How hot is too hot? cpu at 55c under no load

[Sonikku]

I downloaded real temp and found my Intel Pentium g630 is averaging 55c at idle with the heatsink at 100% fan speed. Is that kind of high? My Radeon 7770 is only 45c.

 

[Ketchup]

Yes. That is pretty hot, but it also depends on what kind of computer/enclosure you have, and how old it is. For example, on my desktop that would be hot, but on my Dell xps One, not so much. How old is it, and when was the last time you dusted?

 

[Sonikku]

Now it's 77c in game. I guess that's a real scorcher. Time to get a zalman? Doesn't seem like a intel sandy bridge should be this hot. But now that you mention it, I haven't dusted it in over a year. It's an Antec piano black case.

 

[Yuriman]

Those idle temps are very high, but not dangerous. I wouldn't worry until you're up around 90 under load. It's just going to result in more noise.

My recommendation is to pull the heatsink and clean it thoroughly, then reseat it with new thermal paste. Your idle temperatures should be <35c even with the stock heatsink.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The Tjmax for the chip is 100C. Try run Prime95 and see how high it reaches.

 

[Ed1]

The Tjmax for the chip is 100C. Try run Prime95 and see how high it reaches.

If that is stock Intel HS, check to see if one of pins got loose .
sometimes a pin will get lose and HS not properly seated .

 

[Sonikku]

I'm embarrassed to admit I have no paste or removing compound or any of that. Does newegg sell a kit like that that isn't too expensive? I wouldn't even know where to get thermal paste locally.

 

[Ketchup]

The Intel stock heatsink comes with pre-applied paste. It's design is adequate. The fan and material used will not give you great temps, but they will keep a chip from throttling. Your load temps suggest that it is connected properly, but this should be easy to check on your system. The design will show a pretty good variance if dust accumulates, so the first thing I would do is use a can of compressed air on the unit.

If you don't see a lower temp after that, there could be mounting issues, but you may just want to go to a better unit. Keep in mind that most units that are substantially better would require removing the motherboard for proper mounting.

 

[EliteRetard]

I'm embarrassed to admit I have no paste or removing compound or any of that. Does newegg sell a kit like that that isn't too expensive? I wouldn't even know where to get thermal paste locally.

I see Newegg has a sale on AS5, good upper range paste.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007&ignorebbr=1

EMCARNN32

Use that code to get it for $7 shipped.

There may or may not be better deals out there right now, but this is a decent easy option. And there's plenty of paste for several applications.

Stock Intel paste is pretty dry stuff, should be able to wipe away most of it with a paper towel. Normally you then use 90%+ IPA to clean the rest, since it evaporates quickly.

I think you could put a couple drops of hot water on a towel so it's just damp. Make sure no drops can be squeezed out, and then let the PC sit for ~15 minuts after cleaning to make sure it's dry. Then apply a small dot of the paste on your CPU and mount up the cooler.

And here's a simple youtube video that covers removal and install:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AegVBU_fo-8

Edit: Actually if you have Amazon prime, they have a similar price on the AS5 and would get you free 2 day shipping.
Edit: Actually here's a slightly smaller tube of ASC2 for cheaper ($5 free ship), still lots extra and it's decent stuff too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100017&Tpk=N82E16835100017

 

[Sonikku]

Thanks for all the info. Is there like a $10-15 heatsink that does the job a little better than stock intel that would maybe be quieter? Not really looking for a zalman or anything for a g630, but with temps like this the fan is really loud. It's a big case so size isn't an issue.

 

[Yuriman]

I have an i3 with the stock heatsink and it tends to run around 25c idle and 55c fully loaded with Prime95. I'm willing to bet you don't need a new heatsink, just to clean and remount the one you have.

There are tons of choices in the $10-15 range. Look for something with copper heatpipes, possibly a tower design. Those that use push-pins (like the stock heatsink) won't be mounted as securely, but will be easier to install. I'll pick out a few from Newegg and edit them into my post in a few minutes.

EDIT: Any of these should outperform the stock cooler considerably:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA59T2AJ6687
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119090
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA66Z28H0869
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064


I have no personal experience with the above coolers and have no idea if the fans they include are of decent quality. Coolermaster's fans aren't the quietest around, but generally aren't crap either.

Some other options to consider are Arctic Cooling, which tend to pair really great fans with merely adequate heatsinks (and thus are quiet but don't cool all that well), or GELID, Scythe and Be Quiet, as these should all ship with very high quality fans, cost more too.

The fan included on Intel's stock cooler is rather exceptionally good, though. SPCR ranked its acoustics very highly, though the heatsink itself tends to be only barely adequate for quad cores, and definitely not a good choice if you're overclocking and adding voltage.

 

[KingFatty]

How warm is the inside of the computer? Does the side of the computer case feel warm to the touch?

I just don't understand how your idle temperatures could be so much warmer than room temperature. Somethings wrong - either your CPU isn't really idling and you have some virus that consumes CPU cycles all the time to make the chip warm, or your heatsink cooler is not properly snugged down on the chip, and so it's not transferring heat. I mean the fan should not run 100% at idle... it should be silent.

 

[tweakboy]

Well 55c is great. Everyone here knows 55c is what we want.. wow amazing, gg

 

[Sonikku]

The case is 37c. The radeon 7770 only gets to about 60-65c under full load while gaming, so I think it's probably a combination of mounting plus dust build up. I have no paste or compressed air on hand however so I'll wait until they arrive from newegg. Another interesting thing I noticed from CPU-z is that the core clock kept flipping from 1.6ghz to the appropriate speed of 2.7ghz while under load. I may not be getting the full performance out of it.

 

[bbhaag]

Man that's hot. My PhenomII 965 125 watt beast idles at 33c and only gets to 65c under full load.
Get yourself a Coolermaster 212 evo or at the very least pull the stock HS off suck out the dust and re-apply some thermal compound.

 

[bononos]

I downloaded real temp and found my Intel Pentium g630 is averaging 55c at idle with the heatsink at 100% fan speed. Is that kind of high? My Radeon 7770 is only 45c.

The fan shouldn't be at 100% at idle. Using the stock heatsink on an i3 Sandy, my temps were only 41C and the fan was at its slow setting (controlled by mb bios). The stock heatsink with the clip design can be a cause of trouble - check to see if you installed it properly. One of the mods made a post with pics.

 

[twinrider1]

Take the side cover off your computer.
Take the computer outside.
Blast out the dust with compressed air. Pay particular attention to the cpu heatsink/fan and the power supply.
Report back with updated temps.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Man that's hot. My PhenomII 965 125 watt beast idles at 33c and only gets to 65c under full load.
Get yourself a Coolermaster 212 evo or at the very least pull the stock HS off suck out the dust and re-apply some thermal compound.

Your Phenom also measures it a completely different way and got entirely different limits.

 

[bbhaag]

Your Phenom also measures it a completely different way and got entirely different limits.

True but my i3-2100 and my i5-2500k also idle at around 36c and top out at around 67c when under load. I stand by my original statement that the OPs cpu is running hot.

 

[sm625]

There is something wrong with your HSF. I'd be surprised if it idled over 55C with no fan at all.

 

[KingFatty]

I have no paste or compressed air on hand however so I'll wait until they arrive from newegg. Another interesting thing I noticed from CPU-z is that the core clock kept flipping from 1.6ghz to the appropriate speed of 2.7ghz while under load. I may not be getting the full performance out of it.

OK a quick and dirty test you NEED to at least try is to feel how hot the CPU heatsink is.

Your 55C idle temperature is hot enough to feel by touch. Now, if your CPU heatsink is properly connected to the CPU, the heatsink itself should be around 55C also.

But if you feel the heatsink and it's cool (or, at least the same temperature as the case), then you have discovered that heat is not escaping from the CPU, and staying in the CPU to make the CPU have a hot idle temperature.

And don't just feel the fins of the heatsink, try to feel different parts of it to see if it's warm to the touch anywhere.

A cold heatsink means it's not connected properly. A hot CPU at idle means the heatsink is not connected properly. So it's more than just a dust problem if you feel the heatsink and it's not close to 55C like the CPU temp at idle.

 

[Sonikku]

Ok now I'm getting worried. Was away for 5 days and when I came back speedfan was still open but everything was screwy. It said CPU temp was 0c but system and mother board are over 120c. How is it the main board hasn't MELTED?!

Speedfan must have screwed up something with my system while I was away because it always showed 100% cpu fan speed for the few days I started using it last week, but the actual fan speed changed when the cpu got hotter. (2800rpms when it got to around 77c under full load, 2200rpm at idle at 55c. Clearly 2000-2200rpm is not 100% fan speed as reported) Now it seems "stuck" at 2000 rpm and the cpu is running around 70 at idle and 90c+ under load. How do I know the cpu is running this hot? Speedfan can still track temps on both cores despite showing 0c on CPU. (and plus I downloaded realtemp in the meanwhile)

The paste and compressed air arrive tomorrow so I can remount the heatsink, blow everything out and make sure everything is secured correctly. But now I'm worried there's something screwy on the software side throttling the fan speed. What concerns me is that even if the heatsink is slipping, that still doesn't explain why the rpm is now screwy. :\

 

[master_shake_]

try hardware monitor

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

It think its been over 10 years since speed fan was last updated hence lies your problem, Try using real temp. At least its made for your CPU, in the bios adjust the CPU replace TIM and then see what you got...........

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/Real_Temp/

 

[myocardia]

It think its been over 10 years since speed fan was last updated hence lies your problem, Try using real temp. At least its made for your CPU, in the bios adjust the CPU replace TIM and then see what you got...........

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/Real_Temp/

??? SpeedFan was just updated February 21, 2015...
http://www.almico.com/sfhistory.php