Is my 2950x running too hot?

Hardware CPU
1

I am having a tough time figuring out whether or not my CPU (AMD 2950X) is running too hot. I am using a Noctua NH-U14S cooler.

With Linux Kernel 4.17.19, running sensors i am getting k10 temperature readings of around 70 on idle. I am guessing that the offset is 27 degrees which would put my idle temps at around 43, which feels 10 degrees too high.

At load the temperature goes up to around 95 on the sensor readout.

Is this normal or is something wrong with my cooling setup?

2

That doesn’t sound normal at all. What is your ambient temp? Also, is that temp Tdie or Tctl (or does it even specify)? I would probably re-mount the heatsink.

EDIT: Ahh I should say it depends on your fan curve though. If your fans are not spinning then 43° kinda makes sense.

3

Max the fans out and check again. The noctua 15 for TR idles at about 37 for me with a fairly aggressive fan profile. 68 is tjmax on these cpus as well so that 95 is close to 68 with the offset

4

This post had me curious about Ryzen’s behaviour under Linux so I did a little testing. Figured I would share just to give a little perspective.

First off, the idle temp seems to be a few °C higher under Linux than Win7. Ambient inside my case is ~26.5°C. Idle in Win7 is about 27.5°C, but under Linux it’s 31.5°C. Given that and the fact that you have two dies to my 1 (it’s a 1700) the higher idle seems a little less concerning than it did at first.

Another thing to keep in mind…the way temps are reported it has a bit of a sawtooth pattern but with instant rise time. If you took your reading at the wrong time it might be 10°C higher than it really is. During idle I see temps spike as high as ~41°C, then come down to 31 over the next few seconds.

5

Thanks for the assistance. I took your advice and remounted the heat sink. I also noticed that the way the heat sink fan was set up, the air flow was going against the case fans. That would explain why the heat sink would get very hot in the case even in idle.

After the changes, my idle temperature is reported as 57 (so 30 when I correct for offset). This looks far more reasonable.

6

Good stuff! :+1: How’s the load temps now?

7

Running stress on 28 threads for 30 seconds puts the reported temp at 82 (so 55 corrected).

8

My 1950X runs at 50 Degrees with ambient at 40.5 degrees, I suspect yours is running too hot!