AMD Athlon x4 760k reading 70C from BIOS

[TheInfernalCow]

Hi, 

 

It's my first post here so sorry if this is in the wrong place Ok, I've had my computer for around 1 year and a bit, (I built it myself), and when I went into the BIOS one day I saw that my CPU temps were 70C. Even after turned it down and let it cool, when I re-entered the BIOS the temperature started at around 30C, and slowly rose to 70C (while my motherboard remained at around 30C). I felt the heatsink, and I could feel a little heat, but not enough to say it was hot, or even warm. This is the first time I've ever checked my temps, so whatever problem lies could have been there from the start - I have a few questions that may seem kinda obvious. The heatsink is a little dusty but the cpu fan is spinning fine (around 2000-2300 rpm), so I've orded a can of compressed air to clean it out. Sorry for the kinda long post, just a bit flustered and don;'t know what to do:

 

• Is 70C normal for an AMD Athlon x4 760k?
• Do I need to reapply thermal paste? (It was pre-applied... i think - also i just have the stock cooler)
• Do I need to buy a better cpu fan?
• Is the BIOS reading the temp wrong?
• Have I not installed the heatsink and fan correctly? (Which way should the fan be 'pushing' the air? Towards the cpu, or away?)

 

Thanks in advance, 

 

        TheInfernalCow

 

[Tedster]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

I would change the CPU cooler if I could, with something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and get some Arctic MX-4 thermal paste.

[thekeemo]

what is it under load?

how much dust is there?

[TheInfernalCow]

Wow, really fast replies . Ok, I cant tell the load temperature unfortunately, I'm running linux atm and it cant seem to pick up the cpu temperature (it seems in windows too people have had problems with picking up the temperature on this cpu). This would be the first time I'd have cleaned it in a year, so there is quite a lot of dust, but the fan isnt dusty at all, just the heatsink.

[typographie]

• Is 70C normal for an AMD Athlon x4 760k?
• Do I need to reapply thermal paste? (It was pre-applied... i think - also i just have the stock cooler)
• Do I need to buy a better cpu fan?
• Is the BIOS reading the temp wrong?
• Have I not installed the heatsink and fan correctly? (Which way should the fan be 'pushing' the air? Towards the cpu, or away?)

 

I don't think 70°C is dangerously hot for the chip, but considering it's in your BIOS (and therefore idle) it's alarming. Your load temperatures would be much, much higher than what your CPU is getting to when it's sitting idle, certainly more than is safe.

 

It sounds like the heatsink may not be properly seated against the chip. I'd get some decent thermal compound such as that suggested above and try re-seating it. And I don't mean to condescend, but if you think there's a chance you're doing something incorrectly you can probably find installation videos for your cooler on Youtube.

 

Edit: Dust on the heatsink acts an insulator. If there's enough, it can obstruct the transfer of heat from the heatsink into the air being pushed through it. Dust on fan blades is less of an issue, because the fan still basically does it's job.