# Computer temperature while editing?



## Valvebounce (Apr 1, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
I know it's not a computer forum, but it is related as I discovered the situation whilst editing. 
The problem is I have a PC with the bios temperature monitor set to annoy me at 80c, which it duly did whilst applying Prime NR in DxO. 
I added a bit of software to show me the temperature in windows, only showing 70c. 
Which is correct, I thought the windows readout would be acquired from the bios, I'd like to put my temperature probe on the chip, but then I wouldn't be able to fit the cooler, fix bang and all the smoke that keeps electronics working would leak out!  ;D
BTW this is not an April fools, it's after midday here, supposed to be bad karma or something to April fool after midday! ;D
Edit, the heat sink and fan are clean and free of dust, heat sink fitted with arctic silver 3 thermal paste. 

Cheers, Graham. 

Ps, not saying I'm not a fool, I probably am!


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## Don Haines (Apr 1, 2015)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi Folks.
> I know it's not a computer forum, but it is related as I discovered the situation whilst editing.
> The problem is I have a PC with the bios temperature monitor set to annoy me at 80c, which it duly did whilst applying Prime NR in DxO.
> I added a bit of software to show me the temperature in windows, only showing 70c.
> ...


What is the air temperature inside the computer case? I find that most do not have enough ventilation to handle a CPU running flat out... I tend to go for cases that have 120mm fans as they give enough air flow to keep the inside of the case cool, and that improves the efficiency of the CPU cooling and keeps the hard drives from failing early.

Second tip - clean cabling! Route your cables so that they don't block the air flow.... lots of little cable ties to keep the bundles tight and everything neat and clean....

BTW... I have two new computers (work, not home  )behind me loading up the OS.... They have 120mm fans on the power supply and two more 120mm fans to keep the air flowing.


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## ajfotofilmagem (Apr 1, 2015)

Good advice to follow our friend Don. The processor supports high temperatures but no damage, but hard drives and DVD drive deteriorate already with average temperatures.

The thing to do is to improve the air circulation inside the case, if need replacing by a large cabinet, with at least two 120mm fan cooler.

Make sure that the power source is active PFC type, wasting less energy and generates less heat.


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## mackguyver (Apr 1, 2015)

What kind of heat sink do you have on the CPU? The new stock coolers from Intel are absolute garbage, and I was overheating the moment I opened up my editing tools after my newest build with an Intel i7 4770K processor. I couldn't believe what crap it was after using their stock coolers on many projects over the years.

I put a Noctua NH-U14S cooler on it and DxO PRIME and everything else I throw at it doesn't raise the CPU temperature more than 10-20 degrees C. I can't remember the exact temps, but I think it runs something like 30-50 degrees cooler than the stock heatsink and fan, which is ridiculous! I have bought a few things from Noctua over the years and the quality is top notch.


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## lion rock (Apr 1, 2015)

Good advice on the extra ventilation and bigger heat dissapator.
I ran into a problem several years ago in which a student's HP laptop overheated and shutdown repeatedly. It was just passed warranty period and she was in a hurry to get it working. So she gave it to me for fixing. Turns out there was way to much thermal grease between the processor and the heatsink. The heat never really gets away from the dissapator. Removed the heatsink and took out the thermal grease and reapplying a thin layer took care of the problem. Work well since.
Too much of anything may not be all good. In moderation, my friends, in moderation!
-r


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## NancyP (Apr 1, 2015)

I am a fan of those inexpensive laptop stands that have fans underneath that blow on the underside of the laptop and run off the USB. Lap + solid flat surface + fan stand + laptop ... MUCH more comfortable for me, better for the computer. Here's an example: http://www.staples.com/Thermaltake-Massive23-Lx-Notebook-Cooler-2-H-x-14-8-W-x-11-8-L-Black/product_902468


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## tolusina (Apr 1, 2015)

@Valvebounce;
Tell more about the PC please. Desktop or laptop? Off the shelf build from HP, Dell or the like or custom? 
Lots of little cooling techniques are possible within a desktop case, some free, some spendy, when done right, cooling is dramatically improved.



mackguyver said:


> What kind of heat sink do you have on the CPU? The new stock coolers from Intel are absolute garbage, and I was overheating the moment I opened up my editing tools after my newest build with an Intel i7 4770K processor. I couldn't believe what crap it was after using their stock coolers on many projects over the years.
> 
> I put a Noctua NH-U14S cooler on it and DxO PRIME and everything else I throw at it doesn't raise the CPU temperature more than 10-20 degrees C. I can't remember the exact temps, but I think it runs something like 30-50 degrees cooler than the stock heatsink and fan, which is ridiculous! I have bought a few things from Noctua over the years and the quality is top notch.


This^^!!
I think Intel includes coolers just for the profit, they are on the low edge of marginal.
I have a Cooler Master cooler similar to mackguyver's Noctua, switched to a Noctua fan, double thumbs up to Noctua products, exquisitely detailed engineering and design.
This single air cooler also on an Intel i7 4770K overclocks with the ASUS utility from 3.5 GHz to 4.3 GHz, same as the hardcore gamer guys get with elaborate liquid coolers.

If the processor's fan is configured to push, there are a few degrees of efficiency to be gained by configuring it to pull instead.


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## GmwDarkroom (Apr 1, 2015)

Unless you're heavily overclocking or you have a processor older than 5 years, you should never be hitting CPU temps like that unless you've got one of the issues mentioned. Not even Prime 95 should do that. Have you cleaned out your computer lately? Turn it off, let it cool off, run a swiffer through it, put the thin attachment on your vacuum or --preferably -- a long bristle brush attachment and vacuum your computer out. Gently. Check the air flow and functionality of the case fans.

Big item: Check your video card fan. Most video cards pump hot air off the GPU and into the case. I heartily endorse NVidia stock cards because they do the opposite with a blower fan. I believe some AMD designs do as well. Editing software that may leverage your GPU will pump that much more heat into your case which needs to be properly vented.

Did you build this computer yourself? If not, how old is it? Possibly the thermal paste is gone or whoever built it used one of those useless thermal pads. I believe the pads are no longer used by Intel or AMD, but depending on the age of your computer you may have one. The best heat sink in the world is useless if the thermal paste is applied incorrectly or is no longer making good contact.

And on the subject of stock coolers, a properly installed stock cooler with sufficient thermal paste is absolutely fine for stock speeds. They are cheap so failure is an increased option, but they are not innately useless. Of course an aftermarket cooler will keep things that much cooler. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is another good choice for ~$35. All this assumes that the case has proper air flow.


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## lilmsmaggie (Apr 1, 2015)

As others have mentioned, consider your computer case's ventilation. Clean out the dust bunnies (dust is notorious for contributing to heat build up); Don't depend on CPU fans provided with the chip. Consider upgrading your case fans and/or buy yourself a case that has better ventilation and more fans and get yourself an aftermarket cooler like the Master Hyper 212 Evo (good value). Download/Install CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com) to monitor temps and system information.

When I built my own computer, I bought a case that has 3, 120mm fans and installed the Hyper 212 Evo.

As someone mentioned, you shouldn't be seeing high CPU temps unless something is about to fail. I have an old Dell 8600 than runs 24/7 (original case and a single case fan), in a room that has poor ventilation and gets southern sun all day. In other words, the ambient temperature in the room is generally hot and I've never had a heat build up issue.

If you're comfortable working inside the case (motherboard, etc.), you can remove the old CPU fan, remove the CPU chip from the MB; get yourself some thermal compound like Arctic Silver; clean off the old thermal compound with isopropyl alcohol and apply a thin layer of the Arctic Silver and attach new CPU cooler and re-install CPU.

Above may be a bit much if you haven't done it before but old thermal compound generally is one of the weakest link.


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## JonAustin (Apr 1, 2015)

As noted above, a better CPU cooler won't help with high ambient temps inside the case that can be detrimental to drives. However, I've been very satisfied with the Corsair Hydro liquid-based CPU cooler in my PC. It's a closed system; so you never have to add coolant or connect / disconnect hoses, just bolt the components into place in your system. Big, relatively slow-moving fans (for quieter performance), excellent cooling. Highly recommended; they also have GPU coolers.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 1, 2015)

Read up on temp specs and measurements.

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-033342.htm

Then get the Intel Tool to see what value you get. Laptops and desktops are measured and specked differently. AMD is likely different yet.

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-031726.htm


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## Hannes (Apr 1, 2015)

The discrepancy between bios and windows temperatures may be down to one of them measuring the core temp and the other the package temp. Core temp is what you should be interested in. HWMonitor is an excellent program to see what your temperatures do.

As for cooling, my desktop doesn't heat up at all doing image editing despite the fairly heavily overclocked processor but then it is a top of the line custom water cooling loop that barely lets out a whisper. Now this is obviously over kill for most people but an aftermarket CPU air cooler like one of the noctuas is a really good idea. Not only does it keep the CPU cooler but the difference in noise is marked. Just make sure your case has enough clearance inside to fit it.

If it is a laptop you should get one of the cooler stands which makes a big difference. That and cleaning out the dust you get building up in the fan and elsewhere.


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## KeithBreazeal (Apr 1, 2015)

My desktop core temp runs about 50 degrees F about ambient. I built my PC around an Antec gaming case that has an enormous amount of room. Two fans in the front for the HDs, a full case width top fan, and several fans inside. I think the key is have enough air space around the case to allow hot air to escape the case area. I never feel any hot air roasting my feet.
My laptop does run warm to hot when editing and I have a spacer to prop up the rear about 1/2 inch. 



My Computer Station © Keith Breazeal by Keith Breazeal Photography, on Flickr


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## Valvebounce (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
Thanks for the help so far, guess I need to get the temp down, last PC had a Cooler Master Aero on a copper heat sink, it worked really well but would not transfer to the new CPU think I better look in to custom coolers though I did read that the AMD OEM setup was pretty good at the time I built it. 
My PC is a desktop, home built AMD FX-4100 quad core runs at 3.6Ghz TDP 95W running the OEM cooler. 
Heat sink is fitted with Arctic silver paste applied as per directions, though I will take the advice to re do this in case it has dried out. 
I have 3 normal (80mm?) case fans pushing in 2 by the HDD, one in the back, I have a high quality power supply, can't remember the brand or spec, dual fan I think, I have made a duct to turn the exhaust from the PSU upwards so it isn't bounced off the wall and drawn back in. I also have a 120mm fan in a hole I cut in the top of the case to draw hot air out. 
The case stays reasonably dust free due to being well clear of the ground, it found it filled up quicker at low level, cats hair etc. It gets a regular clean out, soft brush Hoover canned air for the fins and other inaccessible areas, I even take the cover off the PSU and clean that too! Cleaning is done quarterly or there abouts, new drives fitted for January so just about due a clean I suppose but it has low hrs use due to many other distractions recently. 
Cabling is all tidy, zip tied in to a harness and routed along the structure of the case where possible, definitely not at risk of causing air flow issues. 
I have a large (dual height) graphics card that I think exhausts out the rear, just realised I might need to separate this flow if it does! 
PC lives in a corner on the work station, 4 inches clear minimum each side, but has to be pushed right back to fit the depth of the work top. 
I live in a fairly typical UK property, 3 bedrooms, well 2 bedrooms and a box room you'd be pushed to swing a mouse in let alone the cat! Guess which room the PC's are in! Yes PC's, his and hers!

Edit. Thoughts on this cooler please folks. 
http://www.dabs.com/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-evo---4-heatpipe--tower-cpu-cooler-8K32.html?

Cheers, Graham.


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## GmwDarkroom (Apr 2, 2015)

Valvebounce said:


> My PC is a desktop, home built AMD FX-4100 quad core runs at 3.6Ghz TDP 95W running the OEM cooler.
> Heat sink is fitted with Arctic silver paste applied as per directions, though I will take the advice to re do this in case it has dried out.
> I have 3 normal (80mm?) case fans pushing in 2 by the HDD, one in the back, I have a high quality power supply, can't remember the brand or spec, dual fan I think, I have made a duct to turn the exhaust from the PSU upwards so it isn't bounced off the wall and drawn back in. I also have a 120mm fan in a hole I cut in the top of the case to draw hot air out.


AMD does run hotter than Intel (generally). And I have had an AMD motherboard report completely erroneous temperature on me before -- though I was using a 965 Black Edition cranked to 4.0GHz, so the sensor might have been right, but poorly placed.

Believe it or not, having a top or bottom case fan isn't always the best. It can divert the flow of air from front to back leaving pockets of low circulation. Might try things with that turned off and covered so that the front fans push air in, and the rear draws air out.


Valvebounce said:


> Edit. Thoughts on this cooler please folks.
> http://www.dabs.com/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-evo---4-heatpipe--tower-cpu-cooler-8K32.html?
> 
> Cheers, Graham.


Best bang for the buck in air cooling, period. I have one of those on a Haswell-E setup which I've taken to an easy 10% overclock. Nothing severe yet since I've only had the system for a couple months. I had that fan's predecessor on the AMD system I mentioned above and it cooled a 3.4GHz stock to 4.0GHz overclock like a champ.


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## tolusina (Apr 2, 2015)

Valvebounce said:


> ....
> Edit. Thoughts on this cooler please folks.
> http://www.dabs.com/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-evo---4-heatpipe--tower-cpu-cooler-8K32.html?......


That's very similar to the Cooler Master on my Intel 4770K, four heat pipes and a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) fan.
If your FX-4100 is not radically different, it should be fine.
I went with a Cooler Master only because my chosen vendor did not handle a comparable Noctua unit, though Noctuas are significantly higher cost, like more than double.

While building, I did include one Noctua case fan, I was really impressed with the detailed overall build quality, most especially but not only the feel of the bearings. The frame, vibration insulators, little notches, ribs, flutes and venturi shape of the fan's duct all make it at least appear that considerable thought and engineering went into this product. In comparison, the Cooler Master fan just feels cheap and chintzy.

On a later trip to the same vendor I picked up another Noctua fan, thanks to PC hardware standardization, this fan fit directly up to the Cooler Master heat sink.
This is the fan I used....
http://www.dabs.com/products/noctua-nf-f12-pwm-120mm-focused-flow-pwm-cooling-fan-82D3.html?refs=50831&src=3
There are others. Note that case fans fit CPU heat sinks just fine.


If your motherboard supports PWM fan control, do go that route, using PWM the MB can very precisely control fan speed according to heat loads while allowing for the quietest possible operation.
There are five fans inside my case, I cannot hear them at all in normal operation though admittedly that may be (partially?) due to my old man's failing hearing.


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## Valvebounce (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
Thanks again for more advice, will get the cooler ordered later, don't think I will need to swap the Cooler Master 
fan out immediately but will bear that fan in mind for later. Will try deleting the top fan and turn the bottom rear fan around to exhaust, I thought the flow was supposed to be bottom to top! :-[
I have one of those laser guided thermometers, could point that around in the case to see if there are hot spots, thinking of replacing the side with cling film and use some canned smoke (used to check smoke detectors, essentially harmless) to see airflow patterns, any thoughts?

Cheers, Graham.


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## GmwDarkroom (Apr 2, 2015)

For flow, what you really want is a defined in->out path without dead spots. You want the air to flow over everything which a front->back flow gives. Top fans can skip or divert airflow. Give the system a try without the top fan, but it may not do anything or it may make things worse. However most of those kind of fans either do nothing or make things worse in my experience and in reviews by Toms Hardware and Maximum PC, my trusted resources.

Two things when you get the new cooler: remove any old thermal paste with rubbing alcohol and something lint-free. Make sure everything is dry. Then when you put in the new one, make sure the fan is oriented to blow towards the rear exhaust fan. Mine had little arrows stamped on the fan to show the direction of air flow. You can mount the fan on either side of the sink and even run two fans if you want. The fan bracket comes off and the fan is reversible.

Enjoy and good luck! Let us know how it turns out.


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## Valvebounce (Apr 8, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
Thanks to all for their advice, I didn't mess with trying intermediate steps, I bought the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and 3 new 80mm case fans with higher flow newer blade design. I turned the rear fan to exhaust and disconnected the 120mm on the top (which I'd forgotten how loud it was, sounded like the exhaust side of a jet engine! ;D) the machine boots and runs idle at ambient 17 to 19c, previously low 40's, ran a batch process in DxO, it ran at about the 30c mark, (this fluctuated between 28-32c with the cool n quiet feature changing the fan speed, previously this had been 70c whether processing 1 or 2 files simultaneously) then I unleashed the other 2 cores by turning the default process files from 2 to 4, it ran at 40c with a pretty uniform fan speed. 
So even flat out it runs quieter due to the jet engine on the top not running, and some 30c indicated temperature cooler, at intermediate load it is a bit more annoying due to the continual rise and fall note from the cool n quiet tech, but I'll live with that as it was doing this previously anyway, it was just muffled under the jet noise! ;D
I will try the other monitoring software now to see if it reports the temperature more in line with that shown in the bios. I didn't change it yet so that the temperatures I was seeing were reported the same way even if they were out by some offset. I guess I could run them side by side without problem but I don't like to do that. 
Anyway thanks again for all the advice. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## eli452 (Apr 8, 2015)

My first advice is to install a monitor program. One usually comes with the Mother Board software CD.
I recommend SpeedFan, a free program http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php.
You can monitor all temp (CPU, GPU, Hard drives, others) monitor fan speed and see if the temp is high at all
times or just editing. I recommend using an air can spray on all coolers and fans (turn of computer first), also 
air inlets and outlets.


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## wyldeguy (Apr 8, 2015)

I'm using an NZXT case which I believe has 2 120mm fans in front of the HDD's 1 120mm fan in back and one on the side plus 2 140mm fans up top. I installed a Corsair hydro 70 liquid cooler to replace the Intel supplied heat sink and have an AMD Radeon 6970 pumping tons of heat into the case when used for games. Even when the gpu is @100 degrees my cpu doesn't get over 50. I would definitely suggest getting a bigger case or at the very least one with more fans. You could even modify your existing one and cut some fan holes into it.

Edit: good to see you went that route and that your temps are back inline.


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