Temps for an i7?

[urgatorbait]

Hi all,

I can’t seem to find any answer to my question after Googling. I just got an i7/X58/6GB DDR3 upgrade for my PC and am installing it tonight. I’m trying to get an understanding of what the CPU temp should be at idle and also under load. I’m the paranoid type and also not the most seasoned techie out there so I want to keep a close eye on CPU temp when I first fire it up and start using it. At what temp should I get alarmed and shut down immediately? I want to know how to determine if I’ve got trouble brewing. I do have a Thermaltake V1 AX going on it and using AS5. I have a roomy case with 6 - 120mm fans (although 2 are down low cooling each hard disk bay). Cables al meticulously routed out of the way to allow for unobstructed air flow. I’m sure I will be fine but I’d just like the comfort of knowing that the temps I am seeing are in-line with what they should be. Thanks in advance. I’m just dying to see how sweet my system runs since I’m upgrading to it from a lowly AMD Athlon 4000+ (single core) processor.

 

[abb1]

Well, you are going to see a huge difference over your Athlon. The only thing that you forgot to mention was what OS you are using as any 32-bit OS cannot see past 4 GB of memory and the 6gb will be a waste of money. To utilize the 6GB triple channel memory you will need 64-bit Vista. As far as your temps go, they should be similiar with the temps of a core-2 quad as they both use the 45nm technology. With a good cooler, your temps at stock should be around 32-37 degrees at idle and about 45 degrees at load. If your temps hit over 50 at idle, then I would look at your heat sink installation and make sure that the AS is not over loaded on and that the installation is good. If your machine has constant restarts, then take a look at the temperatures as that is a sure sign that they are hovering over 60 degrees. Good luck and let us know how things work out.

 

[o1die]

If you are using a 32 bit operating system, then I would only get 2 1 gig sticks of ddr3 now, and wait for prices to drop. Many x58 boards will work fine with just 2 sticks of ddr3.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Danger temps are 75 deg and above - below that you are not going to damage your CPU - but it may start to affect stability in over clocking before that...

 

[warezme]

I put together my x58 this past weekend with 6GB Corsair kit 8-8-8-21, I use a large dual 120mm fan Monsoon III LT cooler on my 920. (fans set to 100%) At stock speeds temps are about 35-40. I don't run stock speeds. At 4Ghz in the bios and 4.2Ghz in Vista U/64, all four cores register different temps from 42C all the way to 48C. Under load they rise to about 55C to 65C on full load. This is higher than my old Q6600 at 3.5Ghz

However, from what I have gleened from other forums, the i7 core chips tend to run hotter but can handle more heat as there doesn't appear to be an issue even with some I have read getting near 90C. I personally would not want it to get that hot but there is obviously a great deal more heat headroom, very similar to modern graphics card chips than before.

 

[WR]

P6T deluxe X58, i7 965 stock cooler/stock frequency (3.34 GHz, even at full load), open-air bench

Prime 95 8 threads, ambient temperature 32 C: 69-72 C under CoreTemp
Prime 95 8 threads, ambient temperature 22 C: 64-66 C under CoreTemp

The stock cooler pushes a lot of air over the board, something you'll miss if using a tower cooler or water/phase, so I'd strongly recommend an extra fan blowing over MOSFETs / DRAM if you are overclocking. Some boards like the Asus come with a dedicated MOSFET fan.

 

[urgatorbait]

Thanks for the good info.

Yes, I already bought a copy of Vista 64 Home Premium so I should be good in that regard.

So to recap, I should roughly be between 30-40 idle (stock clock speed) and 40-50 under load (stock). And while running hotter than that may indicate a problem with inadequate case cooling or the heatsink not being seated properly, as long as the CPU temp does not go over 75 I should not have to worry about the CPU being permanently damaged or it’s lifespan reduced. Correct?

With the way my mobo is positioned in my case (Silverstone TJ-07 full tower) there is a 120mm fan located on the back of the case right adjacent to the MOSFET (honestly don’t even know what this is) that is drawing air across the MOSFET and out of the case. But there is no dedicated fan blowing ON the MOSFET.

Also, I am planning on going SLOWLY into my first foray with overclocking soon after getting everything up and running and once any issues have been resolved. I’ll probably start with the Turbo Mode the EVGA board has which does an automatic mild OC to around 2.8ghz as I recall. I think eventually I would like to get it up to around 3.4ghz and keep it there. My main concerns are not reducing the life of the CPU or worse, burning it up. I know everything will run hotter when I OC and that will directly increase with the amount I OC but I just want to make sure I don’t do anything stupid or cause permanent damage to any components. I did read a good OC guide for the i7 and the X58 in the EVGA forums and it made it sound pretty easy/stable to do. Wish me luck!

 

[WR]

The CPU has several mechanisms to prevent itself from burning up, so that's the least of your worries.

If you keep the overclocking light - 3.4 GHz and under - the case fan is probably adequate to cool the power circuitry. If you push for the limits, then you should have a fan blowing directly on the fins between the tower cooler and the exhaust fan.

The reason my load temps approach 70 and theirs are 45-50 is that (1) the stock heatsink is really weak and (2) their stock speed is lower. My HSF is small and conduction-only; theirs is large and based on heat pipes.

 

[pjumpleby]

I think the CPU will underclock its self when it goes above its thermal envelope, until its "safe again"

 

[randomizer]

The stock Intel heatsink for Core i7 is inadequate for enthusiasts, but it is adequate for keeping the CPU cool under normal conditions. Intel are out to save money on the heatsink, not hand you an overclockers dream.

 

[WR]

The only reason they include a heatsink with the XE model must be in case we don't have a compatible HSF yet, especially since 1366 is so new.

Their cooler not only lacks heat pipes, but half the fins are aluminum instead of copper.

 

[sudec]

I'm using my i7 920 with the stock cooler and getting about 63-68 C at idle. Under load I get temperatures about 80-87 C, so I'm really thinking of getting rid of the stock cooler, but first need to find a decent cooler.

 

[urgatorbait]

I got my new system up and running last night and got Vista installed. I didn’t really have time before I had to get some sleep to update drivers for various things or patch Vista or do much of anything besides format drives and set up partitions.

Well once I was in Vista and just checking it all out I checked the LED temperature gauge on my EVGA X58 mobo. I believe once it is done going through its boot cycle the LED shows you your CPU temp. I realize I did have both sides of the case off but just messing around with Vista it was reading between 21 and 25 degrees. This is far below what I’m hearing some of you are getting for idle temps at stock speed.

From past experience I haven’t really noticed THAT much of a difference in CPU temps between when a case is closed up and when it is opened. Am I wrong? I’ll be curious to check it all out again tonight after I close up the case. And also what temps I see when I crank up some games. Don’t have anything installed yet other than Vista. Will report my findings soon.