Just built a system, but it's to hot!

[uka100]

Well I finished building my first system today, but thee temp of the CPU is too high.....

CPU: 47 degrees
Fan speed: 2700RPM

Is it so high because of me not having having any case fans, or the the fan speed is too slow, thanks for any help!

EDIT: Sorry forgot to mention that's when it's idle .

[indolikaa]

That's hot? It gets hotter than that in the summer 'round here!


Do you have any thermal tape or compound between the heatsink and the processor?

[mrtristan]

What kind of processor do you have? That isn't hot at all, if you're running a new AMD chip. That's actually pretty cool. My chips run at about 57 degrees.

It's a good idea to put a case fan in there, though. I don't know what the rest of your system specs are, but your RAM and hard drives would probably benefit from the ventilation

[uka100]

I'm working In degrees celsius.

Here are my specs...

CPU Speed: Athlon XP 2500+
Harddrive space: 80 GB
RAM Memory: 512MB PC2700
Video Card: Ati Radeon 7000 64MB
Capture Card: Hauppauge WinTV-Go
Motherboard: Asrock K7S8XE
CD-ROM:
DVD-ROM:
CD Writer: Liteon (52x32X52)

I have thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU. Sorry I'm not sure what tempretures are too high, but I use a program called Motherboard Monitor and it shows the 47oc in red so I was guessing that was a sign of overheating.

[Solarjetman]

That is fine. Take a look at toms hardware in THIS review. They compare 34 heatsinks and notice the idle temps? Most are in the high 40s low 50s range.

[redwudz]

My XP2500 runs about 42C at idle, 47 is OK. I would use a front intake case fan and one rear exhaust and that will help with your HD, memory, and video board heat and may reduce your CPU temp a little by getting rid of excess heat in the case. Get ball bearing fans and if your board has the plugins, you can use variable speed 3pin fans.

[indolikaa]

I'm working In degrees celsius.

I know. That's only 114°F. A mild summer day in Phoenix.

The thermal cutoff on my Athlon 1200 is set for 65°C. I don't think I've ever had the temperature exceed 55°C, though. Your temperatures sound fine for a PIII.

redwudz is right on track with the cooling recommendations. I'd only add that if you're concerned about noise, they do make maglev fans that are as quiet as a whisper. I get them from cyberguys.com when I need them.

[Piccoro]

Athlon XP's thermal limit is somewhere around 80C.
Anything around 40-50 is fine for idle.
60 is typical load.
70 is a bit hot but do able. Look at the new P4 prescott. lol

[mrtristan]

I don't remember the exact number, but the XP chips can run safely, according to AMD, up to about 85°C. You have nothing to worry about. If you're interested in finding the exact temperature, it's on AMD's website, but will take a decent amount of digging to find.

From what I've read and heard from people on this site, the average idle temperatures for idle XP chips are in the high 40's to mid 50's. These chips run hot.

[Piccoro]

85C sounds about right for Athlon XPs.
The reason the first Athlon XP's (Palomino) ran hot was because they consumed 90Watts (max).
The thoroughbred (square) and barton (rectangle) cores for Athlon XP's consume 50 Watts (1500+ - 1900+) up to 75 Watts (3000+/3200+) max.
His Barton 2500+ is about 60watts Max.

Obviously it has to be in a heavy load to reach that.
To give ya an idea, a 3ghz P4 northwood core is about 100watt Max.

Intel publishes average watts consumed, not max. So you probably won't find that 100watt figure published anywhere. AMD publishes MAX watts for the series. Like they have one Max. wattage for the Athlon XP series and the Athlon 64 series.
Hard to compare.
For the figures I wrote above for the Athlon XP's (and the 3ghz P4), someone actually measured and figured out the Max Watts used under load.

[MACCA350]

My P4 3GHZ temp 32C at idle 45C at full load with 20C ambient temp

[uka100]

Ok thanks for the reassurance ervryone, it just seemed a little high to me . Also indolikaa the pentium was my old system, my new one is an athlon.

[indolikaa]

Ok thanks for the reassurance ervryone, it just seemed a little high to me . Also indolikaa the pentium was my old system, my new one is an athlon.

47°C is 'Just Dandy' for an Athlon processor!