Core i7 acceptable temps?

I'm running an i7 940 and my system specs are listed below in my sig. I am running the stock heatsink and fan, and have not overclocked. Under heavy load 98-99% (converting video files on videora) i'm experiencing core temps which reach 85c. I've been using the utility real temp to monitor the temperatures. Is this abnormal for these chips? Granted the i7's are still fairly new, but im concerned about longevity given these temp levels.

Anyone seeing the same thing?



Thanks

85°C is a little bit hot. Those are hot, but yours looks too hot.
Check your push-pins and/or take an aftermarket heatsink.

Have you tried just an old fashioned reseating of the processor? Might have used too much TIM or just a bad initial mount.

Ouch! I've never used the stock heatsink, and I've never really temperature tested my 920 under stock settings, but those temperatures seem very high.

My temperatures are ~40-45 idle and 75-80 load on small ffts. This is @ 4.0GHz under a dedicated CPU loop in sig below.

Ensure 3 things before you go any further:

1. That you've applied TIM properly, and that your mount has allowed the TIM to be spread properly. To do this you will have to remove the HS and inspect the TIM pattern left behind. What you are looking for is an evenly spread film left on the CPU IHS.

2. That the mount is good upon TIM re-application and re seating of the HS. That is, all of your pushpins are engaged properly.

3. That you are using the latest version of RealTemp with the proper TJMax for i7 etc.
This will be version 3.0 which has now been uploaded to the techpowerup site.
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1325/Real_Temp_3.00.html

As a rule though, you will want to upgrade your cooling solution. burebista is right.
This will allow cooler operation at any given overclock. The more heat you can dissipate from CPU operations means the less voltage needed to reach a given overclock since the system is cooler overall. It's the golden rule man - The cooler the better.

I get 74C @ 4.35Ghz 1.376Vcore on prime 95 (small fft I think it was).
These cpu's love water setups

Maximum allowed temperature for Core i7 is 100°C. If it heats up more, the CPU will enable thermal throttling, i.e. the Vcore and clock frequency multiplier will be forced down to 12x. This feature protects the processor die against dangerous overheating. (source - X-Bit labs)

Thanks for all the reply's...I have reseated the heatsink once and there does appear to be a consistent spread of the thermal compound on the h/s. I've been idling around 46c.

Im still a rookie to overclocking, and am not too familiar with real temp. What is the TJ Max setting?


Thanks again

Brolloks just explained it. It's a temperature at which the CPU will start to throttle in attempts to lower your CPU temperature and prevent damage.

You always want to have a significant Distance to TJMax. I use 30 at Load as a rule of thumb for safety, but since I've acquired this first stepping i7 I've reduced that to 20.

The temperatures you see on RealTemp and CoreTemp are not actual readings, they are derivatives of raw data (distance to TJMax) provided by diodes embedded in the CPU cores.
I suppose you could say: TJMax - Distance to TJMax = Temperature Reading Output of given monitoring software.



RealTemp should automatically aquire your CPU and assign the proper TJMax (or as close as anyone has been able to gather). As you increase your TJMax variable by a certain amount, the displayed temperatures increase by that same amount. But don't take that as a bad thing automatically, because your thermal junction Maximum has also gone up by that same amount, so it all evens out.
Distance to TJmax should stay the same.

Also, do not trust idle temps. The thermal sensors within a core2 (or i7 as far as I know) don't have so much sensitivity below ~50degC or so. You can attempt an idle calibration with RealTemp which seems to have some good theory behind it, but in general it's your load temperatures(in particular your Distance to TJMax) that you want to keep an eye on.

If you'd like to do some more in-depth reading, here is the link to the official thread over at XS: http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/showthread.php?t=179044

flynnstone said:

What is the TJ Max setting?

Click to expand...

I second this question, I know where the setting is but what is it and what does it need to be at? Mine shows 100 right now. Or how about the idle calibration?

What aftermarket cooling solutions does everyone recommend then? I've seen various posts, but no hard data as to what really works the best on the i7's.

chayos00 said:

I second this question, I know where the setting is but what is it and what does it need to be at?

Click to expand...

It's an arbitrary value for triggering throttle and thermal shutdown.
IMO not that unknown value (yes, unknown despite Intel says to us) should concern you but only straight DTS readings (distance to TJMax) from CPU on-die sensors because based on that value throttle and thermal shutdown are initiated.
Keep that distance to TJMax >20-30 and forget about temps. At least I do.

About calibration in RealTemp and TJmax and other info you can read here.

I second this question, I know where the setting is but what is it and what does it need to be at? Mine shows 100 right now. Or how about the idle calibration?

Click to expand...

Sry, just updated my post above with pic and link.
burebista is right though. that's good advice.

What aftermarket cooling solutions does everyone recommend then? I've seen various posts, but no hard data as to what really works the best on the i7's.

Click to expand...

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with 1366 mount. That should do you good.