I5 2400 Overheating for no reason. Help Please

MY i5 2400 processor is idleing at 83C and i'm freaking out! no applications are using my CPU and its using at most 10% power. I have had this since November i do believe and have never had a problem with it. I just cleaned my fan and heat sync just a second ago to see if that was the problem and nothing helped... It is a desktop obviously, and my case is open. As i said before i have never had a problem with overheating. Yesterday i was playing BF# without any problems today im going over 90C

What program are you using to measure the temp?

Try another program to confirm.

Better yet, what does the BIOS say about temps?

If it is not the program it is likely the CPU cooler isn't making good thermal contact with the CPU or your cooler fan is not working. Since it just happened all of a sudden I guess we can rule out case airflow - unless one of your case fans has failed.

First thing I would check is fans. Then if that isn;t the problem. you will probably need to take of the CPU heatsink, remove all thermal paste, then apply new thermal paste and re-seat the heat sink. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then take it to a local computer store.

BTW, filling in your hardware spec can aid in resolving hardware related issues.

Thanks guys! After getting everything taken out, I found out that my thermal paste was dried out and flaky. I got some thermal paste and everything is good now :)