is 86 degrees celcius normal for a CPU?

[Gloryfieldzi]

I've had this PC for about 3 years now. The cpu is athlon thunderbird 1.333 with an Asus A7A266 motherboard and Radeon 9500 Pro. It runs most stuff great, I get playable frame rates in farcry at 1024 768 with medium settings. Yesterday I installed MBM 5 for the first time and it showed my CPU having a temperature of 86 degrees celcius. Is this too hot or is it normal?
Also, yesterday in my task manager, I noticed something called Rasutou.exe taking up 90% of my processing power. I googled it and it showed as something to do with windows dialing, but why does it take so much cpu? I ended up just end tasking it and everything was normal again.

Thanks

 

[imported_Kensai]

That's wack! I think you've got spyware or something. Does your case have airflow?

 

[Matthias99]

86C under load is a high... could just be a bad reading, though (try another monitoring program and see if it agrees). You might want to check out your HS/F regardless. Might be clogged with dust, and/or your thermal paste needs to be replaced (if the system is 3+ years old).

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

It's not a bad reading and no I don't have spyware. I was just playing games and then I alt tabbed it was 86 celcius. From a cold startup right after I log on, the temp reads as 65 -70 range. Should I be worried? It's been running this hot for a long time now and I don't think anything got damaged. My case is really crappy and I don't have any case fans. How do I replace the thermal paste and how would I clean the dust?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: gloryfieldzi
My case is really crappy and I don't have any case fans.

WTF kind of ATX case doesn't have any fans?

How do I replace the thermal paste

Remove the heatsink, clean it (and the CPU) thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, apply new thermal material, reattach heatsink. More detailed instructions are available if you search.

and how would I clean the dust?

Compressed air works well (available at any electronics or computer store). I would do this outside, though.

 

[albumleaf]

wow.. and i get freaked when my cpu hits 60 with the fans off

 

[SGtheArtist]

AMD states that my AthlonXP 1900+ should be good to 95C tho it doesnt run near that.

86C = 187F

That is EXTREMELY HIGH! for a CPU. Check MBM5 website I know they had some issues with specific mobo's or thermal controllers that MBM5 reads so that number maybe inaccurate.

Have you checked it against the BIOS temps?

Just my 3 cents. (Inflation )

PS If you've been running it for 3yrs then its not going to fry soon. If a CPU is running too hot it will fry pretty quickly.

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

I don't think I have a thermal paste, I never bought any, if a tube came with my cpu then I would of applied it but I forgot now. It was a retail edition AMD thunderbird.
my case is a plain white case that I bought 3 years ago. It was really cheap, and since I figured case didn't matter I bought it, it was prolly like 10 bucks or so. I had my hard drive die out twice due to over heating so I got a hard drive cooling fan last year. My cpu hasn't died yet and it's been 3 years. Asus, AMD and ATI are long lasting, go with the A's ! hehe. I am going to upgrade this summer. Debating whether to keep the 9500 Pro or buy a x800xl.

I just posted this thread to wonder about normal cpu temps. What do you guys have?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: gloryfieldzi
I don't think I have a thermal paste, I never bought any, if a tube came with my cpu then I would of applied it but I forgot now. It was a retail edition AMD thunderbird.
my case is a plain white case that I bought 3 years ago. It was really cheap, and since I figured case didn't matter I bought it, it was prolly like 10 bucks or so. I had my hard drive die out twice due to over heating so I got a hard drive cooling fan last year. My cpu hasn't died yet and it's been 3 years. Asus, AMD and ATI are long lasting, go with the A's ! hehe. I am going to upgrade this summer. Debating whether to keep the 9500 Pro or buy a x800xl.

I just posted this thread to wonder about normal cpu temps. What do you guys have?

My Barton AXP 2500+ at 3200+ speeds (2.2Ghz) runs about 50-55C under load, maybe 40-45C idle. 86C under load, if accurate, is VERY high for your CPU.

The fact that you had two hard drives die from overheating wasn't a hint that *maybe* you don't have good cooling for your system?

 

[Tiamat]

86C is pretty high. You probably have lots of dust in your PSU, CPU Heatsink.

Buy a can of compressed air (CO2) and blow it into your psu and into your cpu heatsink thoroughly.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
86C is pretty high. You probably have lots of dust in your PSU, CPU Heatsink.

Buy a can of compressed air (CO2) and blow it into your psu and into your cpu heatsink thoroughly.

Yep, in addition to this you may want to pick up a tube of Arctic Silver and a few case fans, reseat your HSF and install the fans.

 

[exar333]

if you didnt apply any thermal compound, it might have a standar thermal pad...those dry up pretty frequently...I would remove the HSF, clean off the residue and then apply a new, thin layer of compound......

and as a few others have said, take that opportunity to dust the case and add any fans if open spots allow for them!

 

[Umberger]

my A64 3800+ idles around 32C and load between 45C and 47C. Anything above the mid 70's on any computer makes me nervous.

If you do apply thermal compound yourself, take the time to go to the website and read the directions for it. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. I know it doesnt seem like much paste, but a little goes a long way. Too much can actually make your temp. higher.

 

[tfinch2]

Man anything over 50 under load makes me a little edgy. 86 is just insane!

 

[Mike2Own]

86?! holy cow

 

[Bateluer]

My 3.4E Prescott idles around 40^C, full loads at about 50^C. Thats with an XP-120 Heatpipe cooling solution and with the side panel off.

86^C, like others have said, is way too hot, if its accurate. Definitely go out and buy some compressed air at the least. 3 year old systems have a lot of dust. My system gets dusted about every 2 months. I'd look at how your case is designed, likely there are vent holes for fan installation. Usually 1 or 2 in the bottom front, and 1 or two in the upper back, beneath the PSU, usually for 80mm fans. Just remember to pick up at least 2, one for intake and one for exhaust.

Reseating the HSF is problem a good idea as well. It'd allow you to blow even more crud out of it as well. Pick up some rubbing alchohol and a lint free cloth and clean the old paste from the HSF and CPU, reapply new paste, and reseat. Artic Silver is the best, but its hardly cheap. Since you have a hotter running CPU, I'd tend to go with higher quality thermal paste tho.

 

[Promethply]

Like everyone's said, wow, that is too hot.

 

[ericlala]

mine is messed up too, i have athlon 1.3

it reads: cpu at 23C and mb at 56C-60C

 

[Reapsy00]

i had a thunderbird 1.3 ghz back in the day i seem to remember it running pretty hot with the retail heatsink/fan about 65 - 70 c under load. dont they run hotter coz they r older technology or something?anyway the heatsink was rubbish compared to the ones u get now with a new cpu. i still got it somewhere it think.

 

[drwngflies]

AMD reply: CPU temperature maximum: 60'C, underload.....
Make sure you remove ALL the old paste/heatsink pad before you reaply a SMALL amount of new paste.
More is NOT better here.

 

[Reapsy00]

i'm fairly sure those thunderbirds are rated for 90 C max temp by amd but I'm too lazy to look it up

 

[MobiusPizza]

You guys know? When I bought my Athlon TB 1.2Ghz, bought a US$15 cooler. Thee CPU temperature BIOS said was 97 degrees. It was stable running for few days before I realised. Old TB Athlon didn't have on-die temperature sensor so 97 is a off-die sensor, the temperrature would be much higher inside the core. Geez and Athlon 1.4Ghz was even hotter lol

Have not idea how people can sell a $15 product that badly designed.

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: Reapsy00
i'm fairly sure those thunderbirds are rated for 90 C max temp by amd but I'm too lazy to look it up

They are.

Athlon 2600+ Barton @ 2.2Ghz here. 42C idle, 48C load with a 1300rpm fan and 1400rpm case fans (x2).

 

[Nick5324]

As others have said, this is fairly hot. It sounds like you didn't use thermal paste when you put it together, i assume the retail HSF had something on it, probably not the greatest. I agree that it is time to take off the HSF (carefully), remove all old paste, use new, THIN layer of paste, replace HSF carefully (don't damage the CPU core). Pick up a couple case fans, install, and your temps should come down.