Safe Temps for Core i5-4430?

[Dman2112]

I recently decided to re-apply the thermal paste on my CPU considering it had been about 4 years and the stuff that was on there was the the paste that came with the stock Intel CPU Heatsink. I used Arctic Silver 5 as my thermal compound did the pea method. I had a little bit of trouble reseating the garbage stock Intel heatsink and booted up my PC.. My max temps used to be 60-64C while under load.. Now i'm hitting between 67C and 72C under load... Is 72C a safe while gaming just until I am able to afford an aftermarket CPU Cooler? (Money is a little tight right now..)

Also, my CPU is not overclocked (Nor will it ever be..) and the idle temps sit between 46C to 53C... and I live in Canada so it's quite cold here.

 

[RememberThe5th]

Have you any exhaust fan?
On my i3-4170 my temps are around 70-80*C cause i like silently.

 

[volkgren]

72C is safe. It's a little warm for an i5-4430, but still safe. You shouldn't need an aftermarket cooler with that CPU. I would simply clean off the paste and reapply/reseat the cooler.

 

[Dman2112]

72C is safe. It's a little warm for an i5-4430, but still safe. You shouldn't need an aftermarket cooler with that CPU. I would simply clean off the paste and reapply/reseat the cooler.

So here is the problem with that... The stock Intel cooler has these 4 pins that you have to push into the mounts on the motherboard... which are currently quite fragile most likely due to old age.. it was a real pain trying to get the cooler on when I put on new thermal paste.. and I'm quite worried about trying to do that again and actually breaking the damn plastic pins.. and at the moment I can't afford to try and track down another CPU cooler :/

 

[Dman2112]

Have you any exhaust fan?
On my i3-4170 my temps are around 70-80*C cause i like silently.

I have 2 exhaust fans currently.

 

[volkgren]

72C is safe. It's a little warm for an i5-4430, but still safe. You shouldn't need an aftermarket cooler with that CPU. I would simply clean off the paste and reapply/reseat the cooler.

So here is the problem with that... The stock Intel cooler has these 4 pins that you have to push into the mounts on the motherboard... which are currently quite fragile most likely due to old age.. it was a real pain trying to get the cooler on when I put on new thermal paste.. and I'm quite worried about trying to do that again and actually breaking the damn plastic pins.. and at the moment I can't afford to try and track down another CPU cooler :/

Well your temps are fine. I know the stock Intel cooler is a pain with those push-pins. Save some money for a Cryorig H7 (usually $30-$35) and it will be a good investment even if you get a better CPU later.

*Just know you will have to remove your motherboard if your case doesn't have rear access to install the CPU cooler backplate. If you refuse to remove your motherboard then Arctic Cooling (Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2, Arctic Freezer 13) makes some push-pin designs that are better than the stock Intel cooler.

 

[Karadjgne]

Honestly, I'd start over. You went from Intel paste and 60-64 to using AS5 and 67-72. Something isn't right. Even though AS5 is a mediocre paste, you should still be getting at least 60-64 since all that's been done is a paste job.

Intel stock coolers are a pain, for sure. And I'm betting that's the issue. You really need to check for sure that all 4 pins are fully seated, and not just 3pins done with one only partially.

Hope it was a pretty small pea, not a standard big green pea, more like an English garden pea.

Since the pc is running, get it good and warm. Then unplug everything, hold the power button for 20 seconds or more, flip the case on its side, and push down on the heatsink, kinda hard, straight down. Hold that pressure and make sure all 4 pins are fully sunk into the mobo. Use an X pattern when checking.

 

[Dman2112]

Honestly, I'd start over. You went from Intel paste and 60-64 to using AS5 and 67-72. Something isn't right. Even though AS5 is a mediocre paste, you should still be getting at least 60-64 since all that's been done is a paste job.

Intel stock coolers are a pain, for sure. And I'm betting that's the issue. You really need to check for sure that all 4 pins are fully seated, and not just 3pins done with one only partially.

Hope it was a pretty small pea, not a standard big green pea, more like an English garden pea.

Since the pc is running, get it good and warm. Then unplug everything, hold the power button for 20 seconds or more, flip the case on its side, and push down on the heatsink, kinda hard, straight down. Hold that pressure and make sure all 4 pins are fully sunk into the mobo. Use an X pattern when checking.

Dude thank you.. I loosened the push pins on the cooler and wiggled the cooler around to try and spread the thermal paste a bit. I pushed on both the pins and the middle of the cooler itself really.. really.. hard... was honestly terrified of hearing something crack. I put everything back together and now underload (CPU Utilization at 100%), the highest it reached was 54C.. I'm actually baffled.. The pins on the cooler are absolute garbage.. and were definitely the issue.. either that or me wiggling the heatsink a bit and attempting the spread the paste fixed it.. regardless the temps are great now; so that you everyone for the tips. Glad I didn't have to go to a PC place and fork out $30 to have some guy look at it..

 

[Karadjgne]

Heh, no worries. You are not the first and a long way from the last person to freak out about the amount of pressure required to seat an intel stock cooler on those pins. It's been the bane of many a mobo since lga775. There's many a builder who will automatically add an El Cheapo cooler to a build, just to not have to use the stock cooler. To say that those pins are Hated would be a mild understatement.

Glad everything is looking good.