One core constantly 6C hotter than than the other on a C2D. Is that a problem?

Question

I have an M465-E Gateway laptop that I've upgraded with a T7200 C2D processor. The heatsink in the laptop wasn't designed for a C2D and has some gaps and the heatpipe placement is probably a bit off.

Everything runs fine except that one core is always 6C hotter than the other. Both cores have stayed within normal temp range, but that difference is constant up to ~85C (I had to work to get it that hot, spec limit is 100C).

So, it doesn't overheat, but I'm not sure what long term effects this might have on the CPU. With every other multi-core processor I've used the core temps might spike a few degrees from each other, but they are always within 2C when running normally.

Is the temperature difference a problem?

Answer 1

After my comment, I decided to take a look at my own laptop with Speccy.

For some reason the first core is a whole 1Ghz slower than the second one, I'm going to put that down to power saving as my laptop was idling anyway. Given the 1Ghz difference, I was somewhat surprised to see the temps exactly the same.

So it looks like the cores should usually be about the same temp. However I wouldn't say that if it's 6 degrees hotter, its going to cause any problems, letalone damage. As you said, they are both still well under the spec limit of 100°C.