how hot is too hot for a processor??

[Schnook121]

I have my new athlon64 3200 winchester running at 2519 mhz (9.5x265mhz) on an Asus A8V mobo. Cooling it i have a thermalright XP-90 heatsing and a panaflo 92mm fan. THe case has two 120mm fans. In Asusprobe, my cpu is registering temps of ~40c idle. Is this too hot??
Thanks, Sam

 

[Hankysmoo]

those temps are fine

 

[BW86]

its only too hot if your comp isnt stable. Thos temps are fine

 

[Schnook121]

ok, thanks

 

[user1234]

my rule of thumb is less than 60C at sustained full load, and less then 50 at idle.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

According to most sources about 170F is the "danger zone" for cpus. This is also what intel states on their website, not 100% sure about AMD tho, however I imagine it is close to the same

 

[Rapsven]

Banias and Dothan processors can withstand aroudn 90C, same goes for Prescott.

Northwoods, don't go over 60, same with Bartons.

Not sure about the K8 processors, though...

 

[DrCool]

most current processors have a maximum temperature rating of 90c or 190f.

running at 40c (101f) idle, may be on the warm side, depending on your ambient temperature...

my ambient room temperature averages about 75f (24c), and my idle temps are about 94F (34c). on both my 1.8Ghz AMD Athlon XP and my 1.8GHz Intel P4. My max load temps are about 145f (63c)

so if your ambient temp is 85f (29c), your idle temp would be right on.

 

[user1234]

well, it also depends what kind of cooler, how much contact it makes with the CPU and the overall airflow in the case, and in any case it varies slightly between cpus.

Having said that, I agree that over 40C idle is warmer than average for a non-overclocked A64, but I guess it's seems reasonable temps for an overclocked processor.

 

[DGath]

I'm usually idle at ~40-45, full load rarely goes over 60. I usually don't pay attention to it unless it is above 65 for a long period of time, but when it reaches 70, I take action.

Running at high temps will decrease the life of the processor, so I've heard, but you'll have upgraded long before you would see the effects. As long as load temps are under 65, you're fine.

This is just from my experience. People say 40 idle is too high, but I don't think I've ever seen my 2.8C with a zalman fat daddy HS under 40.

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: Rapsven
Banias and Dothan processors can withstand aroudn 90C, same goes for Prescott.

Northwoods, don't go over 60, same with Bartons.

Not sure about the K8 processors, though...

Prescott starts throttling at 90C, and will shut down at 110C.

Northwoods can run at 75C-80C before throttling starts, and shutdown occurs around 90-100C.

[Edit] Bartons can take anything up to 85C before they shut down.

 

[dug777]

my 2000+ at 2600+ hits a max of 64'C under full load (d3), with my ambient temps in the high 20s, no stability problems at all, but i'll wait till we start getting mid 30'C ambient temps before i let you know how it works out

That's from my sandra reading, i am fairly sure that it does cpu diode rather than socket (hwinfo agrees), whereas ASUS an*l probe just gives me bs temps well below what they are

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: dug777
my 2000+ at 2600+ hits a max of 64'C under full load (d3), with my ambient temps in the high 20s, no stability problems at all, but i'll wait till we start getting mid 30'C ambient temps before i let you know how it works out

That's from my sandra reading, i am fairly sure that it does cpu diode rather than socket (hwinfo agrees), whereas ASUS an*l probe just gives me bs temps well below what they are

That actually seems a bit on the high side for what I assume is an Athlon XP, unless you are juicing it with insane volts. My XP1800 @ 1.67Ghz, 1.525v, runs about 10-12C over ambient, possibly 14-15C over if I cover up the blowhole on the top of the case and have been running the video card heavily too. 35C or more over ambient seems to indicate the heatsink isn't making good contact, isn't large enough, or doesn't have a powerful enough fan. As long as you are Prime95 stable, you're probably ok, but that would personally concern me. I have my mobo set for thermal alarm at 70C. (Lowest setting.)

I think that the highest that I've ever ran mine, was 56C, at 1.6v, and that was when I realized that I had to clean the dust and cat hair out of my CPU fan.

 

[dug777]

yeps- i suspect that i'm on the toasty side of things I'm only giving it 1.675v from the BIOS settings), it's stable as a rock, but the stock hsf is a cheapo aluminium job with a 3400 rpm fan so that might b why it's so hot i guess...? Case is well ventilated, 2x80mm exhaust fans level with the CPU, just above the 9800 pro.

i am not so sure about the quality of the contact between the cpu and hsf, as i bought it second hand about a year ago, but i know the hsf gets 2 hot to touch so that seems 2 suggest the contact is good I'd be worried if it was showing any signs of instability, but it's not, and i appreciate the xtra juice i get out of my ~400mhz bump, especially for gaming, so unless neone can give me a very good reason to lower it, there she stays

My ASUS probe thermal alarm is set for 65'C, and the BIOS shutdown (on an A7V8X) is 70'C, and i have never seen the alarm yet.