temperature

squelchy451 · Post by **squelchy451** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:01 pm

Hi.

What is the highest temperature in a computer that can be maintained without damaging the hardware?

So what are the highest core, ambient, CPU, etc temperatures and what do those different temperatures measure?

thanks

Neqrom · Post by **Neqrom** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:32 am

hi and welcome to SPCR.

The highest CPU-temp depends on what CPU you have, look in the chart from the site below to see what your CPU limitation.

http://users.erols.com/chare/elec.htm

My temps is quite high becuse om my shitty CPU-cooler: a passive Zalman 9700 im hitting 68 degress C with my overclocked CPU.
Soo as you see in the chart im in the danger zone

but no problems yet.
With a good cooler your not going to have any problems like mine

I hope it helped you with something

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:53 pm

Anything over 60 on consumer CPU's is bad, although shouldnt effect the lifespan of the CPU much. Over 70c and your probably going to start getting stability issues and shortened life.

Personally i aim for below 55c under real world load (in my case video encoding).

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:29 pm

FartingBob wrote:
Personally i aim for below 55c under real world load (in my case video encoding).

+1

Post by **CA_Steve** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:28 pm

note that there is an intermingling of "cover" temp and die temp on that website...where I'm guessing "cover" temp may mean the case (package) temperature...and that is a huge difference and dependant on the thermal efficiency of the package.

Tcase = Tjunction - <theta>jc*Pd

where

Tcase is the outside temp of the package
Tjunction is the die temp
<theta>jc is the thermal efficiency of the package in degrees C/W
Pd is the power dissipated.

strongbad · Post by **strongbad** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:33 pm

This is a hard question to answer with any precision because there are dozens of different components each with its own absolute max temperature rating and each with its own stress level. Cooler is always better than hotter with semiconductors for longevity and reliability. A rule of thumb is that a semiconductor's life span (MTBF) will double or half with a 10degC change in temp.

squelchy451 · Post by **squelchy451** » Sat May 02, 2009 3:28 pm

I might be using Core 2 Quad Q6700.

What should be a healthy temperature for the CPU then?

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:00 am

I'm not sure how you would follow Neqrom's link posted earlier. Measuring cover temp is a tricky process without the right equipment. I usually just use the internal temperature measurement of the processor or motherboard. You can usually get this in the BIOS or using something like Speedfan.

From those measurements, I'd say that 60Â°C is when it starts getting worrisome. If it gets to 70Â°C under load, then there's a real problem. At that point, I'd shut down and reseat the heatsink. A processor can usually survive at 70, but I wouldn't run at that temperature regularly. Your idle temps should be anywhere from 30-45Â°C, and your load temps should not exceed 60Â°C.

On the Core2Quad Q6600 I recently used, it idled at about 37Â°C with the stock heatsink in a fairly cool room. I didn't measure the load temps, so I can't help you with that.

squelchy451 · Post by **squelchy451** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:34 pm

What I'm trying to get at is is there a temperature x degrees celsius that if a CPU is near/above x degrees, you would say "crap the computer's overheating and not good for the hardware"

kittle · Post by **kittle** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:10 pm

It depends on what your PC is doing.

If its sitting at the windows desktop idle and the CPU is 65c then id say thats "too hot"

On the other hand if your in the 3rd hour of a 4hour CPU / gpu stress test and the temp is 65c then id say thats ok.

audiojar · Post by **audiojar** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:40 pm

strongbad wrote:Cooler is always better than hotter with semiconductors for longevity and reliability. A rule of thumb is that a semiconductor's life span (MTBF) will double or half with a 10degC change in temp.

I think this is a gross over-generalization. You would be hard pressed to show that a CPU running at 40c would have significant improvements to longevity or reliability compared to one running at 50c, much less double. I'm sure there is some point where where reducing the temp 10c would double life span, but that point is going to be at a rather high temp.

In general, things have a "comfortable" operating temp and anything lower provides minimal or no benefit. If you are running lower you can either slow down your fans for less noise or overclock for more power.

janzzdave · Post by **janzzdave** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:38 am

thanks for the nice info here

Spike_8585 · Post by **Spike_8585** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:22 am

What program(s) do you suggest for monitoring and stress-testing the temperature of the PC components?

oakdad · Post by **oakdad** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:43 pm

OCCT

[Mod comment: please explain this!]