Be patient? Surely  you jest!   

I'm inclined to think that temps as high as 75C is a bit high for GC3, at least for newer computers. Mine is about a year and a half old, and tends to run GC3 in the 35-40C range on both the CPUs and the GPU (an Intel I7-4770 and a NVidia Geforce GT 640).

 As to the risks of such high temps, I have been told that, these days, CPUs and GPUs tend to try to protect themselves from overheating by reducing their clock speeds when some specified temperature is reached. You mentioned a specification of max temp of 72.5c. With what I was told (sorry about the second hand information) the maximum heat design point (specified as Tj Max, could we call that the melt-down point) of the CPU chip is probably about 20-25% higher than that. The 72.5C specification for max temp is probably where the CPU starts declocking itself to avoid heating up to the melt-down point. (Not that this totally removes all risk, of course, but it certainly helps a lot compared to CPUs prior to the introduction of this mechanic.)

I have also noticed that the CPU and GPU usage of CIV5 BNW is much less than GC3, but it looks like there are several factors here: First, as you mentioned, the devs haven't yet shipped optimization of the GC3 code (and, yes, I would guess that it will include CPU usage and other factors, not just memory usage). Another factor is that GC3 is written in 64-bit addressing mode and Civ5 is in 32-bit mode, which gives GC3 room for a lot more data to manage. Another factor is that GC3 is already taking much better advantage of the multiple processors than Civ5 does (as shown on my CPU monitor), which can also result in more temperature. Another factor; GC3 seems to load and run much faster than Civ5, especially turn completion -- for instance, Civ 5 seams to run the AI's turn (the opposition) separately from the user's turn and GC3 (the devs have touted this) runs a lot of the AI tasks in parallel with the user's turn, reducing the time "end of turn" takes, which means more CPU usage and more heat.

The built-in fan control would have me 70-80 before it got serious about cooling.

Using the HW to make my fans start sooner.

1. Where did you get your computer?  I know it is not optimal, but I have been buying Dells for 15-20 years because I have gotten fairly decent support/warranty service, and I am no longer at an age where putting togther a bunch of components works for me.

2. I know my Ti card isn't a great card, but it's a big step up from the Radeon HD that was the original equipment in my studio xps 8100.   Since I plan to buy a new computer next year, it seemed like a good stop gap.

3. The Tjmax listed for my cpu is 105 C, but that seems ridiculous.   When I looked up the mobo specs it was saying 72.5 C, quite a difference.

4. Sorry somwhat of a newbie but I am trying to figure out how to set the fan speeds --- the video card temps haven't seemed to be much of a problem yet it seems that the cpu is the issue for me, hitting low 70s in GC3 but about 10 c less with Civ5 (which I realize isn't a great comparison, but it's the best I can do atm).  I am trying to use SpeedFan but haven't gotten it configured yet.

Thanks for the comments!

Thanks for the tip...it's a very nice tool.  However it only sets video card fan speeds; I am also looking around for something to manage other fans in the case, especially cpu.  Oh well, I think I am paying a price here for going for a proprietary Dell Mobo.

Quoting Azazell83,

reply 11

I have too problem with temperatures .. My laptop Dell 7720 , i7 and 8 GB RAm.. When i play Galciv 3 my motherboard and cpu have 90 degrees celsius!  Is weird.. When I play other game 3D a have max 70-75 Degrees. Why?

Interesting, I started the thread because my cpu was showing low 70s temps (while, for example, Civ5 bnw gives low to middle 60s).  (Dell studio xps 8100 desktop). 

One answer is to wait until (rough guess) next thursday and see if the substantial optimization indicated for it improves this.    

Another answer is that I used to play on a Dell Inspiron laptop; I wasn't knowledgeable enough to check temps then but I knew it was running very hot to the touch for some games.   So I got a lap fan that sits under the laptop and that seemed to help a lot.   Otherwise it was too hot to sit in my lap!  In that case I think the problem was I insisted on getting the biggest video card I could and being crammed into a laptop it produced a lot of heat.  But I don't know for sure.  The games always seemed to run ok though.

The third answer is that Galciv3 is coded to use your available cpu much more efficiently, which is good, but which means it is working harder (all cores are engaged, etc.) thus producing more heat.   This in turn suggests a replacement heat/sink cooling fan for the cpu, but that's a bit of a challenge for me with a desktop --- wouldn't know where to start with a laptop.

The most infuriating answer is the one I got so many times...  that laptops aren't meant to play game X, so you should get a desktop with better temperature control and better everything to play "modern" games.   Bleh to that!!

A possible answer is that you many be able to use utilities like SpeedFan (any fans)  or EVGA precision (video card fans) to adjust fan speeds to help cool.

Hopefully others will have more/better suggestions.

@Azaell83  That's what I meant by infuriating.  The idea that a laptop automatically can't be a decent game machine is an old wive's tale.

Update:

I started this thread worried about core temps that were in the low to mid 70s even though the Tjmax is supposedly 105 C, because online someone stated that 72.5 C is the goal for the high temp for this motherboard.   I have spent some time trying to rearrange the extra cables in the case, inverting the case fan (some people say they want  negative pressure, some positive, whatever).   But I think I have discovered a  key issue.

Can we all say DOH! together.    

The Dell XPS case has a small vent area about 2 in by 5 in on the lower left side of the case from the front.   I had that side of the case a couple of inches from a wall, didn't think it mattered much.   The case fan and the Cosair PSU unit fan blow out into an open room.    There didn't seem to be a lot of airflow in or out of this side vent so whatever.    As another experiment though, I moved the computer (sits on the floor on a piece of finished wood because the floor is carpet) about 4-5 times further away from the obstruction.

I am now getting core temps (based on SpeedFam and Core Temp readings) roughly 8-10 C lower (after 3-4 hrs running GC3 this morning) 66 C MAX while running GC3 as I write this and over the last 2-3 days.   Hmm, I wonder if air circulation has anything to do with cooling.  Even a relatively small looking vent is evidently a big deal.

Oh definitely GC3 runs hotter, but I as I say I think that is a good sign that the program is actually using the cores/hyperthreads fully.  I can see that by just using the windows task manager and clicking the performance tab.  All four windows show high usage with GC3.

Yes, the one thing I need to get my head around so that I can really start planning to build a new rig myself is playing with the heatsink, thermal paste and so on.   Everything else is just getting decent parts and plugging them in.   Just have to work my courage up, I have seen several youtube videos and there are a couple of different ways to do it and both seem to work.  Main thing seems to be to get the surfaces super clean before applying the paste, and not overdoing the paste.   

keep in mind that the amount of 'pre-applied' thermal paste given on a stock (comes with CPU) CPU fan/heatsink combo is insufficient.  Plus, that stock fan also is not good enough to cool the newer CPUs.  A small amount of thermal paste goes a long way, but the amount given is usually too little.

What it sounds like is you have (seems you found a few) air circulation issues and maybe need to clean the dust/etc off your fans and the CPU fan/heatsink (including video card if old enough).  As well, most mobo's can control the CPU fan speed programmatically. 

Somewhere in there it was mentioned that the fan was at 50% speed even though the CPU had a high temperature, which means you need to make a change there. Depending on the mobo, there might have been a driver/app on the install CD that will work.  If not, find one that works on your system and make sure that it's not set to 'dc power' levels (old case fans will only have that).  I personally have a RoG mobo, so I get the FAN Xpert program which allows for a few settings depending on what I want.  But generally, the fan speed should approach 100% as the CPU heats up.

Else, GC3 may use up a bit of CPU and RAM/video card, but it's not a heat generator by itself.  My rendering software will use all 8 cores at 100% plus a lot more resources than GC3 and it doesn't overheat my machine -- which has a 30$ CPU heatsink/fan combo.

Very much appreciate the comments guys.  My monitoring programs suggest that other components (video card and HDD are well below the numbers I see for the CPU), so I really don't think I have much of an issue then.     BTW, my video card is  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti and is new (not a great card but a big upgrade to the original GPU).    

So I think playing with the cpu is indicated unless I just want to practice.  

If do want to fiddle I guess I should take the attitude what is the worst that can happen?   I have to get a new CPU?   A new Mobo?   Those might be good upgrades anyway, lol.   A whole new computer?   Whooo Hoooo!!  That might be the best of all possible worlds.   

I have buy new computer PC and my laptop DELL 7720 into for sale. Maybe i buy i5 5660, 8gb and nvidia GT 750. And probably i will have smaller temperatures