is 48C a safe (normal) temp for a P3 700E?

[Sunny129]

i have a P3 700E cC0 OCed to 933 mHz, and it runs about 48 degrees celcius. SETI@home is always running in the background, so the fact that none of my CPU cycles go to waste definitely contributes to the temperature i'm getting. is this a safe or normal temp? i'm using a Gorb, and i've also OCed to 1022 mHz at default core voltage with nothing more than the Gorb to cool it. it still ran rock solid. i'm just worried about the temp. thanks...

 

[Mikewarrior2]

its an okay temp. how's the case cooling?



Mike

 

[dadx2mj]

I think that is very close to not being ok. Gorbs are better than stock but not that great I would look into an alpha or Global Win and see if you can improve air flow in you case. I lowered cpu temp by 5 degrees by buying an Antec SX830 which has great air flow. I have a P3 600@841 running SETI full time and my CPU temp is 33-35c

 

[Sunny129]

i would think that the case cooling is good. i have two chassis fans. ASUS PC Probe says that that the rear fan is running about 2800 rpm, and i'm assuming the front fan is doing about the same. i've put rubber bands and twist ties around the cables and ribbons to hold them in place and out of the way of air flow. there should be a constant stream of air running in the front and out the back. the power source fan is running about 2900 rpm, and my Gorn fan is just under 6000 rpm!...by the way, thanks Mike for recommending a new version of pc probe. my readings are much more accurate now...which is why i know my CPU is running so hot.

dadx2mj, aren't the Alpha and Global Win fan/heatsink combos for the CPU? and if so, how does that improve air flow in the case?

by the way guys, i dropped the speed back down to the default 700 mHz (100 x 7.0) and my CPU temp is now about 41 degrees Celcius. i am still running seti@home. would you consider this temp an idle CPU temp, or does seti put a decent amount of stress on the CPU?

 

[kami]

you may want to check the contact there. I'm running a 700@980 with a Gorb and my full-load temp is 39-41C.

edit: at 1.75v

 

[Sunny129]

ok, i just remembered something. i didnt remove the thermal paste that comes on the Gorb when you get it. it looks like a paper-thin square of white material that easily smears, so while i'm not sure what exactly it is made of, i know it is still there b/c i didnt remove it. i put arctic silver all over the core and placed the Gorb on top. there are 2 reasons why i didnt remove the white stuff from the Gorb. 1) i didnt think that it would make a difference since it was so thin, and 2) reason #1 didnt occur to me until after the whole system was put together, so basically i forgot to remove the white stuff. might this have anything to do with my high temps? and if so, will rubbing alcohol, mineral spirits, or nail polish remover take the white stuff off of my Gorb?

 

[Mikewarrior2]

definately would... You can't/shouldn't use 2 greases. Take teh g-orb off, and remove the old stuff(dow-corning grease) with rubbing alcohol, then reinstall with only Arctic silver.


Mike

 

[Sunny129]

ok...so everyone here thinks that taking off the dow-corning grease will definitely make somewhat of a difference? i'll do it tomorrow and let everyone know how it goes...thanks

 

[Mikewarrior2]

no problem... the problem is that using a "double" layer of thermal grease, and two different types at that, acts like an insulator.


Mike

 

[Mikewarrior2]

hey Sunny129, I just thought of something. You're using a gorb, right?

One thing, at 700, you should be roughly 10C(assuming good thermal connection) over ambient case temp. So unless your case is running at 31C, something is fishy about your cooling.

At 933, the temp should go up 3-4 degrees(again assuming good thermal connection) with the gorb/stock voltage(1.75?). AT 1022, you would be looking at an increase of maybe 2C higher than at 933. now if you were to raise voltage, the temp jumps would be more significant.


Mike

 

[Sunny129]

ok, my CPU temp has been varying. like i said yesterday, my average temp is 41C, but its been running at 43C all morning. this would put the CPU temp 13-15C above ambient case temp (28C). does this mean my case cooling really sucks? b/c AnandTech did a review on the case i have and found it to be one of the best cooling cases out there, so i must be doing something wrong. as far as Vcore goes, i could OC all the way to 1022 mHz without raising the default 1.70v (1.70v is default Vcore for a CPU w/ cC0 stepping, as opposed to the default 1.65v of the cB0 stepping). raising the Vcore would also raise the CPU temp right?

 

[Mikewarrior2]

voltage will incresae temp more than core clock will.

Hmmm... have you removed the original grease yet? The 7C climb between 700 to 933 is a bit much. Should be less of an increase.

Mike

 

[Grendel99]

Temps seem high to me. I have a p3-700e @ 933 @ 1.65volts. I have a sucky ass case with 4 fans including my PSU fan. And it stays around 33C idle and no more than 38C full load. I have a Cooler Master DP5-6H51 HSF with radioshack thermal grease You could try taking one of the sides of your case if you haven't done so alraedy. That usually helps if your room is cool.

 

[Sunny129]

i still have to remove the white compound that comes on the Gorb. i'll let you guys know when its off and what the resulting temperatures are. i'll do it some time today. its just that i have this doubtful feeling that it will make a big difference...then again, any difference right now is a good one since my CPU temp is running so high.

i also read a post by RoboTECH about his DUron running hot...he mentioned that he also had a P3 700 that didnt run as hot as his duron until he OCed it to 1050 mHz at 1.95v. sounds to me like he would be getting a very good temp @ default 700 mHz or even OCed to 933 mHz. not to mention that i can OC mine to 933 mHz without raising the Vcore above default, so naturally it should run cooler than his, assuming that we have similar cooling solutions. i asked him what kind of cooling he's using but i havent gotten a reply yet.

PS - i would open the case for better cooling, but this thing is loud as it is. i think its the Gorb. that thing sounds like a damn tornado...and people say that some of the better coolers are even louder. boy would i hate to get a noisier cooler than the one i already have...

 

[Sunny129]

ok...i'm off to remove the white sh!t on my Gorb. i'll be back online hopefully within a few hours. wish me luck

 

[Sunny129]

ok i'm back. well it took no effort at all to get that white stuff off the back of my Gorb. it just rubbed off with a tissue, but i went ahead and wiped down the contact area with nail polish remover just to make it clean. ASUS PC Probe now reads my CPU temp as being 37-38C. i just turned SETI@home off to see what my CPU temp would be at idle, so i'll give it some time to do nothing and report back with an idle CPU temp...nevermind, i just turned off SETI a minute ago and looked at pc probe and it read 30C! what a drop! i guess SETI@home is more CPU intensive than i thought now if i could only run SETI@home and not go above 40C. that seems like a nice round number to set the temp limit at. time to OC and see what temps i get. back with more info in a bit...thanks guys

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Cool, glad that it helped drop your temps.


Mike

 

[Sunny129]

ok, i pushed it to 1050 mHz, and here are my resulting temps so far. i made somewhat of a chart. take a look...

* all temps measured @ default 1.70v Vcore unless specified otherwise

* ambient case temp = 26-28C

* ? = confusion as to why some results were inconsistant (meaning temp didnt necessarily increase proportionally as CPU speed and Vcore did)



Idle CPU temp:

707 mHz: 34C (28C at first)

938 mHz: 34C (32C at first)

1000 mHz: 33-34C?

1022 mHz: 33-34C

1036 mHz: 32-33C

1050 mHz: 32-33C


CPU temp w/ SETI@home running:

707 mHz: 39-40C

938 mHz: 43C

1000 mHz: 41-43C?

1022 mHz: 43C

1036 mHz: 42-43C

1050 mHz: 41-43C; 42C @ 1.75v


its just the little things like why i am getting the same if not lower temps when running the same CPU speed at a higher Vcore that confuse me. but then again, i suppose i cant expect my system to follow a perfect model without deviation. i am going to push the CPU a little more and benchmark the temps again. i'll try to have another chart up some time tomorrow. i would appreciate your thoughts if anyone has any...

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Just normal temp variances, probably. Could be lower ambient case temps at each test(its important to note ambient case temp for each test/clock speed).


Mike

 

[Sunny129]

ever since i put the side back on and my case has been closed, ambient case temp has been steady @28C w/ an occasional rise to 29C, but it usually goes back down right away. 28-29C sounds about right to me, when we know that room temp is considered to be 25-27C. to be honest, i am thrilled with my CPU temp when i'm not running SETI@home. idle is about 31-32C, and when i do what i usually do on the computer, the temp doesnt get above 38C. SETI@home is another issue though. even when it is running alone with nothing else going on, it brings the CPU temp up to a steady 43C, which seems kind of high to me. someone else suggested that i might not have properly installed the Gorb onto the CPU, but i cant think of anything i did wrong. its fit on the clips perfectly and then i clipped on the other side (arctic silver is in the middle, not to much...a nice thin layer). kami's full load is 39-41C with a P3 700 @ 980. now i dont know if SETI@hoome is part of that full load, but i'm just under those scores w/ a full load, not including SETI@home. i could always close SETI when i'm doing stuff on the computer and the reopen it when i'm away. but i would still like to bring down the CPU temp when it is running all by itself...43C seems pretty high for an Intel CPU.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Don't worry about the 43C. My p3-650e@982 (1.8V) runs at 40C, but with a much lower ambient case temp than yours. I further suspect that Kami's ambient case temp is around 25 or so, so no big deal.


Mike

 

[Sunny129]

yeah, i've been monitoring the CPU temp all day and i noticed that even the most CPU intensive programs i have (SETI@home and the Giess visual plug-in for Winamp) push the temp to an average 43C. i've seen it hit 44C, but only a few times for only a few seconds each time. so i'm not too worried about it.

by the way, i'm curious as to how you achieve a much cooler ambient case temp than mine? if the air in the case is no cooler than the air outside the case (room temp 25-27C), then surely the system's components would heat the case temp a few degrees higher than room temp...at least i would think so. do you attribute your lower ambient case temp to your Chassis fans, or do you do more to cool your case?

 

[Mikewarrior2]

well, I have an ambient room temp of around 22C, its a bit chilly in this room.

and this is My Case. Overkill, if you ask me .

Mike

 

[Sunny129]

yes, now that you mention it, i would have to say room temp in my house is about 22C (70F) also. so i wonder why my case isnt cooling so well? anandtech's review on the Fong Kai FK-603 (the one i have) showed that is very quiet and cool very well. hmmm...maybe mmine just seems loud b/c my old system was a Dell (1 case fan and 1 power supply fan, no CPU fan b/c it was a P2 350 slot-1 with just a heatsink). are there any utilities out there that i can meansure my sound in dB? and i wonder why my case isnt a degree or two celcius lower than it is right now?

and i wouldnt say your case is overkill...its just that you have the room to do that kind of internal work. i have a mid-tower, not a full. i think more room and more fans might explain why you have better ambient temps.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

My case is a mid-tower Enlight... its just got tons of fans(quiet ones, but still tons of them).


Mike