cold then hot then cold, etc...

I have always been curious to know how hot or cool my PC runs, even tried to install a couple of monitors but they never worked, but then just discovered that the AIDA32 that I have had installed for some time registers CPU temp, so....

The temp goes up and down like a yoyo, according to AIDA32 anyway... Low temp is always 25c/77f, cool, but then it jumps up into the range of about 73c/163f (about 10f higher and lower), which I think is a little too warm (at system idle). The weird thing is, as I indicated, it sits on low or high about 2 or 3 seconds, then jumps to the other extreme in the blink of an eye. Now, I did do a search on this, but did not find anything on this specific issue, so I am wondering if AIDA32 is registreing hot flashes erroneously, or if this is possibly correct, and if it is, should I be concerned?

Some extraneous related data follows. The CPU fan runs at about 4856 rpm, but also jumps, to about 4891 rpm, and seems to coincide with the hot flashes... The motherboard temp stays at about 47c/117f. This all takes place under system idle at 97%. I have a large external floor fan that blows into the cabinet that the CPU is in, and it has a "breeze" setting, whereby it cycles from either low, medium, or high, to almost off and then steps back up to whatever the setting is (l, m, or h). SO, it is logical to deduce that this external fan cycling might be cooling things off, but I have set the breeze function off, and the result is not always consistent, but sometimes it seems to stop the fluctuation. Any ideas, suggestions?

 

Sounds quite strange. My first thought is to check any case fans that may be installed the wrong way and acting in reverse to the Power Supply fan, causing the air in the case to stagnate and letting the CPU overheat. Check any case fans, any at the front should blow air in, any at the back should exhaust (the hot) air out.
There may be problems with the thermal grease (pad) between the Heatsink and the CPU. If all else fails replace the thermal compound. Instructions can be found here:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/

70 deg C is worrying if you value your CPU. Shouldn't run much over 55. I'd try not to run it like that till you've found the cause.

If you leave a side panel off the case, the temp should come down (while you are investigating the cause).

Matt