EggXpert

Hi all,

 I'm running an E8400 w/ Arctic Silver 5 and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro and my computer idles at about 36c - 37c per core (SpeedFan). Room temperate is about 70F.

 Are these numbers normal?

Also, I've tried to overclock it, even the smallest amounts (.16, .3) and my temps would shoot up to the high 60s on idle. I always took it back down to stock and it cooled right now, but still, it concerns me.

I read that my BIOS needed to be upgraded to some beta to get my voltages to work correctly, but I was lost there too. (Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L)

The overclocking increase in temperatures is probably due to voltage increases. Take manual control of the voltages, set them fairly low, and see what effect it has on idling at stock speeds, then try increasing the speed just a tad bit, leaving the voltage where it is, see how that works out.

It would also be a really good idea to update that bios. There are several software products you can use to do it in windows incase you dont feel comfortable doing it with a boot disk. If the motherboard has the voltage set on auto take that off and put it at your default voltage incase you dont know what that is try googling it or lookin on intel website im sure its listed there. Also are you running it on a stock cooler, or do you have it running with an aftermarket cooler? And if it do have it on a aftermarket cooler which one???

 

Ive never used a artic cooler before so im not sure on there performance, but perhaps you put too little thermal grease or too much! Also how are you taking these temps perhaps try double checking them with everst ultimate edition. Its a free trial on there website.

Working great, auto voltages were being whacky (or so it seems) and things are running great stable at 3.6ghz.

Edit: Arctic Silver 5 and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, Kpaul

The voltage range for that processor is: 0.85v-1.3625v

EDIT: If you're happy at 3.6Ghz, try stepping down the voltages gradually, and testing stability. That should result in lower temperatures.

According to SpeedFan:

Vcore1: 1.17v
Vcore2: 1.90v

I'm... confused? (It's been roughly these numbers the entire time, even pre-OC)

Hmmm... try another program to read you core voltages like the one I suggested (everest). Thats wierd!

Core Voltage 1.025 - 1.188 V

I/O Voltage    1.025 - 1.188 V

Typical Power    65 W @ 3.00 GHz

Maximum Power    91.9 W @ 3.00 GHz

 

That work?

I'd suggest to download Real Temp and give it a try instead. The sensors for the new 45nm CPUs work differently than the old ones and are usually reported too high, and Real temp is supposed to be more accurate for them. If you take Real Temp and calibrate it to the two minus signs (since you have a 45nm CPU), I believe it will be closer to what it is, let alone Speed Fan is supposedly off by quite a bit on these new CPUs. I have the same CPU, cooler, and compound, and at the same 3.6GHz you're at (with the same 1.17V-1.18V), Hardware Monitor says one core is in the upper forties and the other is just above fifty, which would suggest it's warm, but yet, the fan is never ramping up (my system is always whisper quiet and sounds the same under full load and idle), and the heatsink is always cool, so I don't trust it's quite that high. Real Temp says one is 31C and the other is 37C-39C, which seems more believable. Neither sensor is "stuck".

Intel says the numbers are NOT supposed to be used to give an accurate number, but rather kick in throttling when needed. Use it to give you an idea, but if it's not too high and the heatsink stays cool, I'd say it's fine. With decent cooling (which that is), you'll probably run into a wall with voltage before you do with temperatures, at least I did, so I say don't put too much worry into it. That's a cool running 3.6GHz 45nm Core 2 Duo, so enjoy it!

By the way, I found the stock compound on that cooler (which is Arctic Cooling MX-1) to be better than the Arctic Silver 5. Some have found the opposite. With me, the stock compound idled at 33C-35C (according to ASUS Probe II). With Arctic Silver 5, it's about 5C higher. It is summer now too, so that's partly why. I've reseated about 5 times, so I doubt I'm applying it wrong (followed instructions).
 

Real Temp gives me temps around 5-6 degrees (c) less on average.

My temps in BIOS tend to be about the same as that.

Odd though, it says 2400.0 MHz at the top. Unless I'm missing something big, or maybe I'm just not educated enough about it, isn't this... wrong?

Intel Speedstep switches to the lowest multiplier when the CPU is idling. That's why you are getting 2.4Ghz and not 3.6Ghz when you're idling