CPU overheating, from 60C to 90C while rendering

cdotlu

Hi everyone! Still fairly new to building PC. I built my first one in 2020.

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X Matisse 3.5GHz 16-Core AM4

NZXT Kraken M22 120mm RGB Water Cooling Kit

Corsair XTM50 High Performance Thermal Compound Paste

I mainly use it for animation work. More recently, the CPU temperature has been jumping to 90C while I'm motion tracking or render previewing. It's usually around 70-80C max! Now it sounds like it goes into full throttle mode. I'm curious what are your thoughts. Should I reapply thermal paste again after 2 years? Everything else seems to be fine.

magarity

Two things:

1- If it is over 2 years old the fans may simply be wearing out. When the system is off, poke a fan with your finger and see if there is resistance. Not just the fan on its radiator but also check the other fans around your case. If any or all of them are wearing out, that will cause a gradual rise in temps as you described.

2- If it is over 2 years old there is probably dust building up inside the radiator fins. This will also cause a gradual rise as described. You can either take off the cooler and wash the radiator part in water after removing the fan (this is also a chance to change the paste as you mentioned) or you can tape the fan so it doesn't spin and blow out the radiator with compressed air (do this outside).

cdotlu

Hi @magarity, appreciate these tips so much! Let's hope it's dust build up. Is it normal to change the paste after 2 years? I guess I've been using my PC for work every day and AMDs are so hot.

Thank you!

cdotlu

Update: there's no dust in my case! I guess it's time to change the thermal paste.

Would you recommend this brand again? I was told it's the best one when I was in the store.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/610338/corsair-xtm50-high-performance-ultra-low-impedance-thermal-compound

Thanks all :)

PowerSpec_MikeW

@cdotlu

I haven't used that paste, I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for my own stuff. With all of the top tier pastes the difference is going to be at most 1-3C. Kryonaut is a little more expensive. The XTM50 is $20 for a 5 gram tube, Kryonaut is $12 for 1g or $27 for 5.55g.

magarity

Usually the preapplied paste is "good enough" to get you started but I don't know how long it lasts. It's probably a safe bet to replace it since when it dries out completely it loses much effectiveness.

you said there's no dust but did not mention checking how freely the fans spin.

cdotlu

@magarity ah, thanks for reminding me! the fan is fine. it's quiet when idling. but goes hard when i try to render in after effects. i listened closely to the tubes and no rattling. i messed up the first time when i was building this PC so i did my own chonky rice gain paste.

thanks everyone! grateful for this community forums :)