How hot is too hot?

[joevh09]

I'm not overclocking anything.
By a lot i mean like the boot order, num lock, just basic stuff.

[Kurtiskain]

Just something I've noticed...

When you are in the BIOS screen (this applies to everyone) It seems that the BIOS is actually pushing the CPU to 100% anyway, because I have seen many motherboards that keep the fan speed constant at BIOS screen and inside windows, yet inside windows the temp is ALOT lower at 5-10% than the BIOS ever displays, I.E my BIOS states my CPU is running at 50 degrees Celcius, yet in windows right now, 25-30% CPU usage, my temp is 35 Celcius...

Just a theory really but worth looking into

[Calum]

Kurtiskain, that's something I've been looking into myself, but have never been able to find an answer to.
it seems obvious that the BIOS would put no load on the CPU, but on some boards I've noticed it seems to be stressing it.
Examples: my main system, seems to be a small load as my CPU gets to the mid-30s in the BIOS, under full load in Windows about 46, and idle in Windows high 20s.  My laptop idles in Windows in the 30s, load at 60-64, in the BIOS there's no way to check the temperature but it does feel much hotter than idle in Windows.
The original reason I looked into this was my Athlon XP machine, it was in the BIOS at over 50C which didn't seem right to me, with a cold room and open case.  It was lacking a HD at the time and now is missing a cooler, so it doesn't have an OS on to compare against.  That's what makes me think that the BIOS does put a load on the CPU.

[Raptor]

The original reason I looked into this was my Athlon XP machine, it was in the BIOS at over 50C which didn't seem right to me, with a cold room and open case.

Athlons were simply really hot running processors and I have never seen a BIOS that causes the CPU to be at 100% load.

Anyhow, even so, 80 degrees Celsius is too hot if you ask me.

[Kurtiskain]

Kurtiskain, that's something I've been looking into myself, but have never been able to find an answer to.
it seems obvious that the BIOS would put no load on the CPU, but on some boards I've noticed it seems to be stressing it.
Examples: my main system, seems to be a small load as my CPU gets to the mid-30s in the BIOS, under full load in Windows about 46, and idle in Windows high 20s.  My laptop idles in Windows in the 30s, load at 60-64, in the BIOS there's no way to check the temperature but it does feel much hotter than idle in Windows.
The original reason I looked into this was my Athlon XP machine, it was in the BIOS at over 50C which didn't seem right to me, with a cold room and open case.  It was lacking a HD at the time and now is missing a cooler, so it doesn't have an OS on to compare against.  That's what makes me think that the BIOS does put a load on the CPU.

Yeah I did a few google searches and found some threads for and against this...

But no definitive answers.
Another thing to note is, my BIS is quite slow I.e when changing tabs it can take up to a second depending on which tab it is (mostly the advanced tab)

But selecting Hardware monitor in BIOS takes 2-3 seconds to open which sort of scared me the first few times 

Has anyone actually checked the specs for the CPU? I.e max operating temp?

EDIT: nvm did it anyway:
Thermal Specificaton: 72.4°C

so yeah you wanna keep your CPU temp under at least 60C

[Calum]

Hardware Monitors in the BIOS usually do take a few seconds.
Core 2 Duo maximum recommended temperatures, depending on the model, are around 70-80C I believe.  Absolute maximum is either 95, 100 or 105, depending on the model.
Edit: above post edited with correct information already, too quick for me there.
Extra info - that thermal specification means, basically, anything over 72.4 and the CPU's in trouble.

[Raptor]

Has anyone actually checked the specs for the CPU? I.e max operating temp?

I tried for a few seconds but I'm not familiar with the Intel website.

Max operating temperature is probably somewhere around 90-95C. 80 is still too high, even at full load.

I can't seem to find the post where the guy mentioned his processor name, though.

[Kurtiskain]

Has anyone actually checked the specs for the CPU? I.e max operating temp?

I can't seem to find the post where the guy mentioned his processor name, though.

That's because there wasn't one 

Its in his specs listing on the side

BTW just trying to find some of those links for the BIOS thing if ya wants a read

[Raptor]

Its in his specs listing on the side Smiley

I'm not sure if he's talking about the same computer.

[Kurtiskain]

If you suspect a faulty BIOS, why have you not yet looked for a BIOS update to see if a 'fix' is among the list?

I just updated the BIOS last night to the latest version.
Its an Asus P5k Pro mobo with an intel core 2 duo CPU. The bios version is 1202

His specs state a P5K Pro mobo and so obviously the the E8400 C2D that is in question...

[Raptor]

Ah, he did mention.

That's because there wasn't one  Grin

Remember saying that just one post ago? 

Intel® Core™2 Duo Desktop Processor E8400

Thermal Specification: 72.4°C

So even if it's running at 65W (100%) it should never go higher than that value.... At least, that's how I interpret Intel's explanation.

[Kurtiskain]

Ah, he did mention.

That's because there wasn't one  Grin

Remember saying that just one post ago? 

Haha yes in deed...though I was more pointing to the fact he didn't leave a model number

Anyway this is kind of thread jacking but this is for Calum
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=2173367

Extra info - that thermal specification means, basically, anything over 72.4 and the CPU's in trouble.

yeah so you want to stay at least 20C under spec at full load.

anyway,

TopStarter hasn't gotten a word in in over 6 posts so perhaps it's now fixed? 

[patio]

Or fried...

[Calum]

Thanks for that info kurtiskain.  I think I was searching with the wrong terms.
Not to keep jacking the thread, but I just want to say that the thermal specification is the maximum temperature that "long term reliability and performance can be expected" to quote, or at least closely emulate, Intel's wording.
Between that temperature (tCase) and the absolute maximum temperature (tJunction) "neither long term reliability or performance can be expected" and beyond that they expect it to die.
In other words, if it's below 72.4C then it's fine, anything above that and they don't guarantee it will work properly, if at all.
Raptor: that doesn't mean it will never exceed that temperature.  If the case is poorly ventilated, or the thermal paste or cooler isn't applied correctly, then it will go higher.  If done properly though then the stock cooler will keep it below that temperature.
My CPU is similar, with the same thermal specification, so I have a good idea of the temperatures it will normally run at.

[joevh09]

My computer isn't fried.
And yes the specs to the left for my profile are for the computer we're talking about.

Another question- When my computer is idling it stays around 38 celcius and when its playing COD4 it goes up to about 80 celcius, is that normal?