more info: the max temperature is apparently 94 degrees celsius even when under load i.e playing games - i haven't tried any other processor intensive things like malware scans recently. the cpu fan is staying around 1666-1839 rpm and the fastest it's gotten is 2872. the machine's never shut itself down

Hi,

Use the computer in safe mode with networking (restart the computer and tap F8 on Dell logo and select safe mode with networking).Check the temperature while in safe mode.

Below picture would help you with the temperature details of the computer.

Also, run diagnostics on the computer to check for any hardware failure and to isolate the issue.

Awaiting your response!

sorry for taking so long to respond. checked the temperatures in and out of safe mode after restarting and they seem to be more reasonable at between 60-70 degrees. some of the readings in speedfan don't make sense as they list temperatures in the negatives. now i don't know whether to be worried since i'm not sure if a) temperatures in the 60s are too hot and b) if there is in fact something screwy about my hardware sensors.

i'll look into the diagnostics next

forgot to attach the screenshot:

it looks like my vcore is way too high but i never looked at it before. i don't know how that happened, buti presume the min and max values were taken before i changed anything with speedfan so i'm hoping i didn't screw it up by accident

i'm not sure what's going on here, if occt is using the hw monitor engine itself - when i go to settings, it lists "built-in (hwmonitor)" as the software.when i run the test the temps seem to shoot up from the 60s to 86 degrees.

after leaving the computer alone for hours and it went into auto sleep/standby, the temperatures were 40-50 c

i think i'm going to open the case soon anyways since i'm going to try and install new hardware, i haven't ever opened it since i bought it two years ago, and it's sitting on a carpet so yeah that's probably the problem

could it help to increase the cpu fan speeds using speedfan?

Usually cheap Dells don't have software fan speed control, so I doubt you can increase the fan speed. The only way to check is to tweak OCCT and enable monitoring of fan speed - go to OCCT settings, the button right below OFF and uncheck/unclick all voltages (we don't need them), check everything else - this way you enable fan RPM monitoring, after you done just close settings window by clicking X, this will apply settings. Run 30 minutes CPU any test and post results.

shouldn't i be concerned about the vcore at 2 v? even reading posts about overclocking it seems even 1.4+ is considered high

You can be concerned, but worry first about parameters you can change, I doubt your BIOS can change anything. You can control temperatures and fan speeds, so let see if this can be done. VCORE, well, here we need someone like SpeedStep to advice, find any of his replies and send him a pm regarding VCORE, otherwise just relax - you lived 2 years without checking anything...

Now about fan speeds. The only way to control fan speeds is by hardware - you can change your fans for the ones with constant speed, without PWM control, this is the way I choose, also some fans have wired speed controls, this is cumbersome, but it is an option to consider, and lastly there is fan control panels. So those are basically only 3 options you have (most likely). If you in doubt, try to increase fan speed by your software while monitoring with OCCT and see if anything changed.