Hot CPU

[NightmareXX]

Well I've got a friend with a Q9450 who's wondering if the temperature is a little hot. It runs at about 45-50 idle and loads around 65-70 which to me, sounds far too hot.

It's got an Arctic freezer 7 on it that's been reseated with AS5 paste. I've checked the CPU and the heatsink for convex/cave and they're both pretty flat.

Why is it so hot?

 

[setter]

Is the system at stock, and whats the airflow like in the case, 45-50 does seem a bit on the high side. Also what speed is the fan on the freezer running at?

 

[NightmareXX]

Yea it's at stock. There's only the Freezer and an exhaust in the case so airflow is a bit poor however the system is ran with the side panel off to try to cool it down.

Those temperatures are at 60% fan speed. When the heatsink is touched, it doesn't feel terribly warm which leads me to believe that it's not making proper contact with the CPU however I've checked it and it seems pretty tight to me.

Could the cooler not be on tight enough? It uses the standard intel push-pin things which are rubbish IMO

 

[cje]

Try the fans on 100% speed. My Noctua isn't nearly as efficient on 80% as it is on 100%.

If that doesn't work, think of investing in a bolt through kit. Don't know about the freezer 7 though. Would a bolt through kit work?

 

[NightmareXX]

I've tried it on 100% speed and the temps drop maybe 3-4 degrees if he's lucky, gets really noisy though.

I'd expect running it at 60% and it being hot to mean that the temperature of the fins would be quite high. I set the fan speed to 0% on a Phenom that I have and in a few minutes the fins were almost burning hot and a definite temperature change from 60%. These fins aren't that hot though

A bolt through kit might work as I could just snap off the plastic connector thingies.

 

[setter]

A decent intake fan at the front of the case would help as well, to get more air flowing towards the cpu area.

 

[NightmareXX]

I've installed an intake fan on it now and got it blowing from the side directly onto the RAM/Heatsink fan and temps have only dropped 2-3 degrees or so. Is it possible that the sensor is report the wrong temperature? Or that the heatsink isn't fixed well enough?

 

[setter]

Theres a possibility that the sensors could be stuck, try testing them with realtemp, also check that the pushpins on the cooler are fully pushed through.

 

[NightmareXX]

I've checked the pins as I reseated it and use AS5 paste, definitely through the otherside. I'll get it out and recheck though.