CPU temperature

[Deleted]

So, i just received and built my new (and first self-built) computer and after about an hour of playing Guild Wars 2 at the max. settings the CPU temperature is around 55-60 degrees Celsius. Is this acceptable? I have the AMD Phenom II x4.

[rinleezwins]

Totally acceptable with the stock heatsink. As far as I remember, the critical temp for phenoms is 70 or 80 Celsius.

[Deleted]

70, as far as i know. Thanks, i'll continue playing then! I was getting worried as it reached 61 degrees, but it's around 54-55 degrees now.

[Drihan]

AMD and Intel works slightly differently, but 55-60 is completely normal, when it gets to around 75+ then you should worry and get some better venting or even cooling paste.

[Asera]

Uh... Phenom II's shouldn't go above 60ºC. Their thermal max is somewhere around 62ºC. Maybe 64, I am not entirely sure, but it's not 70+.

[Deleted]

How can i lower the CPU temperature?

[Deleted]

TJ max for a Phenom II x 4 is close to 64 C so maybe you need to re-seat the HSF or you could try lowering the voltage a little nudge at a time to get temps down. Auto Vcore on some motherboards is way higher than you actually need.

[Deleted]

I don't know how to lower the voltage, Romandix. I'm a massive noobie when it comes to hardware.

[Roia]

Buy a better heatsink. Stock heatsinks are only there to do the bare minimum cooling required and usually won't perform too well if your lacking case cooling or have no a/c in the summer. Personally I would recommend getting one of the Noctua air cooled heatsinks. Mine pretty much idles about 2C below room temperature and under full load (prime95) my cpu will hover around 35C and not go any higher.

[Deleted]

Thanks man.
I just ran Prime95 and my CPU's temperature shot up to 62-ish degrees and it was still climbing but i turned prime95 off. I'll look into another heatsink.

[Asera]

The stock cooler shouldn't be performing that bad. When I had a Phenom II, it rarely went above 44 degrees at load.

Is your case airflow poor? Do you live in Florida and have no AC?

[Deleted]

Heh, nah, the temperature in my room is average, although the computer is standing in a rather cramped spot right now as my ethernet cable can't reach any further. A friend of mine is brining a longer cable over soon, hopefully that'll help some.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Buy a better heatsink. Stock heatsinks are only there to do the bare minimum cooling required and usually won't perform too well if your lacking case cooling or have no a/c in the summer. Personally I would recommend getting one of the Noctua air cooled heatsinks. Mine pretty much idles about 2C below room temperature and under full load (prime95) my cpu will hover around 35C and not go any higher.

How in the world does a cooler that uses air from the environment around the computer chill the cpu below the temperature of that air? I'm sure you must be breaking some laws of thermodynamics there.

[Roia]

How in the world does a cooler that uses air from the environment around the computer chill the cpu below the temperature of that air? I'm sure you must be breaking some laws of thermodynamics there.

I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for it, but I'm not 100% positive on the specific laws that would cause this. For one, my cpu cooler doesn't ramp down at all, there's a glitch with the motherboard so its always at 100% regardless of the cpu load. However, you can do a simple test with a thermometer probe. If you let it stay still, it will read your room temperature, but if you swing it around (creating a wind on the sensor) the temperature will start to drop and rise again when you stop swinging it. My best guess as to what would cause this, might be due to evaporation of moisture in the air. Some examples would be sweat from your body evaporating to cool your body, or in large building systems with cooling towers, which use air to cool water below actual air temperature.

[Deleted]

I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for it, but I'm not 100% positive on the specific laws that would cause this. For one, my cpu cooler doesn't ramp down at all, there's a glitch with the motherboard so its always at 100% regardless of the cpu load. However, you can do a simple test with a thermometer probe. If you let it stay still, it will read your room temperature, but if you swing it around (creating a wind on the sensor) the temperature will start to drop and rise again when you stop swinging it. My best guess as to what would cause this, might be due to evaporation of moisture in the air. Some examples would be sweat from your body evaporating to cool your body, or in large building systems with cooling towers, which use air to cool water below actual air temperature.

It's simply not possible ^^
Either your probe is displaying a couple more degrees or your CPU sensor is not 100% accurate.
I suspect the first one because a CPU idleing at room temps is really not that possible unless you're running a 240mm rad or something, and even then it should be a couple degrees higher. Remember there's voltage going through that, it creates heat no matter what.

The sweat thing you mentioned is an entirely different mechanism. The heat in your body leaves through the water particles, thus cooling down the rest of your body because heat left. the CPU heatsink is made up of metal, and if anything really humid like sweat is would pass the chips you'd probably short them.

At least that's my view on the entire case here, no drama please when what I posted is wrong.

[glo]

I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for it, but I'm not 100% positive on the specific laws that would cause this. For one, my cpu cooler doesn't ramp down at all, there's a glitch with the motherboard so its always at 100% regardless of the cpu load. However, you can do a simple test with a thermometer probe. If you let it stay still, it will read your room temperature, but if you swing it around (creating a wind on the sensor) the temperature will start to drop and rise again when you stop swinging it. My best guess as to what would cause this, might be due to evaporation of moisture in the air. Some examples would be sweat from your body evaporating to cool your body, or in large building systems with cooling towers, which use air to cool water below actual air temperature.

Moisture in the air is already evaporated. It's impossible to use ambient air cooling to achieve lower than ambient temperatures.

---------- Post added 2012-07-21 at 11:03 PM ----------

The heat in your body leaves through the water particles, thus cooling down the rest of your body because heat left.

Sweat doesn't transfer heat out of the body. It cools through evaporation. Evaporating liquid (and the act thereof) is colder than most ambient temperatures, cooling the skin. That's why when you get out of the shower and dry off with a towel and leave the room, it feels as if you randomly walked into a 30 degree room. The reason it only happens when you towel off is because when you do so, it only leaves a fraction of the initial moisture on your skin, and when you leave the humid bathroom, ALL of it immediately evaporates.

I don't know, that's the best example of the phenomenon I can think of. Don't hate. :P

[Deleted]

getting heatsink is always a good idea, but your temp is ok.
ive had my phenom II on about 85°C was it i think, the pc just refused and shut down. but that was about a year ago, it was a realy hot summer and the airflow of my old case wasnt that good.
now i use a watercooler (closed system) and the cpu idles at about 30-35 and never goes over 40°.
Antec H2O 620 is the one i use, if ure interested (http://www.alternate.de/html/product...O_620/824420/? if you're from germany )

[Nitrax]

I second the Antec H2O 620.. its not ultra quiet and its not for massive overclocking but it is good quality and value for money.