Bios says CPU is running at 100C

[saxnerd]

I have an i7 930 with the stock fan and thermal compound. It's mounted on a
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R in a HAF 932 case. I have never had any problems with heat before. In the last few weeks my computer started randomly shutting down whenever I would play graphically intensive videogames or anything that requires much processing. I though it might be my CPU so when I started it up I checked my PC Health in BIOS. After turning it off for around 15 hours I boot up and CPU is at 80C and it goes to around 90C after a few minutes of idling. I then download an application to monitor CPU temperature and it gave me the same results.

I thought it might be a dust problem so I took off my heatsink and dusted it off. I put it back on without any new heat gel because I didn't have any. Now it will only stay on for around 30 seconds booting at 90C and going to 110C before it force shuts down. Now this is in BIOS so this should be minimum idle. I just ordered a Cooler Master Hyper 212 heatsink and Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound. I haven't done anything with overclocking and never had heat issues until very recently. Is this a problem with the heatsink and thermal gel or could it be a problem with the motherboard or the temperature sensor on my CPU? Do you know of any ways to check? Thanks! I would appreciate any help.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Your old paste had probably dried to a point it became ineffective... Removing the heatsinkand not applying new thermal paste has made your issue worse. If you want to fry it, keep trying to run it with out new paste.

 

[PP Mguire]

Leave the PC off until you get the new heatsink and paste.

NEVER use a computer without TIM.

 

[Veraster]

Wow 110C? You're lucky your computer didn't catch on fire.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Wow 110C? You're lucky your computer didn't catch on fire.

100C isn't hot enough to cause things to burn on a PC... Fail yes, catch fire no. Motherboards are made of plastics/oils/fiberglass, most the times it can stand 120C for a fraction of a second prior to failure, but wont burn, usually you catch fire around 200C. Paper burns at ~233C.

Have I seen motherboards catch fire? Yes, but only due to a failure of a circuit creating an electrical arc that caused the oil in the plastic components to catch fire. Never due to heat alone.

 

[Samuel Alexander]

Either your stock heatsink was seated improperly, knocked loose, or your thermal compound dried out or was ineffective. Either way; if your CPU is running that hot at the BIOS there is definitely a problem at the level of the heat sink's contact to the CPU.

The Cooler Master EVO 212 Hyper is a really good heat sink (I use that as well as the arctic silver compound on my core i5 2500k and it never gets above 50C, even in the summer in the desert).

Make sure to carefully follow the (slightly) confusing instructions when you get the new heatsink (make sure it's pretty tight) and apply just enough thermal compound to cover the face of the CPU.

 

[PP Mguire]

Either your stock heatsink was seated improperly, knocked loose, or your thermal compound dried out or was ineffective. Either way; if your CPU is running that hot at the BIOS there is definitely a problem at the level of the heat sink's contact to the CPU.

The Cooler Master EVO 212 Hyper is a really good heat sink (I use that as well as the arctic silver compound on my core i5 2500k and it never gets above 50C, even in the summer in the desert).

Make sure to carefully follow the (slightly) confusing instructions when you get the new heatsink (make sure it's pretty tight) and apply just enough thermal compound to cover the face of the CPU.

Incorrect. You apply a grain of rice sized amount in the center of the IHS. The pressure smooths it out.

 

[saxnerd]

Ok thanks guys that's what I figured. I haven't turned by computer on since I posted. I was really just worried it was something besides by CPU because it said it was 80C on bootup. Once my new heatsink and paste arrives I'll tell you how it goes.

 

[Samuel Alexander]

Incorrect. You apply a grain of rice sized amount in the center of the IHS. The pressure smooths it out.

Thank you for clarifying, I should have been more clear about that.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea, I used to do the card method and make a thin layer across the full IHS. Realized this causes air pockets which can hamper cooling. Especially for course copper surfaces.