Intel Q9450 - 60ºC Idle (or not)

[Perkele]

Hello.
I've been running my system for almost three years now and I have some questions concerning my CPU's temperature.
I am a 3D Studio Max user, and when you're rendering things out in that program, it tends to consume 100% of your CPU capacity, hence supposedly raising its temperature up to some alarming 70ºC at full.

But I made some research on the field and I found out that 60ºC just might not be that bad if the CPU is currently idle, but I see those reviews where they complain if the CPU reaches mere 40ºC, implying it is alarmingly high, so I suppose that something might be pretty wrong regarding the standard of what's low and what's high.

I read in the internet that you won't be able to touch a CPU's heatsink that is 60ºC high, it'll burn you instantly.
As of now, it's 56ºC idle, I went for the heatsink and it was barely warm, didn't hurt my fingertips at all.

So, am I right now facing a faulty CPU temp sensor? Is that common?
Since I get pretty scared when it gets to the 70ºC mark, yet I am not sure if I should or not go for a new cooler if my CPU is fine.

I can provide more info if needed, I just need to sort this out, if the sensors might or might not be faulty, or anything that might help overall.

Also the CPU is not overcloacked.

Thank you.

 

[tecmo34]

When is the last time you cleaned and applied new thermal compound?

Are you reporting Core Temps or CPU Temp?

Cores should not be idling at 56C, unless your ambient temp is extremely high. Idle should max be in the low 40's with a working heat sink / thermal compound (not taking into account if overclocked).

I recommend cleaning and installing new thermal compound & see if temps improve.

 

[ko888]

What are you using to measure this temperature?

Are you measuring the CPU's case temperature or the CPU's core temperature?

Tcase maximum for the Q9450 is 71.4°C

In the event of a catastrophic cooling failure, the processor will automatically shut down when the silicon has reached a temperature approximately 20 °C above the maximum Tcase.

 

[Perkele]

When is the last time you cleaned and applied new thermal compound?

Are you reporting Core Temps or CPU Temp?

Cores should not be idling at 56C, unless your ambient temp is extremely high. Idle should max be in the low 40's with a working heat sink / thermal compound (not taking into account if overclocked).

Hm what's the difference between these?
I suppose I'm reporting the Core Temps.

Here's one screenshot of HWMonitor, while the computer was idle, how do they look?

(Prior to this picture, I put the computer under heavy load so you can compare the idle and full temperatures)

Also regarding the cleansing, I plan to do that as a last resort, since I don't really go well with hardware so the chances that I end up messing something up are pretty probable.

What are you using to measure this temperature?

Are you measuring the CPU's case temperature or the CPU's core temperature?

Tcase maximum for the Q9450 is 71.4°C

In the event of a catastrophic cooling failure, the processor will automatically shut down when the silicon has reached a temperature approximately 20 °C above the maximum Tcase.

I've used CPUz, HWmonitor, Rainmeter, and some other ones, they all seem to show the same temps.
Which leads me to believe that either all program's temps are right, or the sensor itself isn't working correctly.

Is the "touch heatsink" trick true?

 

[ko888]

Those Core temps look excessively high for a non-overclocked Q9450. You need to keep the maximum Core temperatures below 76 °C.

Are you using the heatsink and fan unit that Intel provided with the CPU or are you using a third party cooling solution?

 

[Perkele]

Those Core temps look excessively high for a non-overclocked Q9450. You need to keep the maximum Core temperatures below 76 °C.

Are you using the heatsink and fan unit that Intel provided with the CPU or are you using a third party cooling solution?

The one that Intel provided.

 

[ko888]

I didn't use the Intel provided heatsink and fan that came with my Q9550 because I knew that a third party cooler would do a much better job especially because I knew I would be overclocking. The push-pin mounting of the Intel solution didn't impress me at all.

I've been using a Thermalright Ultra Extreme (TRUE) 120 and IC Diamond as the thermal interface material (TIM). The Thermalright comes with the preferred mounting backplate and spring loaded screw mount. I usually remove the heatsink and fan at least once a year to give it a thorough cleaning and reapplication of thermal interface material.

 

[Perkele]

I didn't use the Intel provided heatsink and fan that came with my Q9550 because I knew that a third party cooler would do a much better job especially because I knew I would be overclocking. The push-pin mounting of the Intel solution didn't impress me at all.

I've been using a Thermalright Ultra Extreme (TRUE) 120 and IC Diamond as the thermal interface material (TIM). The Thermalright comes with the preferred mounting backplate and spring loaded screw mount. I usually remove the heatsink and fan at least once a year to give it a thorough cleaning and reapplication of thermal interface material.

Which temp should I watch then? Each individual's core one or CPU's?
And how come the cores are hotter than the CPU itself?

 

[ko888]

I'd be concerned with making sure that none of the individual cores exceeds 76 °C.

The ITE IT87 sensor chip you have is external to the CPU.

The individual core temperatures are being reported from the on-die CPU temperature diodes.