Is my temperature too high during idle periods?

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Amenra

Amenra

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Apr 6, 2016
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I have two Xeon E5-2667 v3 that idle at 40C, no programs running in the background, Linux fresh install, with the ambient room temp at 20C. My GPU: Nvidia Quadro K2200 is running at 25C right bellow the CPU.

* 3 Front Panel Fan, 1 bottom fan next to the PSU, 1 rear exhaust fan, 1 top rear exhaust fan, 1 side panel fan, 4 CPU fans (2 per heat sink). All Noctua fans.
*No overclocking or mods
* The case is really chilly on the outside and inside except the heat sink is a bit warm reporting 40C but the GPU is reporting 25C.
*Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme Thermal Compound TC-GC-03-A, applied an X shape on CPU

Specs
Asus Z10PE-D16 WS (WorkStation)
2 x Xeon E5-2667 v3 (2 x Noctua i4 CPU Cooler w/ 2 x 120mm Notcua fan per heatsink)
8 x 32GB 2133Mhz ECC ram
1 Nvidia Quadro K2200
1200 EVGA power supply
Fractal Design Define R2 XL case

Is this temp 40C low, normal, a bit high, or high for a CPU during idle doing absolutely nothing. Keep in mind the the GPU is running at 25C while doing nothing also.


 
Solution
thor220
That's temps are low for xeon processors. They idle a bit hotter than consumer processors and the numbers you are seeing are on the cooler end. Many xeons will idle at 50c.
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SethJPC

SethJPC

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Sep 14, 2013
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I would say that 40 is maybe a little bit high considering the room temperature. That being said, these CPUs are extremely powerful and so are always going to run a little hotter than a normal CPU even when under little or no load. As long as they don't reach too high temperatures during load then I don't think you need to worry about it :)
 
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Amenra

Amenra

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Apr 6, 2016
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I was thinking the same but I was afraid on taking the computer off testing and start using it as our daily driver because i figure where those temps at right now it can be worst under load.

 
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thor220

thor220

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Dec 15, 2009
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No, those idles are fine. A bit of advise though, you shouldn't be worried about idle temps unless they are 70c plus. Plenty of system will slow the cooling systems down in order to save energy when the computer isn't working. Liquid cooling is guilty of this as the pump and fan will slow down causing what appears to be poor cooling with the high idle temps.

Getting the temperature while the system at full load for a solid chunk of time is much more important. I'd say you should go ahead and run a stress test of the CPU.
 
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Amenra

Amenra

Commendable
Apr 6, 2016
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1,510


Thanks, for your advice. I'll run prime95 and report back.
 
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Amenra

Amenra

Commendable
Apr 6, 2016
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I have speed control on 3 fans. 1 per CPU X 2, and 1 for the front air intake.

These are the result running Prime95

Fan on high
64C
69C

Fan on low
67C
74C

I notice 1 CPU is always 6 degree higher then the other. I have both heatsink and fan airflow facing the rear exhaust. So CPU 1 maybe making CPU 2 hotter. I think if I mount the heatsink facing upward and direct the airflow upward I can get better temps for CPU 2.

Anyway, do these temps still look normal under load?
 
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thor220

thor220

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Dec 15, 2009
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You shouldn't run Prime95 on newer Intel CPUs. It is known to unnecessarily heat up specific CPU components that can cause issues. Use something like OCCT from now on. Even still, those temps you are getting are very good. Don't worry about the difference in temp between the cores, this is common.

I'd say you have nothing to worry about.
 
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Amenra

Amenra

Commendable
Apr 6, 2016
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1,510
Since there's not a lot of Xeons E5-2600s V3 temperature being reported I can only speculate what the normal idle temperature should be like. Base on the few reports of older Xeons it seems that my temps are pretty low. So I would have to say that Thor and SethJPC are correct.

However, as StethJPC stated "I would say that 40 is maybe a little bit high considering the room temperature" I think it should be lower as well base on the room temps. Considering the i7-4960X which normally idles at 30C on air cooling and has a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 130W and the Xeon E5-2667 v3 TDP at 135W thats only 5 TDP higher than the i7-4960X with 2 extra cores. I would assume the my Xeon E5-2667 v3 should be running at 35C while idle. Since it running at 40C then it is still close to the speculated idle temp of 35C. I will rearrange my Noctua Heatsink to move the hot air flow up to exhaust from the top case which supports 2 140mm fan 1 exhaust per cpu rather then 1 exhaust for 2 CPU. I think this change would bring the temps down to 35C or in the high thirties like 37C. One of the CPU low reported temps is 38C but it rarely hit those temp consistently but I think it's possible. I'll make the changes tomorrow and report back on the weekend.

Another note I took the 30C idle temp of the i7-4960X and divided it by the 6 cores resulting in 5C per core (which is impossible to get cores temps at 5C per core). Using the unproven formula I then take the 5C x 8 cores of my Xeon and get the 40C which matched my idle temps. The extra 5 TDP needed for the 2 extra core this Xeon (TDP 135W)has over the i7-4960X (TDP 130W). I still think I can and should get lower temperatures if I give each CPU their own exhaust because CPU 1 was blowing its hot air flow to CPU 2 and CPU 2 was then blow it out the exhaust in the rear back. This is only my theory, I am not a CPU expert just yet.
 
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thor220

thor220

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Dec 15, 2009
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You forget that Xeons don't reduce the frequency as much. The reason the temps stay higher is because of this. You aren't going to have lower frequencies and sleep states on a processor that's designed to be on a server running 24/7. What StethJPC said was his opinion using consumer CPUs as a base. I have experience with Xeons and can say what I did without a doubt.
 
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Amenra

Amenra

Commendable
Apr 6, 2016
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This will be running 24/7 and only idle for a few hours 3 times a week. I think you provided the best answer to my question. I just want to see if I can get it to at least on a constant 36C-39C rather than 40-43. If not, I'm still happy to know that 40C is considered a good temp for this Xeon like you stated they normally run at 50C.
 
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thor220

thor220

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Dec 15, 2009
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I'm not sure you want to change your cooling setup but if you want to get lower temps why not invest in better cooling? Something like a corsair H105 with coollaboratory liquid metal. liquid metal is far better than regular thermal pastes and those slim noctua coolers are smaller, not really made for xeons.
 
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Amenra

Amenra

Commendable
Apr 6, 2016
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1,510


Liquid cooling is too risky and I can't afford the downtime it may cause in the event of a liquid cooling system failure. It can also damage other parts. This is not a gaming PC but a server that need to be accessed frequently. I'll leave the liquid cooling for gamers to game the targeted consumer for that product. The coollaboratory liquid metal is another risk to the motherboard, cpu, heatsink and can not be maintenance in the event of an upgrade. Goal is to minimize risk not add it. Minimal risk and low maintenance. Noctua heatsinks are targeted toward business (no aesthetics in mind) and perform very well. We're using the industrial noctua fans. It does't hurt to try to decrease the temp in the safest and logical way as possible. It's a minor change not big.
 
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thor220

thor220

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Liquid metal is conductive just the same as many other thermal pastes. If you are worried about potential issues just put a bit of plastic over the motherboard and cut out a hole for the CPU when applying it. Paste the application process it poses no threat to anything in the system. It is removable and comes with everything needed to do so as well.

On the liquid cooling, it easily possible to purchase or make your own leak guard. It's not like this hasn't been done before in the enterprise environment and I don't see any reason to forego an advantage. Liquid coolers are easier to mount and don't put stress on the motherboard.
 
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