I have an Intel i5 2550k and it is overheating at idle of 140 F or 60 C.
When I run even a low end game like minecraft it shoots to 101. What should I do to cool it down?
CPU running at 140 F 60 C at idle?
You must have a heatsink problem, either your thermal paste is wearing down, your fan is not working right, or your cpu is overvolting itself to keep itself running, the first 2 can be fixed by buying a new fan and cleaning your cpu off with a microfiber cloth, applying more thermal paste (about a cooked grain of rice's amount) and installing a new heatsink, the third problem can't be fixed and it would mean that you need a new cpu because yours is on the verge of death in a "hot" way
60C is quite hot for idle temp. That would be right under load.
Verify that all of your system/case fans are working, including the CPU fan. Make sure that the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust.
If you decide to take the heatsink off of the CPU, you can get a two step cleaner from most computer stores for not a whole lot of money. Use this to clean off the surface of the heatsink and the CPU itself.
When reapplying you don't use a lot, just about the size of a pea. If you use too much it becomes an insulator instead of helping to cool All it is supposed to do is to fill in between the heat sink and processor