i7-4710HQ reads 90°C at max load (not OC'd)

[qzex]

I have a two-month-old MSI GS70 Stealth Pro and I noticed that the CPU temperature is very high (goes up to 90-95°C) when it's under full load. When it's idle it hovers at around 50°C, which still seems quite high. I was planning to run BOINC pretty much continuously but I'm not sure if it's safe.

Here's HWMonitor and CPU-Z when it's idle:

And here it is when running Prime95:

It certainly doesn't feel that hot when it's supposedly burning up at 90°C. I stuck a thermometer in the CPU fan exhaust at full load and it reads 54°C. Is it possible that HWMonitor is just acting up?

 

[Powerbolt]

You'd probably feel it if it was truly hitting 90-95c.

Try using RealTemp, and see what it says. It could be that HWMonitor isn't getting the right temperature.

 

[qzex]

You'd probably feel it if it was truly hitting 90-95c.

Try using RealTemp, and see what it says. It could be that HWMonitor isn't getting the right temperature.

RealTemp reports the same temperatures.

 

[unclewebb]

CPUs are tiny and when running software that uses new features like the AVX or AVX 2 instructions, mobile CPUs really do get extremely hot. The old, "let's see if we can feel some hot air coming out" is not the way to keep track of how hot your CPU is.

The LOG word in the RealTemp - Thermal Status area confirms that your CPU has reached the thermal throttling temperature. Intel sets this to 100C for your CPU but some manufacturers use an offset feature in the bios so the CPU will start throttling before it reaches 100C. That is why Intel included an extra bit in their CPUs that separately keeps track of thermal throttling. If the CPU ever hit the throttling temperature, even for a millisecond, the LOG word in RealTemp confirms that this really did happen. RealTemp does not even need to be running when this happens. This flag is set within the CPU. After you are done gaming or whatever, you can start up RealTemp to check if it hit the throttling temperature or not.

BTW, RealTemp GT is for the 6 core CPUs. Your CPU only has 4 cores so the regular version of RealTemp.exe is fine.

It might be a good idea to disassemble your laptop and learn how to apply thermal paste. Many manufacturers use too much. All manufacturers like building quiet laptops but the cooling might not be adequate for maximum performance. Intel recommends that manufacturers include adequate cooling and tells them not to rely on thermal throttling but no one seems to be listening to that advice.

 

[raverz]

CPUs are tiny and when running software that uses new features like the AVX or AVX 2 instructions, mobile CPUs really do get extremely hot. The old, "let's see if we can feel some hot air coming out" is not the way to keep track of how hot your CPU is.

The LOG word in the RealTemp - Thermal Status area confirms that your CPU has reached the thermal throttling temperature. Intel sets this to 100C for your CPU but some manufacturers use an offset feature in the bios so the CPU will start throttling before it reaches 100C. That is why Intel included an extra bit in their CPUs that separately keeps track of thermal throttling. If the CPU ever hit the throttling temperature, even for a millisecond, the LOG word in RealTemp confirms that this really did happen. RealTemp does not even need to be running when this happens. This flag is set within the CPU. After you are done gaming or whatever, you can start up RealTemp to check if it hit the throttling temperature or not.

BTW, RealTemp GT is for the 6 core CPUs. Your CPU only has 4 cores so the regular version of RealTemp.exe is fine.

It might be a good idea to disassemble your laptop and learn how to apply thermal paste. Many manufacturers use too much. All manufacturers like building quiet laptops but the cooling might not be adequate for maximum performance. Intel recommends that manufacturers include adequate cooling and tells them not to rely on thermal throttling but no one seems to be listening to that advice.

Great writeup! However, how much thermal paste is too much?