My CPU Temperatures Seem Out of Control

[TwoPlusTwo]

So guys, I recently got a Rampage IV Extreme, along with an i7 3930k CPU. For a CPU cooler I went with a Corsair H100i. My old CPU cooler back when I was on i7 2600k was a Hyper 212 Evo, and I was under the impression that the H100i was superior.

I want to overclock my 3930k, and my goal is 4.5 GHz. 4.6 would be nice but I'm not holding my breath! :eek: Lol.

Before I start, 2 things:

(1) On my old setup temps weren't that bad. They weren't fantastic, but I never got worried about them like I worry now...

(2) I've never installed a CPU/CPU cooler before, this was my first time. My 2600k + Hyper 212 Evo was installed by Microcenter a few years ago.

So I started my OC with VCore @ 1.3V with 4.4 GHz. It seemed stable under Prime95, except my max temp on one core got to 80 C. I thought this to be quite high!

So then just to see what would happen around 1.4V (I'm thinking I might need this, afterall), I ran Prime95 under that. After a while the temp started shooting up rapidly and at 84 C I got scared at it's rate of growth and just shut Prime95 off.

OK, well at this point I'm pretty concerned. My 2600k temperatures were never that high. Now I know that Arctic Silver 5 has a 200 hour "break-in period" so I thought, maybe it's that? I should wait for temps to go down? But then I looked up on the AS 5 website and it said a 2-6 C drop after break-in. And I figure, a 2 degree drop won't be helping me any.

So I talked to my friend on Steam who helped me install the CPU, and we gathered that I might have used too much paste (Arctic SIlver 5) during the "tinting" phase. The instructions said to use a small mound, I had used approximatey 3 drops (on both heatsink and CPU) because I thought that is what it meant.

He said, "no only 1 drop. You don't need a thin coat even, just to change the color of the heatsink and CPU."

Well so then I decided to repaste it. I watched a YouTube video of somebody doing it; he was using a latex glove with the finger cut off (he used that to spread the paste with his finger). He was not installing a Sandy-E processor though, if that makes a difference. That seemed superior to what I was doing, which was using a credit card (like the AS 5 instructions said).

So I decided to try that, with much less paste, and set out to repaste it. Now I was committed to only use a SMALL amount this time. I went for just 1 drop on the CPU and heatsink before the final vertical line. Now on the CPU I think I might have overshot it, maybe 1.5-2 drops, but it was less than the guy on YouTube used. And on the heatsink just 1 drop. Then did the vertical line down the CPU.

Now I was feeling better about it, it was less paste than before. So I went back to my old test...1.4V. For quite some time I was feeling good; by the time it had jumped to 84 C before, it was doing OK in the 70s. But I let it run longer, and after a while it got as high as 85 before I shut Prime95 off. 😞

Then I thought, maybe I have the direction of the fans on my H100i radiator backwards. So I reversed those and tried Prime95 @1.4V again...once again, got to 85 C. Maybe faster this time. I honestly don't know which way those are supposed to go. It certainly didn't help reversing them, however.

Now I'm REALLY hoping you guys can help me.

Are these temps normal for Sandy-E? Should I just be waiting for the paste to break-in?

Or do you think there is something wrong here?

I very much appreciate any help that you guys can offer me, thanks in advance. 😄

[BOLTS4BREKFAST]

Are you using stock fans on H100i? Push/pull or just 2 fans? Look at my configuration in my signature.. my 3960x @ 4.7 and 1.385v stays in the 50's during Prime95

[Nodens]

So let me make sure I got this straight. You're putting 2 drops of AS5 AND a vertical line?? If yes you're still applying way too much paste.

First of all you need to clean both surfaces properly. Use 90%+ (purity) isopropyl alcohol that you can get in any pharmacy (it's insanely cheap..like 2 euro for bottle of 100ml here). It's the best cleaner for this job. Also use lint-free tissues to do this. You can get them at any photography shop (they're used for cleaning lenses). Like these: http://www.whatman.com/PRODLensCleaningTissue.aspx

Then only apply a thin vertical line on the CPU, nothing else. Like shown here:http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

Forget tinting. That's a technique for reducing break-in time so do not complicate yourself at all with it. Keep it simple so you can do it right. 🙂

On a last note, you did not have to do any of this.. The thermal compound that comes on the H100i is Dow-Corning which is very high quality. It performs better than AS5:)

[TwoPlusTwo]

Nodens wrote:
So let me make sure I got this straight. You're putting 2 drops of AS5 AND a vertical line?? If yes you're still applying way too much paste.

First of all you need to clean both surfaces properly. Use 90%+ (purity) isopropyl alcohol that you can get in any pharmacy (it's insanely cheap..like 2 euro for bottle of 100ml here). It's the best cleaner for this job. Also use lint-free tissues to do this. You can get them at any photography shop (they're used for cleaning lenses). Like these: http://www.whatman.com/PRODLensCleaningTissue.aspx

Then only apply a thin vertical line on the CPU, nothing else. Like shown here:http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

Forget tinting. That's a technique for reducing break-in time so do not complicate yourself at all with it. Keep it simple so you can do it right. 🙂

On a last note, you did not have to do any of this.. The thermal compound that comes on the H100i is Dow-Corning which is very high quality. It performs better than AS5:)

Yes, I was putting 1-2 drops on both the CPU and heatsink, as well as the vertical line. That's what the instruction book that came with it said to do. That is what my friend on Steam who has been building computers for years said to do as well.

I cleaned it pretty well with ArctiClean #1 & #2, but that was too much paste.

Too late for me though, apparently the CPU has been damaged. 😞

Frustrated, I decided to just reboot and play Metro Last Light. It couldn't open Steam because my HDD couldn't be found. The Windows Install disc could not find it, nor could the BIOS. The SSD works fine, but the HDD seems to be dead entirely.

And since I just bought the HDD on Monday, I'm guessing the CPU is damaged? :confused:

[Myk_SilentShado]

The CPU being damged, is highly unlikely to be the cause of your HDD being dead. Test it out on another computer if you can. The only way your CPU could be damaged is by bent pins or too much voltage. But, Nodens is right 2 drops of paste and a line is far too much paste. A single drop is more than sufficient to cover the CPU and heatsink properly.

If you are worried about your CPU, take it out and have a close look at it with a magnifying glass and have a look at the socket too while you're at it...and if you find both are fine, install the CPU again, but, please be careful mounting the cooler and don't over tighten it...that can also contribute to damaging the CPU, warping your motherboard and probably attribute to high temps as well.

[TwoPlusTwo]

OK guys, well I have got that HDD working again, after replacing the SATA cable.

And I repasted YET AGAIN, this time following the directions of Nodens. I thoroughly cleaned both the heatsink and CPU. I used ArctiClean #1 & #2, spent a long time cleaning, both were spotless. I checked both the CPU and mobo pins for damage with a magnifying glass, both looked fine. I pasted per his instructions; just a vertical line like in the picture.

I triple-checked that the H100i was hooked up correctly.

Again, @1.4V...temperatures were insane. They got up to 86 C before I shut off Prime95 this time. :mad:

I'm beginning to think that my H100i might be defective? Could that be the problem? I could try returning it to Amazon, unless you guys don't think that would help.

I'm really at a loss of what to think here. 😞

Any advice would be HIGHLY appreciated. 🙂

[Necrosan]

TwoPlusTwo wrote:
OK guys, well I have got that HDD working again, after replacing the SATA cable.

And I repasted YET AGAIN, this time following the directions of Nodens. I thoroughly cleaned both the heatsink and CPU. I used ArctiClean #1 & #2, spent a long time cleaning, both were spotless. I checked both the CPU and mobo pins for damage with a magnifying glass, both looked fine. I pasted per his instructions; just a vertical line like in the picture.

I triple-checked that the H100i was hooked up correctly.

Again, @1.4V...temperatures were insane. They got up to 86 C before I shut off Prime95 this time. :mad:

I'm beginning to think that my H100i might be defective? Could that be the problem? I could try returning it to Amazon, unless you guys don't think that would help.

I'm really at a loss of what to think here. 😞

Any advice would be HIGHLY appreciated. 🙂

Sounds to me like your H100i is not working properly.
You have verified you have the fans pointing in the proper direction and they are plugged in AND spinning when powered on? (Have to ask...)

[TwoPlusTwo]

Necrosan wrote:
Sounds to me like your H100i is not working properly.
You have verified you have the fans pointing in the proper direction and they are plugged in AND spinning when powered on? (Have to ask...)

Yes, I checked these things several times before bothering you guys with this thread.

They are both spinning, and I tried them in both directions just to be sure.

No effect on my temperatures at all...

[BOLTS4BREKFAST]

What is the pump RPM reading? Try the corsair link software and check it out.. My first H100 had a bad pump.. BUT.. I knew RIGHT AWAY because I went directly into BIOS after turning my PC on and it was about 90c !!:eek:

[HiVizMan]

Based on what I have read here, I would suggest that the H100 unit is defective. Either the pump is not working as it should or there is a constriction some place.

RMA the unit.