I7 930 temperature

[aajohnny]

Hey,
I have a i7 930 processor (not overclocked) with a h70 liquid cooler. I think it ranged around 30-34c max on each core when I had the stock fan for the cooler, I just replaced it with a scythe 120 mm fan (best rated or one of on newegg) and the temps on each core range from 33,34,38,34 on idle and playing diablo III. I hope I installed it correctly. They most they've went idle was 39-44c and that was just one core. Is this high? and the 3rd core seems to get the "hottest" out of them all. I don't know how high they should get for me to be worried.

 

[Xenturion]

Well, hello there, being that I have an i7 920 (and have had for a couple of years) I know a little bit about its thermal performance. So, the i7's have a shutdown temp of 100C. Yes. 100C or the boiling point of water. Obviously, you're nowhere near that. Typical recommendation for enhancing the life of a first generation i7 is to keep it under 80C @ full load. Considering your temps and your cooling setup, I would imagine you never go above 65-70 under full load.

Cores being hotter or cooler than one another is just the nature of integrated circuits. Some are just going to be better than others. Sometimes a core or cores will have more imperfections than others and will subsequently run a little hotter. This isn't anything to concern yourself with. Core 3 is the "hottest" on mine as well.

Hope I cleared some things up.

 

[aajohnny]

Well, hello there, being that I have an i7 920 (and have had for a couple of years) I know a little bit about its thermal performance. So, the i7's have a shutdown temp of 100C. Yes. 100C or the boiling point of water. Obviously, you're nowhere near that. Typical recommendation for enhancing the life of a first generation i7 is to keep it under 80C @ full load. Considering your temps and your cooling setup, I would imagine you never go above 65-70 under full load.

Cores being hotter or cooler than one another is just the nature of integrated circuits. Some are just going to be better than others. Sometimes a core or cores will have more imperfections than others and will subsequently run a little hotter. This isn't anything to concern yourself with. Core 3 is the "hottest" on mine as well.

Hope I cleared some things up.

Oh so as long as its not over like 70c or something its fine?

 

[Xenturion]

Even if it is over 70 you're in the clear. Basically, just check it every once in a while to make sure it's floating in the 40-80C range. 85-90C for prolonged duration is where the damage can be really done.

 

[larkspur]

Xenturion described the temps perfectly. Your idle temps are just fine.

With regard to your fan's adequacy: It depends on which 120mm Scythe fan you put in. When you choose a fan for a radiator, use one with high static pressure. Scythe makes a bunch of different 120mm fans some with good static pressure and some with very poor static pressure. The more fan grates, dust filters, radiator fins, etc. that your fan must blow through, the more important it is to use a fan with high static pressure.

To be more helpful with your fan question, which specific Scythe fan did you get? BTW, you won't know if your fan is adequate until you test it under sustained load for a while to attain a peak temperature reading. And cores seem to always read a little differently, nothing to worry about with one being higher than the others.

 

[aajohnny]

Even if it is over 70 you're in the clear. Basically, just check it every once in a while to make sure it's floating in the 40-80C range. 85-90C for prolonged duration is where the damage can be really done.

I don't think i've ever even passed 50 or 60 before, but thanks for the help it makes me feel better. If it ever gets that hot though do I just shut it down for a while?

and I got http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185057

 

[amuffin]

Those temps are fine.

 

[larkspur]

Personally I wouldn't use that fan with an H70 all by itself with a 130w CPU. It's a bit weak @800rpm. I'd at least put two of them (push/pull) on the radiator or even better use a different fan. Since your CPU isn't OCed and if you are just gaming then it isn't as big a concern. Ultimately your temps are what matter most so keep an eye on those.

If you run apps like SETI@Home or do any work with it where there will be a sustained 100% load then I would change the fan to something more robust such as a Noctua NF-F12 or consider using two fans on the radiator. If you run Prime95 for a while, you'll probably see what I mean. My guess is that fan won't be able to push enough air to "keep up" and temps will keep crawling upwards. But if it works for your purposes then good luck and enjoy.

 

[aajohnny]

I just use my computer for gaming and 3d modelling

 

[InvalidError]

Cores being hotter or cooler than one another is just the nature of integrated circuits. Some are just going to be better than others. Sometimes a core or cores will have more imperfections than others and will subsequently run a little hotter.

Process variations within the space of a single CPU die are extremely small and would not explain the temperature difference.

What does affect individual core temperatures most in multi-core CPUs is instantaneous variations in individual core activity which causes momentary local hot-spotting. Differences in core temps is mainly due to cores experiencing different levels of activity due to OS thread scheduling not being perfectly even across all cores. If there are fewer active threads than there are available cores/thread, the OS is not going to forcibly re-schedule/shuffle active threads across different cores just for the heck of it and load/heat ends up unevenly distributed between cores. Depending on scheduler, the number of active threads and load, the thermal output distribution can change several times per second.