What is the recommended temperature range for VRMs and Chipsets?

[MoonlightSylv]

I'm asking because my case doesn't have any way to mount case fans and I'm worried about my motherboard overheating.

[Droidbot]

100ish C

 

[MoonlightSylv]

Just now, Droidbot said:

100ish C

 

So I can run it without case fans without it exploding before I get a new board?

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

100ish C

 

iirc most boards use VRMs that'll gladly go past 100°c

 

chipset wise tho.. probably not quite that high.

[Droidbot]

Just now, ShadowTechXTS said:

So I can run it without case fans without it exploding before I get a new board?

that board has VRM heatsinks right

 

the VRM heatsinks will do their job

and cool that fucker down

[Droidbot]

Just now, manikyath said:

iirc most boards use VRMs that'll gladly go past 100°c

 

chipset wise tho.. probably not quite that high.

they do, but they start throttling (ik, they throttle!) at higher temps

 

and he said recommended temp range, but it depends from board to board

[mrzoltowski]

Most microelectronics have a tolerance of about 100c  ... anything higher than that and things start to go wrong over extended periods.

[DocSwag]

100C and below probably, though usually they can go up to 125

[mariushm]

VRMs use components that are rated up to 125c or 150c but designers usually aim to not exceed 100c because above such temperatures, the efficiency of components starts to decrease (more losses , more heat generated).

 

Only in the most budget motherboards, the designers undersize heatsinks or use inefficient but cheap components in the VRM circuitry and rely on the cpu fan to move some air around over the heatsinks and help them dissipate the heat. Good quality boards don't rely on cpu coolers because cpu may be watercooled (so no fan near the vrm) or user may have a fan which blows way above the vrm or in totally different direction, so no benefit from the cooler.

 

The heatsinks should be hot, it means they're doing their job keeping the parts under them cooled.

 

Chipsets are more complex ICs and manufactured using different processes so they don't handle well such high temperatures. Usually, most chipsets in theory can survive at up to 105 degrees, but some are only rated for up to 85-90 degrees. The max temperature depends on manufacturing process, substrate material (the part of the chip on which the silicon die is soldered to and which has the pins or contacts that connect to motherboard)

Designers usually try to use a heatsink that would keep the chipsets below around 65c, but there were chipsets in the past (nVidia in particular) which ran at 80c+ 24/7. It's that low mostly because the chipsets are in parts of the motherboard where user could easily put their finger on and burn their finger if it's too hot (and then send the motherboard to warranty thinking too hot means faulty) and a minor reason because the chipsets are in an area where you may have sata cables or front panel wires touching the heatsinks and if the temperature is too high, in time the heatsink could melt the insulation of the wires and then have shorts or other issues.

 

[Clanscorpia]

You're using an open air case it will be fine, the air will flow in and out naturally. And your CPU fan will blow over the VRMs

[MoonlightSylv]

1 minute ago, Clanscorpia said:

You're using an open air case it will be fine, the air will flow in and out naturally. And your CPU fan will blow over the VRMs

Assuming one of the TMPIN sensors are the VRMs or chipset are these safe temps?

[Clanscorpia]

Just now, ShadowTechXTS said:

Assuming one of the TMPIN sensors are the VRMs or chipset are these safe temps?

Dude, thats less than the ambient temperature in some countries. Of course they are lmao

[MoonlightSylv]

Just now, Clanscorpia said:

Dude, thats less than the ambient temperature in some countries. Of course they are lmao

I mean the chipset feels hot to touch so I don't know