i5-3570k Temperature concerns

Kelthar

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Mar 27, 2013
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I have recently purchased an i5-3570k from Amazon, and installed an Antec Kuhler H2O 620 with Silver Artic 5 Thermal Paste. The fan that comes with this cooler is not PWM, so it was running at full speed throughout the test.

Ambient temperature was about 28ºC during test time, and the CPU idle temperature was around 35ºC, with Core 0 reaching 40ºC while the rest remained at 30-35ºC.

During load test with IBT, temperatures spiked up to 63ºC maximum after 5 minutes (due to bad memory which will be replaced soon, test wouldn't last very long), and stayed at around 58ºC using Prime95 for over 30 minutes. I also noticed that despite Core 0 having higher idle temps, 0 and 3 have the lowest load temperatures by about 3ºC.

All of these are on stock settings. Are these temperatures too high? I'm considering overclocking, but I'm wondering if these temperatures are caused by improperly placed thermal paste? Or are these temperatures to be expected?

PS: After applying the thermal paste I noticed that for my CPU Artic Silver recommends using a vertical line application instead of the middle dot application I used (http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#), should I replace the thermal paste then?
 
Solution
I'd also say that's pretty good for such a high ambient to start with. I like to stay under 70C at full load but that's personal preference.

stedaley

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Jul 5, 2013
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I have the exact same temps with my 3770k running prime 95 for a good few hours,
20-25 idle
18 ambient
65-70 full load
max 72-74

you really shouldn't worry until your temps go above 85 which they should never do anyway,

 

CompuTronix

Intel Master
Moderator
Intel's Thermal Specification - http://ark.intel.com/products/65520/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz - for your i7 3570K is 67C, however, the technical definition of their specification is very complicated, so I'll break it down for you.

There are 5 thermal sensors in a 4 core processor; a single Analog sensor (CPU temperature) and 4 individual Digital sensors (Core temperatures).

The temperature shown in Intel's specification, (Tcase), is measured under tightly controlled laboratory conditions at 22C Standard Ambient (intake temperature). For lab testing only, a groove is cut into the surface of the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) where a thermocouple is embedded at the center. The stock cooler is attached, and a steady-state 100% workload is applied, (such as Prime95 Small FFT's). Thermal saturation is reached within 10 minutes.

Since there is no thermocouple on any processors outside Intel's labs, a single Analog Thermal Diode is instead used to "emulate" a thermocouple. This single analog sensor is located in the center of the lower layers of the processor package and is called "CPU" temperature, which is the equivalent of "Tcase".

The analog value is converted to digital (A to D) by the Super I/O (Input / Output) chip on the motherboard, then is calibrated to look-up tables coded into BIOS. This is the temperature you see in BIOS and in monitoring utilities such as Asus Probe, which are provided by motherboard manufacturers.

"Core" temperature, also called "Tjunction", is measured at the heat source by an individual Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) for each Core, which are factory calibrated. Since the CPU sensor is not in relatively close proximity to the heat source, there is ~5C thermal gradient or "offset" between "Core" temperature and "CPU" temperature during Prime95 Small FFT's.

This means that Intel's "CPU" temperature (Tcase specification) runs ~5C less than "Core" temperatures. More correctly, since there is always some temperature sensor discrepancies between Cores, "average" Core temperature is most important. So if Prime95 Small FFT's is run for 10 minutes at 22C Ambient, then the average Core temperature is ~72C.

Standard Ambient = 22C
Tcase (CPU Temp) = 67C
CPU / Core Offset + 5C
Tjunction (Core Temp) = 72C
Tj Max (Shutdown Temp) = 105C

Tj Max is Intel's Thermal Specification which defines the "Core" temperature at which the processor will shutdown. Excessive heat kills electronics. Most folks in the overclocking community will agree that any sustained temperatures greater than 75'ish are just too hot for a 12 hour stability test or for processor longevity.

Bottom line? Your Core temperatures are well within Intel's specs. You're OK up to 75'ish, but remember that when running Prime95 Small FFT's, if you're testing below or above 22C Standard Ambient, then you need to add or subtract the difference so that your test results are corrected to Intel's standards. This way you eliminate variables, and your results will always be consistent and repeatable.

Here are some additional points to keep in mind.

(1) Temperature Discrepancies between Cores:
Prior to and including Core i 2nd Generation, Intel used fluxless solder to create an ideal thermal bond between the Die (top of the Cores) and the underside of the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader). With Core i 3rd and 4th Generation, Intel switched to a cheap thermal compound, which often results in unexplicably high temperatures on one Core only, and / or extreme deviations between Cores. The following YouTube video shows the "de-lidding mod" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXs0I5kuoX4 - which illustrates Intel's poor thermal compound, and the significant differences in temperatures before and after.

(2) Thermal Testing:
Prime95 Small FFT's is the standard for processor thermal testing, because it's a steady-state 100% workload. This is the test that Real Temp uses to test sensor movement. Prime95's default test, Blend, is a cyclic workload for testing memory stability, and is not suitable for thermal testing. Other tests such as IBT (Intel Burn Test) have segments which flood all registers with all one's, which is the equivalent of a 110% workload. While suitable for stability testing, IBT is uncharacteristic of real-world maximum loads. You can see for yourself by using the "Graphs" in SpeedFan to illustrate and compare how these tests create different thermal behaviors. On air cooling, thermal saturation is typically reached within 10 minutes, however on liquid cooling, saturation may require up to 30 minutes.

Hope this answers any questions you may have about processor temperatures.

Comp :sol:
 

Kelthar

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Mar 27, 2013
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I might attempt to reapply the thermal paste once I OC if the temperatures get too high. But right now, with outdoor temperatures reaching 42ºC for today, I think I'll stay away from OC. At least until the temperatures drop, so maybe in the winter. I'll probably be able to run much more reliable temperature tests then.

@CompuTronix, that's a very detailed description, thanks. I knew that IBT provided unrealistic situations, but that's exactly why I like it: if my computer can handle IBT and stay at normal temperatures, then it can handle "anything" I throw at it without any concern.

Thanks,
Kelthar