God of War, strange framerate problems

[Coornio]

Word, I'm just saying that all the factors together look suspicious, not that the reading is ok.

I just checked my dad's computer, and in the bios his cpu is idling at 40 degrees, no thermal paste.

I'm going to open up the case again and see if maybe some dust got between the fan and the cpu when I was cleaning it... could the old thermal paste be adversely affecting temperature?

5 years old thermal paste will be pretty dried out and flake-y, and conducting much less heat then when it's still fresh. Get it replaced asap and check the temperatures again. If they're still the same, does it physically feel this hot if you get your hand close? If not, i suspect the temperature sensor might be malfunctioning.

[Viceroy]

The computer has been running slowly despite several attempts to fix it for 6mo - a year now, so I do believe it is a real problem. Also, the computer has been shutting down (presumably due to high temps) today for the first time in months.

I'll take a look at the hsf/cpu again in a minute.

*edit*

Opened it up again, pulled out the cpu and hsf, scraped the thermal paste residue off both of them, dusted them off, put them back in, and she's at about 97-98 from programs that were reading 99 before. So that seems to have alleviated something. Still, why are the temps so high? Is it just because the parts are old, or what?

Looks like I have some googling to do.

[Viceroy]

Fixed the problem!

hsf wasn't properly attached, and evidently hasn't been so for about a year now.

Did some googling and found out that might be the problem, so I fooled around with the pins a bit (it's been a while since I've done this), and realized I was supposed to twist them AND push them in; i'd just been pressing them in before.

Now my core temp is at 40-45 idle, and I was able to play GoW at 2x native with consistent 60 fps. My computer will be running better from now on too.

Oh happy day

[Coornio]

Fixed the problem!

hsf wasn't properly attached, and evidently hasn't been so for about a year now.

Did some googling and found out that might be the problem, so I fooled around with the pins a bit (it's been a while since I've done this), and realized I was supposed to twist them AND push them in; i'd just been pressing them in before.

Now my core temp is at 40-45 idle, and I was able to play GoW at 2x native with consistent 60 fps. My computer will be running better from now on too.

Oh happy day

Ah yes, those goddamn twisty pins, the source of so much rage. They never seem to stay in place for me, so i always get my brother to do it. He has the magic touch. Really though, how could you put the heatsink on and not check if it STAYS on?

[Viceroy]

Pushing the pins in will make it stay on, it just shakes if you push it around. It's secure, it just isn't making good contact with the cpu, which evidently makes all the difference.