CPU Temps

Hi, as some of yall prolly know already I just got a new computer with a 754-pin) AMD ATHLON64 3000+ CPU. I dont know to much about hardware so i was just wondering what is normal temps for it to be running? My computer has a tempature gauge that i can look at and i have seen it go anywhere from 70 F to 85 F what is the "critical" tempature? also one more thing... There is a knob on the outside of my case that lets me control the speed of my fan should i have it turned all the way up ( fastest speed) or all the way down ( regular or slow speed) ? thanx in advance.

Are you sure it is being measured in Farenheit and not Celcius (85F = 29.4C). If so then you are probably fine if not read on...

You should be aiming for below 50C TOPS.


Some things to check...

How much paste did you put on?
Too much or too little can cause this sort of thing.
The right amount of paste is very small indeed (about the size of a grain of rice). It needs to be spread evenly and thinly. The point is to fill any imperfections in the surfaces (microscopic holes or scratches). The heat conduction is done by metal flakes in the paste, not the paste itself which is usually a type of grease. Being an insulator, you don't want too much grease.

What type of MoBo do you have?
I have heard of some MoBo's giving incorrect temp readings. Maybe time for a thermal probe?

Does the knob on the side of your case control the case fans (it's unlikely to control the heatsink fan). If it does then adjusting it will only adjust the ambient temp inside the case (not a bad thing) and will not do much for your CPU temp (though maybe a little).

Is your heatsink fan plugged into a controller your MoBo?
Have you enabled any sort of 'cool n quiet' setting in your BIOS (this may help).


As a last idea - this is a nice CPU and should be treated with a bit of TLC. I would suggest getting a better heat sink & fan instead of the stock one. This will DEFINATLY help.


Good luck and remember - if you smell burning, it's already too late. :D

with most new hardware:

if, for example, you don't connect your heat sink to the cpu correctly, then it will overheat and shut down within ten seconds of booting the first time. instead of allowing itself to fry.

subsequent attempts to boot will result in an automatic shutoff in less time, as the device will have retained most heat from the initial attempt to use it.

in your case, i'd say you're cool. < 30 C is good. load the CPU and see what happens.

just checked some machines for reference:

a dual, multithreaded amd 64 (2.6GHz) shows the "four" cpus at 41, 47, 44 and 53 respectively ... go figure! the board sensor reads 30. all temps. are in C.

a quad, multithreaded intel IA32 (3.0GHz) shows the cpus at around the 29 - 32 C mark.

they are under no significant load.

All of my Temps are in farenheit and this is thr kind of Mobo I have (754-pin Socket) eVGA nForce3 250 Chipset SATA RAID AGP8X w/GbLAN,USB2,&5.1Audio. Omin, I think your right... i think the knob on the outside of my case only controls the case fan. As we speak the temp gauge says 82.3 F so i guess thats like 27 C or something like that... hopefully well within normal range. So far I havent tried to "stress" my cpu or overclock it...

Quote:

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As we speak the temp gauge says 82.3 F so i guess thats like 27 C or something like that...

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Yes. Looks like you are perfectly fine.

This is under 'idle' conditions? When you are happy that the rest of your system is working fine I would give your CPU a bit of a stress test.

A good way to stress test your CPU is by running folding@home. If your CPU is multi-threaded then run several instances of it. This will run your CPU at full load. Be prepared to watch your CPU temp climb quite a bit from its 'idle' temp. Leave this going for a couple of hours.

Of course for other tests you can use 3Dmark etc, but for CPU testing use folding.


Just FYI I came across this table listing 'critical' CPU temps.

I ran a stress test on my CPU and it passed with flying colors :) thanx alot everyone.