CPU cooler temperature difference?

[Cyriano]

Hello ppl

Have been having some overheat problems with my cpu (i7 @ 920 with coolermaster hyper n520 cooler @1800)


The temperatures with 100% load and max heat with prime95 are 73 C max at the same time I manually measured the temperature at the base and it was about 40 C. I comfirmed that temp by touching it with my bare finger.

Isn't that way big a temp difference? 30 c difference + between cpu and its cooler

 

[Technochicken]

It could be that there is not good contact between the base of the cooler and the CPU's IHS. You might want to try reseating the cooler or reapplying thermal paste. Make sure to tighten the mounting screws well for best results.

 

[Cyriano]

have done it 2 times already and I am quite sure that the cooler is firmly seated and the thermal impound well applied. I used the arctic silver 5 one

 

[Technochicken]

Is your processor overclocked? If it is not, then those temperatures would be unusually high, but if it is then those those temps would not be too unreasonable.

 

[crunchie]

i7 920's run hot and mid 70C's are quite normal temps. Remember that the sensor is inside the processor and simply contacting the base with your finger does not give a very accurate or realistic idea of actual temps.
Cooling starts at the IHS and therefore will be cooler the the cpu core.

 

[Cyriano]

The cpu was slightly OCed with intel turbo boost but I have disabled it now (dropping the temperatures to 68-69 C at 100% load)

I didn't measure the temperatures at the cooler's base with my finger but used a polymeter and also the temperature custom sensors of my mobo

My actual problem is not the cpu's temperature but the big difference between the cpu and its cooler :S

isn't 30 C a lot of a difference?

 

[Technochicken]

Since you have a heatpipe based cooler, it is not at all surprising that the base is so much cooler than the CPU. The heatpipes move the heat form the base of the cooler into the fins. I assume you are touching the cooler base above the heatpipes. Very little heat will get to that point, because most of it will have been moved by the heatpipes. As long as your CPU is staying within operating temperatures, I would not worry about how hot any of your heatsink is.