M1210 what's the maximum temp? C2D

[PanamaMike]

With Prime95 in torture test mode maxed out I'm getting up to 78 degrees C!
Is this normal? My Idle temp is around 42 degrees C.

C2D T7200

Mike

[pratap21]

Your idle temps are pretty low. I average around 50 degress C

[gridtalker]

My idle temp is at 61

[PanamaMike]

So what's a good maximum temp?
What are the acceptable temperature specs for the chip?
At what temp should I get worried

According to NHC it looks like 85 is when you should sound the alarm.

Anyone else do some stress testing with Prime95 on both cores?

Mike

[Angrymob]

According to Intel's specifications for the Core 2 Duo T7200 (sSpec: SL9SL), the thermal specifications is set at 100°C/212°F.

In fact, Intel lists 100°C/212°F as the thermal specification for their entire Core Duo and Core 2 Duo line of processors.

Intel also lists the catastrophic processor temperature for their Core 2 Duo range at 125°C/257°F (Section 3.4 - Catastrophic Thermal Protection of the Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor datasheet avaliable from Intel (.pdf file format))

Thermal specification is defined as:
"The thermal specification shown is the maximum case temperature at the maximum Thermal Design Power (TDP) value for that processor... For processors without integrated heat spreaders such as mobile processors, the thermal specification is referred to as the junction temperature (Tj)."

Catastrophic processor temperature is when the temperature has reached a level where potential irreversible damage might occur to the processor's silicon die, and that the THERMTRIP# signal should be activated to cut off Vcc supply "within 500ms to prevent silicon damage due to thermal runaway of the processor".

Simply put: as long as the processor stays below the thermal specificaion value, the built-in protection logic won't kick in and you won't get throttled back in speed. And as long as the catastrophic processor temperature is not reached there won't be any damage to the silicon die.

Also, almost all semi-conductor devices these days (i.e. CPUs) have an intended design life of at least 10 years, therefore, as long as it is below the quoted thermal specification value (100°C/212°F in the case of the Core Duo/Core 2 Duo), it will last that long.

Remember, most mobile processors these days are designed to run/handle higher operating temperatures, to rely on passive cooling for as long as possible without the fan kicking in to make for a quieter running system (which is desired in a notebook computer). People sometimes starts to panic when their mobile processor hits 80°C+/176°F+ running temperature, but to be honest, there is nothing to worry about. Plus Intel has for years implemented an excellent self-protection circuit which will immediately throttle the clockspeed to manage thermal dissipation levels before any long-term damage is dealt to the CPU core.

I'll only start to worry when the CPU is shooting up to past 85°C/185°F for prolonged periods, which usually means the heatsink or fan isn't doing its job.


F.Y.I., on my M1210 with the T7200, I get idle temperatures of around 45°C-55°C (113°F-131°F), and the fan only kicks in (at low speed) when it reaches 65°C (149°F). Under constant heavy loading it'll go as high as 80°C (176°F) on passive cooling before the fan kicks in and brings it back down to around 70°C-75°C (158°F-167°F).

[PanamaMike]

That's some good info! Thanks for the input. I guess I don't have to be too concerned with the heat.

Mike