furpile
Expert Member
Hi
I have an i5 2500 (no overclock) that I have been using for the last 4 or 5 years. Using the stock intel cooler, my CPU temps were always low, like in the mid 30C range on idle and never more than mid 50's while gaming. I have had to replace my mobo about 3 times, and used generic thermal paste from Matrix. The last time was probably about 2 years ago. Every time my temps were were decent. I also got a GTX960 earlier this year and checked the temps quite a bit back then, everything normal.
About 2 weeks ago I randomly opened the monitoring program again (CPUID HWMonitor) and I see my CPU temp is fluctuating badly. Like every second or half second that it updates every core and the package temp has a different value. This is on idle in Win7, nothing running. The temperatures vary by up to 5 degrees between readings (less than a second apart), and in the last 5 minutes idling in Windows the range is from 33C to 53C. While gaming now the max it reaches is 70C sometimes, even though the CPU does not work a lot.
So I first though the crappy thermal paste has dried out. So I thought while I am at it, put a better cooler on. Ordered the Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo because it is cheap (R350 about) and the reviews are decent and you don't need to remove the mobo to install (and I don't overclock so I don't need major cooling). I also ordered Coolermaster Value V1 thermal paste, which seemed the best from what Wootware had available and I thought it should be better than the bit they give you with the cooler. I installed the new cooler tonight, cleaned it all with alcohol, applied a very thin layer on the CPU and the cooler base, and then a thin line in the centre (this is how it is described on the Artic Silver website). Turn on the PC and go into Bios, and immediately the CPU temp is on 39C. After a minute or so it goes to 40, then later to 41. This is already hot, but I boot into Windows and open the monitor again. And it is doing exactly the same thing (described above). As I type it is varying between 38C and 43C the whole time. I also felt the heatpipe directly where it comes off the CPU and it definitely did not feel warm, not what 40C should feel like.
So my question is, can it be the temp sensor that is faulty (all 4 cores and package)? Can it be that the CPU is not really that hot (reading wrong). What else can I check? The old thermal paste on the stock cooler seems to have spread well the previous time, and it was still a little sticky, so I am not sure that was the problem.
Other info:
Mobo temp is stable at 31C and GPU temp is also stable at 29C, it is only the CPU giving the problem.
I have an i5 2500 (no overclock) that I have been using for the last 4 or 5 years. Using the stock intel cooler, my CPU temps were always low, like in the mid 30C range on idle and never more than mid 50's while gaming. I have had to replace my mobo about 3 times, and used generic thermal paste from Matrix. The last time was probably about 2 years ago. Every time my temps were were decent. I also got a GTX960 earlier this year and checked the temps quite a bit back then, everything normal.
About 2 weeks ago I randomly opened the monitoring program again (CPUID HWMonitor) and I see my CPU temp is fluctuating badly. Like every second or half second that it updates every core and the package temp has a different value. This is on idle in Win7, nothing running. The temperatures vary by up to 5 degrees between readings (less than a second apart), and in the last 5 minutes idling in Windows the range is from 33C to 53C. While gaming now the max it reaches is 70C sometimes, even though the CPU does not work a lot.
So I first though the crappy thermal paste has dried out. So I thought while I am at it, put a better cooler on. Ordered the Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo because it is cheap (R350 about) and the reviews are decent and you don't need to remove the mobo to install (and I don't overclock so I don't need major cooling). I also ordered Coolermaster Value V1 thermal paste, which seemed the best from what Wootware had available and I thought it should be better than the bit they give you with the cooler. I installed the new cooler tonight, cleaned it all with alcohol, applied a very thin layer on the CPU and the cooler base, and then a thin line in the centre (this is how it is described on the Artic Silver website). Turn on the PC and go into Bios, and immediately the CPU temp is on 39C. After a minute or so it goes to 40, then later to 41. This is already hot, but I boot into Windows and open the monitor again. And it is doing exactly the same thing (described above). As I type it is varying between 38C and 43C the whole time. I also felt the heatpipe directly where it comes off the CPU and it definitely did not feel warm, not what 40C should feel like.
So my question is, can it be the temp sensor that is faulty (all 4 cores and package)? Can it be that the CPU is not really that hot (reading wrong). What else can I check? The old thermal paste on the stock cooler seems to have spread well the previous time, and it was still a little sticky, so I am not sure that was the problem.
Other info:
Mobo temp is stable at 31C and GPU temp is also stable at 29C, it is only the CPU giving the problem.
That seems like a decent option?