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Overheating CPU
I have a 5-year old XPS 9000. A couple of years ago, I replaced the heatsink/fan that is mounted over the CPU due to core temps running hot. I replaced it with the same model stock heatsink/fan. In the past few weeks, I've noticed the computer stalling at times and so checked the CPU temps using CoreTemp and saw that the temps have been running around 70C with little load and ramping up to the 80s when under moderate load. So I opened it up, took out the heatsink/fan, cleaned it using canned air, cleaned off the old thermal paste (on both the heatsink and the CPU cover), applied new Arctic Silver (grain of rice in the middle of the CPU plate; did not manually spread it), re-installed the heatsink/fan, and then cleaned the other fans in the computer using canned air.
As sooner as I turned the computer back on, the CPU fan started going really fast and it continued during the entire boot. Once in Windows 7, I ran CoreTemps, which showed temps in the 90s and eventually 100 and then it shutdown. Temps were in the 90s again after waiting a few hours.
Is it normal for the CPU to get that hot during boot? I ask because I am concerned that I may have damaged the thermal detectors in the CPU, which is giving the computer the wrong information, making it think it is hot when it is not. The fins of the heatsink were not hot, but I didn't expect them to be, given the computer had been on for less than 5 minutes.
If it is normal for the CPU to get that hot, then I guess that means I haven't reseated the heatsink correctly (although I don't know how that's possible, given the screws are all in the right place and I thought I had screwed them in tight enough).
Is it possible that I damaged the thermal detectors? I didn't remove the CPU cover, only cleaned it, but maybe some of the Arctic cleaner slipped down the side of the cover?
speedstep
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February 10th, 2015 06:00
Your heatsink is not making good contact. The thermal diode is inside the cpu case.
This is why you make a ball of paste in the center and smoosh it down.Over several hours the heatsink compound will seat in.
speedstep
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February 10th, 2015 13:00
The bead of paste should be smaller than a BB or a grain of rice. If you’ve read that it should be “pea-sized”, that is far too much paste, and you will end up with paste on your motherboard.
Real Arctic silver is good but there are fakes out there.
if you take off again and its not close to full coverage add another dot in the center and try again. Over doing it will get paste in your socket and then your dead.
abrocadabro
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February 10th, 2015 11:00
Thanks for replying. I will keep trying to reseat the heatsink. Is there a trick to knowing when it is properly seated? Should the screws for the heatsink/fan be tightened as tight as possible? Should I use a bigger ball of paste (i.e. bigger than a grain of rice)?
What's worrying me is that I didn't have this problem when I switched out the old heatsink/fan a few years ago.
kirkd
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February 10th, 2015 13:00
Check the temperature of the heat pipes near the CPU. It should be hot there if the heat sink is working. Sometimes the heat pipes can fail. They are evacuated and contain a small amount of liquid coolant that is vaporized and then re-condensed at the radiator. They sometimes can leak and allow air inside, which interferes with cooling. The heat sink should not be overly tightened. It's possible that the mating surfaces could warp slightly and lose contact. Air pressure will keep the surfaces together as long as the surfaces are flat and the correct amount of paste is used. Too much paste is not good. Some gaming gurus actually polish the surfaces to get an ultra smooth fit. If you don't know what you are doing, this can make the situation worse. I don't know how many heating problems have cured by cleaning and re-pasting. I have seen techs replace system boards and reassemble with the original CPU/GPU and heat exchanger without cleaning or re-pasting, and having no problems. I always re-paste, but that's just me!
abrocadabro
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February 10th, 2015 18:00
Thanks to you both. I started over, cleaned both surfaces and reapplied my Arctic Silver. Now the fan is rarely running and temps are around 57C. Not sure what I did differently, other than alternating among the screws as I tightened them, but it seems to be working great now.
bobey
34 Posts
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February 10th, 2015 19:00
Do you monitor the CPU and RAM load. win & has a gadget like that. See what programs are using you resource to much
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