What temperature should an Intel Core 2 Duo (E4300) run at. I've had Orthos running the CPU stress for 25 minutes and Speedfan shows both cores are at 59 C. They stay around 37 C idle.

I put this thing together and was getting around 37 idle / 53 load but then realized I probably put too much thermal grease on it. I cleaned the grease off and reapplied but the temperature was hitting the roof (I think the heat sink wasn't right) . I cleaned the grease, reapplied, and reset the heatsink and am now getting 37/59. Just wondering if this is good or if I should try to apply the paste again.

I have a 120mm exaust fan in the back and an 80mm intake in the front.

7/3/2007 9:56:12 PM

59 load should be fine. If you're that concerned about it, look for a program called ThrottleWatch. It's free. Run it while you run the CPU at 100% loads for a few hours. Throttlewatch will tell you if the CPU lowered its speed because it got too hot. In case you're not aware, modern CPUs lower their running speed when the temperature gets too high to reduce thermal output and prevent damage. Thottlewatch will tell you if this happens.

7/3/2007 11:25:58 PM

I don't like noise, I have expensive silent fans and I run them slow as possible for low sound, temp is 55 on load ... the computer is FINE at that temp, it's designed for much higher ... 59 is fine.

7/4/2007 12:54:59 AM

honestly 60'C should be your upper limit, 85'C is typical meltdown temp (ok, maybe not meltdown, but it's not designed to go higher than this at peak, not average temp), but anything over 62'C is considered too hot by intel's standards and not meant to be at or above 62 for any prolonged period of time

[Edited on July 4, 2007 at 3:11 AM. Reason : .]

7/4/2007 3:09:22 AM

Quote :

"Throttlewatch will tell you if the CPU lowered its speed because it got too hot."

cant u just right click my computer-properties to get that same information?

7/4/2007 12:01:50 PM

Are you guys for real? I'm running a 10% OC on my E6320 and it runs about 43-45C under a full load, and about 39-ish not OC-ed.

Stock air cooling too. I have massive amounts of airflow through the case, but 59 seems high in my experience.

7/4/2007 12:18:14 PM

I'm just worried about my thermal paste and heatsink application. This is my first go at it and I'm hoping I did it right. I'm using the stock heatsink. Would replacing that with something not too expensive help a lot?

Should I trust CoreTemp or Speedfan? CoreTemp is giving me 50 idle and 75 load. Speedfan is giving 32 idle / 60 load. I have my motherboard set to warn at 70 C and it did not beep when CoreTemp was showing above 70.

7/4/2007 12:57:33 PM

What motherboard are you using?

7/4/2007 1:09:02 PM

59-60'C IS really high, my E6600 that's OC'd to 3.0ghz was only 49'-50'C under full load, but that was at 70'F room temp, when i moved the room temp jumped to 78-80'F, causing my computer to jump up to 57'C under full load

i'm a bit confused because you said this:

Quote :

"I'm using the stock heatsink."

which typically come with their own thermal pad already on them, so did you replace the thermal pad with your own paste? the stock C2D heatsink and fans are fine and you should DEF. NOT be hitting 50 idle much less 75 load, that is serious heat issues and could damage/shorten the life of your processor

i think you need to re-apply the adhesive and/or lap the heatsink to make sure you are getting proper contact

7/4/2007 1:20:26 PM

I'm using the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 MB.

My heatsink came with thermal paste on it. I cleaned that off and applied Arctic Silver Ceramique.

I think the speedfan temps are more accurate than CoreTemp but is that still too hot? (33 idle/60 load) I guess I'll try to re-apply and make sure I set the heatsink correctly.

Thanks for the help.

7/4/2007 1:36:45 PM

keep in mind when using Arctic Silver that the temps will decrease after multiple temperature fluctuations that come with turning on/off your computer over a week or two, it takes a couple cycles before the paste reaches it's full conductive abilities, but even then you can only expect 3-4'C drop

btw, change to .94 version of coretemp and see if they are more accurate, also there's intel's TAT (thermal analysis tool) that gives you probably the most accurate temps for C2D's

sorry, totally missed the whole coretemp/speedfan thing in your previous post, i just saw your temps, you shouldn't be too worried, but it 'could' be cooler

[Edited on July 4, 2007 at 4:23 PM. Reason : .]

7/4/2007 4:20:12 PM

Are these temperatures/ranges specific to the Core 2, or general guidelines? I'm running an Athlon XP 3700+ and it's showing 53C at idle. The mobo utility has the threshhold set at 72, so it should theoretically shutdown if it reaches that point and I don't remember any unexplained shutdowns recently. but... Since the processor is almost 2 years old I guess it hasn't made any longevity issues but since I don't overclock and have decent chassis ventilation, it's just not something I ever thought to check.

7/4/2007 4:55:15 PM

processor specific, each processor should have a temperature range listed in their design spec

typically speaking though anything over 60'C (100% load) is too hot for nearly any processor, while it may run it just risks early failure or a shortened lifespan

after looking it up, the maximum die temperature for an amd athlon xp range processor is 85'C
after looking it up, the maximum die temperature for an amd athlon64 range processor is 70'C

i'm not sure if you're 3700+ is an xp or a 64, i presume you meant 64 though, but the temps do seem high
http://www.technibble.com/what-is-my-computers-maximum-cpu-temperature/
http://www.mulle-78.de/AMD/amd_term_power.htm

[Edited on July 4, 2007 at 5:16 PM. Reason : .]

7/4/2007 5:04:32 PM

Yeah, sorry, meant Athlon64. Brain fart.

I guess I should take it down and reapply the heatsink in the near future...I had to replace the HSF when the fan on the stocker died a few months ago, I may have done a poor job and just never noticed...hrm.

7/4/2007 7:24:46 PM