Solved CPU temp is very high

[jetablack4]

I recently have been looking at my CPU temperature and noticed that it seems extremely high, however, I am unsure if is actually high or it is an error with Core Temp and other temp monitoring programs (I also tried speed fan to verify). I have a new dell xps8100 desktop (about a year old) with a Core i5 650 CPU which has 2 cores with hyper threading. My computer has always run smooth and can't understand how my CPU temps can be this high. Can this be an error since my computer has 2 physical and 2 logical cores? I mean Core Temp is showing that my computer hit the TJmax. Any ideas?

Here are some pics:

 

[OldMX]

Make sure the exhaust fan is working, and the cpu heatsink is free of dust?

 

[Zepher]

try a newer version of CoreTemp.
I am running version 0.99.8

 

[StalkeR]

Make sure that your fans are clear of dust. Also you can buy some additional fans.

 

[whs]

This is indeed very high. Dirt can be one cause. The other cause could be a misaligned heatsink or dry paste (which you may want to replace).

 

[jetablack4]

OK - so I seems like all who responded feel that this has something to do with the cooling and it is not related to my system having logical cores (I was hoping that the program might be doubling my cpu temps for that reason). I will check my fans for some dust but I do not really know much about the heat sink or dry paste and really would prefer avoiding going into my computer as I am afraid I might touch the wrong thing.

Additionally when my computer starts up the core temps are around 70 degrees C - which seems kind of high.

 

[StalkeR]

This quide should help you about cleaning the PC.
Spring Cleaning for Your Computer: Evacuate PC Dust Bunnies

 

[whs]

70C at startup is a lot. Do you happen to know what PSU is installed in your system and did you ever check whether it functions properly. Maybe the CPU gets too much juice.

 

[jetablack4]

70C at startup is a lot. Do you happen to know what PSU is installed in your system and did you ever check whether it functions properly. Maybe the CPU gets too much juice.

Hi WHS, I don't know for sure what the PSU is but I read from others who have the same computer that it is a 350 watt power supply, which they say is not much. Also, to sort of confirm my doubts regarding the accuracy of Core Temp due to the hyper threading I ran my dell pc checkup (which is PC-Doctor) and performed a stress test on my CPU and this a a screen shot of what I got:



From what I can tell the 88c and 82c were the max temps recorded during the test. Does this provide any insight?

 

[whs]

A 350 Watt PSU is usually sufficent unless you have a high powered graphics card. What is more important is the quality of the PSU - and if your PC is from one of the big manufacturers, that is something hard to determine. They usually put cheap PSUs into the systems because few people focus on that.

As far as your other measurement goes, 80+ degrees is still not splendid, but if it maximizes at that, you can probably live with it.

Although your box is only 1 year old, I would still give it a good cleanup. Use a soft brush and some compressed air (you can find that at Home Depot).

 

[Zepher]

I use the same program with my i7 with hyper threading and I am getting correct temps.
If all the programs are showing high temps, then you probably actually have high temps and do what others have suggested and check your heatsink and fan and make sure that the top of the heatsink isn't caked with dust/dirt.

 

[jetablack4]

Thanks everyone for the responses. My computer is still under warranty from Dell, so I called them and they ran some diagnostics and everything passed - so I explained to them how the CPU temps were abnormally high and they agreed to send out a tech to replace my heat sink and install a new fan. I would rather them do this in case something deeper is the problem they can figure it out and take care of it. I will keep everyone updated after I get the new parts installed.

 

[whs]

That sounds like a good solution. If they mess it up (which is unlikely), then you are not responsible.

 

[LiquidSnak]

I agree, that sounds like a good solution

 

[jetablack4]

This was a picture of my core temps when Dell was remotley connected to my system yesterday, it was at the max like this for about 30 min - that can't be good

Hopefully they come for the repair early next week - until then I will not be running anything that will strain my computer - it runs on avg around 75c

 

[StalkeR]

Now that's really not good.

 

[jetablack4]

Much better


Dell repair came today and replaced my heat sink and fan along with a new motherboard. The heat sink was only half way on, two of the attachment arms were not fasten. The new heat sink was able to be screwed into the new motherboard. Problem is solved. The tech said the high temps would not have caused any harm to the CPU because the computer would automatically shut down if it over heated.

 

[StalkeR]

Glad to hear that now it's ok.