Replaced heat sink now CPU is running at 90°C+ at Idle.

AlphaDawg · 21 Jun 2017 at 10:31

Hello guys,

Yesterday I ordered some Vengeance ram DDR3 and upon installing I realised my CPU Cooler got in the way of 2 Ram slots. (CPU - freezer xtreme rev.2) (M/B VI HERO) So I turned the CPU round (Portrait). Foolishly I left the thermal paste on the Cooler and CPU and replaced the cooler. Upon boot I got a blue screen with the error code WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR. My CPU is overclocked so I booted into the bios and reset it back to factory. My PC now boots into Windows however my Temp is still 90°C+ at idle. Is this just a case of re applying the thermal paste or a case of a broken Cooler? My temp before was 40-45°C.

Borealis · 21 Jun 2017 at 10:47

Definitely replace the paste as re-seating the cooler without re-applying the paste will give you a poor thermal contact. It sounds like the cooler isn't seated right.

90+C at idle is not good at all, in fact at those temps I'd expect to see a over-temp shutdown. Re-apply fresh thermal paste and make sure the cooler is securely seated. Hopefully you should be fine.

pastymuncher · 21 Jun 2017 at 10:58

Take the cooler off and redo it properly. Clean the old paste off both the cpu and heatsink and apply fresh but not too much.

AlphaDawg · 21 Jun 2017 at 13:13

Thanks guys I'll do that tonight and report back!

AlphaDawg · 22 Jun 2017 at 00:59

Hello again guys little report back. When I re applied thermal paste my CPU temp was still mid 80's. I picked up the Coolermaster EVO 212 and these are now my recordings. Is this ok? Seems still kinda high!

Hotwired · 22 Jun 2017 at 01:14

What did the paste look like on the bottom of the cooler

It should have been mashed into a thin smear if all things were touching as they should.

Picture of installation might be helpful to avoid asking possibly redundant questions.

pastymuncher · 22 Jun 2017 at 08:12

That still looks way too high. What are you using to stress the cpu to find out the max temps?

snips86x · 22 Jun 2017 at 08:23

In which direction have you placed the cooler? Is it venting out the back of the case? Heat from the GPU will spike the idle temps but still not enough to make it that high - but it won't help!

Pic would be good, check the bolts are finger tight.

AlphaDawg · 22 Jun 2017 at 09:23

Appreciate the help guys. I'll upload a photo when I'm home from work. The cooler is venting out of the case. Bit of a shot in the dark but could this weather be causing these temp spikes?

EsaT · 22 Jun 2017 at 10:58

AlphaDawg said:
Bit of a shot in the dark but could this weather be causing these temp spikes?

If ambient rises 10C also component temperatures rise that much unless cooling can compensate it by increasing airflow.
(or heat output of components is lowered)

Hagar · 22 Jun 2017 at 11:20

I took the heatsinks off my vengeance DDR3 ram (2000MHz) using a hairdryer to soften the thermal pads.

No further issues.

mattyfez · 22 Jun 2017 at 15:19

Is the cooler screwed into the back plate properly?

HoneyBadger · 22 Jun 2017 at 16:42

Did you clean up the old paste before applying new?

Finners · 22 Jun 2017 at 16:50

Is your CPU downclocking at idle? That screenshot is showing it at full speed and loaded vcore.

Make sure c-state C1E (think that's the right one) is enabled in Bios and your windows power profile is set to balanced.

If that works you can tweak from there everything else

laddy · 24 Jun 2017 at 09:14

clean paste off, put heatsink on tabletop, does it lay flat? Presuming you haven't damaged it - re-paste, not to much - place heat sink on cpu and tighten screws a little bit at a time from opposite corners, to get even pressure!

I have always got good temps - my method - put paste in the middle and us a credit card ( do not use America Express ) to scrape it all over as if I was repairing a mark on the wall. Your filling in gaps that you cannot even see! So my my layer is almost transparent. Have used many methods and this is the only method i use now!

postmanfw · 24 Jun 2017 at 10:06

Use isopropanol to clean off old paste properly...not just a tissue

EsaT · 24 Jun 2017 at 10:48

postmanfw said:
Use isopropanol to clean off old paste properly...not just a tissue

Small residues of old TIM wouldn't cause this high temperatures.
Unless that old TIM looks like sand grains and is as hard...

AlphaDawg · 24 Jun 2017 at 12:49

Right I've just used isopropyl to clean off old paste. I have tightened everything up and re sat the cooler. These are my temps at idle. Overclocked to 4.5GHZ. Ran Intels Burn Test temps rose to around 80 degrees but test was completed. Seems ok to me.

pastymuncher · 24 Jun 2017 at 13:18

High 40's-low 50's at idle is not good. Something is still not right there. What case do you have, how many fans are installed in it and how are they set up (intake/exhaust)? Is the cpu downclocking at idle?

laddy · 24 Jun 2017 at 13:52

And do you live in Australia - room temp?

wind tunnel effect is best 2 at least blowing in and 1 exhaust , with cpu own fan blowing the same direction - in and out that simple.

Forgive me if already done, not want to teach somebody who already knows

I myself throw away any hdd caddy and in the past have placed drives on the base of the case. I like my air flow obstacle free! My case now, allows drives to be placed behind a panel