Been running a very hot CPU - future problems?

[Masterdog]

Hi all,

For a few weeks I've been struggling to diagnose an issue with very stuttery games, which I first attributed to a driver problem and then went through a number of possible solutions which didn't work. Eventually (and I don't know why I didn't look at this before) I checked the CPU temps and noticed that they were up to 100c, and mainly around 80-90 when idle.

I've now fixed it by reseating the heatsink and I'm back down to about 30c. My question is - seeing as I've been running these very high temps for a few weeks without realising it, am I likely to experience problems in the future? What do I need to be looking out for to know the processor's been damaged? If it matters, the CPU is an i5-4460, not OCd, with stock cooling. I don't seem to have any issues at the moment.

Thanks in advance!

tl;dr: What damage can I expect from running a CPU around 80-100c for a few weeks, even if everything seems ok at the moment?

 

[andy_mk3]

Shouldn't make a difference to you. It may have taken a bit of life off it. But CPU's last so long it's going to be long gone before it wears out. It's only running high voltages that kills them really. Plus they have thermal protection so it'll be fine basically.

 

[RJC]

The cpu will throttle to protect its self, I would not worry, if the system is running ok I would just keep track of temps and performance.

 

[Matthew.M]

Nothing. It will be fine. Modern CPUs throttle to prevent them overheating (hence the stuttering in games). Devices like MacBooks run at 95C+ at full load by design with no long term issues.

 

[Masterdog]

Ok thanks all! There seemed to be some panicked people when I googled; I'll consider myself reassured.

 

[JediFragger]

I wouldn't worry about it Masterdog (I wouldn't tbh), these things are made to last a fair few years

 

[russell664]

You should be fine with that mate.

 

[Devrij]

Had a similar problem after rebuilding my htpc and a stay cable stopped the cpu fan from spinning. Chip is still fine. Would only worry if the temps had been caused by extreme voltages

 

[Scougar]

Global warming. Thanks, thanks a lot.

Honestly, it will be fine. I highly doubt you did damage unless you disabled thermal controls.

 

[Dave2150]

Global warming. Thanks, thanks a lot.

Honestly, it will be fine. I highly doubt you did damage unless you disabled thermal controls.

I believe it's impossible to disable thermal controls on modern Intel CPU's - they are integrated into the CPU, the BIOS cannot turn them off.