[Hadenman]

I've been doing some testing of my H50 using the RealTemp plugin for RivaTuner. I will let this tool capture temp readings at a 1 sample/sec rate for different scenarios (e.g. idle, prime95, 3dmark06, stock vs. oc). I can then see what the min/max/avg temps are for the cores, under different scenarios, for a fixed length of time.

When I see reviews online giving temps for idle and loads are they giving an average or a one-time snapshot temp? Some of them read like they are just taking a 1-time temp at the end of a X min long scenario run. But, I know when I run prime95 blended for an hour my core temps definitely vary over that time. So, wouldn't I be more interested in what my average temp over that run was versus what the temp was at the end of the run?

My responses in this post made me think about these details more. Most of the reviews I see don't really explain exactly how the temp numbers were captured/calculated.

Cheers!

 

[dcshoejake]

In my opinion its more important to know the MAX temp of your CPU, if your CPU averages at 59C but the max temp is 76C it would be a big difference. If your average temp is 3C off of your max then I wouldn't consider it a big deal.

 

[Hadenman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcshoejake In my opinion its more important to know the MAX temp of your CPU, if your CPU averages at 59C but the max temp is 76C it would be a big difference. If your average temp is 3C off of your max then I wouldn't consider it a big deal.

Thanks for the response!

So, from a CPU health perspective, it is more important what maximum temp it reached? The potential damage is done even if it was at that temp for only a few minutes of a one hour run? I guess I was thinking that as long as it stayed under a given threshold, say 80-85C for an i7 chip, I would be more interested in how hot it was running on average in order to evaluate if my setup is harming the CPU's life expectancy.

I'm fairly new to overclocking PC components so that is why I'm curious about something that may seem basic to others here