High System Temp

[garyb1991]

 I'm running a Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H-B3 with a 2500k. I haven't done any overclocking and it is only two days old. According to EasyTune 6 my system temp is 44 degrees Celsius and my CPU is usually around 24. Is it normal for the system temp to be that high? I believe system temp means motherboard temperature. I have 2 x 80m front fans (intake), 80mm top fan (exhaust), and 120mm rear fan (Exhaust). All the fans are blowing out cool air.

 I found that this grey heatsink looking thing on the motherboard that says "Gigabyte" is the source of heat.



If I blow dust off on it for aroudn 20 seconds the temperature dropped to 39 degrees Celsius.

Is this a faulty motherboard? Is this normal operating temperature? Seems very high to me.

Thanks,
Gary

[Fatman]

That grey heatsink looking thig is the heat spreader for the intel chipset. Those temps seem fine to me. If you are worried about it you can always try hooking up a small fan to blow directly onto it to keep the temps down a bit more. Like I said, I wouldn't be too concerned.

[Rolo42]

Are you sure those temps aren't backwards?  What are you using to monitor them?  (Try CPUID HW Monitor if not using it already.)

My UD4 motherboard reports 22, 25, and 34 and CPU is 31-34 at idle (with Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B and great case cooling).  Its overclocked to 4.2 but at stock voltages and SpeedStep, making idle frequency 1.6GHz.

I think the heatsink you have pictured is for cooling as it is for looks.  Spraying compressed air, which is cold and gets colder, will draw/dissipate heat; be careful you don't get moisture on a powered board.

In any case, 44 is fine but test your temps under load.

[Ben]

Hi there.

My mobo is a GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3, CPU; Intel 2600.

My temps as of now are;
Core 0, 39c
Core 1. 36c
Core 2. 37c
Core 3. 41c
Package 41c.

HDD 1 & 2 = 39c, 36c.

GPU, 36c

I rarely go over 45c, unless testing, your CPU should take 80c easily for hard work, short periods.

45c is pretty good for all round performance.

My room temperature is 30c, humidity is 55.

Do you have a stock fan on your CPU as mine is a "Noctua", (after market) I removed my stock fan.

Ben.

[garyb1991]

 I was monitoring using EasyTune6. I downloaded the CPUID HW Monitor and it shows this:



TMPIN 0 is the same motherboard temperature that the ET6 software was reporting.

Anyways, I guess these temperatures are normal? I wouldn't mind getting that 44 degrees down a bit, anyone know of a fan or aftermarket cooler that would work for this? I believe that "heatsink" is the Southbridge?

Thanks again

[Aussie Allan]

   These Bridge sinks have a huge amount of work to do, so generally run a fair bit hotter than near on any other component .... Intel will tell you , anything under 50C is normal

  Because it's an integrated Heat-pipe design on the 68s.... makes it almost impossible to remove just this sink only ... as far as I know there's no commercial  kit that will just plugin on top of the existing sink

  If you are at all handy and have a spare 3 pin header close by ....... a 2 to £4 fan (100s on ebay) around the size of the heat sink (30/40mm) will do the trick nicely.

  How you mount it will come down to how inventive you are ...... if you really get stuck ..... a couple of small pillars of silastic (silicone) and leave it overnight sitting on it's side will get you there with a semi-permanent fixing ..... good for vibration as well ..... but keep them small!

  Aussie Allan  

[Dark Mantis]

I believe system temp means motherboard temperature.

All the fans are blowing out cool air.
 
I found that this grey heatsink looking thing on the motherboard that says "Gigabyte" is the source of heat.

If I blow dust off on it for aroudn 20 seconds the temperature dropped to 39 degrees Celsius.

Is this a faulty motherboard? Is this normal operating temperature? Seems very high to me.

Hi

Firstly your fans are not set up right. They should be making sure that there is a good airflow through the case. In other words the front ones blowing into the case and the rear ones expelling air.

You are quite right the temperature that you are measuring is the temperature of the motherboard itself (usually monitored on the PCB near some chip by thermal diode) - so it is rather the temp of the air inside his chassis that is high. You have proven that by blowing on the heatsink to lower the temp.

[Rolo42]

He stated his front fans are intake.

The southbridge heatsink doesn't have a heatpipe.

44 is a fine temperature; if you hit 60, I'd be a little concerned.

What case are you using; do you have a picture with the cover off?

[Aussie Allan]

    Good pickup Rolo 42 ...should have looked at a photo....... no heat pipe means there are after market coolers you can/could use ...... or stick to the DIY plan ..... either way ..... 44C is not all that bad.

  Aussie Allan

[garyb1991]

 Case is pretty old school, it's an Aspire something. There is an air duct towards the cpu on the side as well as some little vents underneith that. I have two 80mm fans on the front intaking air, an 80mm on the top exhausting air, and a 120mm exhaust fan on the back. It seems to have pretty good flow, only downside to this case is the front 80mm fans probably can not pull much air with the door closed. Sometimes I leave the front of the case open as there is a vented section so it can intake more air. This doesnt seem to make any difference with that motherboard temp though. Also I did a very good job tucking wires with this build, nothing is in the way of the fans.

I talked to the tech at the local store at which I purchased all the parts and he said the temperature was fine. However, if there is an aftermarket cooler out there I'd likely purchase it just to keep the temps down. I wasn't able to find one, but I'm probably not searching the right keywords.

Thanks again!

[dikal]

A way to drop that motherboard temp, is a side fan intaking air to the area below the processor. 

[Dark Mantis]

It's not helping that your fans are all so small. Most case fans nowadays are 120mm to 140mm, the 80mm that your case has probably pull approximately half the air that a larger fan will do (and are more noisy). Plus as you mention the flow is further restricted by the design with the door on the front. In the long term I would consider buying a decent modern chassis that should have plenty of fan fixings.

[Rolo42]

I agree with dikal; the southbridge area has always had the weakest airflow.

Putting a fan on the lower vent is a good idea if you game and especially if you run more than one card; my video card likes that side intake fan.

Lowering the temp of your southbridge will have zero impact; it frequency/voltage won't change, so you don't have to worry about increased temps.

I wouldn't recommend a cooler for it because those tiny fans really don't last that long, probably the combination of smaller components wearing and being more susceptible to dust, which they are a magnet for.  If you lose the fan with an inferior heatsink, you made something that wasn't a problem into one.  Plus, this adds to your maintenance requirement (cleaning it) and noise.

What you could do is remove the heatsink and see what thermal compound its using and replace it with a better one (i.e. Arctic Silver); I used to do this with northbridges and I've always gotten a few degrees cooler/eliminated temp spikes--but those were faster/hotter chips.