Coolest CPU right now (Temp)

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pantsaregood

Senior member
Feb 13, 2011
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That A6-3500 may actually put out more heat. It has a 100W TDP, I believe. 2500K is only 95W.

You have to understand that core temperature doesn't really affect your room temperature. If you shrank your 2500K down to an infinitely small size, the core temperature would approach infinity. Ignoring thermal leakage (which would be an issue as temperature approaches infinity), it wouldn't heat your room any more than it would currently.

Similarly, if you doubled the surface area of the CPU, core temperatures would drop modestly. You wouldn't see any difference in room temperature, though.

Also, your i5 running as a single/dual core wouldn't heat up your room much at all. Total power draw under full load for an i5 with two cores off would be <40W.

EDIT: This also means that if 10nm Skymont runs at 25W and core temperatures read 500 degrees C, it will still heat your room up less than your 2500K does now.
 
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lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
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sorry my room is getting to hot because of the i5 2500k.
Ok room heating has little to do with CPU temps. System power consumption is what you are trying to keep low because system power is what is heating the room.

You might invest in a Kill-a-watt so you can measure your system power.

The AMD A4 is a good low power, low cost option for HTPC.

Intel makes some "t" and "s" chips that are really low power but they cost a bit.

An Ivy Bridge based laptop with would be a good choice to keep system power low but again cost could be an issue.
 

Ferzerp

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,438
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Processor temperature is only loosely related to how much it will warm a room. What you really care about is TDP, regardless of the measured proc temp.

Something can be 1000C, but if you don't need to disspiate much heat energy to maintain that temp, it isn't going to warm a room much. A different object could be 50C, but dissipate a massive amount of heat and raise your room temp substantially.
 

Homeles

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2011
2,580
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Hooray for thermodynamics: something people need to grasp before claiming that Ivy is going to dump tons of heat into their case.
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
8,172
137
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If you want something to watch movies on that runs cool I would challenge anyone to find a fully functional windows PC that puts out less heat than this machine:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+1...=1218684536310

$279

Inside it probably runs at 50C or more but that dont matter since it probably only pulls 10 watts from the wall while streaming netflix to a TV with the lid closed.

Give me one of these with ib and usb 3.0 and I'll take it. Hopefully for $229 on black friday lol.
 

Puppies04

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2011
5,909
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Thanks for all replies,

I tried to underclock&undevolt but the result aren't that good what I expected:

i5 2500k Sandy bridge using a Scythe Mugen 3 cooler
my OC settings: 4,6 Ghz (1.36v) quad core, 60c at load, 40c idle( I know really hot)

UC settings 2,2 Ghz dual core (0.90v) 38c at idle

single core 1,6Ghz (0.88v) 37c at idle, 41c at load

I tried my HTPC from the livingroom, a AMD A6-3500 APU at 3Ghz OC at idle 28c and 41c at load. used a AMD 1090T stockcooler. very loud at load.

planning to switch to a scythe big shuriken rev B.



again thanks for your thoughts.:D

You can't compare AMD to Intel temps like that. They both measure in completly different ways.
 

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
126
If you want something to watch movies on that runs cool I would challenge anyone to find a fully functional windows PC that puts out less heat than this machine:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+1...=1218684536310

$279

Inside it probably runs at 50C or more but that dont matter since it probably only pulls 10 watts from the wall while streaming netflix to a TV with the lid closed.

Give me one of these with ib and usb 3.0 and I'll take it. Hopefully for $229 on black friday lol.
Good suggestion, if it can really keep up with a whatever video stream the OP had in mind. 1080p content is pretty hard on a system, not sure that laptop is up to the job with the HD graphics...
 

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
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Not to be picky but TDP is not even the real issue. Total system power during the intended use is the real issue. My guess is that while in use the CPU will be well under TDP but system power will be well over TDP. System power is what is heating the room. It would be hard to beat a laptop for this application...
 

pantsaregood

Senior member
Feb 13, 2011
993
37
91
Not to be picky but TDP is not even the real issue. Total system power during the intended use is the real issue. My guess is that while in use the CPU will be well under TDP but system power will be well over TDP. System power is what is heating the room. It would be hard to beat a laptop for this application...

this

I only mentioned TDP because the guy seems determined to replace his CPU.

Whoever suggested measuring total system output: dead on.

Building a nettop rig with a GPU that supports 1080p decoding would be great for video.
 

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
126
How about a window air-conditioner for the hot room? 5000 BTU units are around $150.