Brand New i3 Processor Going 100 degrees>

Turkitch · 06 Jan 2011

I'm not too sure, I'm not going to take off my heatsink today and just use my laptop for now as I'm far too frightened I'll break something, I'm gonna call up a computer expert I know and ask him to do the honours for me

linnemeyerhere · 06 Jan 2011

Funny how many opinions are out there about cleaning and applying thermal paste. Cleaning video was good if not overkill. Thermal paste application was one of two good techniques. The one I like is less is more and it doesn't involve any spreading which invites over application especially towards the edges where with pressure the conductive paste can ooze over the sides of the CPU (not good). Under heat and proper/even pressure a little drop (size of a lentil) will spread under the heat sink and won't migrate beyond the CPU.

linnemeyerhere · 06 Jan 2011

turkitch,
If your saying the case has no front intake fan then for sure that is another point you want to address. So double check that and if not install the front and addition rear case fans and you will see much better air circulation and cooling effects. Cheers

Dwarf · 06 Jan 2011

linnemeyerhere said:

Funny how many opinions are out there about cleaning and applying thermal paste. Cleaning video was good if not overkill. Thermal paste application was one of two good techniques. The one I like is less is more and it doesn't involve any spreading which invites over application especially towards the edges where with pressure the conductive paste can ooze over the sides of the CPU (not good). Under heat and proper/even pressure a little drop (size of a lentil) will spread under the heat sink and won't migrate beyond the CPU.

I agree, there are certainly a number of ways to do this effectively. However, sometimes a video showing a particular method can be more effective than simply trying to describe it.

pparks1 · 06 Jan 2011

linnemeyerhere said:

Funny how many opinions are out there about cleaning and applying thermal paste. Cleaning video was good if not overkill.

Yeah, considering that it was clean to begin with it was certainly overkill. I wipe my down with rubbing alcohol only and that is usually enough.

linnemeyerhere · 06 Jan 2011

+1 Dwarf, a video is always nice. I would love to see a video of the complete job of pulling a stock cooler mounting the new retention plate and then installing the new cooler with cleaning and re-application of paste.

GeneO · 06 Jan 2011

There is no protective plastic cover on a stock i3 cooler to whoever posted that.

I recently built an i3 computer. I was getting up to 90 degrees on IBT stress testing. I opened it up. The stock cooler didn't seat right onto the motherboard and the thermal paste was still in its initial pattern - i.e. it the cooler wasn't making good contact. Instead of mucking around with it I put a stock i7 cooler I had lying around with some arctic silver 5 paste and got 50 degrees under load. You should be able to get 55 degrees with the i3 stock I expect.

I will bet you your cpu cooler isn't seated properly. Get some arctic silver 5 thermal paste and re-seat it and make sure it is firmly in place. It isn't that hard - I just use cotton swabs and alcohol to clean off the old paste, then wax paper and the index finger to spread a thin uniform layer across the bottom of the heat-sink.

Good luck
Gene

ignatzatsonic · 07 Jan 2011

You can read Arctic Silver's instructions for thermal paste application on an Intel i3 here:

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Home

Just download that specific PDF.

See the pic below for the i3. It's a vertical line of paste about 1 mm wide--about 1/25 of an inch. Like uncooked spaghetti.

An intake fan on the front side can certainly help temperatures, but it would not make a drastic difference. A badly mounted heatsink is much more likely.

You can remount the heatsink with the motherboard in the case, but the mounting mechanism is typically a pain and it's hard to tell if it mounted correctly or not.

That's probably why you thought it was a good mount--you couldn't really tell.

For that reason, it may be best to get the motherboard out of the case so you can look at the underside and confirm a good mount on all 4 corners.

linnemeyerhere · 07 Jan 2011

I've found the best way is to lightly tighten all four till you get a similarly light resistance then from there you do a cross pattern tighten a half a turn at a time. Looking at the CPU start with upper left then tighten lower right, then lower left then upper right. Repeat till you have a tight even pressure......then wait 5 minutes and repeat or test again as often the paste will begin to spread and loosen the CPU. This last step is important and also allows the threads to cool and it will give you the best feel for tightness. Good luck !
Note: Please don't use excessive force to tighten, in a seated position with a good screw driver it will feel tight but you shouldn't have to stand or over tighten. Good and snug is the trick and this is why the rest period is so important !

Turkitch · 07 Jan 2011

You are all going to despise me.

I'd taken my PC to the computer guy about 5 miles from me and asked him to replace the thermal paste on the heatsink, (due to my lack of courage to investigate full myself for fear of reaping destruction on my PC) he noticed that the heatsink wasn't clamped down properly in the first place, so my friend who assisted the building of my PC who actually put the heatsink all will be receiving a face full of rage soon enough.

Thanks for all your help anyway guys :)