Hi everyone, so I just built my first computer ever , got some of my programs installed and one of the first things that I wanted to know was my cpu temp. Right now, just surfing the internet, and installing Age of Conan, my cpu temp according to coretemp ranges from 45-55C for both cores. I think this is a bit high for just surfing the internet and installing a game.

What I have is a Intel E7200 Dual Core, Arctic Pro 7 90nm heatsink and fan, and Arctic cooler 5 thermal compound. Being a first time builder, I may have screwed up my application of my thermal compound. I read online and an article told my to make a thin layer as possible to the degree that its almost transparent and make it even. I tried my best doing this, obviously wasn't perfect, but still should think my temps should be lower.

One reason for the problem that I could think of is that when I installed the heatsink and fan on my cpu after the thermal compound was applied, I had to remove the heatsink and fan and put it back on because I put the fan backwards and not facing the back of my pc. I didn't know that I could just snap off the fan and change sides on the heatsink, so I just took the whole think off and flipped it around lol. Did this remove some of the compound and should I go in a just reapply?

But who knows, I'm a noob to this stuff anyway. Can someone confirm my temps?

If I recall, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro comes preapplied with thermal paste already. So you added more paste, plus removing and putting it on again. I would clean up the thermal paste on the cpu and heatsink. Then reapply new thermal paste and remount the cooler. Also make sure the fan on the cooler is running full blast.

Ah your right, it did come with compound on the bottom. But I did remove that and applied my arctic silver 5 to my cpu, BUT not my heatsink. Is that ok? and how do you change your fan speed on my heatsink?

First, go the the Arctic Silver website. They have a good set of detailed instructions for applying their AS5 paste, and it does not involve spreading a uniform thin film. Follow their guidelines for your re-apply.

I am assuming your CPU fan is plugged into a mobo connector labeled for such. VERY likely the fan speed is being controlled by the mobo according to CPU temperature. There is a place in your BIOS where you set this the way you want. In my system, there are separate controls to set temperatures and speeds for the CPU fan and the case fan. Basically, you can set at what temperature (cold) the fan just shuts off, at what temperature it runs at some minimum speed, the temp for reaching max speed, and two alarm settings: when it should warn you that the CPU temp is getting high (you set what temp is "high" ), and when it gets drastic and shuts down your system to protect the CPU from burn-out. Take a close look at this and see if you would prefer to have the CPU man speed come up to maximum at some temperature lower than it is set for now. In the same screen it should show you the current measured temperature of the CPU (Same as the one you have been seeing?) and the current fan speed.