I think some of you don't realize the thermal differences between the old Athlon XP's and the new Althon 64's
http://www.gen-x-pc.com/cputemps.htm
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An Anthlon XP1600 is designed to work normally at die temperatures up to 90C. While my cool running Athlon 64 3000 can only function at temperatures up to 60C.
So an XP will function normally 30 C hotter then the shutdown temp for a 64.
Furthermore most Socket A motherboar monitor's don't report the one die temperature, they report the external temperature.
So when the CPU was 85 C on die the CPU (external) CPU reading reported by the Soyo Hardware monitor was only 53C. I have to use 3rd party motherboard monitor or enter the CMOS setup to see the on die CPU temp.
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Expensive upgrades (25-40 heatsinks) are not an option, that money is earmarked for a new build once the motherboard kicks the bucket. That decision was made when I repaired the system by putting in a used motherboard.
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With the appartment at about 34-36C and the CPU running prime 95.
CASE OPEN board temp 36 C CPU 83C.
CASE CLOSED board temp 39 C CPU 85C.
Switching from a 2500 RPM to 7000 RPM reduced the CPU temp to 81.
The case has one 80mm exhaust in the back and one 80mm intake in the front. There is a dust filter in the front but it only affects internal temps when clogged.
Both case fans are silent fans.
Since with the 7000 RPM HS Fan I can keep the system stable at full load with a 35.5 C air temp I am guessing it won't have any problems durring typical office use. I will just have to make sure someone (me) dusts it once a month all summer.
Anyway she just decided today that even though her PC can now handle a 96 F office, she cannot and is going to put in an AC unit (her house is real old (1813-1840) and so only has air on the first floor, heh)
So the only thing I am considering now is whether I need to reapply the thermal paste.
If it overheats before they buy AC I am going to tell them to take off the side of the case and point a 12" fan at the PC until it cools off.
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I still haven't tested to see if the 2nd PC in my appartment which runs 24x7 was off due to heat or whether there was a power outage.
Its a XP2400 and is currently dead silent. I use it for P2P, FTP, file and printer sharing and DivX encoding so it runs at 100% sometimes for 48 hours straight.
If its overheating I think I will invest in some noisy fans which I can swap out in the fall when the weather cools. Maybe some additional Zalman products if the noiser "summer" fans bother me.
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