Overheating CPU, advice required

Intel i5-2500K
Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3
Radeon 7950, not that it should matter

I've been noticing spikes in my CPU usage. I downloaded Process Explorer and tried to get to the bottom of which process was causing this.

Now I have a feeling that the CPU is overheating which is causing the high CPU usage.

This is when the system has nothing running but Chrome (not overclocking by the way), when the PC boots its around 35°C, running a game makes it reach 80°-90°.

I ran the Intel diagnosis tool, and it failed after some time when it reached the max temperature, so I cleaned out my fans and reapplied thermal paste. This time it reached a bit farther in the test, but still failed.

Could this be because the CPU itself is faulty somehow?
I'm using a simple fan, like this one http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/RvYAAOSwirZTxVOD/s-l225.jpg, I'd still think it shouldn't be reaching high temperatures, right?
Should I buy a stronger heat sink / fan or is there some way to test the CPU to know more?

Any advice would be helpful, and I can provide any more details upon request.

g3trans

Posted 2016-05-25T15:05:47.237

Reputation: 11

1The stock fan that comes with the CPU in question is powerful enough to cool it. If your CPU is overheating it means either the fan is not working, the thermal paste has been incorrectly applied, or some other hardware has failed. The fact the CPU is not overheating instantly rules out a problem with the CPU itself. A stronger "fan" could make a difference but only a few degrees on AIR, and even a closed-loop water cooler, wouldn't make that big of a difference – Ramhound – 2016-05-25T15:20:13.833

2You ran the Intel diagnosis tool, and it failed, but you didn't provide us the results of that failure. – Ramhound – 2016-05-25T15:20:41.580

Have you tried reapplying the TIM? Are you sure the heatsink is on all the way? – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit – 2016-05-25T15:40:02.830

http://imgur.com/W5VbzUW, This time it actually passed the final test, got up to 2 degress below maximum, the log is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uPdT4QV5BCqzfLwpWrqeWxdsI6tSSzT5-pREMIS17hU/edit?usp=sharing – g3trans – 2016-05-25T16:17:46.200

My Svchost is always high, http://imgur.com/BcFbs8W, I read a lot about it and ended up figuring out it wasn't a problem. I'll add that I formatted my pc 3 days ago

– g3trans – 2016-05-25T16:25:22.843

You formatted your PC, so it's obviously not software – Ramhound – 2016-05-26T22:15:16.433

Answers

CPU overheating will not cause CPU usage as reported by the OS, but sometimes the processor will go into a 'limp' mode to protect itself from overheating.

How is the other cooling in your system? Meaning is there sufficient in and out airflow, and are the fans pointed in the right direction.

Check your BIOS settings for fan controls.

If that is ok then I'd look into removing the fan, and reapplying thermal grease. Arctic Silver is pretty good, but make sure you follow the directions exactly. You may also want to replace the heatsink and fan, which can be done for $20 or so. Sometimes the ones that come stock with CPUs aren't the best.

Hefewe1zen

Posted 2016-05-25T15:05:47.237

Reputation: 1 316

2While I don't disagree with this answer. Having to use high-grade thermal paste, shouldn't be required to prevent a CPU from overheating, under stock conditions. The stock thermal pad and fan that comes with this generation Intel CPU is more then enough to allow it to run at 100% for 24/7/365 if you so desire. While running after-market fans and using third-party thermal paste can reduced temperatures, doing so, is really only required in specific edge cases ( i.e. using a high-end CPU in a low profile case ) the i5-2500 is neither hgih-end and the motherboard is ATX. – Ramhound – 2016-05-25T15:38:50.863

I'm with the case open, http://imgur.com/5yA87AI, should be okay airflow wise :D

– g3trans – 2016-05-25T16:06:44.390

I took out the fan and reapplied the thermal paste, that lowered temp by like 1-2C, was enough to prolongue the intel test a bit but not much. However I'd imagine a stronger heatsink might help with like 10-20C but this is so abnormal I have a feeling something else is wrong with the cpu. Ramhound, what do you mean that the motherboard is ATX? – g3trans – 2016-05-25T16:08:46.527

@g3trans - ATX indicates the dimsions of the motherboard. Which tells me you have an ATX case. Which means were not talking about a compact system where airflow. Which means stock equipment should be more then enough to keep it cool. Worth pointing out that keeping the case open, can actually make, small problems worse – Ramhound – 2016-05-25T16:11:35.400

Ah, I thought it would be the other way around, I guess it makes sense that air can go around the cpu to the out fans and not directly through it – g3trans – 2016-05-25T16:21:06.200

@g3trans I can't tell by the pic. Usually the best setup is to have an intake near the front lower, and exhaust higher in the back. Cooler air will get taken in and the hot air that's built up will get exhausted. Again, stock components aren't great. They may work in normal use, but maxing a CPU for minutes or hours is a different story. Stock coolers may use too much aluminum. Ideally you want a decent "core" of copper which can absorb more heat, and aluminum fins to dissipate. The CPU fan is pretty small. Just curious - have you tried increasing the fan speed in the bios? – Hefewe1zen – 2016-05-25T18:14:45.877

@Ramhound I guess we'll just differ on this point. :) Have not had good experiences with bundled heatsinks. Especially in gaming rigs. – Hefewe1zen – 2016-05-25T18:19:06.130

@Hefewe1zen I haven't tried that, how would I know to what speed to increase it? By the way sorry about the delay, haven't noticed the extra comments – g3trans – 2016-05-25T22:15:49.197

I couldn't find where to set the fan speed, I did however set it to disabled management so that it's always spinning on max, I also underclocked my cpu to x30 instead of x33. These two changes lowered the temperature by 20C when gaming. You're all saying the cpu itself couldn't have been faulty (or it'd heat up a whole lot more) so perhaps a stronger heat sink might actually help. – g3trans – 2016-05-26T06:16:31.757

@g3trans Sounds good. That's a huge difference. – Hefewe1zen – 2016-05-26T17:09:35.930

@Hefewe1zen Yeah, thanks for the help – g3trans – 2016-05-26T20:20:37.127

-3

I have an i5-5250 with NVIDIA 920M and I see temps above 90C while gaming. I called Dell about it and they said it's quite normal to see those spikes esp. when you have a dedicated GPU. So, in my opinion, it's quite natural to see those spikes, given that you already reapplied thermal paste, but if you're still unsatisfied, try using Arctic Silver MX4 or Tuniq MX2.

user1928108

Posted 2016-05-25T15:05:47.237

Reputation: 1

You have a laptop CPU. They can go up to 105C before shutting off. – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit – 2016-05-25T15:39:12.340