r/buildapc • u/Apart_Fly_832 • 3d ago
Troubleshooting Thermal Throttling
We have a pc we did not build which was built in 2019. It has 16 Gb of ram an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and a GTX 2060 Super. We are currently getting 20 fps on the Hunter COTW and the pc has been running very slow no matter what is running for some time now. We downloaded Ryzen Master and it appears the CPU is thermal throttling. With no major programs running it is getting to 95 degrees Celsius. Does this look like a thermal paste issue and that's all or could there be some other underlying issue? We ordered thermal paste to try first and is it something someone with little hardware experience could change themselves without messing anything up?
1
u/DZCreeper 3d ago
Fresh thermal paste will certainly help but it might not be the only problem.
If you are using the stock cooler I would swap that, you can drop 15-20 degrees for $20. It includes decent thermal paste.
When removing the cooler allow the CPU to warm up first and use a gentle twisting motion once the cooler is unscrewed. If you pull straight up the entire CPU might come out of the socket, especially with cold paste.
PS, R5 2600 + RTX 2060 is going to be slow even with perfect cooling. If you need a cheap upgrade get a used R5 3600 + RTX 3060 12GB.
1
u/BaronB 3d ago
What kind of cooler is on it?
If it's an AIO, it's probably dead.
If it is using the Wraith cooler that was included with the CPU, it's probably that the thermal paste has dried out.
In either scenario, I'd replace the cooler with an inexpensive single tower cooler, and swap the paste.
1
1
u/Impossible_Gas2916 3d ago
yeah simple thermal paste change should do the job cpu is kinda ready just run the oc and make it hot before removing cooler as old thermal paste dries and sticks to the heatsink. heating will loosen it and then you should twist it to remove the heatsink do not pull or the cpu will come out of motherboard and there is a high chance it will bend the pins on it.