Is this CPU temp too high?

[chrisinthesun20]

Not sure is 47-52 degrees C is too high for a CPU temp? (this is after the PC has been on for an hour or so - and been running intensive applications...OK..games )

This temp is as reported by the bios on my KinetiZ 7T motherboard - more details on this board here: http://www.lis.lv/qdi/mbkine7t.htm

The reason I'm asking is that I upgraded my video card from a GF2 to a GF4 Ti4200 two weeks ago, and the day after I swapped them out, I was playing Half Life DoD (actually navigating through the menus at the time), and my system rebooted itself....TWICE.

Its never done this before, could it be that adding the GF4 to my system has pushed up the temp inside the case (and the temp of the CPU), which caused these resets? BTW - I've been running the system with the case off since then, and its not reset again, but my girlfriend is complaining about the noise with the case off

Any advice would be good - I'm thinking of investing in some extra cooling....my GF4 is a Creative on with the stock HS/fan, and my CPU is a 1.1 Athlon with a stock HS and fan, and the case PSU is a stock 300 I think......

[Xanex]

Blimey no its not too high at all
the t-bird , which is what u have can take about 70 c b4 it dies.

u might have a setting in ur bios that says if the system temp gets to high reboot, mine has. if so set it to a higher level

tho what i would reccomend is getting a can of compressed air and blowing away all the dust that is clogging ur heatsink.

if ur cpu is anything like mine then they went overboard on the thermal paste. i resat my processor b4 xmas and it had enough thermal paste to do 40 chips at least.

mines a 1.0 t-bird and i have put a 2.0ghz amd xp heat sink on on to it, bit of overkill but its now down to a gushy 32 c .

rarely rises above 40 even with games

if ur worried about heat, yeah a few case fans will do the job.
get motherboard manager 5 that will tell u waht ur cpu is running at in windows

hope this helps

[Disk_Contented]

Yes, it's not a "dangerous" temp, but a little higher than "normal"
In my experience, mid 30 degrees seems to be the usual. Case fans will help, but put them in the correct place. (see AMD's site for info on this issue)

[Xanex]

well i have been using t-birds for over 3 years now. and to my knowlage they run normally at the low 40's reaching as high as 60 during high cpu programs like games. to have a t-bird under 40 is a good thing, mine runs at about 32. from a cold boot just a little over room temp and it holds for ages.

but yeah check the bios setting for cpu temps. if there is a cap then its set way too low.

[chrisinthesun20]

Right...OK - I've established that my PC resetting itself is definately a heat issue. Within about 40mins of game playing after having put the case back on, the system reset itself, and when I checked the temp from the BIOS the CPU temp was 58degreesC. (with the case temp about 42-44)

I took the case of and removed the CPU fan to check the heatsink - and yep - it was clogged up with so much grime you would not believe! - I cleaned it all out and put the fan+case back, rebooted, and returned to Max Payne

After 30mins of playing I restarted the machine to check the temp in the BIOS - it was reading 50degreesC.

I'm going to run it for a bit more now to see if it goes higher than that - but it never reset when I was running the system with the case off - its just that my girlfriend kept compaining about the noise.

I still think this temp is too high - I think it has been caused by upgrading to a GF4 Ti4200 which chucks out a lot more heat than my GF2, which is causing the case temp to rise, and it turn pushing up the CPU temp.

What are your thoughts on this? - do you think I need to invest in some extra cooling? - I was thinking about getting one of those fans that fits into a spare slot cover, and whacking it right next to my Geforce - any suggestions would be most appreciated. - is it worth me changing my CPU fan? (its just a stock thing that was fitted with my CPU when I last upgraded)

Also - I cannot seem to find any kind of cut-off temp listed in my BIOS anywhere (look up to see the link I posted to my Mobo specs). Suggestion on how to solve this heat issue please!

[Xanex]

well im happy, u just shaved 8 degs off ur temps

heh

yeah getting a pci fan things is a good idea they work gr8 i have 1 for my gf3

u did not say if there is a cap on the temps. in my bios there is a setting for if the temp gets too high it restarts. check for if ur bios has this, most do. set it higher

and yes whack in those fans.

and if u feel up to it resit ur processor with some arctic silver 2

[chrisinthesun20]

i can't find any entry anywhere in my bios relating to cap temp etc...... When I had the GF2 in my machine I never even knew what the temps of my system where as I never had any problems with it......but now with the GF4 I'm forced to check it all out

One other thing - if after having run a game for 30 mins and the temp has climbed to about 50-52, do you think it is likely to go much higher than that? - is 30mins long enough to get the temp up to a max level?

Also - I'm not sure if swapping my CPU fan for a better one is a good idea. I don't think I'm going to try re-seating my CPU as although I'm a definate IT/PC expert - its about the one thing I've not done before - and I can't really afford to replace components at the moment if I cock things up....

[Xanex]

yeah a better cpu fan will do. also if u pur a case fan directly to the side of the fan on the inside back of the case (blowing out) then that will help reduce system temps.

thou i doubt that the vid card contributes that much to the cpu temp. i would reccomend resitting ur processor if u can, its far cheaper than havinga chip go bust cos over heating. take it to a shop . but NOT PCWORLD.

i'll say y if asked

hope this helps

[chrisinthesun20]

I've just got a second case fan (and also swapped my PSU for a 350watt one (I thought I had a 300W one in there before but it turned out to be a 250W!!!!!!!!)

Quick question though - I assume that my PSU fan in sucking air INTO the case, therefore shock my second fan be sucking air in or blowing air out of the case? - dumb question I know - but never had to deal with this stuff before!

[Disk_Contented]

Don't forget to clean and reapply thermal compound when you remove a cooler, not doing so is asking for trouble.
Refitting a cpu is a trivial operation as long as you take care, a shop is not necessary, simply lift the locking lever, then, while gently pushing the chip to its socket, push back down, job done.

I would fit a fan front and rear, (blowing in, an exhaust fan may cause a negative pressure inside the case which will make matters worse) or front if you have one fan only, this will circulate air over the expansion cards, which do generate a lot of local heat which if not removed, can lead to problems in the long run.
This will also benefit the PSU and drives which will have air pushed through them, thus aiding cooling.

BTW, PSU fans normally expel air, make sure the fan located at the front can actually draw air from outside, a surprising number of cases have next to no venting at the front (drill or enlarge any venting on the underside of the front facia) so warm air is constantly recirculated.

As i said, check AMD site for the results of tests they did. Phew

[curtybob]

as far as the video card goes, a 1 ghz processor is the minimum recomended by most people. and seeing that you have a 1.1, the card is puting a little more strain, and that may be what's causing the heat build-up. i would guess that if you are not overclocking your card, the case temp shouldn't jump enough to cause overheating. the fan you were wondering about,depends on what style case you have, but a general rule of thumb is in the front , out the back. kinda' sounds pornish!!! but as long as you have a monitoring system, you can play with it and see where you get the largest gains.
AND DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE PROCESSOR!!!!! it is easier than putting in a video card, you don't even need tools. just make sure to read the instructions included in the thermal paste, or find some pics on the web to see how much to use. you don't want too much, but you sure don't want any dry spots. but don't be scared to try.

[Xanex]

OK

"and seeing that you have a 1.1, the card is puting a little more strain, and that may be what's causing the heat build-up."

that makes no sense. it jibberish

"AND DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE PROCESSOR!!!!! it is easier than putting in a video card,"

this person has no expeirence in cpus, since he has a t-bird like mine, they have very fragile cores and will break if u dont do it right.

like i said i have been using amd's for over 3 years, got the new amd xp 2600 and a t-bird 1.0 and and old duron 700.

and in my experience they are the most evil sonova bitches ever to resit. the clip on them is soo tight to undo.

"blowing in, an exhaust fan may cause a negative pressure inside the case which will make matters worse"

no that is wrong. the fan does not generate enough airflow to cause any pressure change, its not an air tight container so u dont have to worry, by having the back case fan blowwing in u will mess up the airflow of the cpu fan, something u don not want to do. as long as u create an "air flow circle" then u are ok.

"but a general rule of thumb is in the front , out the back"

yes

"BTW, PSU fans normally expel air, make sure the fan located at the front can actually draw air from outside"

check this cos u might have a diff psu


i would reccomend NOT using thermal paste, all the new chips are sat using arctic silver 2, is is more efficient and will be easier to clean off when u re sit again. thermo paste actually increases the temps of ur core, because people tend to coat the whole core in the stuff, u only need a little.

Pci cards do not generate that much heat compared to the rest of the system, thou it is worthwhile having air blowing over them as it stops dust, which will lose heat loss effieciency

[curtybob]

xanax makes good points. but by the processor i meant that the video card is very fast, and demanding on the rest of the system. I apologize for trying to instill courage into someone who hasn't played with a processor before, and was slightly misleading. but he said he knew a good bit about computers, and that says he has a little common sense, and can decide when he's in over his head. and i used "thermal paste" as a general term, to let him decide what brand to buy. again, apologies.

[chrisinthesun20]

Think I might have finally got a solution I'm happy with

Popped into my local computer store today - and picked up a 350W PSU, and they gave me an case fan for free (nice people).

Seeing as my PSU fan is sucking air out of the case (as far as I can tell - the air flow is not to easy to judge by sticking you hand infront of it). - I've mounted the extra case fan below the PSU. sucking cooler air in from the back of the case (via the lower rear vent), and blowing it directly over the processor (which is about 15 cms infront of the fan)....

I've just run three 3Dmark tests in a row, and immediately afterwards the CPU temp was reading 50-51degrees and the system was stable (with a case temp of 41)

Its tricking to tell if the extra cooling or the stronger PSU did the trick in making the system stable - but seeing as my old PSU turned out to be only 250W, I reckon that may have had something to do with the resets....

Cheers for all your suggestions - God I must have sounded like such a bloody newbie, but its stuff I've never had the need to do before, so I though rather that blunder about in the dark I'd ask you friendly people for suggestions!

BTW - never did find a temp cutoff option in my BIOS ANYWHERE, strange........

[chrisinthesun20]

Did you spot my deliberate mistake? - I meant to say that the second case fan is sucking air OUT, and positioned 15cm from the processor - duh!>!>!>!>>!

Anyway - fixed now I hope - bloody PCs, think I'm gonna by myself a PS2 .........errr....then again maybe not....

Right, back to Dungeon Siege for a bit me thinks......