what is the opteron 170 core operating temp range?

I'm also a little confused with the temps stated on the AMD site.

My motherboard supports monitoring of 2 temps - CPU and system. The CPU is pretty obvious, and I assume the system temp is the motherboard temp (measured at the hottest point ? - NB chip maybe ?)

My temps at my current OC (2650 GHz @ 1.41V) are:

CPU: 39C idle / 49C full load (both cores)
System: 28C idle / 30C full load

I am not using the stock HSF - decided to invest in a Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower. I don't know how much of a difference this actually makes, but probably no more than a 5C drop.

My case is a CoolerMaster Stacker, with plenty of ventilation, and current ambient temps are around 21C (will be closer to 30C during the summer).

General guidelines when overclocking are to try and keep the CPU temp around 50C max under full load. With your current temps, that would mean you have very little overhead for overclocking.

There are a number of factors that contribute to your system temps:
1. ambient temp
2. airflow in case
3. HSF - quality, fit, thermal grease used

I personally think your current temps are a little high, and would check the following to see if you can improve them:

1. airflow - make sure wiring is well located to allow air to flow from the front to the back of the case
2. HSF - if you used the stock HSF with the thermal pad supplied, then try refitting it with some thermal grease. Most ppl would admit that the thermal pad is not particularly good.

Note also that, over time (some weeks, depending on pc use), the thermal pad may 'bed in' and you may notice a drop in temps as excess thermal material is gradually forced out due to the pressure of the HSF retaining mechanism.

If you were to post your system specs (case, fans, other components), ambient room temps, etc., we could maybe help more.

I thought its a little high but still with the operating range stated by AMD. However most temps reported are 10C lower than what I show. My system shows average 35C. Ambient temps are 21-24C in the room.

My case is a Thermaltake Soprano with 2 x 120mm and 1 side 80m fan so I know I've got plenty of ventilation. Motherboard is MSI K8N Diamond. Now the oem hsf that comes with the Opteron is a 4 heatpipe design and by reports I've seen is very good compared to most 3rd party hsf's.

So maybe its the thermal pad thats partly the cause of these temps but still doesn't explain the slightly higher mb temps. I don't what to do bar getting artic silver5. That's why I wanted to see what other people are getting for temps on standard setup. By the way I started overclocking currently at 2.3Ghz and cpu temp is 49-50C on prime95 for an hour so temps don't go up very much do they.>

Looks like you have a nice case there, so ventilation shouldn't be a problem as you say. The stock hsf with the opterons is nice also, although most ppl overclocking would remove the thermal pad and replace with something like AS5 or another thermal grease. Not sure where you would stand regarding warranty if you were to do this however. As I previously stated, the temps may drop over time as the the hsf beds in.

Are you running 1 or 2 sessions of Prime95 for testing ?

To test stability and temps, you really need to run 2 sessions to fully load both cores. To do this, you need to create 2 folders with the files in and run the .exe from each.

You're right that the temps don't go up that much (certainly compared to other cpu's). I personally wouldn't push the CPU temp higher than 50C during overclock (my main reason for this is that I'm currently in Spain, and the ambient temps will increase in the summer). 55C fully loaded is generally the max recommended I think.

I'm confident you could get more than 2.3GHz out of that cpu if you could get the temps down a bit. For the Opteron 170, 2.7GHz is generally the target on stock hsf, and 2.6GHz should be achievable (all depends on the individual cpu really).

www.amdcompare.com

The chip will work with the stock Opteron heatsink* in a case that is an oven (65 C).

The Opteron temperature guide is for ambient case temperature, not CPU temp.

The CPU could run at 75C safely for extended periods.

* Which is heaps better than the Athlon 64 H/S, and may contribute to overclocks.

I am getting temps with my A8N32-Sli Deluxe idle: 47-50c Load: 50-60c with a Zalman Heatsink, that doesnt seem right to me when everything is running @ stock Volts, FSB, RAM, CPU, NB/SB the works all stock. I dunno thoughts?
I wanted to do some overclocking but with temps like this is it still possible to achive decent boosts without risking frying to CPU?

You have two things working against you: 1) nothing gives accurate temp readings, have to get as low as possible and stable; 2) make sure your hsf/ waterblock is pressed against the cpu with a thin strip (really thin) of thermal grease (recommend Arctic Silver 5, tried Ceramique and found it wanting).

Almost forgot, I don't know the temp for the cpu or the case, but the voltage is 1.3-1.35v. Make sure you don't overvoltage, as this can shoot your temp higher than what it really should be. I put in my 170 and forgot to drop my voltage from 1.5 (FX-53 cpu), sucker was so hot I almost shat myself. :roll: Always test to get the lowest possible working voltage, helps to keep temps down. 8)

PDH-NicFury