read that when your CPU is about to die, your temperatures will go insane and considering my stupidity earlier, I am very worried.

Yes, I know I'm an idiot.
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
Chances are very good then that there has been damage to either the motherboard or the processor. I'm sorry to say it's likely you'll need to replace one or both. Are you certain you have the CPU fan connected to the CPU fan header and not one of the case fan headers?
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no cpu can survive one hour without any heatsink on it ... not even 5 minutes
what did you do during this hour ?
 
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If you ran your CPU without a CPU cooler installed, which is rather unusual because pretty much every known system will either shut down or not POST at all when there is no CPU fan signal, unless you have "ignore" set in the bios on the CPU fan setting, then it's likely you killed the processor. Either that, or you do not have the cooler mounted correctly or have used way too much or way too little thermal paste. If you used more than about one third the size of a #2 pencil eraser, then you used too much. If you used less than that, then it's possible you used too little.

It's also possible you fried the thermal sensor by running it without the cooler and your readings are now inaccurate. More likely is the fact that the heat has damaged the CPU and now it won't run at a normal temperature.
 
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Mmm.. I'm pretty sure I didn't have a heatsink on since I was kinda annoyed that my cooler wasn't working and I wanted to see temperatures before and after. I don't think I mounted it incorrectly either since my temperatures did lower initially but they never maintained that temperature.

I was running MSI Afterburner to check the temperatures but the computer never turned off automatically. Honestly, with all this talk on CPUs without coolers, I'm not sure how mine didn't fry up. It's kinda cold at my place so there's that. I really don't know, lol.

I'm running the stock fan right now and idle temperatures are at 50C, whereas Skype and Firefox will give me 75C-85C. When I checked my BIOS, I was at 95C and gradually going to 100C.

Mmm.. That sounds possible. If I was originally going to get the CM Hyper 212 EVO, would you advise me to get the next tier in cooling, say the NH-D14/NH-D15 to compensate? Also, how would I go about testing my CPU temperature readings and if they're correct, is there any way I can fix it?
 
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I said in the original post that it wasn't past an hour, but my memory is foggy so I didn't want to say a specific number. I think it was around 10 - 15 minutes?

No, I'm sure there was nothing on the CPU. I manually took apart my cooler and didn't install my stock fan.

Also don't worry about "insulting" me, I mean I picked this name given the situation, haha.
 
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Even using the stock cooler, if you have a rather low ambient temperature in your house especially, you should have a much lower idle and max temperature than what you're seeing. Chances are good either the motherboard or CPU has been damaged.

Did you ever previously use the stock cooler before installing the other one? If so, did you clean off the thermal pad and paste the heatsink when you installed it this time or did you just put it back on with the factory thermal interface material applied?
 
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Yeah.. something seems sketchy. I don't think I got away unscathed.

Uh, no, I did not. I bought my cooler and CPU and installed it and booted it at the same time and never had issues until recently. I cleaned the thermal paste off every time I installed a cooler.
 
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Chances are very good then that there has been damage to either the motherboard or the processor. I'm sorry to say it's likely you'll need to replace one or both. Are you certain you have the CPU fan connected to the CPU fan header and not one of the case fan headers?
 
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Solution
Yep, just checked.

I mean, I can still boot my PC. This'll sounds like I'm in shock or in denial but can't I just get a really good cooler? I haven't tested over a long period of time but my idle temperatures were at 50C for about 15-20 minutes, so maybe the base temperatures are higher and to offset it, I'll get the next tier in air cooling?

And is there any way I can test to see if my temperature readings are incorrect?
 
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Alright guys, sorry for wasting your time. The fan was connected, and the heatsink was on the CPU but I guess one of the screws were little loose. My CPU seems to be just fine.

I'm a dumbass. I think I'm gonna name my kid Daniel to keep the Dumbass Dan genes.

Thanks guys. I'm really sorry for wasting your time.
 
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Yeah, temperatures are good. I was afraid of pushing too hard cause I never mounted the stock cooler before but once I heard the click snap sound I immediately realized that I was an idiot. But I was glad. I've never been so glad to be an idiot in my life, haha. Sorry for misleading all of you guys. Thanks a lot for the help though, I really appreciated it.
 
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