E8400 Idle and Load Temperatures

I just got my self an E8400, and the stock HSF is tiny so I used the stock fan from my E6750 and the temperature shown in Core Temp for full load with Prime95 is about 55 (core1) and 57 (core2), when idle its at 41 (core1) and 44 (core2).

Are these numbers higher than average? What is the max operating temperature of the E8400s? If I had known that these came with such bad HSF's i would have went with an OEM version of the processor. If I am to invest in a HSF for it, what are some good recommendations that is around or under 30$?

edliu512 said:

I just got my self an E8400, and the stock HSF is tiny so I used the stock fan from my E6750 and the temperature shown in Core Temp for full load with Prime95 is about 55 (core1) and 57 (core2), when idle its at 41 (core1) and 44 (core2).

Are these numbers higher than average? What is the max operating temperature of the E8400s? If I had known that these came with such bad HSF's i would have went with an OEM version of the processor. If I am to invest in a HSF for it, what are some good recommendations that is around or under 30$?

Click to expand...

Freezer Pro 7.

I use the Freezer Pro 7 hsf and get the same temps readings as you; only with RealTemp the readings are 10 degrees lower > 30-32C idle. I think the readings you're getting are normal, but the actual temp is lower. From what I've read about this chip, you don't need to worry too much about temps unless you are a really agressive OCer; and, then you only need to watch the delta (TJmax) for throttle issues.

edliu512 said:

If I had known that these came with such bad HSF's i would have went with an OEM version of the processor. If I am to invest in a HSF for it, what are some good recommendations that is around or under 30$?

Click to expand...

You don't buy the retail box for the HSF (although it works surprisingly well given it's wimpy appearance), you buy it for the longer warranty.

Before you decide what heatsink to buy you should see what kind of Wolfie you have.
Some clock very well at low volts and some do not.

A fast indicator would be to run 9 x 400 at motherboard default voltage (typically 1.225v) and see if it'll ORTHOS for a few hours.
If it does, you have what I'd consider a "normal" chip.
"Bad" ones won't do even that 3.6GHz, so you then have to make a decision.

If you want to clock higher you're going to have to start pumping voltage and for a "bad" chip, the AC Freezer ain't gonna cut it.
A "normal" example will probably hit 4GHz under 1.35-1.375v and a "golden" chip will do it much lower.
The Freezer Pro would be fine for either of the latter two cases.

Should you insist on going higher than 4GHz, then you've entered premium cooling territory and should just start saving your money.

rblews said:

I use the Freezer Pro 7 hsf and get the same temps readings as you; only with RealTemp the readings are 10 degrees lower > 30-32C idle. I think the readings you're getting are normal, but the actual temp is lower. From what I've read about this chip, you don't need to worry too much about temps unless you are a really agressive OCer; and, then you only need to watch the delta (TJmax) for throttle issues.

Click to expand...

My temperatures are also ~10 degrees higher with Core Temp than Real Temp, and I'm hitting loads of about 50C with Core Temp on an Ultima-90 at 3.0GHz. Way too hot to be real.

Look here and see what you can find.