Ideal CPU Temps

[Pete301]

Hi everyone,

I have a Core 2 Duo E7400 and I decided to gently (because I only have the stock cooler) OC it recently just to 3GHz (stock 2.8GHz) and have found that the fan has been whirring louder than usual. I decided to download CPUID hardware monitor and have a look at my temperatures.

The program tells me I am hitting 75C on one of the cores of the CPU but the CPU temp overall is maxing at 65C.

Firstly, is there any point in me clocking 200MHz (I guess not, I just felt like doing it) and secondly, does anyone know what the ideal temperature of a Core 2 Duo E7400 should be?

Thanks in advance

[simonpreston]

Although the CPU can operate at those temperatures, it does seem somewhat high for a Core 2 Duo (especially a later model). I have a E6550 that rarely goes over 40c with a cheapo fan and case, and an E6420 2ghz that rarely does 40c even when clocked to 3.2ghz (some 400mhz FSB) - although that does have a massive heatsink and specialised case. But even so, it illustrates that 65/75c is somewhat excessive.

Main things to check are that the fan is properly inserted into the motherboard (the stock cooler with the push in lock system is a bit annoying in that respect), also it may be worth giving the cpu a clean and reapplying thermal paste so that the heatsink has better contact. Also check the heatsink/fan and make sure it's not become clogged up with dust. If you have a standard computer case then do what you can to help the airflow; like tidying up the wires, using cable ties and such.

Oh and one final thing that always tends to get missed. If your BIOS has a quiet fan option (and most do these days) make sure it's enabled. My brother was tearing his hair out a while back after he had done everything he could to silence his system, including buying a brand new case and sound insulation material, yet it was still too loud. I came along, switched the Q-Fan on and couldn't help but laugh as the system went dead quiet.

[Pete301]

Thanks for the reply . I think I might clean out my case from dust and see if I can tidy up my cables. I think I have another 120mm fan that I could put in the case to improve airflow.

Although I think I have to question the accuracy of this software because it said that my GPU had peaked at 105C which is far too high :S.

I hope to be upgrading soon anyway so if anything does go horribly wrong soon it won't matter too much I suppose.

[simonpreston]

Try Speedfan and see what readings that gives you. But a good bit of maintenance on the system never hurts it's lifespan.