Core 2 Duo Optimal Temp - Please help

[Aquaplane]

Hi, Dr Noob here

Need some help please.

Just built my new rig this weekend, sweet specs:

C2D E6400
2 x Transcend 1024MB DDR2800
Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 mobo
Gecube X1900XT
320GB SATA2 HDD
Gigabyte 3D Aurora chassis
Logitech G5 laser mouse and Z2300 speakers

Everything went without a hitch but, when I monitor temp and fan speeds I am getting temps of 37 - 41 celsius for the CPU and 57 - 62 for the system. The mobo has the fanless heat pipe cooling design and I am using the stock Intel cooler. The CPU temp is normal but the system temp seems a bit high ? Is it ? I can only find the max temp on the Intel site which is 97 celsius but that doesn't mean it's an optimal temp to run the chipset at. Any advice.

Logic tells me that the fanless design is a misnomer since it has to depend on the CPU fan to blow air on to it and the case fans to cycle air to allow it to disperse the heat from the chipset. The mobo has a feature that controls fan speed according to temp for quietest operation and this was enabled so I tried disabling it so that the fan would spin at full speed but it still didn't bring the system temp down.

I don't plan to overclock now but the CPU, mobo and RAM have received good reviews for overclocking using their stock cooling (sorry, didn't keep the links), so I wanted to do it later.

Any thoughts, advice. Should I worry, shouldn't I.

Or should I just:

Die noob die !!!!

 

[Aquaplane]

No 'die nube die', everyone has questions at some point.

Your temperatures are ok, there is no such thing as an 'optimal' temperature to the degree digit. However, lower is always 'better'.

The CPU will throttle if temperatures are too high and at 39-40 deg C, the CPU is fine. The system temperature is a little high though as you point out, but my system board temp varies from 50 to 55 deg C at times, so not horrendous.

What case are you using and ambient/environment temperatures also have an affect, what is your room temperature?

Eternal thanks for letting the noob live

Now that you mention it, it's summer in South Africa and the temps were about 33-34 celsius this weekend so that would also have an effect.

I'm using a Gigabyte 3D Aurora which has the 120mm fans for quieter operation with one intake at the front and 2 exhaust at the back. What does concern me is the difference in temp between CPU and chipset, if they were in the same ballpark I wouldn't be hassled. I've never overclocked before but I know I'm gonna start itching once the rig is broken in and if the temp's are a bit high now then it will be even worse once OC'ed.

 

[Doughbuy]

CPU's and chipsets are rarely ever the same temps, since CPU's do have a large active cooler and as you said, your chipset has a passive cooler, although a really nice one. Good pick on parts though, high quality all around.

33-34 ambient is really high, that would definitly effect your internals. Even with 33-34 ambient and your cpu/chipset is only what you stated, then you should be more than fine. Although... do you guys not have A/C over there? I'd be melting into a puddle by now. 8O

If your really worried about your chipset, you might get a small 40mm fan or so to actively cool your northbridge, which should drop temps a bit. The stock Intel cooler is already pretty nice in that it cools your Voltage regulators and if your not OC'ing should be more than fine. Your case is also nice, no problems there.

If you really want to OC though, I would recommend aftermarket heatsink, the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 pro is a nice choice. Wusy's guide also has the tops in everything, don't know if you can get them or not. Chipset wise, I don't know if you can use an aftermarket northbridge cooler since the DQ6's passive cooling is pretty complicated, but you probably don't need it. Just don't let your northbridge go past 70.

 

[Aquaplane]

We're from Africa, we're s'posed to be tough .

For some strange reason AC in people's homes is the exception, not the rule. Crazy, but true because they're easily available and not too expensive.

The Gigabyte chassis has built in support for liquid cooling maybe I should just go big or go home

Thanks for info on ceiling for northbridge temp it gives me a setting for my hardware monitor and as long as I stay below 65 I ain't losing any sleep. Also nice to know that there is normally a diff between CPU and c/set because that was my big concern.

And I have to say, maaaaaan what a nice rig. I am an AMD and Nvidia fan and have normally bought the baby GeForce cards but have been lurking with intent in these forums for a while now and did me homework.

It's so sweet to play games at high settings and still get smooth gameplay.

Peace, love etc