CPU Thermal question

[applebeer]

Hello,
I have a Pentium XE 965, and a zalman CNPS9700 NT heatsink on it.

My question is, When i go into the bios after a cold start and look at the system temps the CPU temp sits at 45-50C, is this high? I played some games for a few hours and then checked it again and it was sitting at a steady 51-52C.

The heatsink was a bit of a pain to put on, but would it be worth it to take it off and put some better thermal gel on it or should i leave it alone? I put the stuff that came with the fan on it, the zalman super thermal grease stuff.

Thanks

 

[wuzy]

Was the Zalman thermal paste already pre-applied or did you applied it yourself?
How much did you put on the heatspreader if you applied it yourself?

 

[o1die]

Your temps are normal. I would leave it alone.

 

[striker10001]

i'd be damn happy if i had your temps, take a look at my thread....

 

[evongugg]

Is the 9700 blowing air out the back of the case?
Or out the top of the case through a fan?

 

[leo2kp]

If you play for a few hours, close out of the game and then check the temps, you're already too late to check actual load temps. The CPU will drop its temp after usage within a few seconds. You have to monitor the temps while the CPU is in use. It can be tricky.

 

[wuzy]

Indeed, the idle-load delta for an average aircooler like CNPS9700 on a i7@3Ghz+ is over 26C. Hence I asked the thermal paste question.

 

[applebeer]

Thanks for the replys

I applied the thermal paste myself, and i put quite a bit on there as the directions showed. I tried to look at the real temp program but it says my processor is not supported so i dont know of a real time temperature program that will work.

Also the heatsink is pointed so it blows out the back of the case.

I just wanted to know if the temps were ok or if i should try to make them better.

 

[mlcloud]

Run a stability test, either Prime95 or something similar and check the temps WHILE the test is running. I know my heatsink fan can drop to idle temperatures in about 2 seconds, so alt-tab really isn't a reliable.

If the load temps are truly 51-52 degrees, hell, that's great. I'd kill for those temperatures on my overclocked quad xD

 

[Mousemonkey]

How about running Rivatuners HW monitor?, then when you come out of the game you can see what the temps have been at over the last 20 minutes or so.

 

[applebeer]

I tried rivatuner and it would not see a cpu temperature no matter which plugin i would add and use. I went and looked around and saw on another thread the cpuid hardware monitor and it works.

I played a game for an hour and then ran a stability test this morning and it says the min temp was 41C and max temp was 62C for the CPU, and the mainboard was min of 36C, max of 41C. So is that good or bad?

It was rather cold this morning, someone turned the ac on more than it usually is, would that change any of the temps very much?

 

[Mousemonkey]

I use the Everest plugin as I have Everest installed.

 

[mlcloud]

Ambient temperatures make a *huge* difference. I know my processors can hit 70 on a hot day while they'll stay around 62 on cooler days, and even less than that with the AC on.

62 I believe is acceptable, but someone will have to check the thermal limits of that pentium.