Intel 4790 (non-k) temps—should I worry?

[Generator22]

Hi, everyone, noob question here. My CPU temp is 45°C when idle, up to the higher 80s when gaming, and up to 95° when encoding video. After reading some articles, I see that this is definitely above normal (which is around 30° idle and 50° when gaming). My question is if these temps are something I should actually worry about—especially if there's a chance they will shorten my CPU's useful life—or if this is a case of "lower would be better, but it's ok and it won't kill your processor."

 

[DubbleClick]

95 degrees is over the top for everyday use. I wouldn't want to to go past 70 degrees, which it shouldn't even with the stock cooler.

Things to check:
Is your cooler correctly seated, connected and running at full speed?
What's the cpu voltage? Try 1.2v static voltage in your bios (default usually lets it go way above that) and slowly turn it down as long as it stays stable. My I7 4790k only needs 1.12v for 4.4ghz, default setting from the motherboard liked grilling it with up to 1.36v.

 

[Generator22]

95 degrees is over the top for everyday use. I wouldn't want to to go past 70 degrees, which it shouldn't even with the stock cooler.

Things to check:
Is your cooler correctly seated, connected and running at full speed?
What's the cpu voltage? Try 1.2v static voltage in your bios (default usually lets it go way above that) and slowly turn it down as long as it stays stable. My I7 4790k only needs 1.12v for 4.4ghz, default setting from the motherboard liked grilling it with up to 1.36v.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I checked the voltage in my BIOS a few minutes ago and it's below 1.12v, so that shouldn't be the problem. I'll check the cooler, although it does run at full speed once the CPU hits high temps (over 70°).

Meanwhile, do you think these temps may have had an impact on the useful life or performance of my CPU? I'm really confused by what I've been reading about recommended temps, rated temps, and so on.

 

[DubbleClick]

You don't need to check your voltage in your bios, but while gaming/rendering videos. Checking it and temperatures in the bios is meaningless because there's no workload.

And yes, high temperatures will shorten its life span. Even though thermal protection should kick in and downclock the cpu if it gets too hot, failure might be possible too.

You can use a tool like CoreTemp and / or Cpu-Z to check your voltage/temp/speed/other stuff under Windows.