HELP: High CPU Temps - first timer

ConorJ_2105 · 19 Jun 2020 at 17:31

Hi - first time poster here and also first time builder... so bare with me please!

My CPU temps seem pretty high for pretty light use, anywhere between 40°c - 55°c with spikes up to anything like 65°c. Specs below and then a bit more background:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
Cooler: NZXT Kraken X63 AOI water cooler - fans are set up in the front of the case pulling air in
Case: NZXT H510 (with the 2 factory fit case fans - set up at rear and rear top of case pushing air out
GPU: MSI Radeon RX 570 ARMOR 8GB Graphics Card
Motherboard: MSI MPG X570 GAMING PRO CARBON WIFI Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengance 16GB x 2

These temps are for just day-to-day, light use - running a word document, spotify and chrome I'll be getting anywhere between 40°c - 55°c with spikes up to anything like 65°c. I don't game on the PC at all really, so it's never been pushed particularly hard.

If I've literally got one or two programs open (for example right now, I'm monitoring with HW-Monitor, have a few tabs open on chrome, and whatsapp running) and I'm getting temps ranging around 39°-46°c. I've tried to adjust fans in the BIOS, but this doesn't seem to do much at all - and if I turn off smart fan for both my cooler fans, they just automatically go into overdrive and get really loud.

Can anyone offer any insight into whether these temps are too high and what I can do to reduce the temps (if they are) please?

EDIT: Just ran a game of fortnite to see if any difference in temps - and on HW Monitor the highest temp was 62°c (assuming it still runs when I'm in a game?) - which is really weird!

mattyfez · 19 Jun 2020 at 17:58

Your temps are certainly not 'too hot'.

Ambient temps where I am at the moment are between 10c and 14c so you'd be lucky to get CPU temps approaching 30c or lower, at idle, without some sort of extreme cooling solution.

mattyfez · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:01

mattyfez said:
Your temps are certainly not 'too hot'.

Ambient temps where I am at the moment are between 10c and 14c so you'd be lucky to get CPU temps approaching 30c or lower, at idle, without some sort of extreme cooling solution.

Idle spikes at 65c might indicate a cooler issue or improper installation though, but perfectly fine under load, that said, if the former was an issue, your load temps would be higher than 65c.

Have you tried running cinebench CPU test & HWmonitor and see what that peaks the temps at?

ConorJ_2105 · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:29

Hi @mattyfez - thanks for your help. Yes temps here in the UK are around 17°c outside - although the room my PC is a normal room temp.

Just ran a cinebench test, it scored 3445pts - with temps (according to HW Monitor) peaking at 68°c. But now I've stopped running the cinebench (and left it five minutes) I'm still getting peaks up to 54°c with just chrome, HW monitor and chrome open.

I did worry I'd not installed the cooler properly - but I double checked this and rtightened the cooler to the board a few weeks back. The thermal paste was preinstalled on the cooler, and I admit I did ever so slightly smudge the thermal paste onto the cpu when I was lining up the cooler to the cpu - but it was just as I was installing and didn't wipe off, but rather just lioghtly smudged from cooler to cpu.

If i check the thermal paste (by taking the cooler off) - I presumably would then need to clean it and apply some new thermal paste?

mattyfez · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:32

17°c outside - although the room my PC is a normal room temp.

so over 17c ambient temp... I don't think you really need to worry too much to be honest, unless you want to chase the ghost of extremely low idle temps

PieEater · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:33

Your cooler is working fine as evidenced by your low load temps. Make sure you have the latest AMD X570 chipset drivers installed and then try the balanced Ryzen power plan as this should better managed your idle voltages which are responsible for your high idle temps.

mattyfez · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:41

Idle peaks of up to 54c are interesting though, but I'm not too familiar with ryzen, do they boost momentarily when opening apps etc? probably what PieEater said...

ConorJ_2105 · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:41

Thanks so much @mattyfez! I was just worried long term temps being that high for what I'd regard as light use would cause some damage/lower system performance (peaked at 60°c since I last posted).

@PieEater - thanks to you too. I've got it on the balanced plan and I'll double check I have the latest drivers - although I did this a few weeks back and all was up to date!

ConorJ_2105 · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:46

@mattyfez - just booted up after effects and indeed, the temp peaked up to 62°c. Sorry for not knowing more - it's my first build so definitely still getting to grips with it all!

mattyfez · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:56

No worries, it's peak temperatures (under load) you really need to be worried about for long term usage, idle temperatures do tend to fluctuate a bit, unless the idle is running too warm all the time, it's probably just the odd spike when the cpu ramps up momentarily to open an app or do a specific task that requires more clock speed.

doyll · 20 Jun 2020 at 15:20

Spiking peaks with newer CPUs often run 10-20c higher than older CPUs did. Main load temp is what's important, not the spiking temps at only last a a second, often not even that long.