High idle temps

E

ep3w

Gawd
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Apr 4, 2008
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694
I just got a used Q9450 today and I am having some trouble already. I am getting idle temps of about 45-50C across the cores according to real temp. This is on all stock settings, no OC. I am using an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro, which should be plenty to keep it cool at stock settings. Voltage is at 1.2v in bios, 1.152 in CPU-Z. I have already replaced cooler/thermal paste about 4 times, including once outside the case and i keep getting the same results. I followed the instructions for the arctic silver and c2q. When I load up prime95, temps go up to about 63/64C after just a minute or two. Why are my temps so high?
 
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How's the ambient temp?

Here its ~31C and my Q9550 idles at 45-39C @ 1.12v Idle w/ TRUE120 + 110cfm Scythe fan
 
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Your load temps are fine, idle temps mean nothing. On a side note, the Q9450 is a we bit big of a chip to cool for the Freezer 7 pro, so if you plan on doing anything with it I am sure you are going to need another cooler.
 
I had 55C idle and 75C load temps with my Q9550 until I replaced my stock cooler with a freezer 7 pro. After that the idle and load temps are both down around 20C. So I am seeing 35C idle and 55C full load of all 4 cores.
 
When I load up prime95, temps go up to about 63/64C after just a minute or two. Why are my temps so high?
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Do you have QFan control enabled? I do however on my Q9550 system. The idle speed for my AC7 pro is less than 900 RPM.

Other options are bad contact between the cpu and heatsink. Possibly caused by too little or too much compound.
 
Ambient temp right now is about 66F or 18C. If HWmonitor is correct, I do believe the fan on it is idling at about 820 rpm, so it is pretty low. I am pretty sure the heatsink is making fine contact since I replaced it 4 times with the same results. I am hoping the AS5 will cure a bit. Any recommendations for a relatively cheap cooler if I do have temp issues OCing it? Preferably something bolt through or may be compatible with socket 1366.

Edit: Also what kind of max temps should I be looking for? I bumped it up to 3Ghz on same voltage to see what would happen and its up to 65C load now. I was hoping for 3.6, but it looks like my temps are gonna hold me back.
 
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I bumped it up to 3Ghz on same voltage to see what would happen and its up to 65C load now.
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That looks fine to me for full load on 4 cores. Remember the max is 100C. Under 80C should be fine for an overclock (well unless you are shooting for 3.8 to 4.0GHz).
 
ep3w said:
Ambient temp right now is about 66F or 18C. If HWmonitor is correct, I do believe the fan on it is idling at about 820 rpm, so it is pretty low. I am pretty sure the heatsink is making fine contact since I replaced it 4 times with the same results. I am hoping the AS5 will cure a bit. Any recommendations for a relatively cheap cooler if I do have temp issues OCing it? Preferably something bolt through or may be compatible with socket 1366.

Edit: Also what kind of max temps should I be looking for? I bumped it up to 3Ghz on same voltage to see what would happen and its up to 65C load now. I was hoping for 3.6, but it looks like my temps are gonna hold me back.
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45C Idle and 65 load is certainly high for a 45nm quad + AC freezer 7 that too at a mere ~1.2v at 18C ambient. This is probably due to low fan rpm as you said.
As I said before my q9550 at 31C ambient idles at ~40C and OCCT Linpack load is ~68C at 1.1v. I'm using TRUE120 + Scythe 110cfm fan at full rpm.

Try disabling CPU fan control altogether and try running the fan 100% for once
 
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m0h1t said:
45C Idle and 65 load is certainly high for a 45nm quad + AC freezer 7 that too at a mere ~1.2v at 18C ambient. This is probably due to low fan rpm as you said.
As I said before my q9550 at 31C ambient idles at ~40C and OCCT load is ~68C at 1.1v. I'm using TRUE120 + Scythe 110cfm fan at full rpm.

Try disabling CPU fan control altogether and try running the fan 100% for once
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Running the fan at full speed (2800 rpm) gives me same idle temps 45/50C from realtemp, 30-35C in hwmonitor (assuming hwmonitor is incorrect). Under load its almost the same at 62/64C. Does this mean its not seated right? I have already put it on 4 different times with the same results. The small temperature change doesn't seem worth that much noise. It has warmed up a bit to probably 20C ambient now.
 
That is weird. You should have a big difference in both with the cpu fan at full speed.
 
ep3w said:
Running the fan at full speed (2800 rpm) gives me same idle temps 45/50C from realtemp, 30-35C in hwmonitor (assuming hwmonitor is incorrect). Under load its almost the same at 62/64C. Does this mean its not seated right? I have already put it on 4 different times with the same results. The small temperature change doesn't seem worth that much noise. It has warmed up a bit to probably 20C ambient now.
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Thats odd. I think TjMax in RealTemp must be set wrong.
Go in settings and see what does it say next to TjMax..

Its 100C for Q9450/Q9550, source : http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-dts-specs,news-29460.html
 
m0h1t said:
Thats odd. I think TjMax in RealTemp must be set wrong.
Go in settings and see what does it say next to TjMax..
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Real Temp has 100C for TJMax. HWmonitor is giving me 31/36C idle temps. Coretemp readings are the same as Real Temp and also gives TJMax as 100c so I am assuming these are correct.
 
Okay. May be AC Freezer isn't that good a cooler compared to a TRUE120.
Though 65C load is pretty okay. Personally I don't like to run a chip over 70C while stressing.

Try overclocking further, see how much rise is there in temps
 
Thanks for the help! I will try OCing it a bit more later and see what happens with the temps, hopefully they don't go up too much. Looking at my case, I am not sure I can fit something bigger. I was looking at the Xigmatek Dark Knight and Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (only like 25 dollars) and I would be a VERY tight fit. According to manufacture spec, it would be about 1.25" taller than the freezer 7 and it looks like i have about an 1" clearance from the nubs on top of the fins.
 
A lot of the 45nm Core 2 Quads have sensors that start to stick at any temperature below 50C and aren't very accurate. As long as your CPU is stable, overclock away. Core temperatures aren't very accurate at idle so don't worry about them. When you get bored you can do a RealTemp CPU Cool Down Test and you might be able to see if some of your sensors stop moving and get stuck as the CPU cools down.
 
unclewebb said:
A lot of the 45nm Core 2 Quads have sensors that start to stick at any temperature below 50C and aren't very accurate. As long as your CPU is stable, overclock away. Core temperatures aren't very accurate at idle so don't worry about them. When you get bored you can do a RealTemp CPU Cool Down Test and you might be able to see if some of your sensors stop moving and get stuck as the CPU cools down.
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I don't think it is stuck sensors since the temperature fluctuates a few degrees at idle and shows minimums lower than the typical idle by a few degrees. I do however think them being inaccurate might have something to do with it.

I turned up the voltage to 1.3 at 3.2Ghz just to check out temps and they only went up a few degrees. I may try pushing higher and see where I can end up with this cooler.
 
Intel said:
"The digital thermal sensor (DTS) accuracy is in the order of -5°C +10°C around 90°C ; it deteriorates to ±10°C at 50°C. The DTS temperature reading saturates at some temperature below 50°C.
Any DTS reading below 50°C should be considered to indicate only a temperature below 50°C and not a specific temperature. External thermal sensor with “BJT” model is required to read thermal diode temperature."
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Source: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-dts-specs,news-29460.html
 
m0h1t said:
Source: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-dts-specs,news-29460.html
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Thanks for the info, I had just looked over the tables before. Looks like I will just concentrate on load temps now. I have it at 3.0Ghz on stock volts. Its 8 hrs prime (small ffts) stable with max temp 67. But it fails IBT on the 4th pass with max temp 70C. If its prime stable but not IBT, do i need more volts to the northbridge? I am running all 4 dimms full.
 
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