HeatSink

[broadbandking]

My CPU seems too be getting really hot even when I am just web browsing and when I try and do something a little more intense like play a video it shoots up past 60-70C, I have resitted the CPU awhile a go and cleaned the heatsink but I think its times for a new heat sink but I have brought previous ones and they won't fit despite me buy AM2 comp ones, the current CPU screws in to a plastic slab which fits to the under the motherboard (not directly under the MB but the other side) and I can't seem to find a CPU which is the same as mine.

Please anyone got any idea's.

[Rob]

What is your current CPU, and motherboard? A lot of heatsinks are universal and just supplied with a couple of slightly differing mounting brackets. But if your motherboard has done something a bit odd, with an unusual plate to fit a proprietary heatsink, you could be in for a challenge.

Other thing to consider is whether the heatsink, assuming there is a fan, is detecting the fan speed correctly from the motherboard sensors, that the heatsink is seating properly to the CPU, and there is a good air circulation in the case.

[jempalmer]

Sometimes the new heatsink requires that you remove the motherboard to change the baseplate. I had to when installing my Corsair watercooling setup.

[7031]

Originally Posted by jempalmer

Sometimes the new heatsink requires that you remove the motherboard to change the baseplate. I had to when installing my Corsair watercooling setup.

This pretty much sums it up. That said, a lot of cases now have a cutout on the back of the case so you can install a cooler without removing the motherboard which is nice.

Using a coolermaster 212 here - has helped a lot to get low temperatures.

To give an idea, I have a Core i5-2500k overclocked to 4.6Ghz.
With case fans set to low - idling at 36C.
With case fans set to low - with Prime95 running CPU package temp is 72c.

One thing I'd be interested to know about if anyone here knows is why the ASUS software reports much lower temps than CPUID hardware monitor, which reports what I suspect are accurate readings. For example when CPUID Hardware Monitor reports 72c, the official ASUS software reports around 45c.

[qasdfdsaq]

Back in the old days this was because motherboards reported the temperature from a sensor on the board, behind the socket, whereas core temperatures were taken from inside the CPU core itself.