CPU Temp on new build - stand pat or keep messing with it?

GNieman · Post by **GNieman** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:05 pm

Just built a new system with the following components:
Athlon X2 4400
Asus A8NSLI-Premium
2GB Corsair XMS
Seasonic S12 600 (overkill powerwise, but I got a deal)
Antec P180
EVGA 7800 GT (also more than I probably need, but see above - a deal)
2 Seagate SATA 300 GB
Creative X-Fi Platinum
NEC 3550/Sony DDU1615 Drives
Thermalright XP-90 w/Nexus Real Silent 92mm
Arctic Silver 5

So far so good. Build went well(although the p180 was a bear to deal with). System is fairly quiet - most of the noise I am getting is coming from the fan on the EVGA card. Rear case fan and bottom fan running at low. Nexus at stock speed/power(All three very quiet). Up until today my CPU temps were idling at 33-34 degrees and 42-45 under loads. However I kept seeing all these posts of sub 30 deg temps and got to wondering whether I had missed something.

I could think of at least a couple of possibilities...

I had a terrible time getting the XP-90 heatsink on - even after looking up a number of how to's I was unprepared for how much pressure it took to get the one edge down to the clip. At one point I took it off entirely and did not re-apply the Arctic Silver. I wonder whether how this would affect my temps. Or whether I got too much or too little on - thought it was the bb sized drop, but not sure how the issues with the heat sink might have affected the bond or the quantity.

I hadn't activated CnQ in the bios at this stage, so I set that in hopes that the idle temps would drop and I wouldn't have to pull the heat sink. Also the Q-Fan function, which immediately dinged me for the fan speed on the Nexus. So I ditched that and went with just the CnQ. My temps immediately went up to 36 deg idle. I went, "Uh oh, shouldn't have messed with it," and set it back off. It now sits at 36 deg idle all the time. So I actually lost some ground there.

So here is my quandry - should I just leave well enough alone and be happy with it at 36 deg? I was considering a Zalman Cooler for the 7800 GT, and thought that I might go ahead, yank the XP-90, clean off the old Arctic Silver and re-apply. But I'm worried I may do more harm than good here for what I would stand to gain. If I am going to just run this system straight without overclocking do I really get that much by searching for more of a temperature drop? I'm a little concerned that the CnQ hasn't done much for the idle temp. Any chance I messed something up here? Doesn't seem like it, but in cases like this I always look for a reality check while I consider the possibilities.

Thanks in advance,

gn

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:40 pm

Your temps look fine to me.

Have you calibrated your CPU temp reporting

If you haven't and compare your temps with other people (who probably haven't calibrated either), there can be a measurement error up to 10°C. On top of that you didn't list your case temp. And I mean real case temp, not some sensor on the mobo. (Again, a lot of people forget this.) All in all comparing temps is a pretty useless most of the time. Way more important is whether you system runs stable. If it is, then don't mess with it (unless you can make it more quiet of course).

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:56 pm

Don't worry too much about temperatures so long as they're in the safe range. The quest for lower and lower temperatures comes from other websites that preoccupy themselves with overclocking possibilities and placing some arbitrary prize on getting the lowest temperature possible.

This is SPCR, though.

I myself tweak fan settings until the cpu is as hot as I I can run it while still being in the safe range at the greatest ambient room temperatures I'm likely to experience. This way I end up getting the quietest pc possible without sacrificing stability. The often quoted ancient rule that an increase of ten degrees in temperature of electronic components halves their life has been shown to be basically a gross simplification. The life expectancy change of silicon - due to heat - is still a very long time. You will outgrow your hardware possibly decades before heat causes silicon failure.

stupid · Post by **stupid** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 7:23 am

First off, anytime I pull the HSF off the CPU, I would wipe it clean and re-apply the Artic Silver.

A few things that can affect your temperature readings:
1) Ambient Temperature of the room.
2) Heat sink compound takes time to cure. Once it has time to cure the temp to drop a bit.
3) Temp. sensor on motherboards are notoriously in-accurate.

Mar. · Post by **Mar.** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 7:53 pm

Your temps are just fine, let it be and enjoy silence.

GNieman · Post by **GNieman** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:34 pm

Thanks for the sanity check. It confirms my initial instincts on this one. I will be putting one of the Zalman heatsink/fan combos on my EVGA card, since that is the only real noise generating piece in the system, and an extender for my 4 pin atx to get some slack in it. But other than that I think I am done.

Again, I appreciate the responses, which were courteous and helpful. This site and forum were an invaluable resource in building my new box.

gn

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:40 pm

The often quoted ancient rule that an increase of ten degrees in temperature of electronic components halves their life has been shown to be basically a gross simplification. The life expectancy change of silicon - due to heat - is still a very long time. You will outgrow your hardware possibly decades before heat causes silicon failure.

Just to clarify, the "ancient rule" that you reference pertains to the lifetime of electrolytic capacitors, not the actual silicon of the board itself. As you rightly point out, silicon can withstand heat several orders of magnitude greater than that usually found in retail PC's; however useful working lifetime of capacitors is definitely reduced by higher operating temps- whether it is as much as 50% per 10 degree increase I couldn't say.

roaf85 · Post by **roaf85** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 12:57 am

Under 30 idle? Possible, I would not say thought with the X2 4400. My X2 3800 ran at around 28 idle when I had the rear case fan at mid speed and the zalman 7700 cooler at 12 volts. Unbearable though. Since then everything runs at 5 volts including the 7800GT. I get around 37C / 48C load temps. It is fine.