Has Max Temp Changed ?

[Simmonz]

When I first started building computers back in 2003 it was a general opinion among most people that 60 degrees celcius was as hot as you should let your processor get. Basically if you saw it was hitting 60 then you should be looking for better cooling or a fresh coat of thermal paste. My question is: Has this changed ? I see some newer processors for laptops hitting 50-60 at idle and hitting 70+ degrees at load and it goes against my experience. The reason for my question is this:

I upgraded from a stock cooler to an H80 today. My stock cooler was hitting 55 degrees celcius at idle partly due to dust but also because my room is warming up with spring coming. The H80 idles at 39-40 and only reached 53 under 100% load under Prime 95. That is a big improvement but I guess I was expecting better. Is it possible the CPU isn't getting proper contact ? Or is it that these temperatures are normal for newer processors and I shouldn't worry until my CPU hits 70+ degrees ?

 

[thesecond]

Yes. Max temp depends entirely on the construction of the chip. If you surf different chip generations on wikipedia, you can find how its increased. For example, amd specifies that the tmax for athlons and phenoms is 60 degrees, and due to their lack of thermal protection, they will indeed burn up at those temps. Pentium 4's had a tmax ranging from 60 to 70 as far as I know. Nehalem, westemere and sandy all have tmax of 100, and thermal protection kicks in at 90, reducing clocks and voltage to prevent it from dying. Bulldozer, afaik, has a tmax of 80 degrees. So yes, max temps have been going up, it all depends on the chip. Intel i-series are regarded to be in safe temperatures up to 80c.
My i7 idles around 45 and loads at 72 with f@h with my h80 set to medium speed. Your temps are pretty good for stock clocks, and would be amazing for overclocks. Consider 80 degrees to be your ceiling if you have intel, and 60 degrees for bulldozer. That will give you 20 deg of breathing room.

 

[Simmonz]

Yes. Max temp depends entirely on the construction of the chip. If you surf different chip generations on wikipedia, you can find how its increased. For example, amd specifies that the tmax for athlons and phenoms is 60 degrees, and due to their lack of thermal protection, they will indeed burn up at those temps. Pentium 4's had a tmax ranging from 60 to 70 as far as I know. Nehalem, westemere and sandy all have tmax of 100, and thermal protection kicks in at 90, reducing clocks and voltage to prevent it from dying. Bulldozer, afaik, has a tmax of 80 degrees. So yes, max temps have been going up, it all depends on the chip. Intel i-series are regarded to be in safe temperatures up to 80c.
My i7 idles around 45 and loads at 72 with f@h with my h80 set to medium speed. Your temps are pretty good for stock clocks, and would be amazing for overclocks. Consider 80 degrees to be your ceiling if you have intel, and 60 degrees for bulldozer. That will give you 20 deg of breathing room.

Thanks for the response. If 60 is still my max then I doubt I will overclock for now. I will be upgrading my case soon (knock on wood) to the Corsair 600T from my Antec 900. The 900 doesn't have a lot of breathing room right now as it is.

 

[Forceman]

I'd say the generally accepted range is in the 70s, for most modern CPUs.

 

[Simmonz]

I'd say the generally accepted range is in the 70s, for most modern CPUs.

I have been hearing 62 for the 965 I use so I think I will play it safe for now. I may try a minor overclock but if the heat goes from 53 at load to anywhere 60 or above then I will lower it.

 

[Simmonz]

Well I will say I am impressed with the H80 so far. At an overclocked speed of 4.2 GHz (800 MHz increase) the temperatures hold at 60 for the load temp. A 7 degree increase for an extra 800 Mhz is very good I think.