How do I know if I need better cooling?

[Gabis1207]

I'm an owner of a shiny-new PC. It's my first build, so I'm still really new to the whole 'customize anything and everything' aspect of it. The only cooling I've added to the rig is that which came with the parts I bought for it (Two case fans, the CPU fan/HS combo thingy, and the fan on the GPU.). Should I be concerned about overheating, would it be a good idea to plunk, say $30 down on some extra case fans, and what (free) tools can I download to help monitor the temperature of my components?

 

[carnageX]

All-in-One: HWMonitor
CPU-focus: CoreTemp, RealTemp
GPU-focus: GPU-Z, MSI Afterburner, EVGA Precision (the latter 2 are also GPU OC utilities).

 

[Yevrag35]

Should I be concerned about overheating, would it be a good idea to plunk, say $30 down on some extra case fans

If you aren't overclocking the CPU, the standard heatsink that came with it is fine. For the GPU, as long as you aren't overclocked again, you should be ok as long as the fan speed increases when the GPU loads go up.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/; this is my favorite cpu temp monitoring tool. Depending on the type of GPU you bought, sometimes the manufacturer makes a program that lets you control the card's settings (as well as monitoring the temps).

 

[Gabis1207]

Apparently, my CPU (Amd a10 5800K) reached 83 C while under load, and is at about 53 C idle. Is that normal?

 

[Yevrag35]

Apparently, my CPU (Amd a10 5800K) reached 83 C while under load, and is at about 53 C idle. Is that normal?

I don't think so, the A10-5800K safe temps, I think, are anything below 74. I also don't think your idle temps should be that high. Are you in a hot environment? You're positive you're not overclocking the CPU in the BIOS at all?

 

[PP Mguire]

You properly apply some good thermal paste, dust clean, proper airflow in the case, all that?

 

[Gabis1207]

You properly apply some good thermal paste, dust clean, proper airflow in the case, all that?

Airflow is as unobstructed as I can make it. I dust and clean the filters every other Saturday.
Thermal paste: Bought a tube from radioshack. I don't have it in front of me, but it was about seven dollars. Not the best stuff, but probably mid-grade.

... Are you in a hot environment? You're positive you're not overclocking the CPU in the BIOS at all?

My environment isn't exactly 'cold'. I'm in a corner room in the upstairs level of my house. Temperature, I'd say, is upper-70s to mid-80s (Fahrenheit).
I had the CPU set to "High Performance" in the past, but I'm pretty sure I changed it to "Normal". I'll check and edit this if It isn't.

 

[PP Mguire]

Well the thing is you can pack as many fans as you want in a case but if they are crap your air pressure can be all screwed up. To me if you're using the stock heatsink it seems that you may not have applied the paste properly. Get the brand of that tube.

 

[Gabis1207]

Radioshack (store-brand) silicone based HS compound.

 

[Yevrag35]

Radioshack (store-brand) silicone based HS compound.

How much did you put on?