Member Avatar for siaoz85

Hi guys,

Recently, my mainboard became faulty and I sent it for a replacement. When the board came back, i fix back my AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ cpu and i applied a new coat of thermal compound. I then installed the game Borderlands and my PC kept turning itself off. So i suspected it could be my processor overheating. I reapplied another coat of thermal compound, this time a thinner layer and my PC stills run hot at 50-60 degrees when idling. Therefore, I went to purchase a reputable thermal compound, Gellid GC Extreme and applied. Thank god the temp became 49 to 52 degrees at idle. However, when I started playing borderlands, the temperatures shoots up to a whooping 73 degrees. From what I know(if i'm not wrong), my CPU max temp is 65 degrees so I am realli afraid I would burn my CPU. I did not overclock.

Pls advise. Is 73 degrees too hot for my CPU? If it is, what is wrong and what can I do? Possible that the CPU is faulty thus resulting in the increase in temp? Or is it the way i applied my thermal compound or its time i change my CPU heatsink?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by crunchie
Member Avatar for Crash~Override

There could be lots of reason for the overheat. But YES 73 degrees is very hot for your processor and it is highly advisable not to run your computer at those temperatures.

Anyways to find out what is the problem, open up your case and see if all the system fans are working and record the speed of those fans. Also check whats the speed of the cpu fan. Maybe the cpu fan is not spinning fast enough to cool your processor. So also check the cpu fan speed.

You can find speeds of the fans by going into bios or by running a program like everest ultimate.

And yes it could also mean you didn't apply the thermal paste correctly. Did you clean the procesor of the older paste before applying the new one?

Following is one of the most reliable thermal compound:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

So for now record your fan speeds and report back. and let us know if all the fans are working

Member Avatar for crunchie

What are your ambient temps? Make sure the heat sink is firmly attached to the IHS.

Member Avatar for siaoz85

Okie guys, I think the prob lies with my HSF. For some reason or another, I reapplied my thermal compound on 3 more diff occasions, I was still unable to keep the temp low at full load. I finally bought a Cooler Master N520 Hyper HSF and installed it. After installation, my CPU idles at 42 to 44 degrees. At full load playing games etc, the temp is at 52 to 53 degrees. Finally, no more scary 73 degrees temp at full load.

Just one last question, with this Cooler Master HSF, is the above idle and full temp gd? Cause from what I know, this is quite a gd HSF and is able to bring temps down by quite a bit.

Member Avatar for crunchie

Do not worry about your idle temps. It is the full load temps that need to be controlled.
What you have now will be no problem.
What is the ambient temps? You will probably see between 20C to 25C above ambient temps on the cpu.

Member Avatar for Crash~Override

those temperatures are still a few degrees on the upper end considering the 45$ hsf...but its nothing to worry about i guess since the temperatures are well within range.

Just as a reference, my phenom II x3 idles at around 35 degrees and at full load around 50 degrees with the stock hsf

Member Avatar for crunchie

The later processors run cooler because they use less power. My quad runs at 45C full load at 3600MHz.

Member Avatar for siaoz85

Ok, I just played Fallout 3 at max settings for an hr and the max temp is at only 49 degrees. Its so much better... Anyway, thanks everyone for your help. How to check ambient temps anyway? I using EVEREST and MSI Core Centre to monitor my temps.

Crash override: Your phenom II x3 idles at around 35 degrees and at full load around 50 degrees with the stock hsf? I thought newer and faster CPUs shud churn out more heat? How come urs is running so much cooler? How many case fans and what case u using?

Brief info on my com specs:
MSI K9N Ultra
AMD Athlon X2 4800+ (CM N520 Hyper HSF)
Kingston Hyper-X DDR2-800 1GB x 2 pieces
MSI Nvidia 8800GT OC Edition 512 DDR3

Member Avatar for Crash~Override

I have COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower case. And i am using all stock fans and hsf that came with it.

Member Avatar for crunchie

How to check ambient temps anyway?

That is the temperature of the room/place you are in.

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