Safe upper temps for i7 950 ?

A

Appa

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Just ramped my i7 950 up to 4.0 and was curious what the safe upper temp limit is for this processor?

I'm using an H70 cooler, vCore is 1.3 with 20 X 200 settings.

Under load it's showing cores from 78*C to 80*C

Is this safe for 24/7 operation? The system just sits as a gaming rig.
 
Those temps are fine, if not a bit high for the cooler you're using but that could be from ambient temps. The CPU is designed to throttle at around 100c.
 
Oh wow nice. Yeah my last system was using a triple rad watercooled setup and rarely got above 55*C so I was not sure what was safe for this current setup. Thanks for the info!
 
I can hit up to 75-78C with mine at 4.2GHz with a vcore and QPI of 1.35v each using Intel Burn Test. Though 67-70C seems to be the norm mostly.

Real world, 55-60C is about the highest I've ever seen while gaming. It's usually hovering around 50C for the most part.
 
The 100C limit is to avoid rapid degradation of the CPU, higher voltages/temperatures will accelerate electro-migration and cause the chip to die of 'old age' sooner. Even if your system is stable now you don't want to be right at the red line unless you're trying to set a record.
 
I try to keep my stuff under 80C, since I'd be pushing my cooling setup rather hard at that point.
 
how soon? any hard numbers to back that up? if it reduces total life span from 10 years to 9 years, does it even matter?

been folding with my 920 since Sep. '09 just fine, my 4.2GHz OC holds to this day, and as soon as I switch to true water cooling will be attempting an even higher OC.

Vcore is the heavier culprit, and 1.3(OP) is nothing of an increase. (I've gone to 1.4 and back :p )
 
jeremyshaw said:
I try to keep my stuff under 80C, since I'd be pushing my cooling setup rather hard at that point.
Click to expand...



That is what I try to do as well.

What is your vtt voltage at? Seems a little hot.

Adding high cfm fans for push/pull on H70 should lower temps.
 
With IntelBurnTest I hit, I think, 82C at 20C room temperature with my H70. When I'm playing games it rarely goes over 63C on the hottest core and that's usually just what RealTemp shows as the max; if I could get an average I figure it would run in the 50's while gaming and this is playing Team Fortress 2 which likes to run data through wherever it can.

I've got my H70 blowing into the case. I also make sure to vacuum out dust from the radiator every other week.
 
Yup, here to join the "Keep it under 80ºC" party.

It does seem quite hot for you CPU though, my 920 hits low 70s with a GTZ waterblock and custom liquid cooling setup.
 
Appa said:
Wow your ambient must be low then? What cooler you using?
Click to expand...

Ambient is 20C (at time of tests) using an H50 in push/pull with 1850RPM Sythe GT's.

P.S.

I decided to run IBT again just now with the room thermometer pegged squarely at 15C. It's pretty much 69C with fluctuations +/-1C either way. It did bounce to 71C at times but I'd guess an average of 70C would be a fare guess.
 
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