Hardware Overheating Problem

[TheDreamLord]

Hello, I recently built a PC, with these specs:
ASUS P8z68 - lx mobo
2x 2gb corsair vengeance ram
Gainward geforce nvudia 560 ti golden sample
Intel i3 3.30ghz
Akasa fan


The gpu idles at 30 Celsius and 35 was the Max with tf2.
The CPU however went up to 102 Celsius at one point. But shouldn't it have shut down? I have thermal paste, fan is running, all help would be appreciated thanks

 

[The Real Jdbye]

It should never get that hot. It sounds like your thermal paste isn't applied correctly or the fan is not working properly or something similar.
Did you disable Intel SpeedStep? Normally that would clock down the CPU when it gets too hot.

 

[Coconuts 500]

You might have too much paste or a poorly installed heatsink. Use a minimal amount of paste. Very minimal!

 

[Originality]

If its the thermal paste, it should be applied with the same principles of nail polish. Smooth, even, without any bubbles. If there's too little, heat wont transfer. If there's too much, it will act as an insulator and actually cook the CPU like an oven. Also any bubbles, dirt or impurities will reduce the effectiveness of the thermal paste.

If it's the heatsink/fan, the way to check is to look at it physically. Is the fan spinning smoothly? Try a temperature probe (or your finger) and see if the heat is distributed evenly across the heatsink. Be careful with this, since it may burn you.

Also, check the design of the case, to make sure there is enough ventilation/airflow for the heatsink. Poor ventilation leads to heat pockets and sometimes even low air pressure (both of which will choke the heatsink) leading to high core temperatures.

 

[Chaosruler]

SpeedStep normally clocks down a CPU when it's not in use, the actual clock down due to heat is written inside the CPU and it's behavior and it's using TJMAX programming to do that, as for your issue - something on your build is not right, drivers\thermal paste\fan placement... that's obvious, since we are not inside your computer or your house to see that you might either post a picture that will help us GUESS the issue or you can apply your CPU thermal paste again, and use only a tiny bit of thermal paste... clean it with alcohol or aceton, do it safely and slowly to not damage your CPU, actually even if you got a bent pin on your CPU socket it might be the issue because of unallocated cache which requires the CPU to resend the instruction over and over - it's worst then a virus

P.S: also try checking out that the CPU cooling is ON the CPU socket and is NOT moving and is stable and connected enough to the socket to make sure that the air flow is not aimed a few degrees to the wrong location but directly from the CPU socket, try checking if your MOFSETS are damaged too

 

[the_randomizer]

CPUs typically have a threshold of 130 to 140 degrees Celsius (266 to 284 degrees Fahrenheit), but anything past 90 is something you should definitely watch out for. Motherboards have thermal sensors that will force it to shut down if it reaches a certain temp. I'd check out the thermal paste on the heatsink and reapply it if necessary. Good to know your GPU is fine, as I have a coworker who had his GPU reach 108 Celsius.