CPU temps in newly purchased R1

[smoothj]

Hi - pretty new owner here. R1, i7 3770. Bought the system used, and it is missing the optical drive and bay. I swapped the HD for a SSD, and the GTX 660 for a 1060 founders edition. Nothing is tweaked or overclocked

I am gaming with Adaptive Vsync, capped at 60 fps at 1080p. I noticed today during play that while my GPU and CPU are both only at like 25-35% load, the temp of the GPU is around 60 degrees, but the CPU is like 89-93 degrees Celsius.

I am assuming that even for this system, those CPU temps are unusually high. Just wanted to see what people think before I start fiddling with the fan and reseating the heatsink etc.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[MattyB]

The X51 is poorly designed for effective cooling. I am assuming that your 1060 is the style with the two fans on top. These ones cause the heat to build up in the case as the air cannot escape. The best GPU's for the X51 are the blower type which push the hot air back out the case. You can try re-pasting the CPU with some quality paste to help.

 

[MattyB]

These ones.

 

[smoothj]

Thanks for the reply. I bought the founders edition 1060 specifically because it was a blower style, so that’s not it. I have looked at everything and ran it with the cover off to make sure the fans are all going etc. I think the only thing left is what you said - the connection with the heat sink. I bought a can of compressed air and some good thermal paste, and I am going to blow everything out ( it’s pretty dusty) and reapply the thermal paste tonight. We’ll see how that goes.

Update: yeah, so on removal of the heat sink, the thermal paste was basically non existent. Very tiny amount that was dried and brittle. I have wiped it all off down to a nice shine, and am waiting for the amazon man to bring me the new stuff. Have some nice Arctic M4 coming. Will reapply this evening and should be off to the races.

 

[smoothj]

OK, so success. After putting down new thermal past, Temps maxed out in the mid to high 60's under 100% CPU load. Will have to see what happens when I run some games for a bit. Very relieved, and much happier.

 

[MattyB]

Nice. Good luck! Back in the day one of the guys here (ejohnson or something like that I think) tried installing a water loop in his X51. Don't think he ever got it finished though. Would have been cool.

 

[smoothj]

And success all around. My game that previously drove temps into the 90’s now runs at 69-71 degrees. And the stuttering I was having randomly before is gone, so clearly there was some throttling going on too.

 

[MattyB]

Awesome!