2500k running too hot

[dan2222]

Can anyone offer any suggestions for lowering my idle cpu temps. I have a coolermaster cm 690 ii advanced, with the stock fans, and a coolermaster hyper 212 plus. Right now my idle teps are 39 35 38 35 and thats with the side panel off. My ambient is around 26 degrees

 

[JordoR]

Those idle temps are perfectly normal...nothing to be alarmed about in my mind.

However, how long have you had your PC assembled and running? As you may already know thermal paste has varied cure times based on brand. Leaving prime 95 running for a few hours or overnight, can ensure that the paste will properly cure and fill all voids properly in between the CPU and heatsink.

In my past experience, I have seen idle temps drop 5-10d C just by doing the above. What is your temp at load? As well, sometimes having the side panel off on cases can actually have a negative effect on the airflow in the case.

 

[dan2222]

Ok i had the rig for six months, have re seated cpu and cooler about seven times with not much different results. I used a little more paste a little less, applied it differently etc, cause i thought i must be doing it wrong as this was my first build.

At load with prime after about an hour temps wont go above 59. couple of cores stay at 55.

 

[JordoR]

Full load at around 60c is not a huge deal. 80 is the max you want to hit and unless you do a lot of overclocking I doubt you will reach it.

 

[dan2222]

but i do want to overclock now and am worried it might get a bit high. I was thinking of adding two 140mm fans at bottom for intake and an extra 140mm exhaust at top, so i would have three intakes and three exhausts blowing diagonally from from front bottom to top rear. Do u think this would improve it

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Dan have you added the 2nd fan to the Cooler Master hyper 212+? I have and have my temps down to the 34 or below range.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[dan2222]

yes i have the second fan on and right now im running prime and have 55 as an average, and its been running a couple of hours.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

To keep Sandy Bridge happy for a long-term overclock:
1. Keep peak Prime95 core temps below 75ºC
2. Keep CPU voltage below 1.4v

When you overclock, keep a close eye on the temps. If you start hitting 75ºC while running Prime95, then you need a better cooler to go any higher. The 212 Plus is good for the money, but it's small so it's only effective at controlling temps for a mild to moderate overclock. You'll likely need a bigger hunk of metal to get the CPU to its maximum overclock relatively safely.

 

[dan2222]

Ok thank you for that. Do you think i should add more fans to my case and do you think my idle temps are nothing to worry about

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Idle temps are never a worry. It's the temps you get when gaming, rendering, encoding, or whatever CPU-stressing stuff you do every day that are a concern.

If all you do is surf the Web and work on some Word documents, you shouldn't ever have to worry about temps just because the CPU never gets loaded doing those things.

As far as case airflow is concerned, all you have to do is make sure that there aren't any hot spots that don't get any air at all. Make sure all of the major components get air -- CPU area, memory, hard drive(s), graphics card(s), etc. CD/DVD drives don't really count. It doesn't have to be hurricane-force winds either -- just a light breeze should be enough. And of course, make sure that warm air flowing over the major components goes out of the case through the top or rear.

 

[dan2222]

i just ran prime for eighteen hours and temps never exceeded 55, is that good

 

[JordoR]

Yes that is really good Dan. Most likely your computer will never even hit the temps that are produced from the prime 95 stress temp. Unless you are doing serious rendering etc.. Since yours never even hit the 60c mark I would say your good.

Maybe if you do decide to do some overclocking, keep an eye on your temps and if they are getting into the low 70c range I might suggest taking another look at your cooling/airflow. While the Hyper 212+ is a good cheap heatsink, there are better ones for overclocking.

Good results.

 

[dan2222]

Ok thanks, i think i will give the overclocking a go. and keep close eye on temps