I5-2500k, Stock HSF, No overclock - CPU temp ~60 degree Celsius

[techssk]

I just installed i5-2500k with stock cooler, not even installed the OS. The board is Asus P8Z68 V Pro. In the BIOS the CPU temperature monitor readings are around 58 to 60 degree Celsius. Is this normal?

thanks,
karthik

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

That sounds a little high. Check to make sure that the HSF (heatsink/fan is properly connected and all the clips are all the way through the board and twisted. If you are still having problems give our tech support a call at 916-377-7000.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[das_stig]

Dump the retail cooler, spend £20 and install a Hyper212+, you won't regret it.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Temps in the BIOS will always be higher as the CPU cannot go into low-power idle mode until it boots fully into Windows. It's running at full speed in the BIOS. Temps around 60-65ºC in the BIOS are normal with the stock cooler.

Again, this is normal. There is no need to call tech support.

 

[JordoR]

As mentioned no need to call tech support. Also just check to see if the HSF is secured properly. The stock push pin variety (especially on the new sandy bridge) take a surprising amount of force to push down. However if it wasn't secured properly you would be getting closer to 80-90d c so probably no the issue here.

If you have just installed your PC, leave it on for 6 hours or so (no set time) to let the stock thermal compound cure properly and fill all voids in between the HSF and the CPU. I have seen this countless times, when someone installs a PC and then leaves it for a few hours (or overnight) and they end up with 10d lower idle temps than before.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

I just installed i5-2500k with stock cooler, not even installed the OS. The board is Asus P8Z68 V Pro. In the BIOS the CPU temperature monitor readings are around 58 to 60 degree Celsius. Is this normal?

thanks,
karthik

I remember you. Since you reside in India, high ambient temperatures make stock cooler quite useless - I had the same issue with my i7-2600. It's normal, but on medium to heavy load your CPU temperatures will go all the way up to 80 degrees Celsius or even higher, and that's not good. Get a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ cooler, it should be about Rs. 3000 and I'm very happy with it: 40C on idle an maximum 65C on heavy load.

 

[techssk]

thanks for all your responses. Yes, as Leaps-from-shadows has mentioned the temperature is always around 60C when in the BIOS.

I installed Windows 7 and ran Coretemp utility and I saw the idle temp dropped to 40C or a few degree less (with no open programs). However when I started the Windows update, after the downloading during the Install updates stage - load on the 4 cores started fluctuating between 10% to 85% and subsequently the temperature is hovering around 45C to 53C on all the cores. It never crossed 53C. Does this sound ok?

Any other temperature monitoring tool that I can use to verify this?

thanks,
karthik

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Core Temp has proven to be quite accurate. You could try Real Temp, but that usually returns very similar results as Core Temp.

A real test would be to download and run Prime95 for about an hour. That program loads the CPU far more than any everyday program/game will, and is meant to test how stable the CPU is and how good your cooling is.

Prime95 64-bit or Prime95 32-bit

 

[techssk]

thanks! For how long should I be running the torture tests using prime95?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

To get stable load temps, about an hour.

If the temps approach 90ºC before that, turn off the torture test. That would indicate that the heat sink isn't properly mounted or the fan isn't spinning at the right RPM.

 

[techssk]

Sorry about delayed response...

I ran stress tests for an hour. The higheset temp hit by each core is as follows:
Core 1: 71
Core 2: 74
Core 1: 73
Core 1: 77

None of them crossed 80, but always in the range of 70 - 75. Does this sound ok?

thanks,
karthik

 

[techssk]

I remember you. Since you reside in India, high ambient temperatures make stock cooler quite useless - I had the same issue with my i7-2600. It's normal, but on medium to heavy load your CPU temperatures will go all the way up to 80 degrees Celsius or even higher, and that's not good. Get a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ cooler, it should be about Rs. 3000 and I'm very happy with it: 40C on idle an maximum 65C on heavy load.

thanks! I live in Bangalore, which is relatively cooler compared to other cities in India. On heavy load (Prime 95 stess test), my CPU hit 70 - 75C. Does this sound normal for a stock HSF? If you don't mind can you post what reading you are getting with Prime 95?

thanks,
karthik

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

^ grrr... don't have Prime 95, I'll go download it =) If you're getting 70-75C on heavy load with stock HSF, you're pretty lucky, because I used to get all the way up to 85C.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Yeah, those Prime95 temps are perfectly acceptable with the stock heat sink. During normal gaming it'll be 15-20ºC less than that, so you won't have to worry about overheating.

If you want to overclock, you will need a better cooler first.