How Hot Is That Processor

[JMGotts]

I'm sure this is not the right location for this question, but maybe someone could direct it there.

There are instances when a system is booted just to check BIOS, sometimes without the protection of thermal grease on the processor.

Has any testing been done to verify exactly how hot even the highest end processors get when booted simply into BIOS and not OS mode?

Thanks in advance!

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello JMGotts,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I understand that you have an inquiry related to your processor.

In this case, there is no record of temperatures reached under the circumstance that you mentioned. However, the max temperature allowed at the processor die by most of the CPU is 100°C, any temperature above this may damage the CPU. But may depend on the exact processor model.

You may need to check with the motherboard manufacturer to confirm if they have any record of temperatures on their BIOS.

Regards,  

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[JMGotts]

I appreciate the response and realize what the operating guidelines are for the processor. However, it would be informative to know what the processor operating temperature is without system load. One would imagine that would be standard across all systems.

Again, Thank you.

[KrissyG]

when you enter BIOS the CPU information tells you that it is at some frequency, usually the default for your CPU, let's say i7-3930k has a default of 3,2GHz, in BIOS you would see exactly that on all cores, this means, the CPU is not on power saving while BIOS is used. Therefore it actually runs base clock for no reason - it is hard to say what temperature would that give, but certainly it will be always much more than room temperature.

Never power a board with CPU on without any thermal paste and a CPU cooler.


"One would imagine that would be standard across all systems."

What i said already contradicts your expectations, bcoz that is not possible as various CPUs have various base clock, therefore various power usage.

As the mod stated, the CPUs have a certain temp they will be powered off at, this is regardless of BIOS or OS running, and remains at exactly the same value.
So if temp max is 95*C , then be it BIOS or playing a game on windows XP, 7,8,10 or 11, it would still be powered off if beyond 95*C.

example of i7-3930k:

It actually states that the max combined temp of the CPU die should not exceed 66,8*C , however, and i tested it, the CPU will be fine even at 100*C without the system crashing.