Safe Operating CPU Temperature

[idata]

Hello,

I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300.

I have not done any overclocking, or any playing around with it, it is simply a stock processor on an intel DG965 board.

What is the safe operating temperature range of this processor?

A game I play (EVE Online) recently released a new expansion and some players have seen CPU temperatures rising, and I wanted to make sure mine was okay.

So I downloaded a program to monitor it, and now I just need to know what temperature I should be looking out for.

It's lowest temp was 50C, and it is around 63C right now with the game running.

[Adolfo_S_Intel2]

The maximum recommended temperature for this processor is 61.4 degrees Celsius as showing at:

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27248&code=Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A22+Duo+Processor+E6300+(2M+Cache%2c+1.86+GHz%2c+1066+MHz+FSB) http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27248&code=Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A22+Duo+Processor+E6300+(2M+Cache%2c+1.86+GHz%2c+1066+MHz+FSB)

I would recommend installing the latest BIOS version for your motherboard located at:

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/dsktpboards http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/dsktpboards

Also install all the available updates for your operating system and any running software.

[idata]

Is there anyway to control the fan speed on the motherboard?

I wasn't sure of some of the fan settings on the motherboard.

One of them was "Automatically detect Fan Settings" or something like that, was disabled, and I enabled it. Not sure what that does.

Also one of the options was set to normal, I could disable it, or change it to aggressive. Would changing it to aggressive make the temperature cool down because of the increased fan speed?

Also running just windows, the CPU is around 50C, isn't that a little warm, especially when it isnt doing anything?

[idata]

I just got my hands on a Gigabyte motherboard GA-965P-DS3 with a Intel Core2Duo E6300. I will use it to upgrade my old Asus TUV4x Pentium III home workstation.

With the original heat skin and fan, it gets really hot (over 75°C) even with the CPU @1.6GHz when in full load. I used a temperature monitor program and between idle and 100% CPU the range goes from some 50°C to more than 75°C.

I'm using 2x2GB DDR2-800 from PNY. My room temperature (natural airflow) is between 27°C and 32°C (day range)

I got a "peltier" thermocouple TEC1-12706 (connected at a spare 12V terminal from the PWSU) and mounted it between the heat skin and the CPU.

I'm testing the new homebrew thermoelectric cooling and up to now the temperature range is (worst case) between 42°C and 65°C.

The harder part was to change the original mechanism of the spacers that secure the heat sink on the motherboard cpu, because of the thermocouple is in the middle of them...better leave that for another post.

Please note: Try it At Your Own Risk

Cheers!