Idle temp question

[Strider14x88]

G'day all. I'm running a hyper 212x with 2 fans (push/pull) on an i5 7600k, my idle temp hovers between 37 and 42°C, under heavy load I've seen it hit around 65 at most. The ambient room temp can range from 26°C to the early 30s, with maybe 40% humidity.
I've tried checking other people's results in forums, but everyone seems to have a nice, livable 20°C ambient temp, but I live in a warm, humid place and I'm unsure lf the formula to work my temp out and see if they're normal.

I also find that when opening certain programs, the temp will spike briefly, the fans will speed up, then it'll drop back down. As far as I'm also like ware this is normal, but I just thought I'd include it just in case.

 

[jdcranke07]

G'day all. I'm running a hyper 212x with 2 fans (push/pull) on an i5 7600k, my idle temp hovers between 37 and 42°C, under heavy load I've seen it hit around 65 at most. The ambient room temp can range from 26°C to the early 30s, with maybe 40% humidity.
I've tried checking other people's results in forums, but everyone seems to have a nice, livable 20°C ambient temp, but I live in a warm, humid place and I'm unsure lf the formula to work my temp out and see if they're normal.

I also find that when opening certain programs, the temp will spike briefly, the fans will speed up, then it'll drop back down. As far as I'm also like ware this is normal, but I just thought I'd include it just in case.

Your temps are perfectly fine and expected for a warmer climate. As far as the fan speed ramp up, that is normal when your CPU suddenly clocks up in order to perform heavier tasks. As soon as the CPU has dropped in clock speed and in temp, the fan speed should slow down to match it. Powersaving modes are responsible for this behavior.

 

[Dark Falz]

There are two "CPU temperature" sensors on the CPU plus one per core. One which controls Tcase, the other Tjunction. The Tcase (located at the IHS) should should have less wild fluctuations and be generally lower. The Tjunction is the sensor on the core package itself, and is usually higher (10-20 degrees). I don't know if it actually a separate sensor or if it is just whichever core is highest at the time, I suspect the latter.

So first it would be useful to know which software you are using, because some use the first and some use the second (MSI Afterburner, for example). I would consider those temps fine either way, but I would try a different / more conservative fan curve if you can actually hear it spin up just for light use.

Note, unless you are using an active cooler (liquid etc.) your idle temp is never going to be lower than the ambient temp.

 

[jdcranke07]

There are two "CPU temperature" sensors on the CPU plus one per core. One which controls Tcase, the other Tjunction. The Tcase (located at the IHS) should should have less wild fluctuations and be generally lower. The Tjunction is the sensor on the core package itself, and is usually higher (10-20 degrees). I don't know if it actually a separate sensor or if it is just whichever core is highest at the time, I suspect the latter.

So first it would be useful to know which software you are using, because some use the first and some use the second (MSI Afterburner, for example). I would consider those temps fine either way, but I would try a different / more conservative fan curve if you can actually hear it spin up just for light use.

Note, unless you are using an active cooler (liquid etc.) your idle temp is never going to be lower than the ambient temp.

Just a minor addendum. To get below ambient you will need liquid of some type and a chiller. Even if you have a water cooled system and no chiller, you will at least be a degree or so higher than ambient at all times.

 

[Strider14x88]

I'm not looking to go below ambient temperature, I just wanted to know if my temps are okay considering my ambient temp. I have a mate with a similar cpu, but stock cooler and gets 27° idle with an ambient room temp of 18-20. So I wasn't sure if the extra 8-10°C in ambient temp would justify a cpu temp that higher. But I guess different cpu''s will idle at different temps anyway.

 

[jdcranke07]

I'm not looking to go below ambient temperature, I just wanted to know if my temps are okay considering my ambient temp. I have a mate with a similar cpu, but stock cooler and gets 27° idle with an ambient room temp of 18-20. So I wasn't sure if the extra 8-10°C in ambient temp would justify a cpu temp that higher. But I guess different cpu''s will idle at different temps anyway.

Depends on other factors as well, such as airflow within your case. If you have the same ambient as him, for example, and you airflow isn't as good as his, then your temps would be higher since the hot air isn't moving out of the case as fast as his. Having negative or positive airflow, instead of neutral, as well as obstructions in the case can contribute to higher temps.

 

[synphul]

It's not a perfect science but usually for every degree the ambient room temps rise the cpu temps follow suit. An extra 8-10c of ambient temp applied to roughly 27c that your friend is getting would result in 35-37c or so. You're not too far off base there. Make sure your idle temps are truly idle, if the cpu is working at 5-10% it's not idle. Idle is 0-1% for roughly 5min or so allowing it to stabilize. It will never be absolutely 0% given windows and background tasks.

The more important temp though is your load temp and whether you're overheating or not. The cooler speeding up under load and dropping back down is normal. Especially since it's a smaller cooler compared to say a noctua nh-d14 with dual rows of heatpipes and fin stacks. It will take a little bit more to cool the cpu with hotter ambient air vs cooler 22c air. As the surrounding air gets warmer it can't carry away as much heat from the cooler and lower temp air would.

 

[Dark Falz]

Higher ambient is going to mean higher CPU core, it's not quite a linear curve but for all intents and purposes from 10-35 degrees it might as well be. But your CPU fan should not spin up from light work, there is something amiss there. Make sure you have Quiet-Fan or whatever it is for your MB manufacturer on in the BIOS. Also like I said, your friend might be measuring the temp at the IHS, whereas you are measuring the temp in the package, which is going to be higher.