Should I Be Worried?

Ph4lanx · 28 May 2010 at 23:45

Hi guys,

Quick one here. I'm preparing to start overclocking my i7 920 and ran CoreTemp to check how the cooler/cpu was bedding in. My core temps are 35/34/38/36.

Is that an OK temp to start from stock, or should I look to lower that before I begin overclocking? I'm aiming to hit 4GHz.

NeoVo · 28 May 2010 at 23:50

I'd say thats average for an i7 mate, get overclocking!

Ph4lanx · 28 May 2010 at 23:52

Hehe, OK mate. Was just concerned as it's at that temp on a Noctua NH-D14 running the fans at full speed.

1uke · 29 May 2010 at 07:37

Start overclocking, But monitor temps closely and if they get high Stop and re-bed the NH-D14. My idle temps on my h50 are about the same as yours but when I put the cpu under full load it stays below 56c. I had cooler idle temps using as5 than what im using now mx-3 but i'm assuming I maybe put the compound to thick or something..

Ph4lanx · 29 May 2010 at 11:00

1uke, what would you consider "high" with an i7 920?

FiCtioN75 · 29 May 2010 at 11:32

1uke said:
Start overclocking, But monitor temps closely and if they get high Stop and re-bed the NH-D14. My idle temps on my h50 are about the same as yours but when I put the cpu under full load it stays below 56c. I had cooler idle temps using as5 than what im using now mx-3 but i'm assuming I maybe put the compound to thick or something..

what voltage are you giving your Q9550 to get in to 4ghz and managing o keep the temps below 56C on full load? you must have an awesome chip there

scooby555t · 29 May 2010 at 12:49

FiCtioN75 said:
what voltage are you giving your Q9550 to get in to 4ghz and managing o keep the temps below 56C on full load? you must have an awesome chip there

yeah what volts are you using ? am under a custom water loop cant seem to get my chip prime stable at 4ghz.
also op post your temps are fine mine q9550 idles more or less the same as yours

JonJ678 · 29 May 2010 at 13:27

Ph4lanx said:
1uke, what would you consider "high" with an i7 920?

Idle temperatures mean very little. For one thing they're very dependent on ambient temperatures, for another the thermometer involved has no motivation to be accurate anywhere below throttling, so probably wont be.

Intel rate them to 67 degrees as reported by the bios. Most temperature programs measure a different temperature to this, consensus seems to be that this should be below 80 under stress testing, but if it goes over don't worry too much.

It'll be harder to get it stable at any given frequency when it's hotter, so there's considerable motivation to keep it as cold as possible, rather than just anywhere below a certain value.

Ph4lanx · 29 May 2010 at 15:27

JonJ678 said:
Idle temperatures mean very little. For one thing they're very dependent on ambient temperatures, for another the thermometer involved has no motivation to be accurate anywhere below throttling, so probably wont be.

Intel rate them to 67 degrees as reported by the bios. Most temperature programs measure a different temperature to this, consensus seems to be that this should be below 80 under stress testing, but if it goes over don't worry too much.

It'll be harder to get it stable at any given frequency when it's hotter, so there's considerable motivation to keep it as cold as possible, rather than just anywhere below a certain value.

Thank you mate, very useful information. I'll give it a whirl this weekend

FiCtioN75 · 29 May 2010 at 15:45

From what i gather the noctua is one of the best air coolers out there so there shouldnt be a problem. Good luck with your overclock, ive just started a week ago and im completly hooked its like a new hobby. Let us know how it goes.

spirits247 · 29 May 2010 at 15:54

FiCtioN75 said:
Good luck with your overclock, ive just started a week ago and im completly hooked its like a new hobby. Let us know how it goes.

I have a separate PC just for gaming and that satisfies my overclocking hobby too.

As for the temps, yeah I agree with JonJ678 - idle means very little. Anything under 70C for core temp and prime95 multicore load I'm happy with when overclocking.

FiCtioN75 · 29 May 2010 at 15:57

I decided to overclock my gaming rig for the extra performance and i now spend more time running stability tests and tweeking voltages etc than i do gaming, its pretty addictive

carmatic · 29 May 2010 at 17:15

same here... i used to play a lot of games on my old computer but i got sucked into benching and overclocking more and more

so you guys use coretemp to see your temps? i use speedfan because that was what i used before i went away for a year or so...

FiCtioN75 · 29 May 2010 at 17:28

I use realtemp but im going to download coretemp and run them both at the same time see if theres any difference. is one reprortedly more reliable than the other?