Question Two CPUs, both overheating badly. What could be the link?

[Donners]

I recently bought a 9700-F with a new mobo. It idled at 50-70C and hit 95+ within a minute of gaming.
The (stock) fan was in solidly and spinning, the thermal paste spread normally, the case fans (2x 120mm) were working fine.
I returned it and am awaiting a replacement. The shop confirmed the fan had been installed properly.

In the meantime, I installed my old mobo and CPU (4570) with its original fan.
On the first boot, I went into the BIOS and watched the temp jump to 92. Upon loading Windows, it was idling at 100. So it reports anyway - I could feel the heat coming through the side of the case for the 9700, but can’t feel this even with the case open. Either way, it’s throttling badly.
I never noticed heat issues with it before; it tended to only hit 70-odd under load.

What on earth could cause two CPUs to overheat like this? I thought it might be the PSU, but I found a previous thread here where responders insisted that it could not cause a CPU to overheat, so I’m out of ideas.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Try a different software. HWInfo64 is very reliable.
I'd suspect you aren't installing the cooler properly.
Did you replace the thermal paste?

 

[dorsai]

2 x 120mm fans is barely enough cooling to call it cooling...if your cpu cooler is installed correctly my guess is your case cooling is simply not getting enough cold air in and hot air out to deal with the heat load. If you're running a gpu that's also dumping its heat into the case and counting on 2 120mm fans to keep it happy then that's a recipe for trouble.

 

[RodroX]

Im with MrN1ce9uy, either your stock cooler is not installed correctly, or your monitoring software is really bad.

Hwinfo64 is one of the best tools there, remember to run only 1 monitoring software at the time.

For an intel CPU to be at 50~70°C on idle your room temp should be around 40~55°C, and man thats hot

Also did you cleaned the thermal paste from the 4570 and stock cooler and applied new one to the cpu?

 

[Donners]

Try a different software. HWInfo64 is very reliable.
I'd suspect you aren't installing the cooler properly.
Did you replace the thermal paste?

I’ve used CPUID, EVGA Precision and the BIOS - all report the same temp. I could feel the heat from the 9700. I can’t with thr 4570, but whether it’s that hot or not, it’s throttling badly.
I took the new one into the shop and they indicated the cooler was properly installed. I’ll try reinstalling the old one, but even if it’s not quite on, would that explain idling at 100C?
Didn’t touch the thermal paste, but confirmed the new one had properly spread.

2 x 120mm fans is barely enough cooling to call it cooling...if your cpu cooler is installed correctly my guess is your case cooling is simply not getting enough cold air in and hot air out to deal with the heat load. If you're running a gpu that's also dumping its heat into the case and counting on 2 120mm fans to keep it happy then that's a recipe for trouble.

As I said, I’ve never had a problem with heat using the old one under load in this case, and that certainly doesn’t explain why it’d idle at 100C immediately after boot.

Also did you cleaned the thermal paste from the 4570 and stock cooler and applied new one

No, but I can give that a go. Given it was running fine a few weeks ago, though, that can’t be the difference.

 

[RodroX]

Was all this using the same Windows installation?, Or did you made a clean install with up to date drivers each time?

 

[Dashman9000]

Clean the cpu and cooler heatsink properly with alcohol and re-apply some quality thermal paste and make sure everything is well seated between the cpu and cooler....only apply just a pea sized drop of good thermal paste is sufficent. Even if your ambient temperature is really high you shouldn't be reaching stated temps on idle.

Something here is wrong with the cooler to cpu contact / thermal paste.

 

[Donners]

Was all this using the same Windows installation?, Or did you made a clean install with up to date drivers each time?

Same install.

Clean the cpu and cooler heatsink properly with alcohol and re-apply some quality thermal paste and make sure everything is well seated between the cpu and cooler....only apply just a pea sized drop of good thermal paste is sufficent. Even if your ambient temperature is really high you shouldn't be reaching stated temps on idle.

Cleaned with isopropyl, Arctic Silver 5 applied, fan solidly affixed and spinning.

Idling at 60+, immediately into the 80s at 20% load, and into the 90s after a minute.. 18C ambient temperature

Better than idling at 100 as it did yesterday, but still way higher than it should be and unusable for anything imposing a load.

Hell, it just hit 100 browsing Steam. Everything else in the case (mobo, GPU, SSD) is sitting below 35.

 

[RodroX]

Same install.



Cleaned with isopropyl, Arctic Silver 5 applied, fan solidly affixed and spinning.

Idling at 60+, immediately into the 80s at 20% load, and into the 90s after a minute.. 18C ambient temperature

Better than idling at 100 as it did yesterday, but still way higher than it should be and unusable for anything imposing a load.

Hell, it just hit 100 browsing Steam. Everything else in the case (mobo, GPU, SSD) is sitting below 35.

You still see between 60~80°C on BIOS?

If you see the correct temp on BIOS then you really need to try a clean install of Windows + updated drivers.

 

[InvalidError]

Tolerances on Intel's push-pin HSF to get proper mounting pressure are pretty tight. I have had zero success reusing those, I'm guessing aftermarket pastes are too goopy to provide adequate heat transfer, need the original clay-like paste for good results.

 

[Donners]

You still see between 60~80°C on BIOS?

If you see the correct temp on BIOS then you really need to try a clean install of Windows + updated drivers.

80+ on BIOS at boot now.

Since I’m back to my old mobo, it’s the exact same drivers I had for it two weeks ago, when I didn’t have these issues.

 

[RodroX]

80+ on BIOS at boot now.

Since I’m back to my old mobo, it’s the exact same drivers I had for it two weeks ago, when I didn’t have these issues.

Sorry to ask you this, just in case, Are you sure the temperature show in the BIOS is in celsius, and not in fahrenheit?

If youre sure youre reading +80° C, then Im with InvalidError, Im guessing theres a problem with the four push-pins intel stock cooler use to secure to the motherboard holes.

Check this video and see if you did it right the second time:

View: https://youtu.be/5qczGR4KMnY?t=78


Cheers

 

[InvalidError]

For old stock HSF, it isn't so much a matter of re-installing the HSF correctly as it is an issue of plastic slowly deforming over time under continuous tension/compression and heat. I'm not sure how long it takes but in my success rate with re-installing 3+ years old stock Intel HSF is 0%, the original mounting mechanism simply seems unable to apply sufficient pressure to make aftermarket paste work. For most intents and purposes, I consider them one-time-use HSFs - they work well enough out-of-the-box until they no longer do for whatever reason, then they never work right again using its conventional mounting method.

 

[Mr.Spock]

The new mobo might be just a fan profile issue - it might be set for silent and not gaming as a default.

the old mobo is probably due to the cooler being knocked loose as others have mentioned or maybe needed thermal paste reapplied.

I recently bought a 9700-F with a new mobo. It idled at 50-70C and hit 95+ within a minute of gaming.
The (stock) fan was in solidly and spinning, the thermal paste spread normally, the case fans (2x 120mm) were working fine.
I returned it and am awaiting a replacement. The shop confirmed the fan had been installed properly.

In the meantime, I installed my old mobo and CPU (4570) with its original fan.
On the first boot, I went into the BIOS and watched the temp jump to 92. Upon loading Windows, it was idling at 100. So it reports anyway - I could feel the heat coming through the side of the case for the 9700, but can’t feel this even with the case open. Either way, it’s throttling badly.
I never noticed heat issues with it before; it tended to only hit 70-odd under load.

What on earth could cause two CPUs to overheat like this? I thought it might be the PSU, but I found a previous thread here where responders insisted that it could not cause a CPU to overheat, so I’m out of ideas.

 

[Donners]

A belated update.

4570 - RodroX and InvalidError nailed it. Thanks to those posts I pulled it all apart and put it back together. I noticed one of the cooler pins didn’t click as satisfyingly as the rest. It turned out to be a little warped - still went through the mobo, and the cooler was solidly affixed, but it was not in quite as far as the others. It must have put the heat sink at a slight angle. After much fiddling I got it through fully - and that made all the difference. A 60 degree difference, in fact.

9700 - the CPU turned out to be faulty. It was replaced under warranty and the new one is running 20 degrees cooler. I should still get a fan cooler, but it’s fine for now.

Thanks for the help. This was my first major upgrade and it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience - in addition to the CPU issues I managed to wipe both my Win 10 and Office licences and had all sorts of trouble with one of of my drives (turned out to be a worn SATA cable) and sound (driver issue) - but hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here.

It’ll have to be - after all this fuss, my wife made me promise to never do an upgrade like this myself ever again!