CPU Temp or Core Temp i5-2500k

Shahal

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Mar 24, 2012
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Hello,
This is an issue that has been discussed at great length on this and other sites but I still can't seem to see a definitive answer.

I'm wanting to overclock my i5-2500k and on stock frequency, using speedfan and HW Monitor, my CPU Temp seems normal high 20's at idle and around 40 C under full load. The core temps on the other hand seem a lot higher, mid to high 30's at idle and around 60 C under load. I'm using an aftermarket HSF, Xigmatek Loki, and I've reseated it several times and get the same effect. If I were to go by CPU Temp I could overclock no problem but if I'm supposed to go by the Core Temps I'd have very little wiggle room in regards to temperature.

So what should I go by?
 
Solution



You run prime95 overnight 7 hours and it didn't crashed(BSOD), therefore your PC is stable. Good and luck happy gaming.

shanky887614

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Feb 5, 2010
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whats your motherboard?

there have been sensor problems with certain motherboards where programs cant detect the correct temperature


there are a couple programs that work fine however


besides the cpu is rated to close to 100oC


so you should be fine with current setup


obviously lower temps are better
 

aqe040466

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Nov 29, 2011
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At stock speed those temps are pretty safe, I just don't know when you Overclock the CPU it will give a higer temps.
 

Shahal

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Mar 24, 2012
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Here's a screenshot of my temps under Prime95, OC'd to 4.0Ghz. Good, normal, bad?

tempst.png
 

Shahal

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Mar 24, 2012
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So it's the "package" temp I need to go by? That particular instance I had only been running it for about 10 minutes but I ran it over night for about 7 hours and it wasn't much different.
 

aqe040466

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Nov 29, 2011
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You run prime95 overnight 7 hours and it didn't crashed(BSOD), therefore your PC is stable. Good and luck happy gaming.
 
Solution

Exxi3

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Apr 21, 2012
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Hi Shahal,

Well, depends... I think your voltage and temps are a bit on the high side for 4.0 GHz

Have a look at my setup, it's my main "bedroom studio" audio machine, so I pushed it to 4.5 stable at 1.340v to see what it got in it, then calmed the game to 4.2 GHz 1.256v, auto minus offset mode, all energy economy options, virtualization and bells and whistles on :lol:

Try to pull the volts down to 1.250ish, your machine should run cooler and you'll get some peace of mind :sol:

Exxi3

prime9542ghz1256v.jpg
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MattMazur84

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May 27, 2013
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I have searched this topic high and low and have come up with many different answers. Even the intel spec doesn't specify whether that 72.6c max is for the core temps or the 'cpu temp.'

I have essentially just begun watching the Core Max temp in HWiNFO64. It's about what I read is pretty common, ~10 degrees lower Celsius than the core temps but I figure I'd better be safe than sorry. After huge amounts of research on overclocking I've determined that 99.9% of it is just peoples anecdotal opinions (no offense intended to anyone). You can read two "highly recommended guides" - on every aspect from novice guides to in-depth expert guides - written on the exact same product and toward the same goal and they will often times contradict each other every step of the way.

I personally would like to know definitively which temperature we should be watching: the individual cores, the cpu package, or the ITE CPU temperature.

My own personal question is, in addition to the former, is should we be watching the maximum current temperature or the average? For example, messing around today I had this:

C++:
Core Max: 
Current: 61.0 C
Minimum: 34.0 C
Maximum: 72.0 C
Average: 50.9 C

Assuming that I'm going off the individual cores (core max is just the highest of each core at any given time on HWiNFO64) should I immediately drop my OC since it hit 72.0 C even if just for a moment? Or am I okay because throughout the the test it was at an average of 50.9 C?