Well I recently got a new PC, and its a high end one, its my
first high end PC in fact, and I was actually wondering what is considered a safe temperature range for a high end PC.
Currently, my PC runs from 41-44 degrees Celcius on idle, 52-54 on load.
If it helps, I have 2.5 gig RAM, geforce 8800GTS, 700watt PSU and an AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 (2.8 gig per core).
So, is that an ok reading? Should I be worrying?
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I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
Sorry if that sounded a little rude, I just keep getting nervous when it gets above 50 degrees celcius.
Especially since the only other friend I know with a high end PC gets much lower core temperatures (30-35 idle, 37-45 on load).
At any rate, those temperatures are just fine. Today's motherboards' default shutdown temps are generally in the 75+ range. Not to say that's a healthy range to shoot for, but low 50's is fine.
Max operating temperature (°C) 55 - 63
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Athlon%2064%20FX-62%20-%20ADAFX62IAA6CS%20(ADAFX62CSBOX).html
Not entirely sure why the max temperature is given as a range, although again like intel I think these are cover temps rather than core temperatures.
The friggen dashboard in your car gets hotter.
That worries me, because when I keep the PC running on load for a long time (6 or more hours), it gets even hotter to about 55-57 degrees.
so buy a custom heatsink/fan if it bothers you so much and if that doesnt work look into watercooling........
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=574&name=CPU-Fans-Heatsinks
Well, see that entirely depends on what you're measuring. Basically, we always used to measure temperatures from a sensor placed just under the chip, and this is where you get the OMG 60degrees processor dies! reaction that many people have. Now the temperatures that we are using actually come from the core of the chip, which you expect to be 15-20 degrees higher than the outside of the chip, but confusingly the companies are still stating the cover surface for max operating temperatures rather than the core temperature.
According to tomshardwareguide "Our tuned-up Athlon consumed about 140 W at 3.05 GHz under heavy load, and we measured core temperatures of 149° F (65° C) at the same time. The fan on a stock cooler has its work cut out at these temperatures, and operated at a rotational speed of 3300 RPM. This still leaves room for more speed, at least where temperatures are concerned. AMD indicates that the Windsor core temperature boundary is at 203° F (95° C)."
If that's all a bit confusing, then unfortunately it is, and i'm still struggling to understand it all.
Also, thanks everyone, your reassurances have been...well assuring.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185038
As long as your case is big enough.
Don't those crack motherboards?
I've heard horror stories from people that used those tower heatsinks.
Here's a fact: You cannot kill a CPU made within the last 5 or 6 years by overheating it. You can even wrench the heatsink OFF while running a game or doing some other CPU intense task and your CPU will be fine and dandy. Your program will most likely stop working. Windows will probably crash, but your hardware will be fine.
Modern CPU's are designed to automatically throttle back when their internal sensors detect the heat getting too high. In other words, when your CPU starts noticing it is getting too hot, it will stop computing (or compute way slower than it normally does) and thus lower the amount of heat it generates to a point where it will not self-destruct.
Now, if you notice that after hours of running a certain game the framerates suddenly start becoming extremely choppy, your CPU may be overheating and throttling itself and then it may be a good idea to get a new heatsink. However, the default heatsink is usually plenty fine for cooling your CPU as long as you keep dust from building up.
Don't worry if your friend says his CPU runs cooler. That could be for a whole slew of reasons. He keeps his house cooler, his case has better airflow, he has a better heatsink, he's lying to you, etc. As long as your CPU isn't to the point where it is throttling, there is no advantage to having it run cooler. It won't make your framerate higher, it won't encode DVDs faster. The only possible benefit is that his CPU may, statistically speaking, have a longer lifespan than yours. I have never heard of someone's CPU dying. More likely than not your computer, new and badass as it now, will be a creaky pile of junk not worth using long before the CPU ever dies.
Sooooo...
TL;DR
Don't worry, everything is fine.
Most bios's will do it too if you enable certain settings.
With that one, the weight is pretty much all at the bottom, so there isn't really a lot of force on the motherboard.