48 degrees Celsius idle good or bad?

[Ego Banana]

Is 48 degrees when idle good or bad?

I'm thinking of replacing my cpu heatsink and was wondering if 48 degrees C when idle a bad sign.

Room temp is around 18-20 C.

 

[Smudgy]

cpu? amd's run hotter than intels what cpu

 

[Ego Banana]

Yes CPU.

Oops forgot to put that in.

 

[Smudgy]

model number? stock heatsink ect

 

[Ego Banana]

Intel core i7 920

stock dell xps 435t cylinder heatsink

not overclocked

 

[Smudgy]

all stock heatsinks no offense lick cat butt. temps not bad but could do better maybe a cool master tx3 will fit? hyper 212 maybe to tall for that case

 

[Ego Banana]

Unfortunately a refurbished dell heatsink will only work as the motherboard accepts a specific screw mounted model.

Thanks for the help.

 

[aldan]

has this always been your idle temps or is this a recent thing?if this is a recent thing check to make sure the heatsink isnt dirty and blow it out with compressed air if it is.another thing to consider is how long its been since youve reapplied the thermo paste.with your ambient temps what they are this is more than i would want to see as an idle temp but more importantly what are your temps under load?

 

[Smudgy]

my suggestion would be to redo your thermal paste with some quality thermal paste 'artic silver ect' if your temps are that much of a concern whats your temps under load?

 

[Ego Banana]

I just installed Open Hardware Monitor today and saw that my temperatures seemed high compared to others. After launching skyrim I saw my cpu temp shoot up around 50-60.

Not too long ago I had cleaned out my case with compressed air and half pulled off the heatsink and decided not to bother. So I screwed it back on. (It was lifted a few centimeters off of the contact pad.)
Looking back, that was a bad mistake and I probably had messed up the thermal compound.

However my replacement heatsink has arrived and the Arctic Silver 5 kit should be here by Monday so I should be able to get things fixed up soon.

 

[Smudgy]

if you half pulled it off thats what your problem is thats a nono redo your paste an you'll be fine

 

[Smudgy]

you didnt need another heatsink unless your stock fan was fubared just needed repasting

 

[Ego Banana]

My old heatsink fan was beginning to make whining and rattling noises (fan bearings wearing down) and the replacement was around $17.00.

 

[Ego Banana]

Just to clear things up I noticed the high temps after ordering the heatsink and thermal paste.

 

[Smudgy]

well glad you noticed it by your description of bearing whine she was due a new one and as is with all comps re applying thermal paste every couple years is like your 20,000 mile maintenance in your car ya know gear oil change tranny flush ect lol well good luck