What is an ideal CPU temperature?

[Jab Cross Hook]

Whats the go to temperatures for users to aim for?
is over 60c or 70 celcius bad?

[xSOSxHawkens]

Now days anything under 100c is generally fine, with most chips running Boost Clocks until 90-95c and not throtling below stock till at or after 100c.

If talking older stuff then yeh, from first gen or so i7 and back or for AMD FX or older you will want to stick to 60-70 or under.

[dOBER]

Dont know about amd but intel calls 60-79°c warm zone and 80+°C hot zone. Everything below 75°C under heavy load is ideal.

[Magma Dragoon]

absolute zero would be ideal

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Just so you are aware: there is no "Bad" CPU temperature unless you are "bouncing" against the thermal throttle limits and reducing the speed of the processor, then that might be considered bad because it would reduce the speed of the chip and make it slower. But it still wouldn't harm the chip. Both AMD and Intel processors are designed to operate up to and at their maximum thermal throttle temperatures for the entire duration of their warranty period with no damage to the processors. The maximum thermal throttle temps are 105c for Intel and 95c for AMD Ryzen. As long as you are running anything below that and your chip isn't thermal throttling then you have nothing to worry about.

[Jab Cross Hook]

Aquafawks님이 먼저 게시:

Just so you are aware: there is no "Bad" CPU temperature unless you are "bouncing" against the thermal throttle limits and reducing the speed of the processor, then that might be considered bad because it would reduce the speed of the chip and make it slower. But it still wouldn't harm the chip. Both AMD and Intel processors are designed to operate up to and at their maximum thermal throttle temperatures for the entire duration of their warranty period with no damage to the processors. The maximum thermal throttle temps are 105c for Intel and 95c for AMD Ryzen. As long as you are running anything below that and your chip isn't thermal throttling then you have nothing to worry about.

thank you very much for this response

[Jab Cross Hook]

dOBER님이 먼저 게시:

Dont know about amd but intel calls 60-79°c warm zone and 80+°C hot zone. Everything below 75°C under heavy load is ideal.

noted thank you

[Jab Cross Hook]

I'm guessing i should aim around 70-75c while heavy load?

[xSOSxHawkens]

PowerfulJRE님이 먼저 게시:

I'm guessing i should aim around 70-75c while heavy load?

If you want to leave performance on the table sure...

Depending on the chip doing that is just stupid though. EG the 5600x from AMD is outright *designed* for regular sustained and boosted operation up to and including 90c or above (I think the 5600 is actually 96c for its higher boost clocks).

Intel has been doing similar for 2 generations, its the only way they have kept up (pushing core speed higher and taking thermal hits as a result).

Norm now days on air is 80+ unless you are on a high end air cooler. And with an AiO or high end cooler you are still looking at 75-85+ (ie, most stock i9 and R9 run around there on a 240 aio).

If you want accurate advise we need to know your chip. If you are on something like a 2700k (intel) or FX6300 then trying to run 90c would be a bad day, but if you are on a 3600x or 9900k then running 80-90c isnt a big deal.

[Illusion of Progress]

PowerfulJRE님이 먼저 게시:

I'm guessing i should aim around 70-75c while heavy load?

You shouldn't "aim" for any specific value, so to speak. There is no actual norms as it will vary based on way too many factors. Unless you have an identical setup to someone in identical conditions (same environment), you CAN NOT compare.

The general rule is "the cooler, the better" and this is pretty much absolute. Heat is the number one risk factor for most PC electronic parts. Some parts actually have some evidence suggesting warmer (to a point only, not absolutely) is better, such as mechanical HDDs, but for CPUs, 40C would be better than 45C, just as 60C would be better than 70C, and so on, for example. But that doesn't mean 70C is bad (more the opposite; that's pretty cool for a modern CPU under heavy load) or that there's some figure to "aim for".

Forget idle temperatures, they are almost entirely meaningless. If your idle is REALLY high, it's a symptom of a pretty big issue, but otherwise it's almost meaningless in and of itself.

Temperatures under load will always be higher, so concern yourself with your ceiling instead.

Modern CPUs also boost higher, and hold it for longer, if temperatures are lower, but boosting less because it's warmer isn't the same as "throttling". As someone else noted, modern CPUs for a long while have had a maximum limit (#PROCHOT status) of upwards near ~100C; 95C for current Ryzen and it's a bit variable depending on exact Intel CPU but it's usually around or a little above that. If there's anything to "aim for", it's no specific value, but generally "below throttle". Since throttle should be treated as not ideal/near danger (since the chip IS scaling back to prevent damage), I'd say a small buffer under this is best for your maximum.

Everyone has their own opinion; some are okay even 5 C below this and others think anywhere within 20C of the limit isn't bad and not normal. My own two cents is ~85C (I say around as it's not strict), give or take, on modern CPUs would be a good point to start looking into things if it's going above this by a lot and/or often.

[Jab Cross Hook]

xSOSxHawkens님이 먼저 게시:

PowerfulJRE님이 먼저 게시:

I'm guessing i should aim around 70-75c while heavy load?

If you want to leave performance on the table sure...

Depending on the chip doing that is just stupid though. EG the 5600x from AMD is outright *designed* for regular sustained and boosted operation up to and including 90c or above (I think the 5600 is actually 96c for its higher boost clocks).

Intel has been doing similar for 2 generations, its the only way they have kept up (pushing core speed higher and taking thermal hits as a result).

Norm now days on air is 80+ unless you are on a high end air cooler. And with an AiO or high end cooler you are still looking at 75-85+ (ie, most stock i9 and R9 run around there on a 240 aio).

If you want accurate advise we need to know your chip. If you are on something like a 2700k (intel) or FX6300 then trying to run 90c would be a bad day, but if you are on a 3600x or 9900k then running 80-90c isnt a big deal.

i was thinking EDIT!!! 5800x when the price calms down or at least any cpu's in the same generation as this one

[Jab Cross Hook]

Illusion of Progress님이 먼저 게시:

PowerfulJRE님이 먼저 게시:

I'm guessing i should aim around 70-75c while heavy load?

You shouldn't "aim" for any specific value, so to speak. There is no actual norms as it will vary based on way too many factors. Unless you have an identical setup to someone in identical conditions (same environment), you CAN NOT compare.

The general rule is "the cooler, the better" and this is pretty much absolute. Heat is the number one risk factor for most PC electronic parts. Some parts actually have some evidence suggesting warmer (to a point only, not absolutely) is better, such as mechanical HDDs, but for CPUs, 40C would be better than 45C, just as 60C would be better than 70C, and so on, for example. But that doesn't mean 70C is bad (more the opposite; that's pretty cool for a modern CPU under heavy load) or that there's some figure to "aim for".

Forget idle temperatures, they are almost entirely meaningless. If your idle is REALLY high, it's a symptom of a pretty big issue, but otherwise it's almost meaningless in and of itself.

Temperatures under load will always be higher, so concern yourself with your ceiling instead.

Modern CPUs also boost higher, and hold it for longer, if temperatures are lower, but boosting less because it's warmer isn't the same as "throttling". As someone else noted, modern CPUs for a long while have had a maximum limit (#PROCHOT status) of upwards near ~100C; 95C for current Ryzen and it's a bit variable depending on exact Intel CPU but it's usually around or a little above that. If there's anything to "aim for", it's no specific value, but generally "below throttle". Since throttle should be treated as not ideal/near danger (since the chip IS scaling back to prevent damage), I'd say a small buffer under this is best for your maximum.

Everyone has their own opinion; some are okay even 5 C below this and others think anywhere within 20C of the limit isn't bad and not normal. My own two cents is ~85C (I say around as it's not strict), give or take, on modern CPUs would be a good point to start looking into things if it's going above this by a lot and/or often.

wow thank you for this comprehensive piece of information. i wish you a happy easter!!

[invision2212]

i dont understand why anyone thinks 90c is okay for your cpu or even gpu to run at. while they can run at those temps it certainly isnt good for them long term.

my 5600x peaks at 62c while under full load.

[Jab Cross Hook]

invision2212님이 먼저 게시:

i dont understand why anyone thinks 90c is okay for your cpu or even gpu to run at. while they can run at those temps it certainly isnt good for them long term.

my 5600x peaks at 62c while under full load.

cooler?

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

invision2212님이 먼저 게시:

i dont understand why anyone thinks 90c is okay for your cpu or even gpu to run at. while they can run at those temps it certainly isnt good for them long term.

my 5600x peaks at 62c while under full load.

Any modern processor (AMD or Intel) will not suffer damage from running at 90c. It may degrade the chip by a couple of years but it will still work and run perfectly normally at those temps for at least 5+ years with no negative side-effects. It'll just be hot and might lead to loud fans trying to keep it cool and/or make the room hot and require the air conditioner to run more often but other than that it won't actually hurt anything and it certainly won't kill the thing. They're designed to do that after all. Look at mobile chips that are based on the same cores as the desktop chips and they run 90~100c all the time constantly and we can see used laptops still working fine 5 or 10 years later. By the time any processor would have any performance issues or degrades or even shows any sign of damage the user will of upgraded and replaced it anyway. Most people only keep a computer 3 or maybe even 5 years at the upper end before replacing it.

[Illusion of Progress]

invision2212님이 먼저 게시:

i dont understand why anyone thinks 90c is okay for your cpu or even gpu to run at. while they can run at those temps it certainly isnt good for them long term.

my 5600x peaks at 62c while under full load.

I don't necessarily think too many people are suggesting something like 90C is ideal. What people are saying is that there is no absolute number you should dial in on as "the" value to stay below because the absolute fact is that the cooler it is, the better (at least on the scale of between ambient and whatever the thermal throttle limit is). Meaning, for example, you can't say "70C is the value to stay below" because 10C lower might last much longer. Does that mean 70C is "too hot"? Not really. Likewise, you can't really say 80C is "bad" for it just because 70C is better. The ONLY claim you can make is that "the lower, the better". How high is too high is a little up to interpretation, but for modern CPUs, something like 80C is absolutely NOT abnormal, and not strictly dangerous. 90C is, IMO, beyond the point you should be looking at ways to reduce it though, I agree. It's probably not going to kill it, but will degrade it versus it being cooler. But, again, same applies for even 50C versus 60C.

Additionally, no two situations are directly comparable if variables exist. Meaning, your own 62C peak temperature means absolutely nothing to any other situation besides your very own. That is a very good result for a Zen 3 CPU AFAIK, but not everyone has a situation (read as... environment, ambient, case, cooling, etc.) to achiever such low results. You always have people who can achieve 55C, 65C, or 70C maximum temperatures and imply (directly or not) that others should therefore try and stay not much above whatever they are able to achieve, but that's not how it works. Sometimes some situations will result in higher temperatures, and that is okay for them as long as they aren't throttling (and, IMO, not very near it either).