AMD Athlon XP overheat?

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 2:37 pm

Guys, I have an AMD Athlon XP 2600+, and I'm a bit worried about his cooling sistem.

My first question is: I'm running it and when I play Doom 3, for example, the temperature of the processor rises to 55 degrees. I use an ASUS probe program to measure this. Is that really bad? In AMD site it tells that the "kill temp" is around 85 celsius, but I'm really worried if it wont cause my CPU to burn.

Second question: Since my processor came, it was running under his capacity due to a FSB limitator that I havent seen before (my processor is designed for 266 mhz fsb and I was using it at 100 mhz fsb, so from when I changed this it jumped from 1.605 to 2.140 mhz) and that the guys from the store told me it was normal. well, the average temperature raised from 45 celsius to 50. And I left the cover opened. Is it bad to left the desktop cover opened? cause when I closed it my temp raised about five degrees...

Third question: What can I actually do to make this temperature scale better without harming my pc? and, if possible, without spending much?

tom the terribl · Post by **tom the terribl** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:21 pm

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]Guys, I have an AMD Athlon XP 2600+, and I'm a bit worried about his cooling sistem.

My first question is: I'm running it and when I play Doom 3, for example, the temperature of the processor rises to 55 degrees. I use an ASUS probe program to measure this. Is that really bad? In AMD site it tells that the "kill temp" is around 85 celsius, but I'm really worried if it wont cause my CPU to burn.

Second question: Since my processor came, it was running under his capacity due to a FSB limitator that I havent seen before (my processor is designed for 266 mhz fsb and I was using it at 100 mhz fsb, so from when I changed this it jumped from 1.605 to 2.140 mhz) and that the guys from the store told me it was normal. well, the average temperature raised from 45 celsius to 50. And I left the cover opened. Is it bad to left the desktop cover opened? cause when I closed it my temp raised about five degrees...

Third question: What can I actually do to make this temperature scale better without harming my pc? and, if possible, without spending much?[/QUOTE]

If you open the computer and put a fan on the open side it will cool it down. It will also show any temp problems with the hardware. If you see color fading or shifting then you have temp over sensitive on your video card.

Do you have a processor fan? I think the temp you quoted is for an un-faned processor because 85C is low for electronics. Intel has thermals inside the microprocessor and my pc runs an alarm for many temps in the computer because I use an Intel main board. Originally I got high temp spikes in reagion 3 (I think) so I got a new mid tower with 6 fans not counting the processor, video card or power supply fan. This solved my problem but you may need a new processor fan too. The cheap non-bearing fans or sleaved fans will fail every year. Get a good bearing fan to go with the new 6 to 8 or more faned case. Getting max memory will reduce the processor overload. Every time the processor accesses the swapfile the processor will stack processes. 2 or more billion bytes of main memory will reduce the overhead to manageable level.

A good case with 6 fans and power supply should cost about $60. Shop at Fry's or some other discounter. Fry's is the best high tech store in the U.S. Try and visit one sometime. Go to http://www.frys.com to learn sites.

Lastly as a retired PC engineer I'll say that consumer electronic can work at just over 100C (if thay have a fan) without failing. My Intel board and processor work throu the summer in a non-airconditioned house the lots of windows and vaulted cieling and I never turn my pc off but I've seen room tempuratures over 110 F that is 43.333C. ambient temp. My cpu alarms did not go off.

Rookierookie · Post by **Rookierookie** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:31 pm

55 C is considered low.

2.2Ghz is normal for an 2600+.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 2:56 am

Well - I wouldn't worry.

My P4 2.4gHz runs at 60-65degress with working hard in my current set up - and that is considered rather high.
Unless you get near/above the 70 degrees I wouldn't worry to much - and in that case better cooling is definataly adviced.

What you need to look at as well is if you have a temperature reading of your motherboard/other components. It can't take as high a temperature as your CPU, so watch that one as well.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:16 am

Tom, I'm quite far from US, and it gets a bit expensive to buy on the stores you mentioned... but yeah, I got two methods of cooling my machine: One processor fan (with a heat sink and stuff) and a fan to retrieve the air from inside the machine. My MB has a heat sink without a fan (i guess is a heat sink, we call it heat dissipator or something) just like my video card. Not to mention my power suply fan. I have 500 mb of ram installed (528, actually or something close to that) with a good frequency (333 mhz). What do you think, should I use 1 ghz of ram? Well, the place where my PC is is the coldest of the house (chosen on purpose) so its average temp is always 5 degrees lower than the rest of the house in a warm day.

RookieRookie - Well, good to hear that I thought I had been cheated...

My MB is always 4-5 degrees cooler than the processor, Xandax... is an ASUS a7xnx-x... but in ASUS site I found nothing about working temps.

So I'll keep it without a new fan, but should I upgrade my Ram then to avoid overheat?

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 12:52 pm

heh

How long have you had it? Is it within warranty?

If yes, try to overheat it as hard as possible (without overclocking as that would void your warranty) and then have it replaced if it actually burns

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:35 pm

[QUOTE=Vicsun]How long have you had it? Is it within warranty?

If yes, try to overheat it as hard as possible (without overclocking as that would void your warranty) and then have it replaced if it actually burns

[/QUOTE]

Nah, one year have passed. That's why I went to investigate the processor and the speed... (I wanted to overclock. Well, call me a rookie...)

Rookierookie · Post by **Rookierookie** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:19 pm

Who spoke my name?

Anyway, if you want to get 1Ghz of RAM, you could go to 2007AD. Got a good time machine?

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 8:22 am

[QUOTE=Rookierookie]Who spoke my name?

Anyway, if you want to get 1Ghz of RAM, you could go to 2007AD. Got a good time machine?[/QUOTE]

oops typo, gigabite...

(sorry, clumsy typist and non native english speaker)

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:58 pm

50-60C is the normal temp for an Athlon XP under load, depending on ambient temperature. Most modern CPU's run at around this level, and the Prescott cored P4's run even higher (65-70C mark). It's also worth noting that most CPU temperature monitors are a bit inaccureate, as they are usually placed inside the socket, and not directly on the core, so expect +/- 5C on any reading for a CPU sensor. It also depend on the BIOS. My Gigabyte GA-8KNSNXP board says the CPU is at 27C with BIOS F2 and 45C on BIOS F4.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 3:40 am

AMDs always need better cooling then other processors. Buy a huge fan

It's also recommended to use a power supply unit that has holes both on the side and on the bottom (makes the are move better in the box). I put my computer together according to this and I have no problem with processor temperature.

stramoski · Post by **stramoski** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:14 am

Open PC Cover

Funny Story...

I was called in to help a gentleman who had some strange problems crop up all the sudden... His drives began to fail, then it wouldn't turn on at all. When I got to his house and opened the box, a small mouse jumped out of it... It just went inside for the warmth, chewed on some cables for fun!!!

Just make sure that won't be a problem for you...

Cat and dog hair can also be a problem, if you have curious pets...

Good Luck!!

Rookierookie · Post by **Rookierookie** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:44 am

Alas. For the mouse.

stramoski · Post by **stramoski** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:56 am

I thought he was cute, and I let him get away. I think the guy called an exterminater right after I left, though...

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:36 am

We had severe problems with an AMD Athlon XP 1300, which we replaced about 6 months ago. It was constantly crashing, and eventually we discovered that overheating was the problem: it had two fans, and one wasn't even functioning properly. Our new AMD Athlon XP 3000 has four fans, and it works like a dream.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 3:20 pm

[QUOTE=fable]We had severe problems with an AMD Athlon XP 1300[/QUOTE]

The Thunderbird cored Athlons were very well known for extreme heat output. I had a 1200 and it routinely got up to 65-70C when idle. Kinda dangerous considering they had no thermal monitoring or emergency shutdown capability. Thankfully AMD have since learned the lesson, and now the Athlon64's with Cool'n'Quiet running sit idle at around 25-30C, and about 50C under load.

Yshania · Post by **Yshania** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:07 pm

I have an XP 2800. My pc is always left on, current temps - according to Asus Probe (I have an Asus A7N8X MB) - are CPU 43, MB 29. Third party diagnostic programs, such as Sandra (SiSoftware) always record my system as overheating, when I contacted SiSoft, they told me to download Asus since they did not support all systems reliably, especially Athlon/Asus combinations, which I hear are as optimised as they can be, and if you decide to clock them you are taking a risk (unlike Pentiums which apparently allow movement) (?)

Stick with Asus Probe, I have found it reliable. During the summer, with high ambient temperatures and poor air flow, my pc got upto 55 when idle - according to Asus - with no problems. I was just careful to ensure that no dust or debris clogged the fans or fins of the casing, to allow as much airflow as possible. I didn't need to leave the casing open

Yshania · Post by **Yshania** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:28 pm

[QUOTE=Mr Flibble]The Thunderbird cored Athlons were very well known for extreme heat output. I had a 1200 and it routinely got up to 65-70C when idle. Kinda dangerous considering they had no thermal monitoring or emergency shutdown capability. Thankfully AMD have since learned the lesson, and now the Athlon64's with Cool'n'Quiet running sit idle at around 25-30C, and about 50C under load.[/QUOTE]

I never actually monitored the temperature of my old Thunderbird, but when I wondered at a sudden speight of pc crashing with my 1000, I found a fan had failed. I haven't had that with my XP though...

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:27 am

[QUOTE=Yshania]I have an XP 2800. My pc is always left on, current temps - according to Asus Probe (I have an Asus A7N8X MB) - are CPU 43, MB 29. Third party diagnostic programs, such as Sandra (SiSoftware) always record my system as overheating, when I contacted SiSoft, they told me to download Asus since they did not support all systems reliably, especially Athlon/Asus combinations, which I hear are as optimised as they can be, and if you decide to clock them you are taking a risk (unlike Pentiums which apparently allow movement) (?)
[/QUOTE]

Exactly what happened to me Ysh. We have similar sistems - My mobo is an A7n8x-x, and processor is and XP 2600... Sis Sandra shows me that my temp is always over 125 celsius processor and 115 motherboard. Asus probe, however, tells me that my motherboard is at 40 and cpu at 45 celsius.
Yes, I heard that too, overclocking an Athlon is dangerous cause they are at the peak capacity.

Well, I decided to let one of the sides of my cover opened for now, and as soon as possible I'll change the entire case to one of those "vent maniac" cases they are selling now, with tons of fans. Also, I'll upgrade my RAM.
]
Mr Fibble, I used to have a pentium 3 800 that worked in average use condition on 35-36 degrees, and when I was running the most exaustive games it'll come to 40 degrees. One of my friends told me to overclock it, and watch the temp, but I have no intention of burning my CPU... Then when the Athlon came, due to a misconfiguration on the MoBo, it was running at 1605 mhz, and the temps were equal to the P 3. When I fixed the config, my temp raised (of course) to the normal... And as you see I got quite scared.

Thank you all, I guess it solved my problem.

Antharias2k · Post by **Antharias2k** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:43 pm

Sorry, I am little late.

Make sure that you do not have a faulty motherboard. I had the same problem where my CPU would run on a cold day, roughly 20 degrees celcius, at 55 degrees celcius. My motherboard blew and I got a new one and now my 2600+ runs at a cool 24 degrees centigrade, but I think that it may have to do with the CPU fan that is currently sitting on it. It is not the best, but it will do.

Can I also suggest cable sleeving. Improve the airflow in your case. It has helped a friend of mine's a lot. I still have an airflow problem, but that might be because of all the cables in the case with the 450 watt PSU.

Another bit of advice is that you get a case with holes in the side of it. It always helps. If need be, get yourself a celeron, they never overheat because they are shipped with a heatsink that should have always been shipped with an AMD processor.

Antharias