CPU core temp at 57

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Dec 29, 2010
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First time poster here, but I'm not a complete newb. Been lurking for a while.

I could use a little help with possibly a motherboard (CPU) issue. My specs are at the end of this posting. I've got a rig that I built for myself 2 1/2 years ago and the CPU temps are somewhat high. Using Real Temp, I'm getting readings on the 1st core around 56-7 at idle. The rest of the cores are a tad lower (54 - ish). When I first built the rig, I looked in the BIOS to see what the temps were and it was around 56 like I said. I ran it for about a little while to see how it was... things seemed OK. But still.... I was not comfortable with the temperature reading.

I removed the heatsink & re-applied the thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5 compound) and expecting things to improve, I booted up to Windows - and no.... still the same temps.

#1 Since day 1 or ever since I noticed this problem, I have considered the possibility that the temperature sensors on the MB are "defective" or maybe not quite right. Cuz I don't know how a Q6700 can be almost 60 sitting at idle - especially given the fact that I have the aftermarket heatsink installed. Anyone with me on this one?

#2 So since the temperatures have been pretty much the same since the day I built it, I guess that things are "ok". But I'm concerned that this will shorten the life span of this CPU. This is probably as good as anyone's guess. (I am a gamer - but only once in a while).

#3 I've also been thinking of overclocking both the CPU & RAM - something I am not used to doing. I've got all this expensive gear that I'm sitting on (was expensive back 2 years ago when I bought it). And it just kills me that I don't know anything about "tweaking" it or overclocking it. I guess I'm more in favor of long term system stability rather than trying to suck every drop out of this and shortening the life span. But considering that temperatures are this high already (@ idle), I'm wondering just how much "OC'ing" I can do w/ this rig.

Q6700
Arctic Cooler Freezer Pro 7
eVGA 680i SLI motherboard
OCZ Reaper HTP 2 x 2GB PC 8500
eVGA 8800 GT factory overclocked
Antec 650 watt PSU
Antec 900.
 
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Update:

After posting, I decided to re-apply the thermal paste. I downloaded the instructions from Arctic Silver's website on how to break in the heatsink. Followed the directions to the letter - still the temps at idle have improved only by 5 degrees.

At this point, I'm giving up on this. I think the temperature sensors on the MB are defective.
 
I think the temp sensors are integrated on the CPU die, so the MB is probably not at fault. Maybe your HSF's heat pipes are shot? Check to see if the heat pipes/cooling fins are getting warm under load - if not, they are not doing their job properly.
 
OK can you recommend something for me - a utility or software that will put the CPU under load? Otherwise, I'll have to install a video game and run it for an hour.
 
intel burn test, prime95, OCCT, linx(same thing as intel burn test).

realtemp is reading off the diode sensor within the cpu and your bios is reading the socket sensor. so realtemps more accurate the bios reading is useless.

honestly the heatsink your using isnt all that great unless you have the AC freezer pro 7 v2.
 
I think the temp sensors are integrated on the CPU die, so the MB is probably not at fault. Maybe your HSF's heat pipes are shot? Check to see if the heat pipes/cooling fins are getting warm under load - if not, they are not doing their job properly.

Your comment about the heat pipes made me think about what I saw. Yesterday when I reapplied the thermal paste, I noticed that there was a slight bulging. Rather than try & describe it, I made a little drawing. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.... The red area represents the slight bulge that I saw.

heatsinkdrawing.png


I'm going to have to bite the bullet here and replace the HSF.

I like the Zalman 9700, but they also have the Tuniq Tower for $40 after rebate. Which one should I get? Are they both pretty much equal in quality?
 
Can you check the cpu temp in bios? Sometimes the temperatures reported under the windows environment are inaccurate.
 
Can you check the cpu temp in bios? Sometimes the temperatures reported under the windows environment are inaccurate.

Well the temp readings in the BIOS are very similar to what I am getting with Real Temps.

Thus far I have gotten conflicting replies in this thread saying BIOS temp readings are not reliable and another answer saying Windows temp readings are unreliable.... so which is it?

Really guys - at this point I don't care. I'm going to replace the HSF with one of the two models that I mentioned in my previous reply. Which one do you guys recommend? And please don't say choice A over B just because it looks "prettier"... something based on real life experience would be nice.
 
Well the temp readings in the BIOS are very similar to what I am getting with Real Temps.

Thus far I have gotten conflicting replies in this thread saying BIOS temp readings are not reliable and another answer saying Windows temp readings are unreliable.... so which is it?

Really guys - at this point I don't care. I'm going to replace the HSF with one of the two models that I mentioned in my previous reply. Which one do you guys recommend? And please don't say choice A over B just because it looks "prettier"... something based on real life experience would be nice.
Real Temp is as accurate as it gets. BIOS readings are not accurate. That's it.

Have you tried loading your CPU yet? You didn't post any load temperatures. Those are really the only ones you need to be concerned about. If they exceed 80C then that would be abnormal, but below that is perfectly fine. Even temperatures above 80C would not actually be harmful, but they would be higher than expected.
 
Your comment about the heat pipes made me think about what I saw. Yesterday when I reapplied the thermal paste, I noticed that there was a slight bulging. Rather than try & describe it, I made a little drawing. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.... The red area represents the slight bulge that I saw.

heatsinkdrawing.png


I'm going to have to bite the bullet here and replace the HSF.

I like the Zalman 9700, but they also have the Tuniq Tower for $40 after rebate. Which one should I get? Are they both pretty much equal in quality?

Here is a review chart from Frostytech that has performance for both parts listed:

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2198&page=5

Performance with both is (according to the review) pretty darn close.
 
I have the Tuniq 120 on my 680i and q6600 in a 900. It was great! Low 40C idle when it was installed.

Its easy to install and has an exteranal controller in a pci slot..

I droped 5C by wire/airflow management btw.
 
Yes, wire management is something a lot of people miss and it can greatly affect the temp. AND, it's free :)
 
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