Can anyone tell me what is the max temp for an Athlon XP 2000+ processor. I have tried looking at the AMD website but it tells me I need the code on the procesor. I am reluctant to take it off of the motherboard in case I damage it. Any ideas on temp or where I can get the info without taking apart the computer.

One person I have spoken to says max is 40C and another says AMD can run up to 90C. I set my computer to alarm at 60C and it did just that. It has been running fine since March but decided to alarm yesterday after the computer had been running for 30mins. I have left it on, previous to this alarm, for longer and had no such problem.

Just to confirm the XP 2000+ is running at 1.67Ghz. is this right?

1.67Ghz is correct. As for temps, people have different opinions. I try to aim for below 50C but I have one system chugging along quite happily at 54C.

I'd say as a rough guide, anything over 56C is likely to introduce instability or crashing, in my experience. Best to aim for between 40C & 50C.

If your temp is too high, perhaps consider a better cooler or a case fan or two. Or four

You can download Motherboard Monitor from Here.

It's a freebie and works well on most motherboards. It's perhaps just a touch fiddly to set up, but imo it's worth it. It will show you readings for Temps, CPU speed and voltages, plus others, within Windows.

Athlon CPUs won't burn up unless they reach 90c, but you'll want to run it much cooler than that.

the system temp is about 35C but the CPU continues to be above 50C. It has however not alarmed again.

you have convinced me to purcahse a case fan as the cooler was purchased as a box set with the cpu.

Please answer these questions.

I have just looked on Ebuyer and the only case fans I can see have LEDS. Is this right?

Also people talk about putting a fan at the front to draw air in and one at the back to take it out. Do I have to knock out the plastic slits at the front of the case and mount it on the metal that has holes on it in the inside. ? My case can be found herehere.

Last question:

Where do you power all these fans from- my motherboard has a chasis fan 3pin connector, where does the second fan get powered from, and what about the third, 4th etc?

Thanks

It's best to steer away from fans with Led's mounted in them unless you want a showy display, and to apreciate them, you'll be wanting a clear side panel in your case.

Your motherboard probably has two fan connectors, and I expect one is being used for the cooler fan. You can power one more fan from the motherboard, the others are powered from your main power supply, via the 'Molex' four pin connectors.

If you have no spare four pin connectors left on your PSU, 'splitters' can be obtained for sharing a power connection.

It's therefore obvious you should make sure what connector your fan has when you order it. Three pin connectors with three wires attached to fans usually denote the ability for you to monitor the fan speed in the BIOS and Motherboard Monitor (see above).

If you are able to mount a fan in the front of your case, do so, and have it blowing inwards. It's preferable for the fan to be able to suck air in from the front but if you don't want to disfgure your case by drilling holes in or knocking stuff out, the fan will still have some effect by moving the warm air to the exhaust fan at the rear of the case.

And talking of which, the rear fan should blow outwards. The exhaust fan has more effect on controlling temps than the input fan, so you may want to try a single fan exhausting first.

Also, if your heatsink cooler/fan on your CPU came with a thermal pad, it's well worth taking the cooler off and carefully cleaning off the surface of the cooler and anything left on your CPU core, where it mates.

Then use a good heat sink compound, such as Arctic Silver 3, to make good the connection between your cooler & CPU. Instructions for application come with the Arctic Silver and are also available online. Basically they say 'don't use much and don't spill any'.

Using a good compound can have a very positive effect on lowering temps.

Now then, which fan? Higher output (CFM) = cooler temps but more noise (dba). Lower output = higher temps but low noise. It's one of those things like Ohm's law, you can't have one without the other.

As for makes, Pabst and Panaflo are the best, in my opinion, and I've tried quite a few. The YS-Tech 80mm fan is also a goodie, a nice compromise between performance and noise and comes at a good price, around a fiver.

Here's some links. These places are way better than e-buyer. E-Buyer may be cheap but I've had a few nasty experiences with them.

www.theoverclockingstore.com

www.overclock.co.uk

www.kustompcs.co.uk

www.overclockers.co.uk

www.komplett.co.uk

I can recommend Kustom PC's, very good company and also theoverclockingstore.

P & P for Kustom is £2.00 per order, P & P for toc is free.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, all my machines are running at 100% CPU usage, I'm running a project 'crunching' proteins to try and find a cure for cancer, called the UD project. The machine I have running at 54C idles at 46C. My other two machines run maxxed out at under 50C.

An XP2000 should be able to reach about 90C before blowing up, but normal operation should be around 50C. Setting your cut-off alarm at 60 is too low...if u run a heavy graphics or cpu-intensive application then 60C is not unusual...especially if the temperature in your room is quite high.

the heatsinks/fans that come bundled with cpu's are cheap and will not offer best cooling. Invest in a copper hsf like a Coolermaster heat pipe or a thermalright slk 800 and u should be able to reduce the cpu temp a few degrees more than ur current hsf does.

Case fans only help to keep the ambient temp down - i.e. the general temperature in the room and the case itself. The hotter the ambient temp, the more difficult to get the cpu temp down. One or 2 fans at the front to draw cool air in, and one or two at the rear to draw warm air out are the usual configuration. A twin fan power supply has a second fan blowing down over the cpu and that can help too.

Overall, with that chip and cooler, I would set your alarm at around 70C and just not worry about it unless ur system shows obvious signs of instability.

Hi thanks for the info about the case fans.

I am going to buy one and see how easy it is to fit. AS postage and packing are free I don't have to pay any extra.

You talk about different fan directions. Incoming and outrgoing airflow.

How do you make them do that. Is it:

1. Dependent on how you mount the fan?

2. Dependent on the wiring?

Case fans can easily be mounted is most chassis. Antec, Chieftec and those based around that basic design have plastic fan holders already installed and the fan just clips in. In other cases, there may be screw mounts or clip mounts. Clips are little black plastic stud type thingy's...should be obvious how they fit, but come back if you have any probs.

Direction of airflow is just a matter of making sure the fan is pointed the right way. I think i'm right in saying that the air flows forwards from the front of the fan, and the front is the side that carries the fan maker's logo on the centre. In other words, if you fit the fan at the back of the case to exhaust air outwards, you should be able to see the logo on the fan through the fan guard or slots when you look at the back of the case. Just point the logo in the direction u want the air to flow. I hope that's clear...I often confuse myself.

thanks for the help my order should arrive tomorrow and I have ordered

2 of Panaflo 80mm High Volume Non Tailed
1 of Panaflo Tail 3Pin
2 of [OCS] Self-Tapping Fan Screws (4 Pack)
1 of Panaflo Tail 4Pin

Lets just say I am taking no risks at not having everything.

The prices are relatively cheap considering the damage it is going to possibly avoid.

Anyway I will let you know how it goes.

Accoring to Motherboard monitor (if i have configured the contraption correctly) I am now running at CPU 49-50C and System 30C. It starts up with the CPU in the 30's but even out at 49-50C.

Where can I buy the grease Arctic Silver and how do I go about cleaning the sticky pad off of the CPU and heatsink to try and get this temp down a bit more?