If my CPU temp is maxing out at 60° under full load does that mean it's throttling?

[peanutismint]

I have an older CPU, an i5 3470K, that under full load measures about 60° on Speedfan. Does this mean it's throttling/not being used to its full potential becuase it won't allow itself to overheat? Might I benefit from a better cooler than the stock Intel one it came with in order to get full potential? I'd been thinking about a Hyper 212 Evo....?

 

[KompuKare]

Well, the i5-3470 is a locked CPU (but I think you could force those locked Ivy Bridge to run at max turbo for all cores), so as long as yours runs at its set clocks it should be fine.
It might be hard to get it to go past 60⁰C. However, cooling it more shouldn't allow it to run faster as long as your clocks are as expected.
Just run a monitoring program while stressing the CPU and see what clocks it settles on.

 

[PiKe]

Throttling doesn't start until 100c

 

[peanutismint]

Ok thanks, that's all useful info. So really the problem with it staying at 60c might just be that it's not overclocked at all yet? As I mentioned, it is the 'K' model which I'm pretty sure means it's unlocked for overclocking, right? But I guess my question would be, should I overclock with a stock CPU or maybe spend £30 on a Hyper 212 Evo or something just to get a few more degrees of cooling first?

Here's what my readouts look like at full load:

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

You put 3470k in your post. Anyway the 3570k throttles at 100c. As you are at 60c, you are well within throttle range and have nothing to worry about. If you wanted you could get the hyper 212 but that depends on what overclock your looking at getting. Also i would not go above 75c (your at 67c at stock) for safety. Anything above that would be too hot for my liking. My 3570k got 4.6ghz @ 1.32v 68c with a zalman lq315 120mm aio. You could get 4.2ghz for the same temps with the hyper 212

 

[peanutismint]

Oh sorry, my bad. I thought any 'K' could be overclocked but anyway, sounds like a Hyper212 might be a decent low-cost upgrade for this truly 'end of life' machine Now I'll have to remember everything I ever learned and then forgot about overclocking in like 2005.....!!

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

Yes any k series can be overclocked. if you need any help then just message and i'll help you through the process. If easier for you get on youtube and i'm sure you can find your mobo and an overclocking guide for that cpu and mobo combo

 

[peanutismint]

Awesome! Thanks matey.

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

your welcome. happy overclocking

 

[peanutismint]

One more question - I remember learning last time about how my Gigabyte motherboard has some kind of 'turbo' feature where (if I understand this correctly) it kind of variably overclocks the CPU as and when it needs to, rather than say setting it to 4.2GHz and leaving it there.

Have you had any experience with this kind of variable overclock and if so would you reccommend it for extending the life of the components rather than just leaving them constantly overclocked?

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

yes all you need to do is set a higher multiplier (42 for 4.2ghz) and make sure speedstep is enabled with c1e and your cpu will only use what it needs up to 4.2ghz if your overclock is set to 4.2ghz

 

[t31os]

Switch out the stock cooler for nigh on anything else and you'll get better temps, that said, 60C under load is well within non-throttling range.

 

[peanutismint]

Ok thanks guys! I wonder, therefore, why it’s only going to 60° and pretty much staying there....? Is it really just that that’s as hot as it gets going at max load without overclocking?

 

[Randomface74]

Why are we all saying 60c when the screenshot says 67c?

I'd say there's no issue here other than having an old cpu. Start saving up for your next pc. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[pp111]

In passing the 212 is an excellent little cooler. No issues. I have run a 3570K with a 212 and it did allow for moderate overclocking. The 3570K overclocks pretty easily too. I would certainly crank it up a little!