Is my i7 CPU running too hot?
Here's my setup
- Intel i7 940 - stock speed
- 12GB DDR3 RAM
- ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
- 2x 10k RPM Velociraptor Hard drives
At no load, room temperature my cpu cores consistently read: 43 43 46 43 (Celsius)
The 3rd core is always a little hotter... don't know if maybe the thermal paste was spread uneven or something or if that core is always constantly selected by Windows by background tasks.
I built this computer last December, when the heat was actually worse because I had broken the stock fan. I'm currently using a highly rated aftermarket cpu fan/heatsink (can't remember the name). Those numbers seem to be the best I could do after removing the fan & heatsink and reapplying it several times.
I know the i7 runs hot, but this seems very hot. I've seen much lower numbers posted from people using the i7 920, albeit most had much less RAM than me (does the extra RAM generate more heat?).
Thanks in advance.
Solution 1:
worry not, 43c isn't anywhere NEAR hot.
here's a thermal guide for the Core i7 920 (Source: Tom's Hardware)
-Tcase / Tjunction-
--65-- / --70--70--70--70-- Hot
--60-- / --65--65--65--65-- Warm
--55-- / --60--60--60--60--Safe <--
--25-- / --30--30--30--30-- Cool
Solution 2:
The RAM does not affect significantly the temperatures measured off your CPU cores.
Honestly, at no load (are you sure no load is running? OS background processes checked?), it is slightly high, but not worryingly high.
I noticed you said you reapplied "[thermal paste] several times"... and I hope to the IT gods that you did not put several layers of thermal paste!!! That's usually the first mistake of novice PC assemblers - the more the merrier adage does not apply to thermal paste application!
If you did, I suggest you
- Stop using the PC immediately
- Remove the CPU and clean the surface of the CPU and the heatsink thoroughly (with a 5% alcohol solvent and a microfiber would be good)
- Run down to the PC hardware shop and get some good thermal paste (Artic Silver 5, etc).
- Follow this guide as to how to correctly apply thermal paste.
Ideally, at no load, the i7 core should be reading at about 35 to 40 Celsius.
Other things to check :
- Case airflow
- BIOS settings (Fan control settings especially)
- Fan orientation