New system - 3930k - are my tempratures too high? A little concerned.

[Opt]

Hi everyone.

Let me start off by saying that I'm fairly new to building a system, so my knowledge is a little limited and I apologize if this makes me come across as a little uninformed.

I recently put together my new system and so far it runs great. I haven't had the chance to really stress it, but for every day use and for gaming I haven't noticed any performance issues whatsoever. I have, however, been monitoring my GPU and CPU temperatures lately and I'm starting to wonder whether or not my CPU is staying within safe limits.

I have an i7 3930k. All 6 cores idle around 38-45 degrees C. Typically they're in the 40's but have been in the 30's and occasionally in the low 50's.

When I game, (not running the most intensive games, Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 at max settings) the temperatures rise to 60-65 degrees C, but eventually hit 72 degrees.

A friend suggested I run a prime95 test - noting that I should be able to run it for hours with no issues - within 30 seconds of running the test my core temperature program's numbers started to go "yellow" (assuming that's very bad) at 86/87 degrees C.

I have nothing special as far as cooling goes (no liquid cooling or anything like that). Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. CPU cooler: Intel RTS2011 AC Thermal solution. Case: Coolermaster HAF 932 (with the fans it came with.)

Should I be concerned? Or are these temperatures to be expected with the level of cooling I have? I have not overclocked anything at all other than adjusting my ram speed to fit the XMP profile in the bios (the MB was reading it at 1333 even though the ram is rated at 1600. Setting the XMP profile fixed this.)

Sorry for the long post. Many thanks in advance. My system runs great but I want to make sure I'm running it safety and don't ruin any hardware so I can continue to enjoy it for years to come.

 

[Mjolnir]

For an all in one liquid unit; at stock.. Yes it's quite high. 72 degrees gaming? over 80 in prime? I'd probably do a remount. Remember AS5 is thick; if you use TOO much of it it'll insulate more than dissipate. (Well, fill gaps*).

I would definitely consider a remount. Sounds awfully high.. But also depends on your ambient.

Post the rest of your rig here. Everything; just to cover future questions.

 

[kommanderkodiak]

Remount if you need to purchase more thermal paste i recommend shinetsu G751 its cheap and excellent. With the i7-3930k you'll want to put just a bit more than peasize because the 2011 processors are huge

here is an installation guide watch it a couple times and follow it

also make a sig with your specs for future use to save yourself the trouble of typing it out every time and saving us the time of going back to the post to double check your specs

 

[Opt]

Thanks guys. Sorry about the specs, I updated my signature. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

I think i'll remount based on your suggestions, I still have thermal paste left so that shouldn't be a problem. I think I may have used too much initially or maybe I didn't spread it evenly enough.

If that doesn't help should I consider purchasing better cooling for the CPU, or is there potentially something else wrong?

Edit: That's weird, my signature doesn't seem to be appearing in my posts. I'll try to fix this, for now I'm posting the specs below.

Motherboard - Asus P9X79WS
CPU - i7 3930k @ 3.2ghz
RAM - 32GB 8Gx4|GSKIL F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL @ 1600mhz.
GPU - EVGA 03G-P3-1595-AR GeForce GTX 580 Classified ULTRA Video Card - 3072MB
Storage - Crucial m4 128GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" SSD
Case - Coolermaster haf 932
PSU - CORSAIR|HX1050 CMPSU-1050HX R
OS - Windows 7 Pro. 64

 

[manu2b]

If you still have these high temps, maybe there is something wrong with your cooler, like a defect pump.

 

[Opt]

If you still have these high temps, maybe there is something wrong with your cooler, like a defect pump.

I don't have a liquid cooling solution though, but I suppose it would still make sense to assume something could be wrong with the cooler if the remount doesn't help.

 

[kommanderkodiak]

Thanks guys. Sorry about the specs, I updated my signature. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

I think i'll remount based on your suggestions, I still have thermal paste left so that shouldn't be a problem. I think I may have used too much initially or maybe I didn't spread it evenly enough.

If that doesn't help should I consider purchasing better cooling for the CPU, or is there potentially something else wrong?

Edit: That's weird, my signature doesn't seem to be appearing in my posts. I'll try to fix this, for now I'm posting the specs below.

Motherboard - Asus P9X79WS
CPU - i7 3930k @ 3.2ghz
RAM - 32GB 8Gx4|GSKIL F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL @ 1600mhz.
GPU - EVGA 03G-P3-1595-AR GeForce GTX 580 Classified ULTRA Video Card - 3072MB
Storage - Crucial m4 128GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" SSD
Case - Coolermaster haf 932
PSU - CORSAIR|HX1050 CMPSU-1050HX R
OS - Windows 7 Pro. 64

dont spread TIM it cause airbubbles which increase cpu temp unevenly over the cpu heres a video on application of tIM

NOTE: use just a TAD more than he uses ther ebecause the chip is much larger than most chips the size of a large pea should do it right in the center

 

[manu2b]

Well, I thought you were using the Intel Closed loop cooling solution.
With the cooler you use, I would not be surprise you reach such high temps, which are still within 15/20°C to the T-Junction Max.

These chips run hotter than SB due to the 2 extra cores.

 

[kommanderkodiak]

Well, I thought you were using the Intel Closed loop cooling solution.
With the cooler you use, I would not be surprise you reach such high temps, which are still within 15/20°C to the T-Junction Max.

These chips run hotter than SB due to the 2 extra cores.

I read that too perhaps hes confused and thinks that its not a water cooler because he doesnt understand that its a closed loop system with water a pump and sink all self contained. He didnt object to the video on mounting it after all.

 

[manu2b]

Nope, the Intel RTS2011 AC is the usual aluminium Intel cooler with copper base.

 

[kommanderkodiak]

Nope, the Intel RTS2011 AC is the usual aluminium Intel cooler with copper base.

what the heck i searched it and it came up with the liquid cooler

yeah op get a new cpu cooler! H100 free shipping no tax and no worries about working with your ram http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Serie...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339774530&sr=8-1&keywords=h100

 

[Opt]

Nope, the Intel RTS2011 AC is the usual aluminium Intel cooler with copper base.

Yep, that's the one I have. Sorry for the confusion. The instillation video linked mentions both units, but only demonstrates the LC version. I have the first, shown at 2:18 in the video.

Should I consider upgrading? Or are these temperatures still not normal even with the low end cooling?

 

[manu2b]

Intel RTS2011 AC: air cooler
Intel RTS2011 LC: liquid cooler

 

[manu2b]

If you don't OC, you're good.

If you plan on OCin, better going with a closed loop like the H80/H100 or a high end air like the True Spirit

 

[kommanderkodiak]

yeah opt get a new cpu cooler! H100 free shipping no tax and no worries about working with your ram http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Series...&keywords=h100

just for the sake of keeping your investment protected and its an unclocked CPU youre gonna overclock it at some point otherwise you wouldnt have bought it def buy

 

[Opt]

If you don't OC, you're good.

If you plan on OCin, better going with a closed loop like the H80/H100 or a high end air like the True Spirit

I don't plan on overclocking for now which is why I didn't buy a better solution to begin with (was trying to save some money, hoped to upgrade in the future) but I'm a little concerned about the fact that the temperatures get to 70 degrees while I'm gaming. Is this safe? Will it damage the CPU long run?

 

[manu2b]

No risk until you reach the TjMax (98°C IIRC).

No worries, these CPUs are designed to sutain temps in the 90°C 24/7 and last for decades (at stock volt!).

 

[kommanderkodiak]

No risk until you reach the TjMax (98°C IIRC).

No worries, these CPUs are designed to sutain temps in the 90°C 24/7 and last for decades (at stock volt!).

Im not sure on that number manu im trying to get confirmation from jaq cuase its rather ambigous intel hasnt been forth coming the numbers changed from regular SB because of the additional cores the Tcase is 66.8 and heres where it gets ambiguous i saw postings about it being 86 for the 3930k and 96 for 3960K for the core temps .


EDIT
ok i got some info from earthdog. There are no hard numbers unfortunately so its guesses heres the number from earthdog

The ark.intel papers only state the Tcase as 66C (which is not the limit). What has seemingly been accepted here, and many other forums, are similar to other chips on that process of around 85C. TJmax, IIRC is 95C. Its been a while since I had a 3930k.

I hope that helps.

 

[manu2b]

Thanks Kommander!

 

[kommanderkodiak]

Thanks Kommander!

no problem those numbers were dogging me from day one on this cpu! I get her up and running and realize i dont have solid numbers i search and i find nothing but forums posts touting various numbers i average it out to mid 80s but search intels site NOTHING , theyre getting really lazy with amd not putting up much of a fight lately- its really annoying (thermal paste under the IHS for IB,no solid numbers, errata in first stepping of the 3930K).

Perhaps Nvidia should take a dip into the desktop CPU market afterall intel has stepped into their territory and the way i see it its only a matter of time before they themselves start making discrete graphics after experimenting with the integrated ones.