Solved Why is my CPU overheating?

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 10:35 AM

Upon restarting my computer whilst it was installing Windows Updates the computer beeps at me twice and at the bottom of the screen it says the CPU is overheating. When the desktop appears I open an app called Speccy and my CPU temperature is 94 degrees. I had this CPU installed last November so is it possible it's now faulty?
The computer was only installing updates and nothing else, so the computer isn't working hard. As soon as I saw the temperature in Speccy I shut down the computer to prevent further overheating and possible damage.
I'm not sure where I should start in trying to find the problem so any help is much appreciated.

Kees · Wednesday at 10:43 AM

The first thing to check is if the cooling fan of the processor is functioning right (is it on full speed at this temperature) and check if the cooler itself is not blocked by dust. The same applies for the case fans. The CPU fan speed can be monitored by the same Speccy program.

When you had the CPU installed, did you do that yourself or was it someone else that did it. In both cases it might be that the heat conducting paste that has to transfer the heat of the processor to the cooler was not brought on in the right way.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 11:08 AM

The fan speed does vary, it does indeed sound like it was going quicker when it was overheating. I've just turned it back on and although it was on the same temperature after a few moments it went down to 45 degrees, and at the moment is staying there. I don't know why it's suddenly gone down, and I don't know if it will go up again.
I got a local computer technician to fit the processor, so it could be like you say an issue with the heat conducting paste.

antspants · Wednesday at 11:14 AM

You updated your BIOS recently?

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 11:16 AM

antspants said:
You updated your BIOS recently?

I haven't no. Is that a possible cause. How do I update the BIOS?

antspants · Wednesday at 11:19 AM

I was asking in case a new BIOS update may have been a cause. But you may want to reset your BIOS to defaults

Check the fan (or is it water cooled?)

There may be an issue with thermal paste distribution but as it was installed in November, possibly unlikely.

glasskuter · Wednesday at 11:27 AM

To add to what @Kees said, it could also be CPU failure. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Most often it is dirty fan, defective fan, old or incorrectly applied thermal paste.

You can also test your fan control to see if fans are speeding up as temps rise. The PC I am using right now overheats if it hyperthreads because I have lost fan control. I've temporarily propped it up by adding another intake fan and turning off hyperthreading. I've changed all the fans and applied new thermal paste 3 times. The only things that have not been changed are my CPU and MOBO. I have a new mobo for it. Just haven't installed it. So as far as it being a hardware issue, the list of things it could be is long. Make sure you are running the latest bios.

You can also consider it might have been a fluke if it has happened only once. Stress testing the machine will prove whether it was a fluke or not

BJC1992 said:
I had this CPU installed last November

If it is on the system in your specs, that's an 8th gen CPU. If you installed it last Nov. it almost had to be used since it was released in 2017.

antspants · Wednesday at 11:27 AM

BJC1992 said:
How do I update the BIOS?

You don’t. Just had a look, last BIOS for your board was 2021 I believe

Hazel123 · Wednesday at 11:27 AM

I have generally found that computers get hotter when doing windows updates

Especially during a clean install with a lot of updates and especially older computers. Although that probably isn't much help.

antspants · Wednesday at 11:30 AM

Hazel123 said:
I have generally found that computers get hotter when doing windows updates

94 is above extreme though, Hazel.
If they didn’t shut their PC down, the PC likely would of done it itself.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 11:36 AM

I've kept the Speccy window open and it sits at 45 degrees. I then open up my Virtual Machine to see if that increases the temperature, which it does. Straight away I can hear the fans get faster and the temperature is above 95 degrees extremely quickly. If the computer is doing nothing it's fine, light Web browsing for example is also fine, but almost anything else is causing high temperatures and they rise extremely quickly. They also decrease very quickly too, as soon as I closed the virtual machine the temperature soon started to drop and soon got to normal temperature.

Dru2 · Wednesday at 12:07 PM

BJC1992 said:
Upon restarting my computer whilst it was installing Windows Updates the computer beeps at me twice and at the bottom of the screen it says the CPU is overheating. When the desktop appears I open an app called Speccy and my CPU temperature is 94 degrees. I had this CPU installed last November so is it possible it's now faulty?

CPU temps should not rise to 90+ degrees from installing updates. Something is wrong. The first thing you need to do is check the CPU fan is working.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 12:14 PM

All the fans in the PC are working. I hear them getting faster when the temperature is rising. It only remains at a normal temperature if the computer is doing nothing. Anything that's slightly taxing on the system causes the temperature to rise instantly.

thecaretaker · Wednesday at 12:17 PM

I use an air gun to blast out any dust from the CPU and motherboard. You can buy cans of compressed air. I also manually wipe the fan blades of all my fans with a slightly damp dish cloth. I find I need to do this every 4-6 months to keep her in top condition. I've also learnt to keep my power settings set to Balanced (Recommended). When the CPU load is low, it drops the CPU frequency down and further lowers the temperature.

It might be worth also looking in the BIOS to see what fan curve the fans are set to. Not sure what part of the world you live, but here in the UK we have been experiencing our third heatwave of the year. That can make it harder for a PC to stay cool.

EDIT: I see you are in the UK. So the heatwave might be part of why your system is having a job stay cool.

Dru2 · Wednesday at 12:19 PM

BJC1992 said:
All the fans in the PC are working. I hear them getting faster when the temperature is rising. It only remains at a normal temperature if the computer is doing nothing. Anything that's slightly taxing on the system causes the temperature to rise instantly.

Did you actually open the case and inspect the fans themselves, or are you just "assuming" they're running based on fan noise.

We can't help you if you won't help us.

Good luck.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 12:22 PM

Dru2 said:
Did you actually open the case and inspect the fans themselves, or are you just "assuming" they're running based on fan noise.

We can't help you if you won't help us.

Good luck.

Yes I removed the case and then powered on the PC. All the fans come on the moment the PC starts.
I will also look at the power settings as mentioned above to check it's set up correctly.
Also there is no dust clogging up the fans, everything looks to be quite clean.

thecaretaker · Wednesday at 12:31 PM

If it was working OK in November, my guess is it is a build up of dust on the fan vents. Get some compressed air blast them and give the blades a wipe at the same time. Check what speed the fans are set to in the BIOS to make sure they all run at 100% over 70-80c.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 12:41 PM

I'm not really sure where to go to in the Bios, I found this though (see screenshot). Is this what I need to alter?

Also I've checked the power plan and it is indeed on 'balanced'.

thecaretaker · Wednesday at 12:49 PM

BJC1992 said:
I'm not really sure where to go to in the Bios, I found this though (see screenshot). Is this what I need to alter?

Also I've checked the power plan and it is indeed on 'balanced'.
View attachment 139504

That looks about right. It's showing 100% above 70c. Have you also checked the Chassis fan (CHA Fan) speed? Looks like either a dust problem or the CPU paste has broken down. Might be worth checking the CPU fan is tight on the CPU and hasn't become loose.

BJC1992 · Wednesday at 1:02 PM

So looking at the Bios at the chassis fan there are 2 buttons, pwm and dc, I don't know what the difference is so I've included the screenshot for both.

As with checking if the CPU fan is loose I have just had a look and it is very wobbly, not secured very well at all. So I would guess this is the cause of my issue?

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