Hotter than normal idles

[Illuminati-sama]

I recently got and installed a H80i GT because my CPU was having unusually high idle temps with the stock cooler. My initial experience was better than expected with idles of 15-17c and <35c under load, room temp ~22c. but within the last couple days I have been getting idle temps of 30-35c at ~22c room temp (I haven't put an kind of heavy load on the CPU in a few days so no load temps for the moment). Does anyone know what could be causing the higher idles?

 

custom curve on the radiator fans is

5c 30%

10c 40%

15c 60%

20c 75%

25c 90%

30c 100%

(I know it is pretty steep, but it was running cool and fairly quiet)

[c-attack]

There is a possibility you have a monitoring error. You can't have CPU temperatures below your room temperature with this kind of system and the difference is substantial enough to be something other than instrument accuracy.

 

With only LINK open, what does the program report as your H80i GT Cooler Temp (water temperature)? How does this compare to other reported temperatures? A screen shot might be easiest and if you are running AI Suite, exit that program first.

 

Completely exit LINK and terminate the program. What kind of CPU temp and drive temp values do you get from another monitoring program like HWMonitor, HWinfo, or any of the other common programs?

 

Are you running Asus AI Suite? I suspect yes, but you can use the temps reported from that application window instead.

 

AMD chips have a reputation for a slightly warm idle, but I don't use them so perhaps someone else can share some data. Either way, with the fans at a relatively low speed, usually the best you can hope for on idle is about 7-9C over your room temperature. Increased fan speed might knock another degree or two off that, but there is no reason to do so. I would expect your idle temps to be around that 30C mark after the PC warms up from a cold boot. There are other factors in idle temperature as well, mostly relating your power states within Windows. If you unintentionally left the power state in the High performance mode (100% min CPU level), that would surely cause an elevated idle temp, even with other power saving measures in place.