New i5-2500K Running Hot

[MoInSTL]

I picked up the MC deal AsRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 on Saturday and paired it with an Intel i5-2500K.

I just wanted a budget build so I recycled my case & PSU. I have it in an Antec P180 enclosure. It has 3, 120mm fans. One on top, back near mobo and one in bottom chamber. They are Antec Tri Cool fans and I set all 3 to medium speed. Using Antec 500 watt modular SmartPower 2.0 and all cables are sleeved. It's bottom mounted in the bottom chamber away from the CPU. I know it's old, but again this was budget build so it works and has enough power with the following drives. No video card yet. Cheap DDR3, 1333, 16GB Kingston HyperX 4X4. Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

I removed the empty top drive cage so there is plenty of room. In the bottom chamber cage I have 5 vertical drive bays. I installed a Samsung 830 64GB, Seagate SATA 500GB, 7200 RPM 2.5" drive from laptop and an old 3.5" Seagate 300GB SATA drive. There is an open bay in between each drive. Have SATA DVD in top drive bay. That's it.

Having record breaking 90 degree weather. Ambient room temp is 73F degrees. On first boot of the day I watch in the BIOS as it climbs to 92C. The mobo temp is 31C for comparison. Removed case side and rebooted. Watched as it again climbed to 92C in the BIOS. I think I need to pull the whole thing, clean the CPU/heatsink and try again. So it's running just 17 degrees above ambient room temp, but shouldn't it be more like 50C? Any suggestions before I have to pull the whole thing? If anyone posts their temps, please include ambient temps as otherwise it's not relevant.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Have disabled all devices I am not using like Firewire, USB 3, etc..

 

[SpeedTester]

I have a i7 920 in the same case with all the drive cages in. I am running @4.8Ghz but with an aftermarket hsf and my cpu temps are low 30's idle. I also have a 560ti 448 and 4x sata drives along with 2x ssds so my case is pretty jammed but stays cool. I think one of your heatsink twist locks is not properly fastened or faulty or you have some smegma under the heatsink causing it not to make good contact.

In short check your heatsink and all twist locks to make sure they are all the way in. I can't remember but I think our case has a cutout on the back mounting plate so you could possibly see the ends of the clips poke thru.

 

[MrWizzard]

Sounds like the heatsink isn't sitting properly. It could be a sensor in the motherboard but...I would suspect improper installation of the heat sink on home builds more. No matter how much experience you have, nothing against you, it just happens occasionally to all of us.

I am running a similar setup. Have you tried removing and reseating the heatsink? Made sure it’s on there correctly?

I would do that 1st then go to the motherboard setting/bios and make sure there is not an issue there.

 

[MoInSTL]

I have a i7 920 in the same case with all the drive cages in. I am running @4.8Ghz but with an aftermarket hsf and my cpu temps are low 30's idle. I also have a 560ti 448 and 4x sata drives along with 2x ssds so my case is pretty jammed but stays cool. I think one of your heatsink twist locks is not properly fastened or faulty or you have some smegma under the heatsink causing it not to make good contact.

In short check your heatsink and all twist locks to make sure they are all the way in. I can't remember but I think our case has a cutout on the back mounting plate so you could possibly see the ends of the clips poke thru.

I am so tired! Friday night I went to MC for the deal and a Gigabyte board. It would power up for 2 seconds and start looping. I tried making it work for a few hours and gave up. Took it back to MC and they tried another board and then RAM and CPU. So got the AsRock which IMO worked out better and the same price since I was at the store for over an hour when they were trying to get the Gigabyte to work. The might have a bad batch. The build your own guy cleaned the chip and h/s with a paper towel and air---no cleaner mad. He had trouble getting one twist lock on so I think your suggestion is a good one. I looked at it and all 4 are through on the back-plane though. The thought of pulling everything makes me even more tired.

EDIT: I just called and spoke to the same build your own guy and he said just to pull it and exchange it. At least the stock thermal compound on the h/s will be intact and a pristine CPU.

 

[LgFriess]

Almost 100% positive it'll be your heatsink. Is it one of the pushpin models? I always have a heck of a time getting them set properly. Life is much easier for me with a back plate, screw in variant.

 

[MoInSTL]

Almost 100% positive it'll be your heatsink. Is it one of the pushpin models? I always have a heck of a time getting them set properly. Life is much easier for me with a back plate, screw in variant.

Yes, the PITA pushpin. I agree with the screw in ones. In the past I always used better aftermarket h/s/f but this time around it's a budget build.

I edited my last post. Going to swap it out and start again with pristine chip and h/s.

 

[MoInSTL]

Sounds like the heatsink isn't sitting properly. It could be a sensor in the motherboard but...I would suspect improper installation of the heat sink on home builds more. No matter how much experience you have, nothing against you, it just happens occasionally to all of us.

I am running a similar setup. Have you tried removing and reseating the heatsink? Made sure it’s on there correctly?

I would do that 1st then go to the motherboard setting/bios and make sure there is not an issue there.

See my previous post. I didn't install it. The head of the MC build your own guy did. He "cleaned" the thermal past off with a paper towel and air. I prefer a micro fiber cloth and 91% Isopropyl alcohol. He also had trouble getting the last leg on and pressed it down with small flat blade!. So I'm going to exchange it and start fresh. I am sure I will have better luck than that botched install. What a PITA!

SpeedTester, love the case and I'm glad to know someone else is still using one. But isn't the top drive cage in the way of the side facing SATA ports & cables?

 

[happyboy]

I suggest getting yourself some new thermal paste and get a aftermarket CPU cooler and also make sure you have sufficient space in your case so that everything is cooled properly. It makes a drastic difference if you have a big case compared to a small case.

 

[gonzal13]

See my previous post. I didn't install it. The head of the MC build your own guy did. He "cleaned" the thermal past off with a paper towel and air. I prefer a micro fiber cloth and 91% Isopropyl alcohol. He also had trouble getting the last leg on and pressed it down with small flat blade!. So I'm going to exchange it and start fresh. I am sure I will have better luck than that botched install. What a PITA!

SpeedTester, love the case and I'm glad to know someone else is still using one. But isn't the top drive cage in the way of the side facing SATA ports & cables?

I'm running an Antec P183 with i5-2500k and ASUS Z68-Pro/Gen3 board. It's tight, but I haven't had any issues getting my cables in. Is the top drive bay removable in yours? In my P183, I just take it out, plug in what I want, then slide the bay back in.

 

[MoInSTL]

I suggest getting yourself some new thermal paste and get a aftermarket CPU cooler and also make sure you have sufficient space in your case so that everything is cooled properly. It makes a drastic difference if you have a big case compared to a small case.

This is a budget build as I mentioned in my first post and a few more times in subsequent posts so I am sticking with stock h/s/f. Case has more than enough room. I think it was a bad install of the chip and h/s/f by the Micro Center guy. OCed in this case with success with AMD mobo/chip I just retired. Getting a new one to change it out probably tomorrow or the next day. (I work weird hours).

 

[MoInSTL]

I'm running an Antec P183 with i5-2500k and ASUS Z68-Pro/Gen3 board. It's tight, but I haven't had any issues getting my cables in. Is the top drive bay removable in yours? In my P183, I just take it out, plug in what I want, then slide the bay back in.

Yes, both cages are removable. I never had anything in the top cage so I decided to just take it out so I can get away with less cable management each time I need to swap or add to SATA ports.

 

[MoInSTL]

Pulled everything again and exchanged the i5-2500K at Micro Center. When I went to remove the h/s/f one of the legs was loose! Grrr! (The one the build your own guy pushed down with a flat blade). Also, he had applied a small pea size amount of thermal paste. When I removed the h/s/f there was a dime size amount right in the middle. Same for the chip of course too, so it was not covering the whole chip---just the middle. The rest of the h/s except for a dime size circle was SHINY COPPER With it idling at 90C, who knows what it rose to installing the OS!

I installed everything correctly and am happy to report that my CPU idle temp is 37C. Still a little warm, but had hot weather again today and ambient is a little toasty at 75F. The temp should improve as it burns in and when I put the side cover back on and the let the fans do their job.

Moral of the story, never send a boy to do a woman's job.

EDIT: Case sides back on and back to normal ambient temps. Seems to have settled in a bit. Still running stock and running 27C just surfing.