Normal Temperature?

[Nimitz96]

Let me preface this with a "Moderators feel free to move this to wherever you want it to go" message...

Anyway..

I was wondering if any of you lovely people knew what temperatures a MSI MS-7267 motherboard should run at.

Currently, mine is peaking around 86*C and idles around 5-

It peaks mostly when I play any of my Total War games, and has let to crashes where the monitor blanks out to a single, usually unusual color (deep red, pink, brown). I thought it was the GeForce 8800 but that is in..normal temps (60* with 75*C peak).

The computer is older, and was a (handmade) gift from my brother, so it might be an issue with low quality work, and if y'all wish I could post everything from speccy.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Quintillus]

I'm not familiar with that particular motherboard, but that is a rather toasty temperature. Probably burnt toast if you leave the bread there for too long.

Is the 86ºC figure for the motherboard itself or the CPU? Something like HWMonitor should give you figures for both. It would be peculiar if the motherboard were hotter than both the CPU and GPU, since the latter two usually generate the most heat. It could be an airflow issue in that case, with parts of the motherboard not getting cool air?

My suspicion is a buildup of dust is more likely. If you haven't cleaned it for a couple years, an incredible amount of dust can build up, and that can significantly affect temperatures. It also could be in part an issue of where the computer is physically - i.e. if it's in a corner or the back vent is right next to a wall, it's not going to cool off very well. But dust is my top guess.

Normal temperature does vary by computer. On my desktop, 75ºC is about as high as it goes. My laptop has a less robust cooling system, so 86ºC wouldn't be alarming if I hadn't dusted recently (but I also know it can handle that). However, if you're getting crashes and odd colors on your monitor, something isn't right, and temperature may be it.

It's also possible that the GeForce 8800 card is getting ready to push up the daisies - the GeForce 8 series, and many GeForce 9's, has a reliability issue due to low-lead solder, which, while good in that is uses less lead, has the side effect of reducing the GPU's life span. This mainly was an issue in laptops, since laptops tend to run hotter and most desktop card rarely if ever got hot enough to cause issues. But the early death can show up in desktop cards, and even 75ºC is hot enough to accelerate death in a GeForce 8. It is somewhat luck of the draw - my laptop's GeForce 8 is somehow still kicking after 6.5 years, despite high temperatures - but on average a GeForce 8 will die sooner than most other graphics cards. Lowering the temperature may solve the issue, but there is a chance the graphical oddities will continue even afterwards. If so, you'll probably still have several months until it isn't usable, but you may have to start looking at new GPUs. On the plus side, a similarly-powerful one from today would use a lot less electricity.

 

[GoodGame]

86 Celsius sounds too hot to run regularly. I'd look at improving your cooling. I'm guessing the bulk of that heat is your CPU at a full load, but perhaps it is when you are using 3D application (e.g. FPS games) at high graphical settings?

First thing I'd look at is case upgrades (improve air flow, optimize fan positioning and wire routing, remove dust more frequently), then fan upgrades (more fans, more CFU per fan), and also CPU cooler upgrades if the CPU is the cause and not the graphics card.


My CPU on 'Full' setting on Folding@home (4 cores with a locked i5 CPU) just barely hits 83 Celsius which I consider risky, but not critical since I only allow that much load to prove the point that my cooling is a little sub-optimal. I usually Fold at a max at 'Medium' (3 cores) and I stay in the mid-70 Celsius range, which I'm comfortable with. Or I will multi-task while Folding at 'Light' and be about at the same temperature.

Most custom-builds I see consider 40 C to 60 C a target goal. I'll probably look at cleaning my CPU cooler better, re-setting the contact between the CPU and the cooler (going to need to remove the contact paste and reapply it); maybe later I will decide this stock Intel cooler has run it's course and get an after-market one.