Intel 2600k Overheating

[AlexRD]

Hi,

I have bought my computer something like 5 months ago.

It has recently come to my attention that its reaching very high temperatures, such as 70C during mild stress. I do mean mild, as games aren't very CPU intensive.

Yesterday i cleaned it, of all the dust, and it went from 70 to 50-55 on idle.
That still is high though. So i'm wondering, what could possibly be the problem?
I don't overclock or anything.

Could it be that the temperature monitor is defective? Or is the CPU defective? Or is it something simple like re-applying thermal paste? I really hate doing that.

I remember doing a stress test on it for 48 hours when i first bought it and it never went over 60C.


What do you guys suggest?

I want to keep the thermal paste as a last resort, as i hate opening my computer. Everytime i carry it to a table i think "This is it. I am going to trip on something and crash it."

By the way, the room temperature is something around 25C. And yes, all the fans are working at 1360 RPM. I'm using default voltage ( i think its 1.22V ) and i'm using HW Monitor to check these.

 

[mjf]

50C idle temperature is too hot. It will depend on your ambient temp though.
You could try reseating the the Heat sink using a good thermal paste like Artic Silver. Their Web site will show you the best application technique for a specific processor.
I also did not like the stock cooler and used a Hyper 212+ (about $30 I think). It can be a bit fiddly to fit and you need to check your Motherboard and case for clearances. There are others of course.

Also here is the link to the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool (64 bit).
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19792

 

[Layback Bear]

I like the better cooler idea that has been mentioned. I never use a stock cooler. You will have to do you Google research to make your choice. Their are many O/C websites that could help your research. For air cooling this is what I would use. Noctua NH-D14 review If your temps went up and your haven't done any changes but cleaning things and they went down it sounds like cpu thermal compound and proper mounting of cpu cooler. All the stock Intel coolers I have seen have 4 push and pop in pins that hold the cooler down. Sometimes these pins don't snap all the way into the proper position and will cause overheating. I also use Artic Silver and install it as per their website.
Arctic Silver, Inc. - Intel® Application Methods
------------------------------------------------------------
Doing a little research I found people clocking your type cpu to 4.4 running 60c under load on air.

 

[karlsnooks]

Alex,
Are you overclocking? Yes/No

Be sure that the computer is not flush or even close to a wall on any side.

 

[AlexRD]

Alex,
Are you overclocking? Yes/No

Be sure that the computer is not flush or even close to a wall on any side.

No i am not overclocking, and it is not close to wall
By the way, i tried that intel diagnose software, but in one minute of stress test it went to 80C. I closed the app in fear that it might damage my CPU.

 

[mjf]

Doing a little research I found people clocking your type cpu to 4.4 running 60c under load on air.

Interesting I overclock for some video encoding and these figures are pretty much spot for what I get with a Hyper 212+. CPU all threads flat out for a couple of hours. Maybe a bit cooler if it's a cold day.

 

[AlexRD]

I just checked in the bios, and the when its idling there the temperature sits at 40C.
When i check the temp idling in OS, its about 55C

Perhaps flashing the bios will help?

 

[karlsnooks]

I've a simple approach.
Speccy shows temps. link to speccy in my sig.

 

[Maguscreed]

I use this processor.
A aftermarket heatsink is a good idea for it.
If you are at 50-55 idle it's very possible it could reach dangerous temps when under full load.

It's obvious the heatsink you are using is simply not conducting the heat properly.
It could be a factory screw up in the heatsink, it could be due to high ambient temperature where you have the computer.
Either way a aftermarket heatsink is the best solution I have based on what information is here.

The bios idle state is completely different from the windows idle state as far as the cpu is concerned.
Bios data is simply 'powered on'
Once windows loads it actually opens up all the features of the chip.
Turbo also comes into play, though it shouldn't be activating while idle.

 

[AlexRD]

Alright, so i flashed the BIOS and it dropped 10C.
But that may just be due to the fact that i turned it off for 5-10 minutes.

 

[mjf]

You need to know what temperature is actually being provided.
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...es-running-9c-24c-too-cold-2.html#post1786631
The BIOS in my ASUS motherboard appeared to change from T(core) to T(case) which is consistent with what you are seeing.

In the first instance I would reseat your CPU using the existing stock heatsink.
1) Get a small tube of good thermal paste like Artic Silver
2) Get some thermal paste cleaning solution. But I use a high purity Isopropyl Alcohol (99.7% purity in my case)
3) Use coffee filter paper (cheap lint free paper) and the fluid to clean the old thermal paste from the CPU top surface and the heat sink base.
4) Apply the new thermal paste and just apply a small amount. Too much gives you worse results. Use the vertical line method for i7 2600k
Arctic Silver, Inc. - Intel® Application Methods
5) The paste will spread after the CPU has heated up for a while. Make sure all the stock cooler pins are clipped in place.

 

[AlexRD]

Ok, i will give this a go. While upgrading the bios to the newest version chopped 10C off when idling, it still peaks at 80C under full stress.
I wonder what caused this.

Is it normal to have overheating processor after six months?


By the way, my ram is at 2133 MHz default, but since the bios doesn't accept it, you have to set it manually. Does that count as overclocking?

 

[Maguscreed]

Ok, i will give this a go. While upgrading the bios to the newest version chopped 10C off when idling, it still peaks at 80C under full stress.
I wonder what caused this.

Is it normal to have overheating processor after six months?


By the way, my ram is at 2133 MHz default, but since the bios doesn't accept it, you have to set it manually. Does that count as overclocking?

uh... I don't even know where to begin.
but yeah I think we found your problem.
For one thing the chip is designed for ram @1600
1800 if it's XMP supported.

If you've done what I think you've done I'm surprised it hasn't exploded on you.
Could you please grab cpu-z and post a screenshot of the cpu and memory tabs would you?

you can attach images to your post using the paperclip icon.
Should look something like this.. (and yes the timed down speeds are normal in idle state)

 

[bobkn]

If you've done what I think you've done I'm surprised it hasn't exploded on you.

Asus lists DDR3-2133 on its QVL (qualified vendors list) for AlexRD's board (Maximus IV Extreme). That's outside the range specified by Intel, but apparently Asus doesn't regard that as over the top.

AlexRD probably has not done what you think he has done. His BIOS (EFI, really) has settings for that RAM frequency. It's not necessary to do anything insane with the base CPU frequency or multiplier.

 

[smarteyeball]

If you've done what I think you've done I'm surprised it hasn't exploded on you.

His and, oh let's say Thousands of others who are doing the same

 

[ICIT2LOL]

FWIW I recently fitted an Arctic Freezer 13 Pro cooler and my i5 2500 dropped form an average of 42-44C and now idles at 27C and bounces 33-34C occasionally.

Mind you that is FWIW of course cos I don't game but do have my room temp around 25C.

 

[mjf]

So as per my post #11 you may want to simply reapply some thermal paste and see how you go.

 

[Maguscreed]

....ah see if I set my ram like that my chip would be at about 5.8 ghz.
I just use the xmp.

 

[AlexRD]

Here is a snapshot of CPUZ:

By the way, my CPU isn't under stress right there, so i have no idea why its on turbo mode when it should really idling. Nevermind, high performance power plan did that.

Also, regarding the 2133 MHz setting, i don't think that was the problem, as i've used this setting for six months, and the overheating started something like a week ago. When i first bought it, (and set it to 2133 MHz) i ran a 48h stress test. No high temps.

By the way, why is your core voltage at 0.952?

 

[Wrench97]

What is the ram voltage set to?

The board lists the 2133 ram because it also accepts the Extreme Edition CPU's which have a faster memory controller.

Core voltage varies with core speed Intel Speedstep(EIST) if enabled varies the core speed and voltages to reduce heat and conserve power when the CPU is under light load.