Intel core i5 2500k Safe temp and fan speeds?

[skunkz68]

I just recently built my computer and while i was playing SWTOR it hit the cpu threshold of 72c was wondering if it should have gotten that high while i was playing for several looooong hours. Note i havent made any changes to cpu since install. Should i manual set my cpu fan speed to high rpm?

 

[amuffin]

Temperatures max for the 2500k are around 80-90C. 72C is perfectly fine, I am assuming you are using the stock cooler?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

You can set the fan speed higher if you want, but 72 actually isn't too terribly bad. Time to worry is more like 85-90C.

 

[skunkz68]

Temperatures max for the 2500k are around 80-90C. 72C is perfectly fine, I am assuming you are using the stock cooler?

Yes I'm still using the stock cooler(heatsink and fan) that came in the box along with used the stock paste that came on. was told that is works just as good. When I turn up the speed of the cpu fan the asus suite started giving me warning. Idealy where should i be at when playing a game for long periods of time?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

IDEALLY, below 70C, but extended periods in the mid 70's is fine.

 

[skunkz68]

alright i wanna be sure before it fries out. Would you think getting different case fans help keep this cool? Me i the type of person that like to keep this running safe and efficient because really dont want to dump several hundred dollars down the drain do to excesive gaming hours. By the Way i have a cool masters case.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

An extra case fan or two might help, but my suggestion would be to go the aftermarket HSF route first. Something along the lines of a Hyper 212 Evo would be perfect.

 

[skunkz68]

Would My graphics card be causing it to overheat? Just got done reading intels product guide says that the cpu Tcase is 71c and under full load it should be 60c. put new thermal paste on instead of the stuff that came with the heatsink. I checked the bios and suite. The 2 chasis fans arent appearing at all in them. but they are running.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

The GPU can definitely add more heat to the case, but if the ventilation is good, that shouldn't matter. I'll still stick with my suggestion of an aftermarket cooler.

And Tcase isn't a hard rule. Temps can get near 90C and not cause any permanent damage if it only stays there for short periods. Tcase is just the recommended max temp for longevity. Before I had my 212 Evo, I had my 2500K up to 95C in Prime, and it's just fine. Maybe shortened its life by a few months, but when it'll still outlive its usefulness, that's not really a problem, lol.

 

[skunkz68]

Alright after a walk through everything using asus suite I noticed that the my cpu was running at 4.4ghz need to track down why its running at that speed, with turbo feature only bumps it to 3.8ghz 2. Exaimed the case fans found that they are only a 3pin and not a 4pin( additional pin enables fan speed control). So air flow was low. 3. Pin on cpu came un done and wasn't secured properly. So had to pull it and now stuck on how much I should put on. Reading sooo many mix reviews people saying pea some say a grain.. grain seems too little compared on what was on the stock paste.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Your first question sounds like the Auto OC is on (TPU possibly?).

2. Since the fans are three pin and can't be controlled, they're running at max speed all the time, so that should actually make for MORE airflow.

3. I use the pea sized method myself, and I've never had any problems. I don't spread it, I just let the weight of the HSF spread it when I install it.

 

[skunkz68]

Going have to check that out when I get everything installed and load bios tomorrow. Not a big fan of the intels design on the heatsink a circle so kinda rough figuring it where to put it. Is using the weight trust worthy or covering whole cpu best? my friend gave me extra 12Omm case fan to install so either top or side panel. whould adding addition intake be better or exhaust fan thanks for the help so far its very much appreciated.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I'm not a big fan of the stock Intel HSF either, lol. It's complete junk basically, and it's barely adequate if you never OC, but that's it. That and the pin design to hold it in is just stupid.

And like I said, I've never had a problem with my method of thermal paste application, but there are MANY different ways to do it, as you've seen. I'd say the way I do it is as trustworthy as any other.

Ideally, you want the same amount of intake and exhaust fans so that you're taking in and exhausting around the same volume of air, but if I had to err on one side or the other, I'd say another exhaust fan is probably a little better.

 

[skunkz68]

alright got everything put back in put a the new fan on back and stock on top as an additional exhaust fan..Man the stock fans SUCK. The newer one my friend gave me BLOWS literally! Hope i applied thermal paste decently.
When i loaded the bios and went to AI tweaker The settings were:
Default Settings-
Target CPU Turbo Mode:4200mhz
Target DRAM SPEED:1600MHZ
Ai overclock tuner:Auto
Turbo Ratio:100.
I choose the Option Asus Provides its called Optimized Defaults settings then switched to-
Target CPUD TURBO MODE: 3700MHZ
Target DRAM speed:1333mhz
Ai OC TUNER: AUTO
TURBO RATIO:AUTO
So right now just monitoring CPU temp..keeps going up and down from 30c to 50c. NOrmal? Kinda letting it sit for a little bit before i start a game tonight.

 

[skunkz68]

also forgot to put the EPU mode was disabled. Engery saving thing.. I went ahead and enabled it. Set it to auto.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

So right now just monitoring CPU temp..keeps going up and down from 30c to 50c. NOrmal?

Yep, that's where the temps should be for stock settings (the optimized defaults).

 

[skunkz68]

Just ran the a 3dmark11 and cpu got really hot yet again warning came up again. i check the alert log and this what there
[05/11/2012 at 07:20 pm] CPU fan 1296 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:22 pm] CPU fan 1231 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:22 pm] Chassis fan 1 1662 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:22 pm] CPU fan 1187 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:22 pm] Chassis fan 1 1593 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:24 pm] CPU fan 1083 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:24 pm] CPU fan 1099 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:30 pm] CPU 73.0 Abnormal
[05/11/2012 at 07:31 pm] CPU 65.0 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:31 pm] CPU 73.0 Abnormal
[05/11/2012 at 07:32 pm] CPU 60.0 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:34 pm] CPU fan 1109 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:35 pm] CPU fan 1179 Normal
[05/11/2012 at 07:35 pm] Chassis fan 1 1578 Normal

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Yeah, that's still a little warm, but nothing to be overly concerned about. Just change the alert temp in AI Suite to something a little higher. I have mine set at 90C, actually.

Doesn't really "fix" the problem, but it will keep it from alerting at a basically harmless temp.

I'm gonna go back to what I said before though, a Hyper 212+/Evo WILL solve this.

 

[skunkz68]

went back into bios again. Guess what the default settings went back to the 4284mhz and DRAM speed to 1632mhz. I rebooted many times and kept checking it . It keeps resetting. Along with boot order. I'm thinking bad mobo battery but the time,date is correct to exact time

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

OK, try this. Take everything off of auto, and do everything manually (what should be done anyway, IMO, lol. I HATE Auto unless it's absolutely necessary). Just put everything at stock, but manually.

 

[skunkz68]

I figured it out! Lord be hold I have a missing LED light on my motherboard guessing what that light was for?.... A TPU(GPU) switch. When on will automatically optimize the system for fast yet stable clock speeds. I'm testing it right now running 3dmark 11 if it doesn't overheat. We golden

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Cool, let's hope that works. I have the TPU switch too, but I've never used it, since I don't really trust it (my strong dislike of Auto "things" again, haha). It does the same thing as OC Tuner in the BIOS though (no need to actually flip the switch to make it work).

 

[skunkz68]

I ran 3dmark11 the same test I ran when I was getting warning light second time. All clear temp max temp was around 61c. Apparently if switch is enabled it will over ride anything even if you adjust bios and save n reset. But. I'm still pretty angry though cause asus didn't install that damn light. Man I thank you for helping me through this. I was ready to put it through a wall. Make sure you write that down"check tpu switch light because the might have gotten lazy and not put it in"

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Excellent, glad you got it figured out! And LOL, I definitely will keep that in my memory banks.

 

[skunkz68]

Best answer selected by skunkz68.