why are my temps this hot?

[tbtbtb22]

disclaimer: i am a computer newb sorta
case: lian li p65b ( 4 case fans )
cpu: northwood p4 3.2 ghz
hsf: cooler master jet 4 with heatsink that came with it (dont laugh )
The cpu temp hasnt gone below 44 degrees celsius. I thought maybe I could help it by clearing some of the air flow-blocking cables out of the way, which I did today, but it didnt help. It idles consistantly at 45, and the case temp is around 33 or 34 usually. When i game, the cpu temp rises to 46 or 47 and the case rises by about the same amount. The idle cpu temp does not change (except for maybe 1 degree celsius) no matter what speed i set the cpu fan at. I was thinking the problem might be the thermal paste job i did when building but i honestly cannot remember how thick i put it. Im sure that it was not too thin. I doubt it was much too thick, if it was too thick at all. I have read a lot of threads and directions since then and im sure i didnt put some crazily large amount on. I really dont know why the temp is so high. can anyone tell me . i used arctic silver 5 by the way. the reviews ive read for the jet4 say their temperatures are far lower than mine. i was thinking about taking off the heatsink and fan and letting someone who REALLY knows exactly what theyre doing to put it back on with the correct amount on. what do you guys think. and please dont just say let the guy who knows what hes doing redo it, unless thats really the only idea you have . thanks

[Ralf Hutter]

What motherboard are you using? What other hardware? What's your average ambient temp?

Err, oops, almost forgot: WELCOME TO SPCR!!!

[Bluefront]

If your temps are correct, a 3.2 Northwood that maxes at 47C seems to be running ok to me. Your idle temp seems slightly too high, compared to normal.....which might indicate your cpu hasn't reached max. Try to run a prog such as CPUBurn which will allow the CPU to reach max temperature.

[tbtbtb22]

mobo: MSI 865G Neo2
ram: corsair 512 ddr
psu: 480 watt thermaltake silent purepower something :p
and other stuffff
my average case temp is 32, cpu is still 45
gracias for responding

[greeef]

13 degrees above environmental temperature really is quite good for a heatsink - most people dont worry about cpu temperature until it is above 60 degrees - i try to keep mine below 65.

Maybe you need to really analyse your airlfow situation, see if you can sort things there.

Meanwhil, there's nothing to worry about withthose temparatures.

griff

[Deheinx]

Hi tbtbtb22,
I think you're on the right track with wanting to redo the HS-compound. There's no reason you can't do it yourself. Just remember that less is more when it comes to this stuff.

If you haven't been to Arctic Silvers Site Go there and check out the instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silv ... ctions.htm

If you follow their directions you will have the best results.

Give it a go, you can do it. It may take a few runs to get the best application down, just consider them practice runs.

[Tigr]

The idle temperature is nothing to worry about. What you should do is to check what will be the maximum temperature under stress testing. While monitoring the temperature, run CPUburn or Prime95 for an hour or so. You will see what the max temperature will be. That's the important one.