My Ryzen 5 3600 is sitting around 90–95°C at idle. I replaced the thermal paste, tried adjusting BIOS settings, and tested two different coolers: a 120mm single-fan iBuyPower cooler and a Corsair 240mm dual-fan cooler. Both coolers are mounted securely, their fans spin, and I confirmed there is no protective plastic film left on the cold plate. The thermal paste appears to spread evenly, and the problem existed before I replaced it. The temperatures are shown in both the NVIDIA app and the BIOS. This was a used system purchase, so returning it may not be possible. What else should I check?
2 Answers
Because the BIOS itself reports 90–95°C, this probably isn’t just a Windows monitoring-app mistake. Check the CPU core voltage and clock speed in the BIOS, and make sure the processor is recognized correctly. A stuck or unusually high voltage setting could cause extreme temperatures, so resetting the CMOS and updating the BIOS are sensible next steps. If temperatures remain that high with a confirmed cooler mount and normal voltage, the motherboard or CPU may be defective.
A Ryzen 5 3600 should not idle anywhere near 95°C, especially with a 240mm liquid cooler. Since two different coolers show the same result, I’d carefully remount one of them and verify that the mounting hardware is applying even pressure. Also check that the pump is running if the Corsair cooler is an all-in-one, and confirm the radiator fans and pump are connected correctly. If the mount is genuinely good, reset the CMOS and load BIOS defaults in case the CPU voltage was manually set too high.
I’ll try clearing the CMOS and checking the mounting again. The fans are spinning and the paste spreads evenly, so I’m starting to suspect a BIOS voltage setting or another hardware issue.
The 3600 normally stays reasonably cool with even its basic stock cooler. If the temperature is truly that high in BIOS with two known-good coolers, I’d test the CPU and motherboard separately if possible rather than assuming the cooler is the problem.