I7-930 Realtemp weirdness

[bassman885]

Hey all--

A couple of weeks I put together my first build--a nice mid-level rig built around an i7-930 and an Asus P6X58D-E mobo. Since it was my first build and I've never attempted to OC before, I opted to go with the stock CPU cooler, with the intention of swapping it out for an aftermarket cooler when I found myself with the time to get one in there and start dabbling with overclocking.

I've started to get that itch lately, so this afternoon I downloaded Realtemp to see where my temps stood. I was shocked to discover that my idle temps were in the low-to-mid SIXTIES! I downloaded Prime95, and when I ran a stress test, the Realtemp measurements instantly SHOT right up to and including the magic number 100C under full load.

I'm not convinced it's accurate though. This system has never been anything less than rock solid, and even with the temperature supposedly at 100C, I was still listening to itunes and browsing the internet with no performance hit. I imagine that if my cpu was actually running that hot, it would have grown pretty unstable, no? I felt the air coming out of my exhaust fan, and while it was on the warm side, it definitely wasn't HOT. The air coming out of the side duct, right above the CPU, was downright cool.

So the idea that my CPU could be running that dangerously hot doesn't make much sense to me--but then I'm a newbie, so maybe my instincts are wrong. Does this make more sense to you guys? I've checked my temps on two other programs--Speedfan and PCProbeII--and temps for both of them were much lower. I know that neither of those are as reputable, but if you could recommend another program from which to get a second opinion, I'd really appreciate it.

So what does everyone think? Are these measurements off, could I be running dangerously hot?

 

[delluser1]

Realtemp is pretty much the standard.
PCProbe gives the temp of the hottest core, how much different is it from RT ?

 

[bassman885]

PCProbe is roughly 10 degrees lower.

I just fiddled with a few things--re-sat the stock fan/heatsink assembly, and messed with the side vent on my case. Those seem to have done something; Realtemp is now in the upper-mid 40s on idle, and PCProbe, is in the upper 30s. Are these acceptable for a stock cooler?

I'm still concerned, because now when I put it under a full load, the Realtemp temps shoot up to the low 70s (which I GUESS I could live with?) but then continue to creep up and up into the mid to high 80s (over the course of about a minute), at which point I get freaked out and cancel the test.

I'm flummoxed. My case (a CM mid tower) is definitely a little cramped, but the area right in front of the CPU cooler is completely clear, and taking off the side panel doesn't seem to have that much of an effect.

 

[balthanon]

I'd be interested in whether these results are typical as well-- I'm running the same setup, though I don't have a side case fan and my case is a roomy HAF 922, and I'm also getting idle temperatures of between 37-44 on the CPU and up to the high 80's when I run a sensor test with Prime95 stressing the CPU to 100%.

The thing which concerns me at the moment is that my case fans don't really seem to be revving up when this occurs. I have the Q-Fan control set to Silent, but I thought it would increase once the temperature got high enough (and 87 definitely seems like enough.) I set the fans to Standard and that bumped up the RPM to 2000 CPU/1000 120mm/650 200mm when I reran the test, but it didn't seem to do much for the temperature.

I'm wondering if there could have been issues with the delivered thermal paste or if something else might be interfering with the seating of the heatsink and CPU. If it's potentially the delivered thermal paste, I should be able to return the processor since I got it at Microcenter and get a new one. It's like an hour's drive though, so I only want to do that if it might be the problem.