What temperature CPU should run at for best performance?

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fishquail

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I have a Dual Opteron system for video editing I just built and trying to keep as cool as possible for best performance. Its got 6 fans in it. My CPUs temperatures are between 42 and 46 deg C. Is that good, bad, or decent? My ambient Temp is 38 deg C. Overall it feels pretty hot to me, or at least it could be cooler. I wouldnt want to live inside the chasis and I asume my componets could be happier. But should I bother or not worry about it?
 

Bluefinger

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Ambient case temp IS a little hot, but with a dual opteron system, i'm not exactly what is the norm for that of configuration. My ambient case temp never jumps over 32C in a warm room, and when i open the window to let the english cold in, it drops to about 26-28C, which also happens to be my CPU temp when idle. Load temps hit 40-44 depending on room temperature and what program is being used (Benchmarking software obviously get my cpu to hotter temps since they can REALLY push the system for extended periods of time). Are you using stock coolers or aftermarket solutions? That can be one start on lowering heat problems.
 

fishquail

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Im using the AMD heatsink and fan that came with the CPUs becasue they (AMD) seemed really uptight about you only using recomended AMD heatsink and fan.
 

Bluefinger

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By their standard of coolers, all the stock coolers are within the weight limit and are supposed to do a decent job cooling. I'm not sure on what coolers to get for a dual-processor system, but i suggest you look around sites and check out reviews on certain coolers, like what Zalman offers or the Thermalright heatsinks (coupled with a decent fan), plus on getting some aftermarket thermal compound like Arctic Silver 5 or MX-1 Thermal Compound.
 

Mav-VRX

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Wow, your CPU runs at 40 degrees? That's a very good temperature in my opinion.

My P4 3GHz 1Mb cache CPU runs at 80 degrees Celcius with the stock heatsink and fan. Is that very bad?

My casing has 6 fans, and the mainboard runs at 40 degress Celcius, I'm quite happy with that.

I am thinking 80 degress is too hot for the CPU, and the fan rotation speed gets cranked up to high, causing so much noise.

I would need to get a different CPU fan, would you agree? I would like to lower the temperature down to at least 60 degrees.
 

kittle

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I have a dual opteron setup as well and my CPUs idle at 42-43 and hit 50-52 under full load.
case temp is usually 26-30.

Chances are you can re-arrange your cables and fans to get better airflow through the case. What case are you using btw?

I found investing in the rounded cables helped a LOT. I only wish i could find rounded SCSI LVD cables -- but thats for a different thread.
 

fishquail

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Processor at 46 degrees Celsius = 114.8 degrees Fahrenheit

Processor at 80 degrees Celsius = 176 degrees Fahrenheit

Ambient temp at 38 degrees Celsius = 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit

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Looking at it in Fahrenhiet makes it seem more reasonable. However, 80 degrees though sounds like you have an easy bake oven in there.
My Case is Thermaltake ARMOR - and there are tons of cables in there blocking airflow. - ill try maybe re-aranging and buying more powerful fans.
 

HYST3R

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My P4 3GHz 1Mb cache CPU runs at 80 degrees Celcius with the stock heatsink and fan. Is that very bad?

wow dude thats like on fire!

my P4 630 3ghz idles at 38*C on the stock heat sink and fan. and i have pretty good air flow through the case.

the highest i been able to get it up to is about 50*C.

you might wanna reseat your heatsink and fan ASAP bro. and get some AS5 on that cpu before you lose it.

i really hope your not serious about 80*C.
 

Cochise

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My P4 3GHz 1Mb cache CPU runs at 80 degrees Celcius with the stock heatsink and fan. Is that very bad?

wow dude thats like on fire!

my P4 630 3ghz idles at 38*C on the stock heat sink and fan. and i have pretty good air flow through the case.

the highest i been able to get it up to is about 50*C.

you might wanna reseat your heatsink and fan ASAP bro. and get some AS5 on that cpu before you lose it.

i really hope your not serious about 80*C.

^^^what he said...
 

Mav-VRX

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Yeah I'm serious. It was at 100 degrees when I first installed it, but I guess the heatsink wasn't making good contact with the CPU, causing the high temperature, and the motherboard gave me a warning.

It's been running at 80 degrees for a year or so, and it's very loud when I am running CPU intense applications and games.

I've applied some thermal compound I've found lying around, but the problems remains.

Like you suggested, I'll probably need to look at readjusting the positioning of the heatsink and fan again, but for a socket 775, it's hard getting the plastic to lock in place with the motherboard, unlike the older CPUs where the heatsink and fan is clipped onto the CPU.
 

Cochise

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Yeah I'm serious. It was at 100 degrees when I first installed it, but I guess the heatsink wasn't making good contact with the CPU, causing the high temperature, and the motherboard gave me a warning.

It's been running at 80 degrees for a year or so, and it's very loud when I am running CPU intense applications and games.

I've applied some thermal compound I've found lying around, but the problems remains.

Like you suggested, I'll probably need to look at readjusting the positioning of the heatsink and fan again, but for a socket 775, it's hard getting the plastic to lock in place with the motherboard, unlike the older CPUs where the heatsink and fan is clipped onto the CPU.

Is the fan on the heatsink even working? I would certainly look into an aftermarket HSF (Zalman, Thermalright) or...because AMD doesn't like aftermarket HSF's :wink: .... try to get another stock one and try that.

Are you OC'ing? You are definetly running a little warm there....
 

Mav-VRX

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No overclocking, even though the mainboard has overclocking options.

And yes the heatsink and fan are working, probably not good enough though.
 

Mav-VRX

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Well I adjusted the heatsink and fan, rotated it 90 degrees counter clockwise so the position is different. It seems to clip okay now.

Running temperature is now at 70 degrees, rattling noise gone, CPU runs a tad better, no more pauses when watching Hi Definition TV, and it is less noisy.

I touched the CPU before, only after removing the heatsink, and it didn't seem hot at all. The motherboard sensor could be wrong, who knows.
 

fishquail

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strange,
that top exust fan seems to do nothing, barely puffing at all. The stock fans they pack with that armor case are not very powerful, so Ive orderd some stronger ones.
 

woodchuk

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I checked around with a few rigs and it seems 42-46 is right on for these processors, a few guys run in the low 50's. AMD says it can go to 70 I think.
 

supermep

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Wow, your CPU runs at 40 degrees? That's a very good temperature in my opinion.

My P4 3GHz 1Mb cache CPU runs at 80 degrees Celcius with the stock heatsink and fan. Is that very bad?

My casing has 6 fans, and the mainboard runs at 40 degress Celcius, I'm quite happy with that.

I am thinking 80 degress is too hot for the CPU, and the fan rotation speed gets cranked up to high, causing so much noise.

I would need to get a different CPU fan, would you agree? I would like to lower the temperature down to at least 60 degrees.

You CPU would melt at that tempature. It's probably a faulty reader.
 

naktau

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Mine is 45C idle and 62C full load. Stock Intel cooler, one 120 mm exhaust fan and two 80 mm intake fan. PSU Enermax 535w with two 80 mm fans (exhaust n intake). You should check your cooler dude. 80C is way too hot.

_________________________
P4 3.8GHz @ 4.03GHz
x1900xtx, xi-fi fatal1ty,
1GB twin xms PC6400 (2 x 512)
 

thecornflake

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My CPU idles at 15 celcius, hitting up to 25 on a really high load, like running benchmarks. The case is at around 25-35.
The CPU is a P4 Northwood 2.8. Not overclocked.

I've used at least three different pieces of software to check this and they all report the same temps. And the heatsink on th eCPU is pretty much cold to touch.

Obe thing though - SiSoft Sandra gives me a temp warning of 62 celcius on my chipset.
 

unstable

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I wonder how much benefit we'd see in cases in killing any bleed-through air?

I recently went through our datacenter here at work and plugged various openings in the raised floor and I dropped the ambient room temperature from 77-78 down to as low as 71.9.

Anyone up for an experiment? Any openings in the case that don't have a fan in them, try plugging them up. This should increase the pressure in the case and hopefully get your fans working more efficiently....just a thought.
 

HYST3R

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Yeah I'm serious. It was at 100 degrees when I first installed it, but I guess the heatsink wasn't making good contact with the CPU, causing the high temperature, and the motherboard gave me a warning.

It's been running at 80 degrees for a year or so, and it's very loud when I am running CPU intense applications and games.

I've applied some thermal compound I've found lying around, but the problems remains.

Like you suggested, I'll probably need to look at readjusting the positioning of the heatsink and fan again, but for a socket 775, it's hard getting the plastic to lock in place with the motherboard, unlike the older CPUs where the heatsink and fan is clipped onto the CPU.


ok, wow. a couple of things spark my interest here.

first 80*C is where P4's begin to throttle due to shear heat. 100*C would break your cpu almost instantly saying that it could even stand to get that high.

second,

TO ANYONE WITH A P4 HEATSINK!!!

if it is rattling, vibrating, or making any noise other that the sound of moving air its not on your cpu right at all, period.

third,

ensure that ALL 4 clips are clipped in completely, do not rush trying to get it on or your temps will be hot as hell. yes they are a pain but its worth the time being carefull getting them in correctly.

fourth,

since your sensor is actually fluctating in temps so much i.e. 70-100*C,
i would doubt that it is reading incorrectly, but, the fact that your cpu usually runs at 80*C doesnt make sense. thats a contradicting problem there, but you did say that you HSF was rattling so if its barely hangin on your cpu your temp readings could be way off.

recomendations,

look into getting a new heatsink and fan, cheap ones are bout 30 bucks.

get some better thermal compound than jsut some "laying around" lol.

and really take your time in mounting your hardware, it can be hard, but you want it reliable and not on fire!
 
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