CPU Temperature: How high is too high?

[a2jfreak]

I have an Opteron 165 @ 2.5GHz (278 x 9.0). Both cores have been pegged at 100% for the last several hours. CPU temp (according to PC Probe (ASUS A8N5X)) is 59 degrees C. Is this too high? vCore registers 1.488v/1.504v in CPU-Z.

I'm using the stock heatsink/fan with stock compound.
If the temps are safe I'm going to leave it alone. If they're too high I might back
down my overclock or see if lowering the vCore will keep me stable @ 2.5GHz.

The heatsink is the one with heatpipes. Looks pretty nice to me, so perhaps if the temps are too high a little better fan would be ok, or perhaps taking off the heatsink and replacing the factory compound with some arctic silver would shave off a couple of degrees.

[Leonardo]

A good rule of thumb for CPU core and acceptable heat buildup is a question: does your computer do everything you need to do with it and have no stability problems? If the answer is yes, you don't need additional cooling. Assuming you won't be overclocking, your CPU core temp should not be a problem. It is within the temperature tolerance given by AMD.

[TheSmJ]

55 deg. C under load is cautionary, and 60 and above is too high. That's JMO though.

[lemonlime]

My opinion is in line with TheSmj's recommendations.

The increased vcore really makes a big temperature difference on dual-core proecssors. I would see if you can get it stable at closer to default vcore. Alternatively, you can replace the default fan on that heatsink. I'm waiting for mudd to chime in, but apparently a higher flow fan can work wonders on that retail heatpipe sink.

Also, I would recommend cleaning up that factory compound and replacing it with some AS5 or equivilant.

[csimon]

the AS5 is a good start but don't expect too much ...maybe you can tweak your case cooling as well. A better fan should help a lot too. I think it's on the high side for 2.5ghz myself. Do you really need that much vcore for that clock or can you bump it down a little?

[Enverex]

/me remembers his Thunderbird that ran happily at 85'c...

[Tim]

I have an unlocked Barton 2500 in my NF-7 overclocked to 2.2 Ghz (200 X 11), and I like to keep it at 50 degrees C, maybe 51-52 at the most.

I used to run it at 100% load for folding, but we recently had some hot weather and I checked and saw it running at 57 degrees:hair:

So I backed it down to 50% folding and dropped 6 degrees off it. It's still at 50%.

[Leonardo]

The issue in the thread Tim, is what temperatures are too high. Before you backed down on CPU utilization was the machine becoming unstable?

[TheGr81]

I don't like anything above around 50*C, but I'm still running a P4 northwood. I'm not really sure how today's processors compare to yesteryear's as far as heat goes...

[rolleggroll]

My old p4 northwood, ran around 60 under little to no load. 65-70 under full load, and gaming. it was all stable, no problems, then one day it hits 72 and bam!! my computer overheats and i lose parts. i wasnt even doing anything. well i just opened a porno, but that was it. it didnt even render the video or anything then click, bam, it dies like that.

enough of my sad tale. in regards to the question, 59 does seem to be too high, but if it is stable, then it is ok. only worry if it gets to high 60s imo. but then again my crap died.

[rolleggroll]

speaking of which i am in bangkok, thailand right now and over here we have 45'c weather and a buttload of humidity, but the two computers here have opty 170's running fine at 62 full load. they each have geforces 6800, and 1 gig of value ram. we got imported actic silver 5, and a aftermarket heatsink, but iono which one.

i personally think it is too high, but it is stable, i am playing f.e.a.r. to pass the time. too bad i got dialup. -_-

[a2jfreak]

I've tried all the settings between 1.300 and 1.450 volts, and the only one that is stable is 1.450, unfortuntely, it's not 1.450 volts, it's more like 1.5 (the same voltage I reported earlier). Perhaps a BIOS update will make the voltage more accurate, and cleaner as the voltage fluctuates by as much as .032 volts, which in my opinion is a bit much.

[QCH]

I have a Compaq with an Athlon 63 3200+. With F@H running, it stays around 62*C. Skryking has the same laptop but with a Athlon 3000+ (not 64-bit) and he sees the same temps. We both have replaced the stock thermal compound with AS5 and cleaned the fans out regularly... System is stable and peppy. A bit warm for the lap though!!! :D

[TheGr81]

My P4 2.8 doesn't exceed ~38*C at load...

[Enverex]

It's simple. The temperature is too high if the processor starts kicking out errors or the machine automatically turns off. If it doesn't then it's fine. Hell, I had an old 1.4Ghz Thunderbird (the originals) that ran at 83'c stable. My laptop normally idles around 60'c (P4 Northwood 2.4Ghz Laptop) and my desktop Athlon 64 X2 3800+ idles around 37'c.

[Leonardo]

Here here. Well said.

[rapture]

My machine lies to me. According to the BIOS and Speedfan it hits 53 degrees right on boot but a week of folding only gets it up to 54 degrees.

Unless you have some sort of external guage I don't think you can ever be sure.

I'm running a socket 745 3000+ minus the integrated heatsink and an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.

[Komete]

I don't know what kind of systems you guys have had but I've never had a cpu that was stable past the mid 55c mark. old p3/duron 650 oc 1ghz/athlon 1.4/ 1800+ oc to 2.1 ghz/ mobile 2500+ oced to 2.5/ opteron 148 oc to 2.9 and I'm sure I'm missing a few others. I'ce gotton respectable overclocks just my shizbat dies somewhere between 52 and 56c. That 1.4 athlon got into the 60's but that was at stock vcore. But if it works a2jfreak than let it be.

[Leonardo]

I don't know what kind of systems you guys have had but I've never had a cpu that was stable past the mid 55c mark The technology has changed. In general, newer generations of CPUs, especially Intel's, have had higher operating temperatures as well as higher maximum tolerances. The extreme examples have been the Intel Pentium 4 Prescott cores and Intel D8XX Smithfield (dual) core CPUs. These two series had to be heat tolerant, as they have high energy demands and waste much of it in the form of heat. The Smithfield CPUs can run perfectly in the 70's*C. No, I wouldn't consider that a great achievement. The better achievement would have been for them to consume far less power. Fortunately, with shift to 65nm for Intel and AMD's ever improving substrate processes, such as "silicon on insulator", operating temperatures are trending down again.