Hi there. Just built an i7 950 system running at stock on a p6x58 mobo.
Running prime 95 for a few hours the average max CPU temp (measured with real temp) across the cores is 69-70 deg.
Is this safe? Getting conflicting reports when searching the web.
Can increase the fan speeds a little if not, but want to keep the box as quiet as possible.
Thanks
Matthew
IMHO It’s a little high, I would stay below 65°C in any case for safety according to INTEL’s specifications (Max Temp: 67,9°C for the i7 950)
@69-70° there is no immediate risk but the lifespan of the CPU may be reduced.
BTW 70°C seems too high for stock speed; increase fan speed, check (replace) the cooler, the thermal paste and/or reduce the CPU Vcore Voltage (in BIOS) as much as you can while keeping stability.
Cheers,
Bernard
Thanks for your reply.
I’ve reseated the cooler and increased the airflow a bit which has got the average down to 66. One of the cores peaked at 69.
I’ll try one more case fan to see if I can improve things a bit.
I’ve got all the fans running very slowly at the moment. May need to up them a bit I suppose but trying to keep it quiet. 
M
66 will be fine as long as it passes prime 95.
If your using stock cooler and any old paste you could try a better cooler and high quality paste like “IC diamond” or Artic MX3,
If you want to keep fans low then a large heatsink really helps as long as it fits, the Noctua ones come with good paste and are quiet, though the NH D14 may be overkill 
, Thermalright are also very good, but you may need a Quiet fan (Noctua or Artic Cooling) and paste on top.
It really is about getting the heat spread over as large an area as possible so the slow fans can shift it.
thanks for your reply and the recommendations
I’ve got a noctua nh c12p which I have with the ulna adaptor which leaves it spinning at about 700 odd rpm.
Experimenting with the orientation of the fan to see which is best. It’s supposed to be blowing on to the heatsink but it seems to be a bit better blowing away from it. Odd huh?
I reseated it using much less of the noctua paste which seems to have a made a small improvement.
I’ve got some artic alumina here. Might try that …
There’s two case fans in my FRactal R3 case but I’ve ordered an extra one so that I can have all 3 running a little slower.
I’ve also opened the vent at the side of the case which increases the noise but seems to keep it cooler.
Does seem odd that it runs so hot when it’s not clocked but hey…if P95 passes I’m happy
Thanks again for replies
There is also this instead of paste
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_3774.html
I have a feeling it wont work with sandybridge as it will be impossible to get the processor running hot enough.
Though it is possible with X58 systems, though scary — you have to run the processor at 90 degrees until it melts with the heatsink on but no fan, with good heatsinks you have to warm them with a lamp or hair drier as well. It seems to be very effective though, followed by IC7 paste, but it’s not going to make a huge difference compared to what you have now, a few degrees if all goes according to plan.
Search on YouTube — It should put any worries about 66 degrees to bed though There is plenty of headroom on Intel processors apparently.
Thanks for your post.
That indigo xtreme does look very good but yikes…I’m such a scaredy cat…not sure I’d be able to brave running something that hot to get it to work
Didn’t realise the sandybridge stuff will run cooler. Good news for those of us in the pursuit of running quiet machines
I can recommend the Noctua NH D14 - barely audible and gigantic… But I use the Corsair H50 cooler - I am not sure if that is a solid solution for long term (for that I keep the NH D14 as a replacement) but the CPU is usually at around 48 degrees. But I have all fans at maximum, a very large case with lots of ventilation - and the computer in another room, so it doesn’t matter… Generally I would say that it is possible today to have a good airflow with very very quite fans - those 14cm Noctuas are efficient it seems and others do well as well. My new DAW is even in max-fan speed quiter than all the DAWs I had before. The older the computers, the smaller and more nasty the fans
Have a look at the Noctua NH-C12P SE14.
This means that you may add a single Noctua 140 mm fan to your existing system.
Just replace the 120 mm CPU fan by the new 140 mm fan. Then mount the old 120 mm fan at the top of the case.
This will increase the CPU cooling power (without getting more noise), and the added top fan will help exhaust some warm air (also without being too loud).
If the side vent is open, you’d better let the CPU fan blow into the heatsink. So it will suck in cool air from the outside and spread it not only over the CPU heatsink, but also over other mainboard components.
Thanks for your replies. It’s actually the SE14 that I bought
All seems good so far.
Bought a 500rpm scythe fan as an extra intake which seems to be helping . . .
Very good hint! Thanks - sounds interesting for me as well!
I use the H50 as well but have replaced the delivered fan with dual Noctua fans in a Push Pull configuration (similar to the current H70).
It works like a charm.
Cheers,
Bernard
Hehe, yea - I will do this as well, this was on my to-do list - but for first run (winter here as well, so no heat problems in the computer room) I decided that the default fan is ok. But I already ordered 2 x 12cm Noctua…
BTW - Bernard - OT (and sorry for hijacking) - how can I adjust fan-speed? I am on an Asus board - I don’t want to use hardware adapters (Voltage reduction) - isn’t it possible to have the speed automatically controlled by temperature? Is there Software for that? Is it safe to install/run und a DAW system? In the moment they are all running full speed at 12V (I guess) - they are connected to the Mainboards “Case Fan Connectors”. And how do I connect additional fans? Going from one CPU Fan to two means that I need another connector, they are already all in use…
Brandy
Well, please let explain what I am afraid of - mine works like a charm as well but I am curious if the pump will work solid in a long term use. I mean - a studio DAW is running at least 50 hours (or more) a week - lets say that system should be used 5 years…
The pump must be powered @ 12v all the time while the CPU fans are connected to the CPU fan connector on the mainboard in PWM mode so the speed is controlled by the CPU temperature. To connect two fans to one connector I use a T cable like this one.
The rotational speed is monitored on one fan only (of course).
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Bernard
I’ve installed my first H50 cooling system more than a year ago on a server running 24h a day.
Up to now no issue, no leak, no noise; it seems reliable but I’ve no idea for the 4 years to come…
Cheers,
Bernard
Oh yes - the pump is @ 12V (Chassis fan) - Fans at CPU fan connector. Thanks for the Hint with the y cable!
How is the speed controlled?
Go to BIOS > POWER panel > Hardwre Monitor
Select CPU Q FAN from Disabled to Standard
While having the pump to a Chassis Fan connector be sure that the CHASSIS Q FAN is always Disabled.
With some under voltage the pump can be destroyed.
I would prefer to connect the pump directly to the Power Supply using a Molex to 3 pins adapter:
or using a non voltage controllable connector like the Power Fan conector.
Cheers,
Bernard
Bernard, thanks again - and one more time - for explaining - that was exactly the info I needed.
Sorry for hijacking that topic, but maybe this is from some interest for the topic starter as well…
Brandy