What is considered too hot?

[swillfly]

I just built a new rig and the cpu seems ok but the motherboard seems a bit hot and I can feel heat coming up off mostly from the gpu and southbridge area. Nothing is overclocked and the memory is running at 1333. Here are my specs:

Phenom II X4
Gigabyte GA-790XT-USB3
4GB G. Skill DDR3
MSI R5770 Hawk
500GB SATA HDD
24x SATA DVD
Antec 430W NeoPower PSU
Win7 Ult 64

The case is a cheapo small atx (not uatx) tower with 1 80mm fan blowing in from front across HDD surface, 1 80mm fan to exhaust blowing out back, and 1 Antec 80mm spot cool fan aimed at RAM in upper-right side of mobo & blowing toward back exhaust fan.

I installed EasyTune6 only for the hardware monitor so I could see in Windows how hot everything was running.
cpu - 32C system 40C

I can turn the spot fan rpms up so it blows more but I'm not sure if that is gonna make any difference versus mebbe getting 120mm fans. The wiring is all tucked away in a remote corner so there's no obstructions for airflow. I'm thinking the smallish case plus limited and smaller fans is what makes it hot.

Are these temps normal for non-overclocked and not under pressure/no games or apps running?

Cheers!

 

[sandorski]

Those areas have Heatsinks because they get hot. Unless you're reaching mid 50c(not exactly sure of specific value) they're fine. If you start having Crashes/Lockups, definitely increase airflow to the area, but those Temps seem fine.

 

[Fayd]

Those areas have Heatsinks because they get hot. Unless you're reaching mid 50c(not exactly sure of specific value) they're fine. If you start having Crashes/Lockups, definitely increase airflow to the area, but those Temps seem fine.

uh, 50c is fine.


"too hot" varies from chip to chip, but it's generally north of 80 degrees.

i'd only start to worry if you start peaking around 75C or so under load.

for reference, i have an x4 945, passive cooled. gigabyte ga-ma790x-ud4p. 3 temp probes on mobo = 45C or so, CPU = 36C. at idle.

 

[sandorski]

uh, 50c is fine.


"too hot" varies from chip to chip, but it's generally north of 80 degrees.

i'd only start to worry if you start peaking around 75C or so under load.

for reference, i have an x4 945, passive cooled. gigabyte ga-ma790x-ud4p. 3 temp probes on mobo = 45C or so, CPU = 36C. at idle.

I said "mid 50c". 😉 Also note he is talking about NorthBridge/Southbridge temps, you really don't want them getting that hot.

 

[Fayd]

I said "mid 50c". 😉 Also note he is talking about NorthBridge/Southbridge temps, you really don't want them getting that hot.

i've seen chip temps north of 80C with no problems.

while it might be indicative of cooling issues within the case, stability isnt really affected till it gets much (much) hotter than mid 50's...

 

[sandorski]

i've seen chip temps north of 80C with no problems.

while it might be indicative of cooling issues within the case, stability isnt really affected till it gets much (much) hotter than mid 50's...

80c on Motherboard chips? Damn, I'd be flipping out.

 

[deimos3428]

cpu - 32C system 40C

OP: Those are decent idle temps given your system specs. The max safe temp for your CPU, as specified by the manufacturer, is 62C.