VERY worried my cpu temps are too high, can't work out what's causing it

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Hi

I've got a problem with the temperature of my AMD Phenom II X4 BE 955. It seems to be running too hot. It's overclocked from 3.2ghz to 3.8ghz (by ocuk).

When idle it constantly varies between 44-49 degrees and when under full load from playing games such as arma 2 it goes as high as the mid-late 60's !

I have changed cases (had a case with 1 fan, now have a case with 3) and improved cable management but it has made no difference whatsoever.

I have a Titan Fenrir cooler and im using MX-2 Thermal Paste.

Im also a little confused as to how much paste i should be putting on and also how i should apply it. I hear so many conflicting ways on how much i should put on and how i should do it. I asked a member of the ocuk staff about the temperatures and he said

"those temperatures are fine and what we expect to see in some circumstances

i would personally reseat the titan fenrir using a lot of thermal paste as it needs a good helping to cover the contact plate"

now this goes against everything iv read on forums. according to most websites the thermal limit for this cpu is only 62 degrees and im going over that regularly so surely the temps aren't fine ? Also people always say to put on a minimal amount of paste, but this guy is saying use a lot.

I also phoned up AMD and the woman i spoke to said that the limit was 71 degrees and that my temps were ok although maybe a little too high. Then i have countless people on forums telling me that the temperature of the CPU is too high and the limit is actually 62.

I honestly don't know who to believe... im so confused

Im terrified im going to melt the cpu or something bad like that.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated

oh and here is a pic of the setup incase that helps

cablemanagementattempt2.jpg


i have tried moving the side panel fan (not visible in pic) to the top of the case above the cooler but the idle temps went even higher !!!!
 
Here is a link how Arctic cooling recommend apply the thermal paste - Clicky
Can you increase the fan speed on the cooler and what software are you using to monitor temps.
 
I have posted in you general hardware thread but just seen the pic. can you not turn the Fenrir 90 degrees anticlockwise so the fan isnt drawing in hot air rising from the GPU. Or do the ram heatsinks collide with the fan?
 
I have posted in you general hardware thread but just seen the pic. can you not turn the Fenrir 90 degrees anticlockwise so the fan isnt drawing in hot air rising from the GPU. Or do the ram heatsinks collide with the fan?

hi, nah i can't do this due to how it mounts onto the motherboard. it can only face upwards and downwards :(
 
The max temperatures are those set by AMD for maximum possible life. Understand that as a large company selling to a mainstream audience, AMD has to cover themselves when they product a product.

60c is not going to kill your CPU, and it is nothing to worry about. Running higher temperatures than normal is what happens when you overclock, and if you're worried about it, you should just reset things to stock.

Many, many people here run overclocked machines at temperatures higher than the manufacturers recommend, because we know what the actual limits are. My overclocked Core i7 reaches nearly 80c under full load. I don't mind, because it won't damage the CPU. If it was running at 100c, then I would have a problem.
 
max recomended and max are two different things, my calorie intake max recomended intake is 2,500 but those 3 big macs have kina blown that catch my drift mate? kidding aside it will be fine
 
hi, nah i can't do this due to how it mounts onto the motherboard. it can only face upwards and downwards :(

fair enough! Try reseating it and follow a step by step guide, the fenrir is pretty popular so there are plety knocking about.

my calorie intake max recomended intake is 2,500 but those 3 big macs have kina blown that catch my drift mate?

Guess thats why they call you BigBruiser!! :D
 
Also what you have to rememeber, is that it is pretty warm weather at the moment so that will have an effect. My ye olde 939 socket 4200 is hitting about 40 degs idle under a big zalman 9700 copper lump. Winter is your friend!
 
I have posted in you general hardware thread but just seen the pic. can you not turn the Fenrir 90 degrees anticlockwise so the fan isnt drawing in hot air rising from the GPU. Or do the ram heatsinks collide with the fan?

with regards to you commment in the other thread

when you say put the mx2 into the gaps do you mean JUST the gaps or just spread it evenly over the entire base of the heatsink ? i can imagine it being a bit of a nightmare trying to massage it into 1mm wide gaps...
 
yeah i thought weather could play a role, but still i thought the max was 62 thus my worry, but if you all think it can go over that then i guess i don't need to worry too much.

it's just confusing because i get soooo many people telling me different things, and being the noob that i am i don't know who is correct and who isnt

also can anyone tell me if its normal to have my cpu temps constantly changing between 46-52 when im not even doing anything ? shouldn't it just stay at the same temp if it's idle ? why would it suddenly jump up 6 degrees if it's idle ?
 
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with regards to you commment in the other thread

when you say put the mx2 into the gaps do you mean JUST the gaps or just spread it evenly over the entire base of the heatsink ? i can imagine it being a bit of a nightmare trying to massage it into 1mm wide gaps...


Check this out :D
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

Basically work it into the gaps, make sure they are filled and there is no air pockets, then follow the usual routine of tim application.
 
Check this out :D
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

Basically work it into the gaps, make sure they are filled and there is no air pockets, then follow the usual routine of tim application.

nice one, i went ahead and tried doing that anyway as i assumed thats what needed to be done. sadly my temps are still identicle, it's just annoying when i google stuff about the fenrir and there are other people talking about how there's are idle at 35 (and saying they think thats too hight !!!!), i would kill to have mine idle at 35 !!! im a full 10-15 degrees above that :(
 
my taking of it is that 62c is the max case temp which is read from the IHS and that is the temp the bios reads from and its normaly one of the first three temps on speedfan aswell. i take it your reading the temp from coretemp which reads from the die and is on average about 8c higher than the bios/speedfan reading so i would say anything below 68c on coretemp is fine
 
I have changed cases (had a case with 1 fan, now have a case with 3) and improved cable management but it has made no difference whatsoever.

When you say you have 3 fans, where are they in your case. I have noticed your case can have two side fans, have you got one in the lower right? might supply some fresh air to your cpu cooler? Really clutching at straws now!!
 
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