Normal Case Temperature

Question

My case tends to heat to 59.6 C in the summer. Is this too hot? What's an optimal temperature for inside a typical case?

Solution 1

What do you mean by "case temperatures"?

More relevant, what are your

• cpu temps
• hard drive temps
• mobo sensor temps

The ambient temp will obviously affect overall temps of the components inside (must suck to live in the tropics!), so it's a baseline -- the only thing the case can do is have good or bad airflow and amplify this effect.

One thing I like to do is run the case with the cover removed, and see how much better or worse the overall temperatures get. If the temperatures get a lot higher with the cover removed, then the case has bad airflow and that's something you definitely want to try to fix.

Solution 2

Where do you get the 60C measured?

CPU or GPU at 60C would not be unheard of, but I would be a little concerned if the interior of the case as a whole is around the 60C mark... in which case you may need a few extra fans to get that air out of there.

Solution 3

That's fine. The Core 2 and Core i7 lines of CPUs have a max safe temperature of 100C. If you're running at 60C while doing normal activities, you have nothing to worry about.

Comments

[Admin]

That's just under 140 F for those of us who think that way.

[Dan Walker]

Depends on the CPU, cooler, and ambient temperature. Regardless, the Core2 and especially Core i7 lines run quite hot - 50C is not that unusual and nowhere near enough to cause them harm.

[Avery Payne]

+1 nice comprehensive answer, and addresses the computer as a holistic unit, rather than a single monolithic entity (approaching it as a system). Each component has its own potential "malfunction" and "failure points", so while 60 degrees centigrade might be fine for your CPU, it might be cooking your mobo chipset alive!

[Chris Thompson]

My experience is mostly with AMD CPUs. I've never run an AMD at 60 C even at full load on a quad core.

[jasonh]

I'm kind of confused. I would think that overall temperatures should rise with the case off. Reason being that the case is no longer closed and air doesn't have a channel in and out of the case. Closed, air should be able to travel in and out of the case through your case fans, supplying cool intake air and hot exhaust air.

[Jeff Atwood]

@jasonh "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.

[jasonh]

@Atwood: True, true

[jasonh]

@jerryjvl: You're right. I was thinking of the Intel specification that they instituted awhile ago which required some sort of additional CPU ventilation (like a side-vent so the CPU can get fresh air), and removing the case would cause that. I'm using the P180, which has a separate channel just for the hard drives, so taking the case off could raise my hard drive's temperatures.

[MJeffryes]

Ha, my computer's CPU gets up to 86°C whilst running games. At low load (as it is right now) it's 65°C.

[Chris Thompson]

Geez... you can put a pot of water on that heatsink and cook some Raman noodles while you play.

[xiaoningyb]

@Atwood: A related quote I saw somewhere: "Alright, Alright, I admit that it works in practice. But in theory it is still impossible!