My Q9550 Is Running Way Too Hot

[Dave W.]

I have a q9550 and i'm cooling it with the stock cooler that came with it. The heatsink is no more than 1 inch tall, it's very small. Anyway my temps at idle are: 40, 23, 50 and 50. when i run prime 95 it immediately climbs to 70 C at which point i stop running prime 95 because i'm too nervous the processor will be damaged. Will another heatsink cool this processor better? Any suggestions?

[Verran]

Will another heatsink cool this processor better? Any suggestions?

Yes, absolutely!

 

The stock coolers are not terrible, but also by no means great. The good news is that you can get an aftermarket cooler for around $50 that will do a much better job. If that's something you're interested in, my personal favorite (as well as what I use myself) is the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Last I checked that's about $55 plus a few bucks for a 120mm fan to put on it.

 

Quads are notorious for making plenty of heat, so an upgraded cooler is always a worthwhile investment.

[Kingfisher]

Disclaimer: I am not saying you are doing anything wrong here, just purely advice coming from someone who has done this before and learned the hard way.

 

It's also very important to have it mounted correctly.

You can buy the best cooler, best thermal grease, and have your windows open in the dead of winter but if you don't properly mount it you are not going to have good results.

[Dave W.]

Yes, absolutely!

 

The stock coolers are not terrible, but also by no means great. The good news is that you can get an aftermarket cooler for around $50 that will do a much better job. If that's something you're interested in, my personal favorite (as well as what I use myself) is the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Last I checked that's about $55 plus a few bucks for a 120mm fan to put on it.

 

Quads are notorious for making plenty of heat, so an upgraded cooler is always a worthwhile investment.

Cool, thanks.

 

Should i be worried that my temps are so high? i think the processor cuts off at 71.4

[Verran]

Cool, thanks.

 

Should i be worried that my temps are so high? i think the processor cuts off at 71.4

I would not want my processor running at 70c for any length of time. I would just refrain from running stuff like Prime. For everyday use you're probably fine, even some gaming, I'd think. Synthetic tests like Prime and OCCT make a lot more heat than real day-to-day uses. I definitely think you should upgrade, but I'd also say it's not imperative or anything. Just do it in the near future and you'll be fine.

 

Also, you should be able to set your motherboard to cut off at a certain temperature. That would probably be a good idea to protect your system.

[Dave W.]

It's also very important to have it mounted correctly.

You can buy the best cooler, best thermal grease, and have your windows open in the dead of winter but if you don't properly mount it you are not going to have good results.

Those little clips on the intel stock heatsink are tricky to get in place but it's sitting pretty tight against the mobo. I'm pretty sure it's mounted correctly.

[road-runner]

If I am using a stock HS&F I like to put it on with the motherboard out so I can see the backside and make sure there all the way in, I had one pop out before...

[slngsht]

If you need something quick for a lot cheaper and should do a lot better, I've heard very good things about this cooler:

 

http://www.cwc-group.com/13g0750711c0h2.html

 

It's by NO means as good as the ones suggested above, but in a pinch, can do a better job than the stock cooler.

Edited February 6, 2009 by slngsht

[Dave W.]

Does anyone know why core 1 is at such a lower temp than the other 3? could there be something wrong with the cpu?

 

I should have mentioned before that this is a brand new build and everything is at default settings.

[slngsht]

it's quite possible you may need to reseat your cooler.

[Dave W.]

I've reseated it a few times and i even put a new cooler on, it's not a very good one(arctic cooling alpine 7 pro) but my temps are still high. It did drop them about 3-4 degrees C and when i run prime 95 now the temps don't shoot right up, they take a little while to climb. Could there be ANY other reason that the temps of the cores vary so much?

 

I'm going to buy a high end cooler hopefully that will drop the temps some. maybe the vendetta 2.

[krazypoloc]

I've reseated it a few times and i even put a new cooler on, it's not a very good one(arctic cooling alpine 7 pro) but my temps are still high. It did drop them about 3-4 degrees C and when i run prime 95 now the temps don't shoot right up, they take a little while to climb. Could there be ANY other reason that the temps of the cores vary so much?

 

I'm going to buy a high end cooler hopefully that will drop the temps some. maybe the vendetta 2.

 

Try reinstalling it again and using LESS thermal compound if you have any around that is. You said you have reseated it so I am assuming you are not re-applying an thermal compound and just using the stuff that come pre-applied to the HS.

 

You only need an extremely small ammount, in the case of thermal paste more is worse and less is better. I usually only use as much as will come out of the tube with one little squeeze/push.