Temp problems and IRQ

If your heatsink in installed properly, and the system is stable, then your hardware monitor is probably giving you a high reading. Your cpu should average about 50-55 celcius, when the room temp is 85 degrees or less. You can try a different hardware monitor, or load sisoft sandra, which gives you an incredible aray of readings for your system. The program is free.

The workaround for changing IRQ's (with the advent of ACPI) requires that you turn off this function in the BIOS, reset the IRQ addresses to manual, allow the configuration data to be reset with each change, and to make the address and I/O changes in Safe Mode. For Win9x, anyway.

But ... the only good reason to manually alter IRQ settings is to get rid of conflicts which cause the system to be unstable. No instability = no problems. In other words, use the first rule of computing: If ain't broke, don't fix it.

An inexperienced user "tinkering" with the system settings is the number one reason I have a job fixing them.

As for the heat ...

Software programs that monitor temperatures are notorious for being incorrect, and the mainboard monitors built into the processor socket are nearly as bad. If you want to be certain of the temperature, buy an inexpensive probe with an LCD display, place the LCD into a bay, have an experienced tech install the other end between the chip and the heatsink, and monitor the system while you are at idle, playing games, etc.

You could add some additional fans for cooling, perhaps another intake, and one in the rear, if there is room in the can, and if you have the extra power connectors. Getting the hot air out of the case is the most important thing. You could also replace the processor heat sink and fan with a high-performance model, and use a good silver-based thermal grease.

But ... excessive heat is a another issue that causes system instability ... and if the computer is stable, you don't have a problem.

All in all, it sounds like you are just making sure that your system is alright, and operating within normal standards. And while the temperatures you've posted are excessive, again ... that's probably due to the program, instead of the hardware. If the system was too hot, you'd know it. Lockups, crashes ... weird behavior; that's what you'd be getting, and frequently, too.

It sounds like you are doing fine to me, and I wouldn't change anything except for adding a couple of extra fans, as long as you don't intend to overclock.

Toejam31


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