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Intel 3720 qm overheating?

idata
Employee
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This is a new Hp dv6t-7000 that I got today with a core i7 3720qm processor. It's not overclocked. It's under almost 100% load using Prime 95. Idle temps are in the low 40's. Are these tempuratures too hot?

Thanks, Owen

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Adolfo_S_Intel2
Employee
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The TCase for this processor is 105 degrees Celsius.

The TCase is a number established by Intel® as a point of reference in order to understand what could be expected as per normal processor temperature.

Anything from the Tcase and below will be the expected temperature of the processor in normal use, anything that doesn't stress out the processor (watching movies, burning CDs, browsing the internet, creating documents, etc.) When the processor is stressed out meaning that you are running heavy processor applications that take control of the CPU or uses it at 100% the temperature will go beyond the Tcase. It can perfectly reach 115 to 120 degrees and the processor will still be OK. The cooling fan is in charge to keep that temperature there.

If the processor temperature reaches 130 degrees or more it will send a signal to the motherboard to shut down to prevent mayor damages and most likely it won't be possible to turn the computer back in until it cools down.

The normal processor temperature will depend on the chassis type, the hardware involved and the location of the computer, and it usually is lower than the Tcase.

So the temperatures that you are reporting are OK, also I see that you are reading the cores temperature, you actually need to check the CPU temperature, and not the cores temperature.

In order to do so, please check with the laptop manufacturer to see if they have thermal monitoring software that can monitor the CPU temperature instead of the cores temperature.

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