Motherboard Temperature - is this normal?

[contentedbloke]

My system, which has an Intel DG33FB motherboard, has been facing a few freezes off late, and upon investigation, I discovered that the ICH temperatures touched 93 degrees celsius.

These temperatures were reported by Intel Desktop Utilities and I cross checked these with the bios readings and they tallied.

Here is a screenshot of the same.

Can you advise me if this is normal for a motherboard and if this could cause the freeze? The board is brand new and these temperatures were taken during idle load. I also have a CoolerMaster Elite 330 casing with 80 mm rear exhaust fan and 80mm front intake fan. There are no obstructions near the ICH region inside the case which might block the airflow.

 

[Googer]

90° F or C?

90° F is okay. 90° C is a concern, a very big concern.

 

[lopri]

No that is definitely positively NOT normal. Actually I didn't even know Intel ICHs were capable of reaching that kind of temp. Said that, it's very likely that temp is not exactly the temp of ICH but rather read from some part of the board. The manual should tell where the sensors are located. Either way, your temperatures are too high. Check the case fans are working properly.

 

[Gillbot]

Don't believe software readings unless you confirm they are reporting the actual items you believe they are. MANY pieces of software misinterpret signals and report erroneous results.

 

[ElBurro]

That is definitly too high for the ICH. You may want to check the heatsink to make sure it's on there in the correct manner. In fact it might be wise to remove the HS clean off the chip, put new thermal paste on reassemble.

 

[contentedbloke]

Thanks for your responses!

I think this is a problem with Intel design, because I returned this and ordered a replacement motherboard from Intel and that too has the exact same problem. Touches 94° C within half hour of booting. So I bought a regular external desk fan which I kept pointed at my PC at full speed, and watched the temp drop down to 77° C. This is the second brand new motherboard with the same problem. I think I'll give it back and go in for the X58 - nothing like a justified reason to upgrade, huh?

 

[faxon]

to be honest you can just order up some thermalright IFX coolers, lap them through to rough copper or polish them, your choice, and slap em on with the chill factor paste they come with and call it a day. i wasnt happy with the noise my 680i fans were generating, so i did this to quiet them down and the chipset temps dropped from about 54c to 30c on both the NB and SB, not that they were incredibly hot before. given, most intel boards i see only cost like $80-100 for the entry level boards like what you are using anyway, so $50 to upgrade the cooling does sound a little stupid when you could just go get a UD3P for $135 which has more than adequate cooling and is just a better board over all lol

 

[postmortemIA]

no it is not too much for intel boards, i have DP35DP for 2 years and guess what temperatures have been 75-90 whole time and 0 problems.

 

[masterbm]

I would say that it is on high side but not high enough to case trouble as long it does not get hotter. Might want try to arrange inside wirning better. Check fan oprationn. I have same chipset it run much cooler. although I have motherboard in my media center system northbrige rans that runs about that hot (at load)since it build date that system has 51,000 hrs on still going strong.