Core i7 940 temps, are these ok?

deano82

deano82

deano82

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I have a core i7 940 with a Zalman cpns10x extreme cooler. With the fan set to medium and the PC idling i am getting temps around 35-40C. When using the PC and installing software etc the temps go up to around 52C

At the moment the CPU is standard and not overclocked

Before overclocking i want to check are these temps ok?

I have not tried stressing the CPU yet
 
without knowing what your ambient (room) temps are it's difficult to say, but as I doubt they're 30c it looks possible that you could do some work to get your cooling optimised before you start overclocking, otherwise you'll likely be restricting what you can acheive.

Ideally your case temps (motherboard sensor) should only be 2-3c warmer than your room temps at idle. This is acheived through good airflow through your case for which you'll need some appropriately positioned case fans which you don't mention having. At idle with a decentish cooler you should be looking at your CPU being only a few degrees warmer than your case temps. Once you get to this stage you know you're good to go.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have an Antec 900 case so have 2 intake fans and 2 exhaust fans.

I am a complete noob when it comes to overclocking as i have never done it before so i want to make sure my temps are ok before going ahead
 
Ok i ran real temp cpu cool down test earlier and here are my results

Max hit 70c at full load

Untitled-1.jpg



Do these results look normal?
 
I didn't realise you were talking core temps, I'd say those idle temps looked good, about what I have and if you're not getting over 70c under load then you have some decent headroom - time to start your overclocking :cool:
 
antec 900s are nice especially since those inner front 2 fans are close to the hdd that fan flow air is great to getting to your parts inside.

Id say temps are good :)
 
Idle temp is good. I would expect load to be lower... more like 60c.

Your temps are about same as my 920 @ 3.5GHz with Noctua NH-U12P SE were.

Now no OC with Phanteks with TY-143 fans idle is 35c @ 670rpm; load is 55c @ 1100rpm ;)
 
Thanks guys

I have noticed that the fan on the cooler doesnt seem to increase speed under load. Ran HWmonitor and it idles around 890rpm, when running prime95 the speed doesnt increase!

The only settings i have in the BIOS for the CPU fan control is Enable or disable(which will run the fan at 100% constantly)

Any ideas?
 
deano82 said:
Thanks guys

I have noticed that the fan on the cooler doesnt seem to increase speed under load. Ran HWmonitor and it idles around 890rpm, when running prime95 the speed doesnt increase!

The only settings i have in the BIOS for the CPU fan control is Enable or disable(which will run the fan at 100% constantly)

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Fan not speeding up would explain the 5c higher than I expected temps. ;)

Try testing with CPU fan control disable and see what temps do. ;)

My BIOS has fan control and a PWM setting.
 
doyll said:
Fan not speeding up would explain the 5c higher than I expected temps. ;)

Try testing with CPU fan control disable and see what temps do. ;)

My BIOS has fan control and a PWM setting.
Click to expand...

Done this but the fan speed hasnt changed.

The only way i can increase the fan speed is by manually adjusting it on the cooler itself or from the Intel Desktop Control Centre

For some reason the system does not increase fan speed under load...strange

Is there anything else i can check?

oh btw the board is an Intel DX58SO with the latest BIOS update
 
My guess would be that it's something to do with the Zalman fan controller are you able to remove it and just have the fan connected directly to the board?
 
Yes i can disconnect it, ill give it a try

I managed to change the setting in the BIOS to make the fan spin 100% constantly which worked fine...until i ran prime95 where the fan ran at 100% for about 10 seconds and then went back to idle speed and stayed there even though the cpu was at full load

I will remove the fan controller and report my findings
 
Ok i have removed the Zalman fan controller and set the BIOS so that the system controlls the fan speed...

now the fan is at 100% all of the time

I think maybe this cooler is not compatible with my board
 
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