FX-6300 running "too cool"?

[pheroh]

I got an FX-6300 with a Zalman CNSP5X Performa cooler that is running at the lowest fan speed with no overclocking. I get consistent temp of low 20 C with moderate use. On idle it's around 12 C and could go sub 10! I live in Montreal and the room temp is around 20 C as well.

Using Prime95's In-place Large FFTs test (for maximum heat stress), the temp get to 33 C and stays there and the CPU fan is barely noticeable (~1600 rpm). I am using Core Temp and Speccy.

Now, this should sound good and all but the only reason I am a bit worried is because I want to overclock and I am afraid that the temp reported is not correct and I might end up melting my system. I don't intend to go extreme but would like to crank the CPU to 4.0-4.2 GHz only changing the multiplier. Should I be worried or are these temps normal?

 

[C12Friedman]

There is cause for concern about your temps - unless using super cooling, your temps cannot be lower than ambient - something is not right there. Try setting CoreTemp to "Display the Distance to TJ Max" in advanced settings, see if the numbers become a little more believable

 

[clutchc]

+1^
What does the temp read when you are in BIOS? If it reads ambient or below in BIOS, it is probably a bad sensor.

 

[Solid_Snake3]

I agree with clutchc, your CPU temps cannot be lower than your ambient temperature. I also suspect that it is a bad sensor on your motherboard, for some reason I am hearing a lot of complaints about bad temperature sensors in AMD builds. You might want to borrow a friend's CPU or motherboard and try it on your build.

 

[pheroh]

@C12Friedman: Thanks. Doing what you suggested just gave me the delta which is basically the same reading which is still not correct

I got to the BIOS and it's reporting 39 C CPU temp so I guess the sensor is fine. I used HWMonitor and it's reporting a 32-33 C (under CPUTIN) and research told me that BIOS temps are usually higher than actual Windows temps. Running Prime95 now makes the temp go to 48-49 C with the cooler running full speed. So I guess now I know where to look for temp.

Are those temps normal/acceptable?

 

[C12Friedman]

I got to the BIOS and it's reporting 39 C CPU temp so I guess the sensor is fine. I used HWMonitor and it's reporting a 32-33 C (under CPUTIN) and research told me that BIOS temps are usually higher than actual Windows temps. Running Prime95 now makes the temp go to 48-49 C with the cooler running full speed. So I guess now I know where to look for temp.

Are those temps normal/acceptable?

The HW temps sound a lot more credible - I think you should be able to work from there

 

[clutchc]

The reason BIOS temps will be higher that what is reported in Win7, is that the CPU is at full freq. while in BIOS.

Btw... I'm beginning to see a trend here. Quite a few posts here lately have been about Piledriver FXs and Llano & Trinity APUs reporting unusually low temps at the low end; idle. I had my own experience with an A10-5800k that would only read in the teens C at idle (in Windows). I'm beginning to wonder if that isn't a common issue with the sensor in those chips.

 

[realchaos]

Coretemp isn't very good on AMD FX processors. On coretemp, you usually add about ~15c for your actual temperature.