What is a safe CPU temperature?

[Cobra]

Hi

I think the subject says it all. I have an AMD Athlon 2600+ and it runs between 45 and 50 deg. C. Is this acceptable?

Thanks

CobraDMX

[Craig Tucker]

Slightly on the warm side but still well within safe operating temperatures.

[Faustus]

Long as that top score is under a decent CPU load then your fine. Heck I think the low on my 2000+ is about the same as yours low.

[Cobra]

OK, that's good to know.

It only ever hits 50 if my brother has been using it for gaming for hours on end.

The other thing to remember is that the greater the difference between CPU and surroundings is, the greater the effect the heatsink will have. So it is easier to raise the temperature from 30 to 40, but 40 to 50 requires much more effort and so on.

Just read an interesting article in a magazine about a Peltier cooler for CPUs, that actively chills the processor using a Peltier plate. Now, that's a good idea.

Thanks!

CobraDMX

[rallynavvie]

Yeah but for some reason coldplates fall off or break leads inside a crowded case. I haven't employed those in my system, figure I may as well go water cooled instead of that. Your temps are about what I see after hours of encoding where both CPUs are running at 100% load. If you want to cool it down further you can get bigger heatsink/fan combos for Slot A CPUs from all sorts of places. Depends on how much room you've got in the case as well. I've got two huge copper ones with 80mm fans on them that pretty much own everything north of the VGA board

[Doggiedaddy]

CobraDMX
Very interesting question, I have a 2000XP AMD running @1.79Ghz on a MSI board, OEM cooling that has been encoding now well over 24 hours.
[DoitFast4u/CCE4u/ReAuthorist] [very large project!] and temps are 54c CPU and 40c system @100%CPU and 770mb ram usages. All is well. I would say this is a good testament to the power of the AMD chip. These chips are killer for the $ IMHO.

Dd
AMD
http://139.95.253.213/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=13,E=0000000000090987655,K=266,Sxi=17,Case=obj (3737)

[WeedVender]

I wish I had one of those Vapor Chill cases...

Cool down the case to -25 F.
Serious OVERCLOCKING can happen there. I remember TomsHardware.com did an article where they took a 2.6 ghz processor and overclocked it to a 3.2 ghz. with no staiblity issues. Only prob is that the vapor chill cases cost around 600.

[rallynavvie]

$600 is a small price to pay for that kind of cooling performance. I'm seriously looking into one of Asetek's cases for a second machine. I've got two AMD 2800+ MPs sitting here waiting for a motherboard and accessories. But given the choice do you think I'd be better off using the VapoChill on the dual 1900 machine and overclocking it a bit or use it on my faster CPUs and just get killer performance from them without overclocking?

[WeedVender]

well... I suggest that u stick with the 1900 and just cool them in the conventional method.

As for the Vapo Chill.. put that on the Athlon 2800 MP. THAT IS IF vapor chill comes with a cooling solution that supports 2 processors.
Also. its a messy job of thermal grease/paste you have to deal with so u dont get condensation... but if u cool the athlons at that degree then its automatic that you are going to get a higher speed than even the Bartons.
IF you do some serious overclocking.. Id say you can get past the 4 ghz barrier but that may be over exagerated..

[freak_in_cage_10k]

WeedVender- dude, 4GHz on an AMD system? i dont think so m8, even with vapochill. you would be v lucky with n e thing over 3GHz, and thats with a vv good cpu

condensation could be a prob with them, and they dont cool grapics card so if you want to overclock for gaming then you are knackwered, great for cpus though! the bartons are the best overclockers

[mrtristan]

My chips run at temperatures up to 60ºC all the time. It's no big deal to me anymore. AMD chips are designed to run hot.

[Northstar]

Ive just upgraded to an AthlonXP 2400+, the idle temp is 43c, the load temp it can reach 49 so it seems your safe at those temps.

My temp would probably be lower but my heatsink and fan are less than a 1/2 inch away from the psu, i have a small case.

[Cobra]

My Athlon is stable as anything at the top temp it hits. I run an Asus motherboard, and it can hit 32 deg. C, surprising considering it's got a hot CPU stuck to it

My case is a big ATX job made of steel, and it's got a big fan on the side blowing onto the motherboard. It's also got a dual fan PSU which helps ventilation, and plenty of drillings as vents.

The downside? Dust....... I opened my Dell up for the first time in a year last night and OH MY GOD.....

CobraDMX

[Ducatti20]

WeedVender- dude, 4GHz on an AMD system? i dont think so m8, even with vapochill. you would be v lucky with n e thing over 3GHz, and thats with a vv good cpu

condensation could be a prob with them, and they dont cool grapics card so if you want to overclock for gaming then you are knackwered, great for cpus though! the bartons are the best overclockers

Coincidentally, data from overclockers.com data base, XP2800 overclock

Speed Volts Code Motherboard Heatsink/Cooling Notes ID

3100 1.95 AGOF ASUS A7V333 Vapochill PE 16417