Temperature of new build

[sathyan]

I just finished my build and closed up the case. Under minimal load (web browsing with music playing), using the Gigabyte utility I find the following temps:

CPU: 39C
System: 35C
GPU: 44C

These temps are about 3-5C higher than with the case open. Are these safe temps? The back of the PC is about 6" from the wall, should it be further than that?

I am not experiencing any lockups or other anomalies at this point.

System:
Athlon II x3 435 / 4GB DDR3/ Gigabyte 790XT mobo / ATI 4670 video / WD 750GB SATA / Antec EA500/WinXP SP3 / Stock HSF and two 80mm case fans

 

[dfuze]

I think those temps are safe. My Q6600 runs in the low 30s with light use. I don't think you have to worry until you hit high 60s or 70s.

 

[daw123]

What is your ambient (room) temperature? We can't really tell you whether your temps are high or low without knowing this.

If you have ambients of 20-26C, then the idle temps you posted look fine. Remember though that the load temps are what are important, not the idle temps, when the CPU/GPU load is at 100%.

You run a stress programme such as Linpack, Prime 95, Furmark, OCCT, etc. to stress the GPU and CPU (running the tests independantly of each other; i.e. not at the same time).

Run Coretemp and GPU-Z to get accurate CPU / GPU temperatures, whilst running the stress program. Only run one stress program at a time, without anything else running in the background except the temp monitoring program.

You should run Prime95 for 24 hours without errors or failure. Alternatively, you can run any of the other CPU stress tests for a couple of hours (which should be error free if you have a stable system). Additionally, you can run Memtest to check that you RAM is ok.

Look here for info on a GPU stress test (Furmark): http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=110439 and http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Temperature Monitoring Programs (CPU and GPU)
GPU-Z: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1698/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.3.7.html
CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
Coretemp: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

CPU Stress-test Programs
Prime95: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Home-Education/Prime95.shtml
OCCT: http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download
Intel Burn Test: http://downloads.guru3d.com/IntelBurnTest-v1.6-download-2047.html

If you have bad cable management inside your case, the cross ventilation through the case will be worse (with the side panel on), therefore restricting the heat dissipation from the case and the components within it. Conversely, the opposite is true if you have good cable management or you leave the side panel off (which you've witnessed yourself).

 

[philosofool]

Those temps are fine. Load of 65 is prefectly normal for all components except HDD, which should be about 55 under load. The danger zone for CPU and GPU is about 80 degrees, which if sustained will shorten the life of your machine.

"You should run Prime95 for 24 hours without errors or failure. Alternatively, you can run any of the other CPU stress tests for a couple of hours (which should be error free if you have a stable system). Additionally, you can run Memtest to check that you RAM is ok. "

Well, this is pretty extreme. I'd give my machine a Prime95 torture test for one hour and if it didn't pop up any error messages or overheat, you're 97% likely to be fine and don't need to run it for another 23 hours. Now, if you have a machine that needs to be up 24/7, I would recommend going whole-hog and giving it the real 24 hour torture test, but if you are currently stable, there's no need to load your machine for 24 hours to test it.

 

[daw123]

Well, this is pretty extreme. I'd give my machine a Prime95 torture test for one hour and if it didn't pop up any error messages or overheat, you're 97% likely to be fine and don't need to run it for another 23 hours. Now, if you have a machine that needs to be up 24/7, I would recommend going whole-hog and giving it the real 24 hour torture test, but if you are currently stable, there's no need to load your machine for 24 hours to test it.

I disagree, but to each his own. I've seen PCs which have errored after a few hours of running Prime. If the PC is stable it should easily handle 24 hours of Prime without generating errors.

As I stated you can speed up the process by using IBT, OCCT, etc. as these programs seem to find instability more quickly than Prime does.