High cpu and gpu temperatures

[uNreal]

hey, when playing Serious Sam 2 online with my friend, at one moment my PC just restarted, after playing some more I decided to look what my temperatures were , and found that max temps were CPU about 85 degrees C and GPU 77 degrees C. I know it's terrible and I should do something about it as fast as I can... btw I remember that after replacing the motherboard (my first burnt down) I started to experience siren noises from my PC speaker, and found out that some alarm was enabled in the BIOS, when the temperature reached a sertain point, but the siren went off every time i launched ANY game, so i turned it off, but left the Shut Down temperature enabled (85 degrees C). So maybe my cpu reached this temperature and PC restarted ? Anyway, I would like to get any advice about what I have to do. Buy cooling, but does that mean just a new Zalman or whatever - cooler, or heatsinks or what else is possible ? and about GPU cooling, i already have a stock ventilator on my video card, if i replace it with another cooler, will it be better ? or i have to place another one on it ? plz sorry for noob questions... thanks for your time !
PS: yes my video card is overclocked, but it's only a little and I performed all the tests and there were no problems with these speeds for a year now ...

 

[KingCody]

hi unreal,

your video card temp is high (but not dangerously high for most cards). your CPU on the other hand is extremely high for any model. based of your description of the problem it would seem that your CPU simply exceeded the BIOS shutdown temp.

you shouldn't need to replace anything unless a fan died. when you replaced the mobo, did you thoroughly clean the CPU and heatsink (with isoproply alcohol) and apply thermal compound before installing the heatsink on the CPU? it sounds like you didn't, but even if you did you should repeat the process again because even a stock heatsink should keep it well below 85c.

also, you say that you overclocked the video card, what are your temps at stock settings? and is your CPU overclocked too?

what are your CPU, GPU, and PSU specs?

 

[uNreal]

hi unreal,

your video card temp is high (but not dangerously high for most cards). your CPU on the other hand is extremely high for any model. based of your description of the problem it would seem that your CPU simply exceeded the BIOS shutdown temp.

you shouldn't need to replace anything unless a fan died. when you replaced the mobo, did you thoroughly clean the CPU and heatsink (with isoproply alcohol) and apply thermal compound before installing the heatsink on the CPU? it sounds like you didn't, but even if you did you should repeat the process again because even a stock heatsink should keep it well below 85c.

also, you say that you overclocked the video card, what are your temps at stock settings? and is your CPU overclocked too?

what are your CPU, GPU, and PSU specs?

about the thermal compound and isoproply alcohol, I didnt replace the mobo myself, the company I bought the PC from - they did it. My video card temperatures were, of course, lower when at stock speeds, I think about 40 at idle, now it's 45-47 idle. My pc isnt overclocked.
CPU is Athlon64 3400+, GPU Radeon X850 Pro, PSU 450W

 

[CMH]

clear it of dust and see

 

[KingCody]

athlon64s run pretty cool. even stock heatsinks should keep it between 30c-40c @idle. I'm surprised your CPU even operated at 85c, because the max temp for an Athlon64 is 65c

as CMH suggested, try to clean out any dust from the heatsink fins (with a can of compressed air). and make sure thatheatsink's fan is plugged in (and make sure it spins up when you power on the PC).

if that fixes it, then yipee . but if it doesn't, then it would appear that whoever changed the mobo for you did not install the heatsink properly (since you never had the problem with your old mobo). if i were you I would remove, clean, apply compound, and reseat it myself so you know it's done right. but if you don't feel comfortable doing that then I would suggest you send it back to them so they can fix their mistake


good luck :wave:

 

[uNreal]

hey where do i get a can of compressed air ?
and this
"and make sure thatheatsink's fan is plugged in (and make sure it spins up when you power on the PC)."

isnt that the same thing ? if it's not plugged in it wont spin, but as i remember from the last time i looked down there - it spinned

and yea i dont feel comfortable doing the installing part myself ...

and btw i just looked inside - the fan seems spinning and all the wires are tied up tightly so disconnecting something from somewhere would ruin it, anyway, to clean from dust, do i have to unscrew the fan or something else ? or just clean all the dust in my PC case

now my sides are taken out so my PC is ventilated a little more, so the temperature now while im writing this is 56 degrees C ... which is pretty high

 

[CMH]

isnt that the same thing ? if it's not plugged in it wont spin, but as i remember from the last time i looked down there - it spinned

Yes, if its not plugged it won't spin, but if the fan's faulty, being plugged in won't make it spin.... Which is why you should personally check it.

We understand that not everyone is comfortable changing parts on their own, but I personally believe that people should learn, because its a really just a simple task of following instructions. This is especially so for stock heatsinks/fans. But of course, if you don't really feel up to it, get someone else who is to do it.

Also, if there is alot of dust, you really should clean it. Get an air can and blow it out. You shouldn't need to disconnect anything to do so. In fact, I'd discourage you from disconnecting anything, cos if you do, you'll have to re-seat the heatsink all over again. And if you're not comfortable doing that, its going to be a problem.


If you have used this system for the last year, and the problem has just surfaced, I wouldn't think there is a problem with your thermal paste. If they didn't put on the heatsink properly to start with, this problem would have surfaced much earlier.

 

[uNreal]

could you please tell me where do i have to look for dust ? everywhere in the PC case or just somewhere inside or near the fan ? where are the heatsink fins ? and about changing parts - i have changed the video card, installed ram etc. , i just didnt wanna do this cause i havent ever done that, but if you say that it is easy , of course i would do it myself, but where are the instructions you mentioned ?
and about the problem - it hasn't just surfaced. i already saw that a year ago, that the temps of the CPU were high, but after bringing it to the company, they checked it with some device, that shows the temperature just by touching the cpu with it, and the temps were normal, they didnt look in BIOS or in some software ... so i thought that some sensor was just faulty and showed the wrong temps... so through the year i havent played any new-gen games very much, i play Counter-Strike in a team, and this 7-year old game isnt demanding as you all know, so i havent had any problems, but now, when i played SS2 on MAX settings for about 2 hours long, my CPU just overheated ...

 

[CMH]

lol, you can't touch the CPU, its hidden under the heatsink. And if you did that by removing the heatsink, the temperature would have been astronomical.

Taking the temp from the heatsink will get a very very low temp. Much lower than it really is.

Either way, they probably didn't seat it properly.

 

[uNreal]

wel i dunno what they touched but they measured it some way ...

so what about the instructions ?

on neowin.net berserk said that i should have multiple case fans to blow hot air out and bring cool air in, but i only have one case fan... maybe that's the problem ?

 

[CMH]

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache...mounting+instruction&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=1

There's the AMD's instructions on how to mount AMD64 heatsinks.

You can google it if you want the PDF format.


On the fans, that can be a problem as well. 1 fan usually isn't adequate these days, so you'll have to look into a few more fans. Buy the biggest your case can support, they move more air, and are quieter. case fans are usually 80mm and 120mm in size, so you'll see 2 different hole sizes, the bigger one being the 120mm, and the smaller 80mm.

 

[uNreal]

im looking inside my case right now and i have one fan on the back panel of the case, and there aren't any holes in the side panels of the case, i see some holes on the upper panel, so can a fan be installed up there ?

also i found out that my PSU is 400W not 450W ...

 

[DesChut3s]

Well it looks like everyone else explained everything pretty clearly. I'm 99% sure that your computer overheated, and either your CPU heatsink isn't mounted right or the fan is clogged w/ dust. One time, I hadn't cleaned my fans for over two years, and dust built up so bad the fan barely spun - my CPU idled at 60C (for an Intel P4). While it may not seem such an important detail, it really does cool the heatsinks. Be sure to clear out the fan above your CPU heatsink w/ a can of compressed air. On top of that, make sure your case fans aren't clogged w/ dust either.

As for air flow - you'll definately find an increase in performance by having one fan to blow the air out w/ another to bring it in. Remember, though, if you do that - you HAVE to have your casing on for it to flow properly.

To be honest, stock coolers always suck - you really should go buy an after-stock cooler; they're not hard to install at all. You can find tutorials online that will explain the process step-by-step and even what kind of products to get. Overheating is just too common these days...

 

[steyr223]

hey guys
just wanted to put my 2 cents worth

i had an amd 3000 last year, all of a sudden, bam
heats up to well past 85c,upwards of 90c

yea i know ,but i gots a "who gives a **** atitatude,i'll just buy another"
so i turned of the alarms,bells, and whistles

btw ,used to work on all the time,always had sides off(+3-5 deg)
never used paste(+5-7 deg)

i did find, howerver, that when mounted wrong (which still works)
is about 8+ deg higher

anyways it still works to this day at 87-90c

of course i learnd scince then and this system(my newer one) works
at norm

it just amazes me and the manufacturer that it hasn't fried

thanx steyr223

 

[uNreal]

Thanks for all your replies ! I've made some photos inside my case, here they are:
My whole case

Case fan, CPU Heatsink-fan, PSU

Heatsink-fan

Holes on the upper panel - for another fan ?..

Heatsink-fan again

 

[CMH]

Okay, there's virtually no dust on your CPU, so don't bother on that front.

If you don't use thermal paste, you're relying solely on how flat your heatsink is. If you're lucky, its really flat, and you get some good temps. If not, you're gonna burn it up.

Btw, 8C is alot, you're talking about the difference between having your CPU at load and your CPU at idle.

If you did all those things you said, you're having your CPU at an extra 16-20C. Fixing everything will not take up too much time.

The single fan probably isn't doing much for your comp, add another one, and make it an exhaust fan (blows out of the case). There might be another slot in the front (where your HDDs are), it'll be a good idea to put a fan on intake there.

But you'd still need to reseat your heatsink I reckon.

 

[uNreal]

hmm the photos are from the post maker (me) , but you seemed to answer
to steyr223 ...

 

[TCool]

WOW!! LOL your hsf looks very clean, atleast compared to mine every time I check it. I would however check in between the fins on the heat sink to make sure all the dust is out, there prolly isn't much in there now, but while ya got it all opened up mine as well make sure its all clean.

It looks like you could fit another 80mm fan in the upper panel that you took a pic of, I'd do it. Maybe you should think about buying yourself a new case with more ventilation, looks like that one is lacking in that area. Or you could do what I did when I was having heat problems, just keep the side off and stick a window fan right up to it... hehe worked good.

BTW, did you clean it before you took the pics? cuz if you didnt and you've had that thing running for a year please tell me the trick to keeping the dust out!

 

[CMH]

No, I was telling steyr223 why one should follow instructions. the last bit was for you.

 

[uNreal]

TCool, actually I cleaned after taking the photos, so now there isnt any dust down there... and I really had this PC from 2004 and have cleaned a little inside only once maybe I'm just lucky ...

 

[TCool]

WOW!!! I want to come move in with you, you must have some clean air. LOL would keep my computer nice and clean and no dust to make my asthma/allergies bad. Do you have a big air cleaning system in your house or something? I'm gonna have invest in whatever it is that kept your computer that clean, although I guess it could be that the case you have looks pretty well sealed which is prolly why you're having heating issues now.

 

[uNreal]

I don't know what to say
well we do have good ventilation in our house, but also the PC is on the 3rd floor where the roof windows are always open so fresh air is everywhere here

 

[TCool]

LOL, well thats cool. I just cleaned my case a couple days ago and I bet if I opened it up now it would be way dirtier than yours was. STUPID DUST!

 

[uNreal]

so, after multiple replies from different people, I decided to buy this CPU Cooler Zalman CNPS9500, and this VGA Cooler Zalman VF700-Cu.
The only one thing left is a case. You said I should get a new case / better ventilation, but I think I don't actually understand how to make better ventilation and how would a case with better ventilation look like... can you suggest me something ? and of course I can buy another fan and put it on my upper side of the case, but people say that I should have a front intake fan, which I can't have in my current case