I’ve got a Ryzen 5 2600 CPU that’s overheating as soon as I power on my PC. The fans ramp up to max speed and the CPU temperature spikes to 95°C right away. I recently reapplied thermal paste and double-checked that the cooler is properly mounted with good contact. The PC is not new, and this issue just started happening out of nowhere. I also ran virus scans and everything is clean. I’m using a CoolerMaster closed-loop water cooler, not the stock cooler. Any ideas on what might be causing this overheating?
3 Answers
Since you mentioned the cooler is mounted properly and you’ve reapplied thermal paste, it could be a problem with your case airflow. Sometimes if the fans in the case aren’t pushing air correctly, heat builds up quickly around the CPU and causes temps to spike even if the cooler is fine. Check if your case fans are running and oriented correctly to pull cool air in and push hot air out.
Also check your BIOS settings for CPU power limits or voltage. If the CPU is accidentally set to ramp up to max power right away or if there’s a voltage misconfiguration, it can shoot temps way up fast. It’s less common but still worth ruling out if hardware checks out okay.
If your cooler is a closed-loop water cooler, make sure the pump is actually working. Sometimes the pump can fail or get stuck, which means coolant isn’t circulating and your CPU overheats immediately. You might be hearing the radiator fans spinning, but the pump could be dead or blocked. Try feeling the tubes to see if they’re warm or cold and listen carefully for any pump noise.
I’ll double-check the case fans and airflow setup, thanks! Didn’t consider airflow since it happened suddenly.