Intel Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition CPU Processor Review

Measuring temperatures is all about being consitent, therefore we keep a steady eye on monitoring the ambient room temperature to make sure that it stays the same. While this is constantly being monitored, we measure the idle temperature of the card using HWMonitor over a 15 minute period. Once this has been recorded, we set FurMark into motion for 15 minutes and record the results again.

Temperature wise, the 3960X was expected to run a bit hotter than its competition due to its 130W TDP but still well below what we’d consider a problem and with Intel selling watercooling kits to go with this CPU, they knew exactly what they were doing. When we took the CPU to 4.6GHz, we saw some slightly higher results and would not advise running a system with that many volts and at that temperature for a 24/7 or prolonged period of time.