I7 3770 Heat Tests in 85F Room Temps

[josejones]

Hello,

I have a special request. I've been waiting for the Ivy Bridge CPU's for quite some time now. What I didn't expect was the heat issue.

I have a small business that I run out of my apartment that does not have central air so, in the summer the room temps can get up to 85F (31C). Keep in mind that not everybody has air conditioning.

All of the tests I've seen have been performed in room temps of around 70F (21C) and with aftermarket CPU coolers or water coolers - that's a 15 degree difference in the air that is suppose to cool the CPU and flow throughout the case for me. I'd like to see testing of the i7 3770 (without the k) to confirm that it will not go passed 70c (158F) under full load on Intel's stock CPU cooler in 85f room temps. I cannot afford to risk this CPU dying on me due to heat exhaustion.

My budget is already tapped out so, I did not expect to have to purchase an aftermarket CPU cooler and certainly not a water cooler, which would still be trying to keep the CPU cool with 85f air. I'm certainly not the only one worried about this issue. I cannot afford to just assume there won't ever be a heat issue.

Would somebody at Tom's Hardware please test this out?

 

[Proximon]

I'm glad you decided to stop annoying the thread campers in the IB thread

So you are apparently very concerned about temperatures on a non-overclocked IB CPU. OK, spend $35 USD on a cooler that will give you a -20C improvement.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Or, you don't think that -20C is worth your money. In that case, why are you posting this?

And lastly, the performance of the cooler is only part of the question. What about your case? What about the other components? Do you have an inefficient PSU dumping heat into the interior of your poorly ventilated case?

 

[13thmonkey]

It won't be an issue.

The temp's are stuck in the chip, the heatsink is not actually doing a lot of work, and is normally massively oversized. Its not like the days of the 100W+ chips where the heatsink made a real difference, its quite odd really.

 

[josejones]

"I'm glad you decided to stop annoying the thread campers in the IB thread"

I'm simply asking perfectly valid questions in the Ivy Bridge thread. They're just whining and crying about it.

"So you are apparently very concerned about temperatures on a non-overclocked IB CPU. OK, spend $35 USD on a cooler that will give you a -20C improvement."

There's no confirmation of that at 85 degree F room temps. My issue is that I need the i7 for the work that we do but, it already maxes out my budget so, I don't want to have to spend anymore on aftermarket coolers if don't need to and I just wanna be sure of that. I can't risk the Ivy CPU dying on me due to heat exhaustion. I need this new build to last a long lifespan.

I was hoping Intel would change out that cheap thermal paste with some new to drop temps 20c but, there's no reason to believe they're going to do that. If they did I'm sure I'd be fine.

I was considering the Antec 302 case in hopes of decent air flow

Antec Three Hundred Two
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129180

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubX0pKrtZiI

I haven't decided on a PSU yet. I'm looking at the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600W or a Seasonic.

 

[ohyouknow]

Surely you could spend $5 for a thermal paste if it will give you some peace of mind.

 

[Proximon]

You are talking about a variance of 10C in temps. Fahrenheit does NOT equal Celsius, 70 to 85 degrees is 10C. There is no significant delta change there. Any cooler will be just as effective cooling at 20C as it will at 30C ambient.

Intel will be around +35C and a good air cooler will be as low as +12 but more commonly +20C.

If you don't want to spring for a cooler then:

A. Don't run the synthetic tests used to max out all the cores to get those temps seen during tests.

B. Disable turbo mode so that your CPU never leaves the base clocks.

C. Don't buy the CPU.

D. Actually monitor your CPU temps and if they get too hot, ever, you can fix them with a new cooler.

 

[nforce4max]

85f isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Come down to the south where average daily temps easily clime over 100+. Death valley gets even worse. Try 137f ,57c for those outside the us.

 

[migrax]

You are looking for a guarantee, no one here can offer you that...

However 85 Degrees F is not significantly high. It may be uncomfortable for most people, a computer is not going to really be affected unless you are running a server that runs 70%+ CPU and have a RAID array or something similar. For normal everyday business operations you should be ok.

You shelled out some cash to get a good CPU, was it OEM, i.e. one without a CPU Cooler included? If so my guess is you'll be fine, if not... don't skimp, just invest another $20 and get a decent cooler.


migrax

 

[pdxalex]

I don't want to have to spend anymore on aftermarket coolers if don't need to

So set up your rig and monitor the temps. You'll see whether you need to or not

Sorry, I do understand the need to budget, but words like "worried", "risk", "waiting", "we" and "business" somehow seem to justify an extra $30 expenditure. Heck, the Hyper 212+ is $20 shipped after rebate. Why would you need a watercooler on a stock 3770 at 85F ambient?

My issue is that I need the i7 for the work that we do

And yet it's all on hold over a 30 Dollar investment?

The whole thing makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[josejones]

Thanks for all the comments as they're all helpful.

ohyouknow: "Surely you could spend $5 for a thermal paste if it will give you some peace of mind. "

I was talking about the grease inside the Ivy CPU that Intel is using. I will use the best paste I can.

"Ivy Bridge proven to suffer from poor thermal grease"
http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-proven-to-suffer-from-poor-thermal-grease/15844.html

 

[josejones]

Proximon: "Fahrenheit does NOT equal Celsius, 70 to 85 degrees is 10C. There is no significant delta change there. Any cooler will be just as effective cooling at 20C as it will at 30C ambient."

Fair enough, I do know the difference between f vs. c, however, I wouldn't be able to know that 85f room temps would have an affect or not but, it just seems like basic common sense that it would matter on a CPU that has a tendency to get hot. Here's a quote from elsewhere:

"Using the stock heatsink in 80F ambient temps will affect over CPU temps. It may not nessicarly overheat and shutdown on you, but if the surrounding air that is being pulled into the case is warm/hot then it will inevitably bring up the temps of the chip. Going with an aftermarket cooler would help and water cooling would be even better, but you still need to remember that they will all be sucking in hot air."
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/335010-28-3770-temps

A: I doubt I run any of those tests.

B: That's probably not a bad idea to consider

C: I'll still probably get it once I work all this out.

D: This new build is actually for the lady who will never check temps - she's a workaholic but, doesn't know much about computers. If this was only for me I'd keep an eye on temps and wouldn't be so worried.

I'll probably do a Haswell build next year for myself.

 

[josejones]

nforce4max: "85f isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Come down to the south where average daily temps easily clime over 100+. Death valley gets even worse. Try 137f ,57c for those outside the us. "

LOL, yeah I know I've been there. It gets over 100f here for most of the summer - I'm just talking about indoor temps. But, I wonder if anybody in those areas have performed testing in high indoor ambient temps at 85f?

"Using the stock heatsink in 80F ambient temps will affect over CPU temps. It may not nessicarly overheat and shutdown on you, but if the surrounding air that is being pulled into the case is warm/hot then it will inevitably bring up the temps of the chip. Going with an aftermarket cooler would help and water cooling would be even better, but you still need to remember that they will all be sucking in hot air."
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/335010-28-3770-temps

I'm also concerned about all the fan noise if it's going to be so hot:

"Keep in mind anything >60C+ is going to be making a lot of noise even on the H100..."

"To 'me' and most Hot or (too) Warm translates into NOISE to cool the CPU, and IF it takes all of the efforts of say an H100 or Noctua NH-D14 to keep the IB (K) cool then IMO the IB (K) will be DOA to most enthusiasts who have any experience with OC'ing because no one wants Earmuffs playing BF3 or whatever...>55C~60C is when things start getting loud."

 

[josejones]

pdxalex, fair enough. It's not just the $30 for the aftermarket cooler though. It's an extra $35 for the CPU, which I thought was going to be $278 when it turned out to be $313. The extra this, that and the other are all adding up to an extra couple hundred bucks.

I'll probably get the aftermarket cooler & good paste. Can I purchase the i7 without the stock cooler to save that money?

 

[Proximon]

Intel does not usually sell unboxed OEM processors in the retail chains. You may get a better deal in a combo from Microcenter or Fry's. Also, newegg has good combo deals of course

MB and CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.909932

i7 3770S and board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.909953

Also, it looks to me like 75C would be a fine limit to set, not 65C. The CPU does not throttle until over 100C
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?280910-Ivy-Bridge-Max-Temp

And I will repeat again, you will only see those temps if you are overvolting and running synthetic benchmarks. Most of the time your system is going to be idling.

 

[josejones]

You may be right about the 75c limit, I wouldn't know. If Intel would use superior thermal paste on the T.I.M., which has been tested and could reduce temps by 20c, there probably wouldn't be an issue.

I'll keep an eye out at MicroCenter & Fryes for combo deals. I've been considering the i7 3770 with the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545

Here's a thread discussing some bios, drivers & bug issues with the Ivy Bridge CPU and Gigabyte Z77 -UD5H

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1692876

Some issues are mentioned in Newegg reviews as well.

I'm just waiting for all the bios, drivers & bug issues to be worked out before I buy. It would be sweet if Intel would replace the thermal paste they've been using but, I won't hold my breathe.

 

[Proximon]

TIM = Thermal Interface Material, commonly called Thermal Paste. You mean the TIM under the CPU heatspreader, basically inside the CPU as you think of it.

I think that report is interesting, but hardly definitive. Intel has some smart engineers and that TIM may have been selected for other reasons... for instance an extremely low electrical conductivity or longer life span.

It's important to remember that if you go looking for problems with any motherboard, you will find them. ALL of them. People will post about problems, but never about no problems. People writing newegg reviews are heavily weighted towards unhappy customers. An actual survey would show the 20% poor user reviews are usually really 5-10% of the total... and half of those are people blaming the board for something that was caused by something else.

Why are you throwing all that money at an overclocking SLI capable board? That makes no sense at all. The board I linked has SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0. Maybe not as many, but do you really need 10 USB 3 ports and 6 USB 2 ports?

 

[josejones]

"It's important to remember that if you go looking for problems with any motherboard, you will find them. ALL of them..."

Oh sure, fair enough, but isn't that to be expected on a new board? - at least until there's been a revision or 2. It has been explained to me repeatedly by many, many different people that it's wise to wait a couple months on brand new mobos & CPU's to give it time for all the bios, drivers & bug issues to be worked out before buying.

"Why are you throwing all that money at an overclocking SLI capable board? That makes no sense at all. The board I linked has SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0. Maybe not as many, but do you really need 10 USB 3 ports and 6 USB 2 ports?"

Well, I'm glad you asked, I really don't know anything about those other boards. Most people here and elsewhere are gamers and don't always appear to have good advice on business or work products. I'll never overclock or have more than one GPU. I don't even know where to go to ask about non-gamer work or business related computer questions. I just figured that z77 would do all I needed and more.

It would be nice to have at least 2 SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports. I do actually need 6 USB ports in the rear and 2 up front, preferably 3.0 since they're backwards compatible.

Thanks for all of your input, btw.

Here's my thread for my build - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/333702-31-bridge-work-build

 

[WR2]

Here's my thread for my build - Start]http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/333702-31-bridge-work-build

Start a new thread.
No one is going to read through that wall of text.

 

[pdxalex]

Here's my thread for my build - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/333702-31-bridge-work-build

A $1500 build and you can't make room for a $30 aftermarket cooler, despite CPU temps being such a great concern [dxalex]

 

[bearclaw99]

If you are running high loads on a 3770K in that environment with stock cooler, I can almost assure you that CPU temps will exceed 60 C. They would for my 2600K also at stock speed

The point is, Intel stock coolers are basically junk. Even a $20 Coolermaster cooler will reduce temps considerably. You are safe however up to 70 C even as a conservative estimate

 

[josejones]

A $1500 build and you can't make room for a $30 aftermarket cooler, despite CPU temps being such a great concern [dxalex]

That was back in February. Things have come up since then, I'm down to around $1,000 now. I already mentioned that I'd get the aftermarket cooler & good paste - because I feel like I have to.

 

[josejones]

If you are running high loads on a 3770K in that environment with stock cooler, I can almost assure you that CPU temps will exceed 60 C. They would for my 2600K also at stock speed

The point is, Intel stock coolers are basically junk. Even a $20 Coolermaster cooler will reduce temps considerably. You are safe however up to 70 C even as a conservative estimate

You're probably right. I'm looking at getting either the:

- Hyper 212+ or Evo made by Coolermaster

- Noctua D14

- Coolermaster hyper TX3

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Titan-Fenrir-Siberia-Edition-CPU-Cooler-Review/1516

Big Air: 14 LGA 2011-Compatible Coolers For Core i7-3000, Reviewed
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/LGA-2011-i7-3960X-Air-Overclocking,3130.html#xtor=RSS-182

Corsair Adds ''Air Series'' Cooling Fans to Product Line
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Air_Series-AF120-AF140-SP120-fans,15538.html

-----

Will the Antec 302 case have decent air flow?:

Antec 302 at Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129180&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=6a0gp9tkgn9g

Antec 302 video Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubX0pKrtZiI

 

[Proximon]

Most cases will have enough air flow for that setup. It's just a question of minimizing fan speed for quiet operation... so having two intake and 2 exhaust fans of 120mm or larger is optimal.

 

[josejones]

^ The Antec 302 comes with a 120mm fan in the rear and a 140mm up top in the rear. I figured that would be enough for the rear, right?

Antec doesn't include any fans in the front but, there are spots for two additional 120mm fans in the front. I was curious if one 120mm in the front would be enough? Or if two is highly recommended?

 

[Proximon]

If it were me, I would put two good fans in the front. Some cheap YLs will last quite a while in that sort of configuration - vertical mount and no restriction. They are quite famous for silence and cheapness
Mount them on a radiator and horizontally and they last about a year.

D12SL or D12SM
http://www.jab-tech.com/120mm-Fans-c-81-p-2.html