CPU Temperatures

[Tigerbite]

i7 2600k
Hyper212+


Getting ready to overclock my CPU, but I'm kinda iffy with my temperatures.

With just Firefox open they're running most of the time at 40C (sometimes it spikes up to 50C) and something tells me that's a little high. Whenever I ran the Windows Experience thing it got up to 82C on 2 of the cores.

I have the heat sink fan by the memory. I have a small vent area on the side of my case and one back fan. It's an old case so it might be that hot because of air flow not sure.

Is 40C ok? Should it be that hot using the Hyper212+ ? I see a lot of people that mention it being between like 26-32C. (But like I said, might be the case's fault.)

 

[axe1592]

82C with Windows Experience is a little high cause thats not that taxing a test. You sure you applied the thermal paste properly? The Hyper 212 aint high end but it should be getting better temps than this.

 

[Tigerbite]

It wasn't screwed down all the way and I think I used some sucky thermal paste (if it ever did exist.) Waiting on arctic silver 5 to come in.

Since I screwed the heat sink all the way down, temps dropped about 20 degrees but it's still high.

 

[axe1592]

Yeah, it sounds like a thermal paste issue. When you get some new stuff in, Im betting thatll fix it up for ya.

 

[Pearlmam]

62 degrees isn't bad, your voltages are probably high as well. If you are waiting on the thermal paste to arrive before overclocking, you can practice by undervolting the stock clock setting. That'll knock off another 10 degrees.

 

[Tigerbite]

I've never OCd anything before and the voltages kinda scare me. XD

The motherboard I have has like a "smart" function thing. It lets me choose between Stock, 3.8, 4.4, 4.8. I put it on 4.4 and whenever I ran Prime95 it was at 90 again. T_T But I have no idea what it did with the voltages, either.

 

[Pearlmam]

You should be cautious with voltages but not scared . I would be more concerned with what voltages "it" is choosing. They are most likely choosing voltages .1 volts higher than what you need (that will reduce temps be at least 10 degrees). When overclocking manually, you always adjust voltage and clock, AND you expect to crash at some point (Thats how you find the limit of the CPU, RAM, and whatever else). When undervolting, the risk is very very low of braking something (Honestly I think there is no risk, someone correct me if I am wrong). The worst that can happen is that you get a failed overclock where the computer wont start. It sounds bad but you just need to "hard reset" the mobo, which consists of moving a jumper to reset bios (2 seconds of time, easy).

Get CPUZ to monitor the voltage in the OS. Take note of the voltage under stress and at Idle. The goal is to try to recreate this voltage under manual voltage settings, and then lower it.

You should figure out what Vdroop means, and what Vdroop settings your mobo has. Then you can start adjusting the voltage. And thats it. Just monitor the voltage and adjust accordingly. Do not be intimidated.