Desktop Temperature Cooling Help

Got a i7 desktop that is in the hottest room in the house during the summer. The room has 1 AC vent and its flow is farthest away from the unit so its airflow and cooling sucks. So the room hoovers at like 80-82 degrees in the hot Texas summers no matter how low you set the thermostat.

I got some thermal paste to reseat the cpu cooling fan and the desktop has one front intake fan and one outtake fan on the back. Based on cpu tems it seems that the 4 cores usually run around 70 degrees celsius under surfing load. Then if I encode a video or play a game it jumps up to about 85-90 degrees celsius. This doesnt seem like a safe temp is it? Whats normal under a moderate cpu load?

I took the side panel off and it helps by a few degrees... even tried blowing a fan into the open side panel but that didnt change it at all.

Im wondering if the thermal paste will help? and what else can I do... if a big fan doesnt cool it more with an open panel how will adding more intake or outtake fans on the side etc?

thanks for any insight and help!

Did you build this computer yourself? If not, the cpu/heatsink already has thermal paste on it and I can't imagine it will help it to remove and apply new paste.

Quote from PerfectPoo : Did you build this computer yourself? If not, the cpu/heatsink already has thermal paste on it and I can't imagine it will help it to remove and apply new paste.

no I didnt build it myself... I got it from a friend whos work was gonna throw it out bc win 7 was slow on it and they took it to repair and the repair place said it had a bad motherboard... but I knew different... it just needed a clean install of win 7... and I was right...

here it is under light load


I think the heatsink is stock (intel it says on it) but seems pretty beefy by the looks of it... ive seen on fanspeed program tht it went up to over 4,000RPMs at one point... it usually is around 2,000 though...

looks like this one


the case is a coolermaster says @xi on the front... thought this was a pretty decent case

I think the heatsink was removed at one point (not by me) and I watched a video on how to apply the thermal paste... dot of it in the middle and push the heat sink down and it will spread from the pressure and lock it into place...

I never trust those plastic pushpin mechanism. Get a quality heatsink and see the difference:
http://slickdeals.net/f/4834980-C...ooler-10AR

The blow-down type cooling will eventually create dust cake around the socket. The above kind will only make the radiator fins dusty but the socket will be clean.

I agree with you 100% that it's the thermal paste.
When you do the job and you have the heatsink off, naturally you have to clean it up.
I use contact cleaner but alcohol will do.

Now the bad news. Some of those Intel heatsink assemblies are horribly difficult to install without bending the heck out of the board and although it hasn't happened to me, I'm quite sure that one could bust the mobo doing it.
I simply can't take that risk, so I pull the board out to reattach th heatsink. I don't know for a fact that you have the type i'm talking about, but I guess that if you find it really difficult to reinstall without breaking anything, then you'll know that you have to remove the board to do it.

PS: I should have mentioned that I live in the Caribbean and the daily temps are 70 to 92F.
Except in the case of big gaming machines, we always get reasonable temps from the stock coolers, as long as the fan isn't wearing out.
Naturally, a more deluxe cooling system can lower the temps even more, but if you're wondering if the stock one will do the job for you, I'm sure it will, as long as the fan is good and the thermal paste properly applied.
IMO, the proper amount is equivalent to the head of a wooden matchstick, you know, the camping kind.
More than that is counterproductive.

Yeah, if it is custom built as it seems it is POSSIBLE that the thermal paste was poorly applied. An aftermarket cooler will help with temps for sure. What is your ambient case temps? If they are as hot as your cpu (or even close) you need to find a way to improve airflow in your case. before your cpu can be expected to run cooler.

Remember, there is no such thing as "cold" just less energy. Energy = heat. For the cpu to cool, energy is transferred from the cpu to the heatsink. Heat is then absorbed into the air around the heatsink which the heatsink fan tries to move out of the case. In other words, if your cpu heat sink and ambient case temps are high, your cpu is never going to cool down.

Agree with what everyone is saying in here. Even with a high ambient room temperature, something is going wrong if you core temps are ~65C at a light load and 85-90C under heavy load. That's not good for your CPU and I would say is much higher than normal. A number I've seen tossed around on overclocking forums for max temps is 75C at load for i7s.

If I were you I would pick up the $10 Corsair heatsink here, clean off your chip, and reapply the thermal paste. A few extra case fans couldn't hurt, but it seems likely that there's something wrong with the cooler on the actual chip.

If that doesn't work, you might want to add 1-2 case fans to make sure you are getting proper airflow in your case. Make sure you have intake in the front and exhaust in the top back. Most people will generally say it's better to have negative pressure in the case (i.e. at least as many exhaust fans as intake fans).

Quote from kris259 : I think the heatsink was removed at one point (not by me) and I watched a video on how to apply the thermal paste... dot of it in the middle and push the heat sink down and it will spread from the pressure and lock it into place...

IMHO, this is a lousy way to apply thermal paste. It's how the computer companies do it because it's easy for machines to carry out. However, I've had computers where replacing the original paste dropped temps up to 20C -- could be from superior paste or from superior application technique, but I'm willing to bet the latter.

Put a small dot on the chip and use the flat part of a razor blade to smear it across the chip like you're painting. The whole point of thermal paste is to minimize the microscopic air gaps that occur when there's metal-metal contact since air is an insulator. Smushing the paste down allows air bubbles to form in it. Wiping it provides a fairly uniform thin surface of paste that will seep into the tiny gaps when you put the heatsink back on. Also, gently using the razor is great for removing old paste -- no solutes needed.

As others said, you may want to invest in an aftermarket cooler. Usually, they're excess unless you're overclocking (or have a really really bad OEM cooler) but living in Texas is kind of an exception thanks to the hot ambient temps. However, I'd try applying new thermal paste with your current cooler first. Even a small tube (1.5g) of thermal paste is enough for many applications so if that doesn't help you out, purchase a new cooler, wipe off the paste, and try again. Just be careful that you don't crack your mobo when adding/removing the heatsink.

72 is considered normal

http://communities.intel.com/message/155974

thermal paste with a razor blade is the way to go

I would apply the new thermal past you got after cleaning off the old (91% rubbing alcohol and coffee filters) and see what your results are. If that works great, if not look into an after market cooler. You don't have to spend too much to get a good one. You might also want to watch your GPU Temps too. They run hotter than CPU's but again should not over heat.

Quote from bonkman : Put a small dot on the chip and use the flat part of a razor blade to smear it across the chip like you're painting. The whole point of thermal paste is to minimize the microscopic air gaps that occur when there's metal-metal contact since air is an insulator. Smushing the paste down allows air bubbles to form in it. Wiping it provides a fairly uniform thin surface of paste that will seep into the tiny gaps when you put the heatsink back on. Also, gently using the razor is great for removing old paste -- no solutes needed.

Quote from komondor : thermal paste with a razor blade is the way to go

I use a credit card

Quote from komondor : 72 is considered normal http://communities.intel.com/message/155974 thermal paste with a razor blade is the way to go

72 is the T case temp, which does not translate into "normal" temps, in fact it means that if the processor exceeds the stated T case temperaure for even a short time, it may result in unpredictable product performance, power consumption may exceed specifications, voltage thresholds may not be met, product life span may be shortened, the processor may stop functioning due to logic errors, and in worst cases, the processor may be damaged.

Quote from Frogstar : I use a credit card

same idea. I prefer my wallet not have thermal paste goo in it, though.

Quote from bonkman : same idea. I prefer my wallet not have thermal paste goo in it, though.

Except razor blade can easily cause scratches on the machined surface of the heatsink. I cut the old credit card into a smaller piece and use the straight edge for the paste.