A little worried about my i5-2500k temps

[xxsjxx1]

using the asrock extreme tuner... i get an average idle temp of about 37-38c but when playing BF3 ive seen it as high as 68-70 consistently. that seems a little high.... is the asrock extreme tuner accurate?

 

[Raiddinn]

Tell me about your cooling setup (case, fans, cable management, etc) and which processor and motherboard you are using and maybe I can get a better idea of if the temps are right or not.

You could try some other programs too if you like, HWMonitor from CPUID is a good one.

 

[sosofm]

You have a Asrock mobo .i think. I don't use Extreme tuner. Use this http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/
Your cpu temps are high.

 

[Petrofsky]

I use Core Temp with the grapher. Your temps are too high. Mine idles at around 29 and never goes above 40 unless I run the aptly named Core Damage, so I don't.

 

[xxsjxx1]

I have the rosewill challenger case with the 3 fans that come with it, and just the regular stock CPU, no overclocking.

cable management is decent, i wire tied them together and stuff... i also felt the air coming off of my heatsink and it was slightly warm so im guessing its at least drawing heat away from the CPU.

im using the Z68 pro3-M mobo from asrock and just the stock cooler for the cpu. I also never hear the CPU fan really kick up high.... is that an issue? The fan sound is very steady

 

[xxsjxx1]

i downloaded coretemps and got a max of 69 when in BF3

anyone else have the stock cooler on for comparison?

 

[AdrianPerry]

70 degree's is not that high. No reason for concern at all.

However, most i5's will show max temps of about 60-65 degree's in an average build, depending on thermal paste application and after-market cooling.

The reason your seeing 70 degree's is more than likely due to the fact you are only using a stock cooler. Grab something with a little more OOMPF in order to see better temps.

Just to reiterate: 70 degree's is fine and isn't high enough to cause concern.

 

[xxsjxx1]

ok cool, im never going to overclock this anyways, its fast enough for me.

the only reason i was watching the temps is because when installing the heatsink it took me a little bit getting the pins in, and it wobbled around on top of the processor a bit and i wasnt sure if it spread the stock thermal paste in a weird way and created ''dry spots''

if 70 is normal under load then thats acceptable enough for me, thanks.

 

[Raiddinn]

Try getting a cheap 120 mm fan for the side over the processor. That should help disperse the heat a little better.

I would assume if Asus made the motherboard and the program that is measuring heat that they would be able to make one very much compatible with the other.

Are the cables tied together out of the way or are they tied together in the way? The results can be quite different. Many cases specifically make parts of the case such that it is easy to tie the cables against the back wall. If yours has those are they being utilized?

Also, are you sure you have the CPU fan connected to the place on the motherboard that says CPU_FAN on it? Just checking.

 

[xxsjxx1]

yes its plugged in where the cpu fan should be.... so when should I hear my cpu fan kick up really high? at what temp?


heres a photo of my messy case lol

 

[Raiddinn]

You may want to try to make it look a little more like this

and this

It may be a little hard to see, but the only thing not against the back wall is the PCIE cord that plugs into the top of the video card.

Nothing sits over the processor or anything like that.

 

[pairenoid]

i idle at around 29-33 and load at 50-60
i dont think i ever pass 60 load on stock settings and i also messed up with my heatsink, i took it on and off 3 times and it looked weird and messy but i checked temps religiously for a few days and declared it fine

i also bouhgt 3 more case fans which reduced temps maybe 3-4 degrees

my gpu used to load at 70 but now usually loads at 60-64

 

[k1114]

70C is normal for the stock hsf, others may get lower because of roomtemp. http://ark.intel.com/products/52210/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-(6M-Cache-3_30-GHz) Intel rates the tcase as 72.6C which we use as the safe temp. Getting the 212+ will drop temps by 15C and only costs $25. It will also allow you to OC if you want to later. You can set when the fans go on high in the bios. The rosewill challenger has cable management holes so you should look like this.

You can also google "rosewill challenger cable management" and get plenty of other pics and vids.
Even if you have a case like raiddinn's k59 with not as good cable management features, all cables, used and unused should be in a loop behind the hdd bays and not a rat's nest on bottom. I couldn't find pics on google for k59 so here is an antec 300 pic which has no cable management holes at all.

BTW asus and asrock are completely separate companies even though they are sister compnaies they do not work with each other. Each has their own r&d and manufacturing so should be seen as 2 completely different companies as they are.

 

[digitalzom-b]

The i5-2500k max recommended temp is 72.6 degrees celsius. This is for the CPU only, not the "cores.' Intel says not to worry about "core" temperature, only CPU, which you would check from the BIOS.

If it's CPU at 70, I would recommend an aftermarket cooler, and organizing cables for optimum airflow (as seen above--it really does make a difference if you can make a wind-tunnel effect). Or, you could try reapplying the heatsink paste with Arctic Silver 5.

You should be able to gain control of your CPU fan speed from the BIOS, try increasing it if you can and see how the results are.

 

[Raiddinn]

Agreed that the "rats nest setup" isn't ideal, but its not terrible either. Not like the cables are obstructing any important airflow or anything.

 

[k1114]

In your case it's not, in the OP's case it is. He has one front fan providing air to both gpu and cpu and while not really a bad thing, it would be a good idea to let it have good airflow. There's also the clear difference between your expansion bays and gpu length to his. Both setups are still not ideal with the hsf blowing down and out in all directions. He could just stuff all the wire in back, a rats nest behind the expansion bays doesn't really matter. Having the wires in back is also easier to clean, air filters can't get all of the dust.