C2D core temps.

CodeMaster

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I am just wondering what temps everyone else's Core 2 Duo PC's are running at. I have one of computer desks where the tower sits in an enclosure on the floor to one side. Now I know the air flow through here isn't good, and there is heat build-up which makes this space like an oven, but over the weekend, while encoding a DVD to Divx, the two cores where nearly hitting 70°C. Now that is HOT. At idle temps were hovering around 58°C to 60°C, bearing in mind that it was fairly hot in JHB over the weekend.

I have since removed the tower from the 'oven', and it is now standing in the open with good air flow, but checking it yesterday and today, early in the morning, temps are still hovering around 42°C @ idle. It has also been a bit cooler this week with all the rain. I still need to do some more testing with the PC out in the open, I will need to stress the CPU for an hour or two, and then take some temp readings again and compare them to the ones I was getting over the weekend. If the temps are a lot lower than when the PC is in the enclosure, then if I want to keep it in there, I will have to make a plan to get better air flow through the enclosure. Maybe a 12cm AC fan mounted in the rear will help suck some of the hot air out. I will also be playing around with "Speed Fan" to see if manually adjusting my CPU and case fans will make any difference. From memory, I thing the CPU fan was running at about 1200 rpm, and the case fans at ± 900 rpm, with the PC idling.

The problem is, maybe I am worrying about the high temps too much. After reading info on the web, some people are getting temps as low as 35°C on stock cooling @ idle, but other people are getting similar temps to me. Bearing in mind that geographical regions must also play a roll, someone in the Antarctic would obviously get much lower temps than us in SA.

I would like to use this thread to monitor what temps the C2D CPU's are running at in SA @ stock speeds, using various hardware configurations.

My config:

Case : Gigabyte Triton (1 x 12cm front, 1 x 12cm rear)
M/B : Intel DP965LT
CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2,16ghz)
Cooling : Stock cooling
GPU : Radeon x800 (Stock cooling)
Core Temps @ Idle : ± 42°C (ambient temp ± 18°C)
Core Temps @ Load : ± 51°C (guessed, but will confirm after more testing)
Other info : Good airflow through case.

Thanks.
 
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What are you using to monitor your temps? I don't think the bios/motherboard method is very reliable.

Get CoreTemp and use that, it monitors the temps from the CPU's internal sensor.

My E6600 idles at 55C, about 51C when aircon is on. This is probably because I had a problem seating the stock heatsink and smudged the thermal pad a bit, I'm replacing it with a third party cooler or buying some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to re-do the job proper.

I wouldn't stress too much, 42 idle is not too bad, but try it with CoreTemp and see what that tells you.
 
I've got a C2D E6600 @ stock with a Gigabyte Neon 775 Pro cooler (basically the same as the stock one, just a bit taller heat sink and bit larger fan), also in a Gigabyte Triton case, and depending on the ambient temp, it idles between 35°C and 40°C. The highest that i've seen mine go under load is 51°C, but it's usually bout 46°C. This is when the fan's running at 1600rpm, which the slowest I can set mine.

The airflow around the case is also quite important, especially because the CPU fan draws in air from the outside. And i know my case isn't in the ideal position either, because a while ago I had my computer running in a more 'open' area, and my idle temp dropped all the way to 30°C.

With the stock HSF, your temps of 42°C @ Idle and 51°C @ under load seem very normal, so I wouldn't be too worried if I was you. ;)
 
nGage, what GPU are you running on your E6600? I'm sure my 8800GTX attributes to my heating issue.
 
so, how does these babies compare to amd in games im looking to upgrade aswell but not sure?
 
Oi, I paid R6200 for it and I aint partin' with it! :D

Ok, I confess, my fiance bought it for me for Christmas, but still!

umm...

merely a 7900GS *snif* :o

it ain't fair dammit! :(

but if your 8800GTX is so much of a heat problem I wouldn't mind swapping :D
 
The highest that i've seen mine go under load is 51°C, but it's usually bout 46°C. This is when the fan's running at 1600rpm, which the slowest I can set mine.

Which makes me think that I could get my temps down a bit if I bump up the rpm's using 'Speed Fan'.
 
, while encoding a DVD to Divx, the two cores where nearly hitting 70°C. Now that is HOT. At idle temps were hovering around 58°C to 60°C, bearing in mind that it was fairly hot in JHB over the weekend.

Thanks.

Maybe remove CPU and redo the heat paste with a proper compound like artic silver. You maybe have bad heat transfer.
 
nGAGEd55, on the Triton case, have you extended the telescopic air vent fully to meet up with the CPU fan?

I haven't, now I am thinking maybe I should. Does a CPU fan suck air away from the H/S, or does it suck air over the H/S? Logically, I suppose if it sucks air away from the H/S, then the telescopic pipe would allow HSF to remove hot air from the case directly??? Is that correct?
 
speedfan FTW

some temp monitors dont measure very well

my cpu is overclock almost 90% and doesnt get hotter than 55 under load

something is not lekka

check the fan is seated correctly

also make sure with your 2 fan that the one at back by the cpu is pulling air out not pulling air in
 
nGAGEd55, on the Triton case, have you extended the telescopic air vent fully to meet up with the CPU fan?

I haven't, now I am thinking maybe I should. Does a CPU fan suck air away from the H/S, or does it suck air over the H/S? Logically, I suppose if it sucks air away from the H/S, then the telescopic pipe would allow HSF to remove hot air from the case directly??? Is that correct?
yeah, the air vent cone is quite close to my CPU fan.

The idea is that it blows air over the heatsink, and that it pulls in cool air from the outside through the vent.

I think your biggest problem is the position of the case. Because it doesn't get any cool air and just sucks the warm air back in.

Like I said, the temps you get when your computer is in the open is perfectly normal for a C2D with stock cooling.
 
I'm still waiting for Speedfan to support my motherboard/sensors.

I've got the Gigabyte GA-965-DQ6
 
well CoreTemp is reporting that my E6600 is running at 100°C because a driver is failing to load. It doesn't seem to work under Vista :(
 
These temperatures sound way too hot. I heard about people overclocking their E6300 (1.8GHz) to the speed of an E6400 (2.1GHz) with stock cooling. How is that possible? You'd fry your chip!
 
I dunno, I've heard alot of things about the Core 2 Duo's heatsink being slightly curved at the base (thus not conducting heat properly).

I had problems with the clips not seating properly, not a nice design IMHO, alot of people have complained.

Then I've heard folks getting as low as 37C with stock cooling with the E6600.

Anyway, rule of thumb, if you're going to OC, do it with a better CPU cooler, SA is a hot country ;)

These temperatures sound way too hot. I heard about people overclocking their E6300 (1.8GHz) to the speed of an E6400 (2.1GHz) with stock cooling. How is that possible? You'd fry your chip!
 
These temperatures sound way too hot. I heard about people overclocking their E6300 (1.8GHz) to the speed of an E6400 (2.1GHz) with stock cooling. How is that possible? You'd fry your chip!
Duuuude, 2.13Ghz is hardly an overclock for a E6300 :p

When a CPU is made, it is tested to see at what the highest frequency it is able to achieve, since not all chips perform equally. So say a Core 2 Duo chip can only reach 2.5Ghz, they could clock it down to 2.4Ghz and mark it as an E6600. Now because of higher demand of slower chips, due to lower prices they often down clock a chip to say 1.8Ghz while it could actually run at 3Ghz. And in reality, most Core 2 Duo chips can easily run at more than 3Ghz with, in many cases, stock cooling, so running a E6300 at 3.2Ghz isn't that hard. ;)

BTW, if the above doesn't make much sense, it's possibly due to the fact that I need to go to bed, and i'm sure someone else can explain the whole process a whole lot better.

I dunno, I've heard alot of things about the Core 2 Duo's heatsink being slightly curved at the base (thus not conducting heat properly).
well from what I've heard the curve in the heat spreader is supposed to improve heat transfer somehow, cant remember why or how. :o
 
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Running my E6400 at 3.2Ghz and it sits at 47C idle and goes to 55C-60C under load. But then again I'm using a Zalman CNPS9500 CPU cooler :)
 
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