e6400 running exceptionally hot

[EastCoastn07]

I just hooked up my rig yesturday and it was doing fine until today I saw that my CPU was running in the high 50s. I haven't OC'd it and haven't tweaked with any settings either, but I can't see to figure out why its running so hot. I've read that it should be idling at 30 degrees Celsius yet mine is in the 50s. I'm running a stock cooler as well. If anyone can explain to me or give me some insight on whats going on I'd appreciate it.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: EastCoastn07
I just hooked up my rig yesturday and it was doing fine until today I saw that my CPU was running in the high 50s. I haven't OC'd it and haven't tweaked with any settings either, but I can't see to figure out why its running so hot. I've read that it should be idling at 30 degrees Celsius yet mine is in the 50s. I'm running a stock cooler as well. If anyone can explain to me or give me some insight on whats going on I'd appreciate it.

I would check to make sure the heatsink/fan is properly seated.

 

[Baked]

Are you running the retail heatsink?

 

[neuralnut]

If your system is running hot, check that the top of your conroe is flat!

It appears that some core 2 duo chips have concave heat spreaders. I found this out when I took my heatsink off and found only a small spot in the middle of the heat spreader that had made contact with the heatsink due to the spot of arctic silver I had placed in the middle, plus clear contact points around the edge of the heat spreader. Most of the heatsink was not in contact.

I have not had a chance to lap the chip yet due to the need to get the machine up and running, so I have just put it back together with a bit more AS than before. Note that this is one case where the advice to use only a thin film of AS will give you a worse result.

 

[EastCoastn07]

I just took the retail HSF off and most of the chip is covered in the thermal paste so I dont think the heat spreader is concave at all. I'm going to reinstall the HSF and turn it on again to see if its still running hot. If it is, I don't know what i'm going to do.

EDIT: Just reseated the HSF and its still idling at 54 degrees Celsius...I'm oblivious to why its running so hot.

 

[crspyjohn]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1910382&enterthread=y

According to this thread a lot of the temp reading software arn't correct.

 

[EastCoastn07]

Bad thing is, I'm in the BIOS and I'm idling at 55 degrees Celsius.

 

[crspyjohn]

wow 55c? My old P4 only runs at 40c and its a compaq lol. I'm still waiting on my e6300 to come.

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106951 compare yours to some of the peoples here

 

[Conky]

Well, I've built a lot of systems over the years and your problem could be one of several things...

First, make sure you don't have too much thermal paste on the cpu/heatsink... too much can actually lead to increased temps.

Second, your bios or other hardware may not actually be reporting properly... is your computer room getting real warm? Motherboard temps are notoriously inaccurate.

Third, If it is indeed running hot try taking the side off your case.... it's not a crime to let your case breathe if you don't have more fans than you have fingers.

Anyway, those are some tips. Hope you get that sucker cooled down because it definitely shouldn't be running that hot.

 

[EastCoastn07]

I really couldn't tell if I have too much thermal paste or not, this is my first build and I figured I would go with the retail HSF so I didnt have to worry about applying thermal paste. But when I took the HSF off a few minutes ago there was only a thin layer off the CPU heat spreader so I dont think there was too much. I just rechecked the contact again and am about to go boot up to see if the temps are still in the fifties...If so I might just go out and by some artic silver tomorrow.

EDIT: Still idling at 55 degrees Celsius after second reseating...Definitely don't know whats wrong with it.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: EastCoastn07
I really couldn't tell if I have too much thermal paste or not, this is my first build and I figured I would go with the retail HSF so I didnt have to worry about applying thermal paste. But when I took the HSF off a few minutes ago there was only a thin layer off the CPU heat spreader so I dont think there was too much. I just rechecked the contact again and am about to go boot up to see if the temps are still in the fifties...If so I might just go out and by some artic silver tomorrow.

EDIT: Still idling at 55 degrees Celsius after second reseating...Definitely don't know whats wrong with it.

Well, in any case until you figure out why it's running so hot... I'm still guessing a heatsink/fan with too little/much thermal compound. But the upside is that Intel chips are designed to go really REALLY hot so until it hits 65-70 degrees don't worry too much.

 

[EastCoastn07]

Well how will I know if theres too much?

 

[Compellor]

My Asus P5B temp reading software reads much higher than Core Temp. My E6400 at stock was reading 42C idle temps while Core Temp was reading 36C idle. Intel's TAT reads around 34C idle. At 55C your HSF should be fairly warm. Is it?

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: EastCoastn07
Well how will I know if theres too much?

You want the minimal amount that will still maintain contact between the cpu and heatsink and yet you still want to aim for maximum contact between the cpu and heatsink.

Less is better, remember this.

Good luck and report back with lower temps.... you are making me crazy now that I ordered an E6400 too! :laugh:

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Compellor
My Asus P5B temp reading software reads much higher than Core Temp. My E6400 at stock was reading 42C idle temps while Core Temp was reading 36C idle. Intel's TAT reads around 34C idle. At 55C your HSF should be fairly warm. Is it?

That's what I was saying before... at that temp his room should warm up considerably.

If it was a temp misreading then his room should still be cool.

These hardware temp monitors are not always that accurate... as most of us know already.

 

[EastCoastn07]

Yes, my room did warm up a significant amount...I mean, my exhaust fan is pumping out a lot of warm air, so I don't think it is inaccurate. Maybe I'll go get some artic silver tomorrow and reapply the thermal compoud, hopefully that will solve the dilemma.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: EastCoastn07
Yes, my room did warm up a significant amount...I mean, my exhaust fan is pumping out a lot of warm air, so I don't think it is inaccurate. Maybe I'll go get some artic silver tomorrow and reapply the thermal compoud, hopefully that will solve the dilemma.

This is not good.... a warmed up room means something is amiss.

I've heard about numerous cases of improperly seated heatsink/fans for these new Conroes so double check it's on there right. Apparently these new heatsink/fans are a little tricky... I won't know for a couple days.

In any case, good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[butthead]

Mine was running warm also until I realized the motherboard wasn't spinning the fan up to full speed (it was set to the 'quiet' mode). If the fan isn't up on high already, there may be a lot left there, my temps drop nearly 15C between low and high speeds.

 

[EastCoastn07]

I turned it off last night to let it cool and turned it back on today and its still idling at 50 degrees and up. I even checked the HSF and put a load of pressure on the pins and still hasn't shown any improvement.

If I was going to go about removing some of the thermal compound how would I do that?

 

[myocardia]

You should download this: SpeedFan 4.29, and see what your temps are from within Windows, while running something that stresses your cpu, like: the Orthos edition, at the bottom. Leave SpeedFan running while you run Orthos, and turn off Orthos if the temps go much above 60C.

If they do, you don't have your heatsink seated. You can't install an Intel heatsink with the motherboard inside of the case, by the way.

 

[EastCoastn07]

Ok, I'll try that and if all else fails ill take the motherboard out and reinstall it out of the case.

 

[EastCoastn07]

Something must be wrong, because that Speedfan thing is saying my CPU is at 42 C and AISuite was saying 60 degrees while using that Orthos thing, so what should I do now? Reseat the mobo?

 

[EastCoastn07]

So is there anything I can possibly do to improve my temps? Do you think that maybe my chip is just a bad one?

 

[markymoo]

my 2pence

its best to buy proper heatsink cpu cleaner, theres micro holes that are not properly cleaned are still left with old compound on. so its still contaminated. only use artic silver 5. thats good.even a fingerprint of oil can mess with it. put a small drop on and put the heatsink down on top of it to spread it good dont use a razor blade or anything else. just the weight of the heatsink too little is better than too much , dont worry about covering all 100% even 90% will do,applying it like cheesecake will not do.

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/339

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_35/products_id/1467

could be the board sensor has the wrong temps also

 

[zizo]

Let me guess. You have an Asus board. Specifically, P5B .