Another Athlon Temperature Question
 

I recently built my own system, and the temperatures of my Athlon 2500+ (Barton core) are 48-52 degrees idle, and 58-62 under load. Them otherboard temperature is 35-43. I have an el cheapo case, one case fan, and the Athlon is using the retail heatsink with the thermal interface pad. My system is stable, even when doing CPU-intensive tasks, like converting AVI to MPEG for 2 hours. I will never overclock.

So my question is: is it dangerous for my system to be at those temperatures?

Edit: my motherboard is an Asus A7V8X-X, though I doubt this matters.

Edit #2: The BIOS temps pretty much match up with the Asus Probe temps.

Ahh, the eternal questions of Athlons and their temperatures. I don't fully understand them, myself, even though I built my own computer with a 2400+ athlon xp (pretty much the same thing). Well, the question isn't whether or not it's safe, it's more about how long it'll last. If your computer works fine at that temperature (doesn't randomly reset or crash often) then I would probably say that you're fine as is. The only thing is, I don't think your CPU will last more than 3 or 4 years running at that temperature. Saying it would last any less than 3 is probably an exaggeration, but it isn't out of the question. Either way, it isn't a bad idea to look at getting an after market heat sink for your CPU, so that it could run at a cooler temperature. Getting more case fans is another option, but then you have to get into the makeup of your case. If you're not planning on overclocking, and you're happy with the performance of you CPU, then you may just want to keep it as is, because in 3-4years, you might want to upgrade your PC anyway, and throw out your old CPU. It's really all up to you, I don't think that your computer is under any immediate danger from your CPU's temperature.

IMHO, if you can keep your CPU/MB (on some of my systems the MB is hotter than the CPUs) under 65C, you'll be fine. For optimal performance, under 50C is a good position to be in.

If you don't plan on overclocking, you're fine. The moment you want to overclock, you'll need a new CPU fan.

-Lasereth

I have a phobia of CPU and heatsink installation. First, I'm afraid to crack the core. Second, I'm afraid that I will put too much/too little thermal compound. So I'm planning to get one more case fan, and maybe a drive bay cooler. I'm sure that in 4 years, the top of the line socket A Athlon will not exceed $40, and by then, I'll probably want a 7ghz Pentium 6.

In 4 years, the Pentiums will be well above 7 GHz, trust me. :)

Removing and installing CPUs and heatsink fans is easy, but you still have to be careful. The main thing you have to check is that there is a motherboard riser near or underneath the CPU socket for extra stablization. Secondly, make sure you have a medium sized flat-head screwdriver. This makes things much easier. Thirdly, it doesn't take much thermal compound at all to work. The literal reason for it is to cover up the microscopic blemishes in the core of the heatsink. In other words, the amount should cover the core of the CPU with a layer about paper thin. Yes, only paper thin. It's usually better to have too much than too little, however. I'm just stating that it doesn't take much at all.

-Lasereth

Maybe some knowledgable moderator should put up a notice about the temperatures and the optimal temperature ranges for AMD's CPU's.

As it is now my 2400+ has an idle temperature of 45 (Celsius) and under heavy load it goes up to 48 dergrees.. (Spire FalconRock II cpu-fan). As of yet it has run just fine.

If you want to know the danger ranges for Athlons (at least 2400+) then here's what I have: low danger 75C, High Danger 80C.

I've successfully increased my Athlon to 75C, but it crashed just about the moment that I hit it. My personal Athlon runs at 57, and it works just fine. I'm still thinking about getting a new heatsink, but I'm not sure if I'm really going to or not. Maybe after this semester is over, I will.

For those of ya scared of cracking the core, the newer Opteron's have a full top like the P4..

And yes, Athlon's do run quite a bit hotter than P4s.

Not in every case. :) Any P4 with Hyper-Threading runs about the same temp as a standard Athlon XP, especially the 2.8's and above.

-Lasereth

mine is chillin at about 42 right now, average whatnot. In the winter when the house temp goes to about 60 the cpu temp will hit about 39 . xp2200+ with volcano 6+

I have a Athlon XP 1900 and the cpu temp usually stays between 50 & 55. I found out about a cool little program that cools your CPU down a ton, at least it did for me. Here it is.. http://www.cpuidle.de/

Under normal load my CPU temp has dropped all the way down to 38 using this program. It is shareware however, but if I don't have any problems the first 30 days I will consider buying it.

Everyone panicing over temps on Athlons is self sustaining the panic.

Calm down. AMD says the chip is fine until you hit 80C. Okay? Can we settle this? Does anyone even BOTHER to look at AMD's website before asking this? Why not check with the people that make it? I mean, they DO know the answer.

The chip may be fine until 80c, but my computer restarts randomly if it gets above 62 celsius. Being not-fried and actually working are two different things.

-Lasereth

as long as your computer is stable you don't have to worry.

If it doesnt' start on fire I wouldn't worry.....140F seems just fine...i've worked mine to about 160F and its worked ok easily.

thats a bit hot by my book, if it is not crashing, then you are 'ok' but you want to try to get the temp down a bit. try to get a larger heat sink or another case fan, you want to get an air flow through your case.