CPU Temperature: How high is too high?

a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
edited June 2006 in Hardware
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.
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Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited June 2006
    55 deg. C under load is cautionary, and 60 and above is too high. That's JMO though.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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?
  • EnverexEnverex
    remembers his Thunderbird that ran happily at 85'c...
     Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    remembers his Thunderbird that ran happily at 85'c...
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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%.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    The issue in the thread Tim, is what temperatures are too high. Before you backed down on CPU utilization was the machine becoming unstable?
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited June 2006
    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...
  • rolleggrollrolleggroll Next to a bowl of rice
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • rolleggrollrolleggroll Next to a bowl of rice
    edited June 2006
    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. -_-
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited June 2006
    My P4 2.8 doesn't exceed ~38*C at load...
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    Here here. Well said.
  • rapturerapture
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • KometeKomete Member
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    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.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited July 2013
    Hi! I found this thread on your great site when I googled for "CPU temp how high is too high". I'm wondering if these numbers are still accurate. My laptop is running at 77c, and I think that's probably why it's freezing up every few hours.

    I guess my real question is: Is there a test that will help me know for sure that it's heat? I don't want to assume causation from correlation.


    Side note: All the software I had in my personal storehouse for measuring CPU temps would no run on Win7. It took a while to find one that would.

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    Coretemp: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ is the only thing I use for CPU temp these days.

    Coretemp tells you the Tj. Max of your CPU which should be near 100C for a mobile.

    What is TjMax?
    Tjunction Max (TjMax) is the maximum temperature the manufacturer has rated their processor at. This value represents the maximum temperature the hottest part of the processor core should not exceed.
    This value should not be confused with the TCaseMax rating, which indicates the maximum temperature the top-center of the processor's heatspreader should not exceed.
    If your CPU is rated for 100C TjMax, and it was nearing the 100C value in the temperature fields, that is a sign of overheating. The temperature should not exceed this value, or it may cause instability, shorten the life of the CPU and cause massive performance issues.
    A rule of thumb dictates that the temperature should be kept around 20C or lower below the TjMax value while under full load.

    What is considered to be a safe temperature for my processor?
    For processors with the "TjMax" value being shown in Core Temp it is usually considered best to keep the temperature 15-20C below that value when the processor is under full load.
    For chips which don't provide a TjMax value, such as the AMD K8 family of chips, it's best to keep the temps under 70C full load.
    Butters
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    Most mobile CPUs are rated for up to 100C, not the 50-70C of a desktop CPU.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    I guess I should have just asked. CoreTemp is the app I finally found that I like. :p

    My proc. doesn't seem to indicate a TjMax.

    imageimage
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    Running the proc under full load for a few minutes sends the temps up to 82/75.
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    IMO, too hot.
    Your CPU is before Tj Max numbers were coded in as described above.

    I would remove heatsink and install better thermal paste as well as thoroughly clean the fins, etc while it was out. Also make sure you have lappie on a hard surface, soft just blocks the air intake.
    CB
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    In my experience an overheating laptop has fan problems, you might just need a new fan.
    CB
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited July 2013
    I've got it up on a mesh wedge to keep it as cool as possible, and the fan seems to be running. I've already dusted it as much as I can without full disassembly. I guess reseating the CPU is the next step...

    Ugh. I hate taking laptops apart. SO MANY TINY SCREWS. Why can't these things just snap together, or have a single panel, like a desktop?

    (rhetorical question, btw)

    Edit: I'm running it at full load (about an hour at 100% so far) and it seems to have settled in at 86c (It got there about 40 min. ago, and hasn't gotten any hotter). If heat was causing it to freeze, wouldn't it have done it by now?
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    The other thing to remember is that in most laptops, the CPU and GPU cooling are connected. You may not see super high temps when you just load the cpu, but throw some GPU in there too, and you'll hit TEXAS°
    RyderCB
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    The thing is: It'll freeze anyway. If I just leave it sitting on the desktop with nothing running, it will still freeze after a few hours. Is it possible that this is something else and that the high CPU temps are a coincidence? Should I make a new thread for to troubleshoot this lappy?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    I'm going to say it's not heat.
    CB
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Does it freeze when plugged in?
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