Safe temperatures for a four year old i7 2600k.

[ATi RaDEoN]

I replaced my stock cooler with a new stock LGA1155 cooler. The temperatures have improved slightly but reach 80 degree celsius under gaming load (Metro last light redux, Witcher 3, GTA V and project cars).
Room temperature is 37 degree celsius.
My case is a bit cramped (PSU installed on top of the case) with two additional fans installed.
Are these temperatures fine for stock i7 2600k running on stock cooler?
PS: I am planning to keep this CPU for next four years. I will overclock my CPU if necessary but not now.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

For gaming that is high. I'm assuming if you ran a stress test it would hit near 100C. I would clean out case dust, better your cable management, and maybe even get some better/more fans or a larger case. It'd help to know what % load the CPU had when it hit 80C.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

For gaming that is high. I'm assuming if you ran a stress test it would hit near 100C. I would clean out case dust, better your cable management, and maybe even get some better/more fans or a larger case. It'd help to know what % load the CPU had when it hit 80C.

I did prime95 and the maximum my CPU reached was 85 degree celsius (100% heat up phase). Actually when my CPU hit 80 degree celsius while gaming, GTA 5 update download was also going on. Now when I play these games CPU temperature maxes around 70-75 degree celsius.

 

[Eximo]

70-75 is fine. Though the stock cooler is kind of wasted on the i7-2600k. Bet a bigger cooler and consider overclocking.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

70-75 is fine. Though the stock cooler is kind of wasted on the i7-2600k. Bet a bigger cooler and consider overclocking.

I don't find the need of overclocking at the moment. All the major games are running quite well in very high to ultra settings.

 

[Eximo]

Use what you have is what I always say, otherwise you are spending for a capability you aren't using. Lot of people run that thing at 4.5Ghz or higher with little effort.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

For gaming that is high. I'm assuming if you ran a stress test it would hit near 100C. I would clean out case dust, better your cable management, and maybe even get some better/more fans or a larger case. It'd help to know what % load the CPU had when it hit 80C.

I did prime95 and the maximum my CPU reached was 85 degree celsius (100% heat up phase). Actually when my CPU hit 80 degree celsius while gaming, GTA 5 update download was also going on. Now when I play these games CPU temperature maxes around 70-75 degree celsius.

That's fine.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

Use what you have is what I always say, otherwise you are spending for a capability you aren't using. Lot of people run that thing at 4.5Ghz or higher with little effort.

I will overclock it but not this year. Maybe in 2017.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

Thanks for help.

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

37c room temp? How can you stay in that?
I'd suggest maybe seeing if your temps drop a bit with the case open, you could use a dust filter on the side of the case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

70-75 is fine. Though the stock cooler is kind of wasted on the i7-2600k. Bet a bigger cooler and consider overclocking.

He's already got temperature issues, and you want him to OVERCLOCK? That is an incredibly silly recommendation.

Let's see, temps are already too hot, what to do? I know, overclock!. Let's add some more stress on an already tenuous thermal arrangement. C'mon Eximo, you should know better than that.

Get a good aftermarket cooler and populate any and all case fan locations. With a 37°C ambient temp and a top mounted PSU I'm going to assume you're in India or similar region. Case cooling is paramount in those regions as any cpu cooler you install is only going to be as good as the exchange of air in and out of the case.

Once you get thermals under control at stock settings, then you MIGHT be able to think about overclocking. Then again, considering your ambient temps, it might not be a very good idea even then.

What country are you actually in?

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

70-75 is fine. Though the stock cooler is kind of wasted on the i7-2600k. Bet a bigger cooler and consider overclocking.

He's already got temperature issues, and you want him to OVERCLOCK? That is an incredibly silly recommendation.

Let's see, temps are already too hot, what to do? I know, overclock!. Let's add some more stress on an already tenuous thermal arrangement. C'mon Eximo, you should know better than that.

Get a good aftermarket cooler and populate any and all case fan locations. With a 37°C ambient temp and a top mounted PSU I'm going to assume you're in India or similar region. Case cooling is paramount in those regions as any cpu cooler you install is only going to be as good as the exchange of air in and out of the case.

Once you get thermals under control at stock settings, then you MIGHT be able to think about overclocking. Then again, considering your ambient temps, it might not be a very good idea even then.

What country are you actually in?

You guessed it right, I live in India. To upgrade to a decent cooler will also require me to get a bigger case. I doubt that a good CPU cooler like coolewrmaster hyper212x will fit in my case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is your case model? There are a couple of decent coolers that are short enough for some of the narrower cases, although I also know that availability of parts is pretty limited in India. Flipkart and Snapdeal have a pretty limited selection and there aren't a lot of other choices for aftermarket parts aside from local vendors who want to rape you on pricing.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

What is your case model? There are a couple of decent coolers that are short enough for some of the narrower cases, although I also know that availability of parts is pretty limited in India. Flipkart and Snapdeal have a pretty limited selection and there aren't a lot of other choices for aftermarket parts aside from local vendors who want to rape you on pricing.

It's a local case manufactured by iball. Just fits an ATX motherboard.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The iBall case specs are available online. I've worked with them before with a lot of Indian members. Some of them are pretty limited in what specs are listed though. Do you happen to know the case model number? Or, if you can take a measurement from the general area of the cpu lid to where the side panel would obstruct, I can see what might be available to you. On another note though, how many case fan locations do you have and are they all populated? Even the stock cooler can do a much better job with a good amount of cool air passing through the case, but not so good with only a low exchange rate.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

The iBall case specs are available online. I've worked with them before with a lot of Indian members. Some of them are pretty limited in what specs are listed though. Do you happen to know the case model number? Or, if you can take a measurement from the general area of the cpu lid to where the side panel would obstruct, I can see what might be available to you. On another note though, how many case fan locations do you have and are they all populated? Even the stock cooler can do a much better job with a good amount of cool air passing through the case, but not so good with only a low exchange rate.

It's an iball i7272 cabinet. I am posting a picture for your reference. Please note that the CPU cooler although not stock is pretty much same as stock in terms of performance and price. Didn't mention it before as it would take a little bit of explanation

 

[Darkbreeze]

You need to get a second job, even though jobs are scarce, so you can get a new case, PSU and CPU cooler. Heh. I think with a different case, that has a bottom mounted PSU location, and a couple of cans fans located at the top and rear, you're temps would probably be much better. Top mounted PSUs have mostly disappeared for a reason. A good reason. The design is terrible for efficient airflow through the case. But that's probably irrelevant for the immediate issues at hand.

Is that an Alta 7 cooler?

This would give you much, much better performance, but it still depends highly on how much air is getting through the case. If it's trying to cool the cpu with warm air, it isn't going to work well.

It's not a GREAT cooler, but it has decent performance for a 92mm cooler. At only 139mm tall, it should fit pretty much any micro-ATX or ATX case.

http://www.flipkart.com/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-evo/p/itmd5xzprhxvefrj?pid=COLD5XZPV75JZAEZ&ref=L%3A5847039119521105943&srno=b_30

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

You need to get a second job, even though jobs are scarce, so you can get a new case, PSU and CPU cooler. Heh. I think with a different case, that has a bottom mounted PSU location, and a couple of cans fans located at the top and rear, you're temps would probably be much better. Top mounted PSUs have mostly disappeared for a reason. A good reason. The design is terrible for efficient airflow through the case. But that's probably irrelevant for the immediate issues at hand.

Is that an Alta 7 cooler?

This would give you much, much better performance, but it still depends highly on how much air is getting through the case. If it's trying to cool the cpu with warm air, it isn't going to work well.

It's not a GREAT cooler, but it has decent performance for a 92mm cooler. At only 139mm tall, it should fit pretty much any micro-ATX or ATX case.

http://www.flipkart.com/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-evo/p/itmd5xzprhxvefrj?pid=COLD5XZPV75JZAEZ&ref=L%3A5847039119521105943&srno=b_30

I am a university student and have to make my dad agree to get a new case.
Alta 7 sucks a big time. The probable reason that it is performing so poorly is because it never fits properly. I tried everything but it won't fit well. Even the thermal paste which was preapplied on it was wasted because of continued struggle to fit it. Another reason for poor performance maybe the cheap thermal compound which I am using right now. I have claimed a replacement on ebay for this cooler, hope so they do it.
Thanks for the help BTW!

 

[Darkbreeze]

The thermal compound isn't big deal. Any thermal paste that comes with a name brand cooler is good enough for manageable temps. The cooler not fitting, that's a BIG problem. The Alta 7 has a crap mounting system. Even the crappy mounting system on the 212 EVO is better than that one, and it sucks. I'd almost suggest a small liquid cooler, but I doubt that case has mounting support for a radiator. Tell your dad I said he needs to get you a new case and cpu cooler before the temperature issues cause a failure in the system that results in all your hardware you've already invested money in to go down the drain due to failure. That should soften him up. Heh.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

The thermal compound isn't big deal. Any thermal paste that comes with a name brand cooler is good enough for manageable temps. The cooler not fitting, that's a BIG problem. The Alta 7 has a crap mounting system. Even the crappy mounting system on the 212 EVO is better than that one, and it sucks. I'd almost suggest a small liquid cooler, but I doubt that case has mounting support for a radiator. Tell your dad I said he needs to get you a new case and cpu cooler before the temperature issues cause a failure in the system that results in all your hardware you've already invested money in to go down the drain due to failure. That should soften him up. Heh.

OK thanks for help. I will try to convince my dad.