CPU heat

[beavereater]

CPU AMD XP 2200+
Mobo Epox EP-8rda+

When your CPU and case temps are of a 20C difference, does that mean there's a low fan speed, inadequate heatsink or poor installation procedure? Right now my PC is idle at
CPU 57C
Case 39C

BUT when I play games or start encoding, it works its way up to
CPU 66C
Case (?)

I was playing HL2 this week and after a few hours of playing my PC shuts off. It's most definitely the heat...I can't think of anything else. Everywhere I look people suggest different tempuratures as safe. Anyway, can someone suggest anything? I'm about to go look at some fans. Actually maybe a new case....

Someone suggested I set my Vcore to manual and 1.65. Not sure if that's ideal or not...or safe...since I've never really tinkered with the bios.

[redwudz]

Nothing really unreasonable there as far as temps. CPU temp could be lower, but OK. You will see a rise with encoding or heavy usage.

The general method of case cooling, IMO is to have a front intake fan blowing into the computer. Best over the HDs. And a rear exhaust fan to take out the hot air. The PS takes out some, but if you don't mind the noise, a second exhaust fan helps. Also try to open up the inside of your PC for better airflow. I have drilled out the exhaust holes because the original were much too small to give good airflow.

Round IDE cables help. For the CPU, make sure you have a good cooler, especially with some CPUs that have more heat than others. A good heat sink, good thermal transfer with a pad, or better, Arctic silver or similar heat sink thermal compound.

I wouldn't mess with voltages unless you really know what you are doing. Some possibility of CPU or memory damage there.

If your PC shuts off, check the BIOS settings. There you should see the thermal shutoff temps, if available. AMD processors in general can tolerate temps of 170F, though lower is much better.

[reboot]

Depending which core your Athlon has, it has a shutdown point of either 60 or 70 degrees celsius.
Obviously, it must be getting to that point, if it's shutting down.

Nothing really unreasonable there as far as temps

redwudz, are you sure you read his post correctly?

Clean out the heatsink and fan thoroughly. Consider purchasing a copper heat sink, and larger fan, or go to water cooling. There are some reasonable packages around for less than $100, that guarantee to keep your cpu less than 40c.

[beavereater]

I went in today and took a look at some fans. I found what I thought would be a decent fan, but then the guy says "It's good, but if it doesn't fit properly on your mobo you can't return it." I ask him how I would check...or why it wouldn't fit since it says it supports my CPU for cooling. He says "Your mobo my have it's memory or something close, and it might not fit properly."

So...what do I do? I'm lost in this country sometimes...

[VCDHunter]

I thought I was getting deja vu there for a moment. Just buy a new heatsink, I can't see it not fitting.

[normcar]

Get the XP-90. It is the best non-liquid cooled heatsink available (other than its bigger brothers the copper version of the XP-90 and the XP-120). Unless you are way overclocking and need liquid cooling, this heatsink should do just fine. It works for both Intel and AMD chipsets. I brought my system temps down from over 150 F to less than 110 F under stress. (Sorry, you will have to convert F to C).