CPU how hot is too hot

[garwain]

I have an AMD Athlon 1.6 Ghz processor running on a ASUS A7M266-D board and idling (just monitoring system in bios with no hardware other than vid card installed) I'm reading temperatures of 42 C

Is this too high or about normal? I'm going to be putting in a case fan in the next few days but I want to know if the temp is too high because I'm going to be putting in the second processor in a week or so (whenever it arrives)

 

[CitrixEngineer]

For my taste, 42C is on the warm side for idling - but acceptable. I'd go for a burn-in session, using something like toast to give the CPU a bit of a workout, before adding another one next to it. You may very well see both CPUs rise a few degrees. 55-60 when idling is too hot, so keep an eye out. If you see lots of warmth quickly, then pay attention to the basics of cooling;

Two case fans minimum - go for three, if your case has room at the back for a pair. As has been mentioned many times, have the front fan near the bottom, sucking air in, and have all the rear fans exhausting.

You should be see mid-30s, as a target ideal, although you're more likely to see low 40's. With two procs heat is even more of an issue, so check things like decent CPU/Heatsink connectivity - a copper plate and decent thermal compound will pay dividends.

I hope this helps CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[paparazi]

Sounds about right to me for an XP 2000+ But the idle temp is a little irellavant, it is the full load temp you have to worry about.
And if you intend to fit a second processor on the board you will seriously need to get some decent case cooling to get rid off all that generated heat!
The Aluminium cases from LianLi are particularly good at keeping the internal temps down, they act as one big heatsink, and together with as many as 5 fan mountings there cooling potential is amongst the best! Martin
You don't want to allow those processors to get into the 60's where they will begin to go flakey.
High 40's to low 50's is a realistic goal for full load temps. Vote if you found this post helpful please!!

 

[paparazi]

Hi! CitrixEngineer!!
Nice to see you on top of the pile where you belong, good one!
I have to say CitrixEngineer, I have never seen an air cooled Athlon XP 2000+ running in the mid 30's???? it would be nice though.
My own XP1700+ idle's at 41C with 4 case fans and a Big Taisol Copper/aluminium heatsink with 35cfm fan.
It max's at 52C
I have used motherboards from :Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, FIC and ECS with XP chips, all in various midi cases, all with extra case cooling, I have never seen one of them idling in the 30's ?? (taken after the system has been running for a couple of hours)
Sorry mate!! don't mean to contradict you.
All the best Martin
Vote if you found this post helpful please!!

 

[Yegolev]

My 1700+ will idle at ~30C when RAM clocked at 1600... however it gets a BIT warmer when at 2100. Alpha PAL/Delta 80mm HSF, case open. I try to keep ambient under 20C if possible.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I don't mind technical arguments at all

However, my own XP1600+ never really climbs above 35C, even after a heavy three-hour recording session. I normally see 32C.

There's nothing special about my setup - I've got a generic "quality" tower case, with two exhaust fans above the PSU at the top, and a filtered inlet fan at the bottom. Maybe a tower gives better airflow than a midi? Think I need to hang out on Overclockers.co.uk a little more!

All fans are standard Coolermaster, as is the fan on my CPU, which is bolted to a Coolermaster aluminium heatsink with a copper plate added for heat transfer. There is a fan on my AMD761 Northbridge.

All my IDE and power cables are tied out of the way to allow proper airflow, and I sealed all vents in the case, to create an "air-conditioned" environment.

I have an Abit KG7-RAID mobo, an 80Gb Diamond Max HDD, to which I attached an old 486 CPU fan, ATI RAGE 128 gfx (I know, not DDR!), with fan attached, 512Mb PC2100 DDR, SBLive! Platinum with LiveDrive, LG 8x4x32x CD-RW and Toshiba SDW-2002 DVD-RAM, both with attached 486 CPU fans.

My memory settings in the BIOS are all conservative (ie either default or with added wait states - this adds stability).

I see no reason on earth to try to squeeze extra performance out of such a fast processor/RAM/HDD combination, since I am more interested in Sound recording/mixing than hardcore gaming. Doing so only heats the CPU more quickly

I've never got my case ambient as low as 20C, though - it tends to be high 20s. Room temp is generally low - I like a cool room in which to work on my rig - too warm and I start to get flaky!

From what I've seen on other forums - and here, of course! - is that mid 40s seems to be average. I would try to get it lower if I was going to add an additional processor - as Paparazi correctly says, going into the 60s will make overall operation become flakier.


*It's great to be voted top expert at something I enjoy so much - but it won't be long before someone else is voted to the top. If you think any post is helpful, don't forget to click the link in the bottom left!* CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk