What is a "safe" comp temp

KingWaddleDee

Distinguished
Sep 3, 2006
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My comp is in the process of being built, and I am wondering if the fans will be enough.

I have:

Enermax 460W PSU
Core 2 Duo E6300
GeForce 7900GT
Corsair 2x 512mb RAM
Seagate 250gb HD

We tried to find the artic cooler 7 pro in compusa but they didn't have it, so for now just for the sake of getting the comp built we're gona use all the stock HS/Fans.

I'm not going to overclock yet because that would be stupid without an extra cooling mechanism, but should it be fine with just the stock stuff? Here is the case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811145065

I know it's not the best case, we've already had to superglue a crack in the top left corner that it came in, but it should serve me fine because I'm not the type who takes stuff to lan parties or really goes to lan parties, it's a stay at home comp. Does anyone know how the airflow is in this one without any extra fans other than the ones on the GPU/CPU/PSU?

Oh and can someone link me a program that shows core temps? I don't know how you see the exact degrees your comp is at. THANKU :O
 

sailer

Splendid
Oh and can someone link me a program that shows core temps? I don't know how you see the exact degrees your comp is at. THANKU :O

Do a search for Speedfan, then download and install it. It will tell the core temp and a few other temps as well.
 

sailer

Splendid
Hey Jack, while you're here, I've got a couple questions for you.

I've got an AMD FX60 in an ASUS mobo and a couple gig of Corsair ram, as per my sig. Every time I approach 3000 mhz, troubles appear. I was running 225 by a 13 multipier for 2925 mhz fairly stable, but anything much faster would fail Prime95. The temps stay about 50c under load, so I don't think that's a problem. I have the cpu at 1.45v and the ram at 2.75v.

Noticing the ram was always running at 333 mhz instead of the rated 400-432, I tried a different tact by raising the multiplier to 14 and lowering the bus speed to 210, then tried to increase the speed one number at a time. This kept the ram at full speed while giving a higher cpu clock speed. I've gotten the cpu speed to 2982 and it runs, but I still get Prime95 failure. In fact, I downloaded the latest Prime95, v24.14, and it fails almost instantly. It gives a mesage saying that there was a fatal error, rounding was .5, expected less than .4.

I ran Check it diagnostics and that says the cpu, motherboard and video card are all good, but the ram fails. Memtest also indicates ram failure. I did have Corsair PC3500 Pro ram and complained to the company. They did an exchange, but said they no longer make the PC3500 Pro, but sent me PC3200 Pro as a replacement. The new ram fails the same as the old.

So much for the explanation and what I've done so far. The questions:

Has something happened so that Corsair ram is not reliable anymore, and if so, what other ram company do you know of that's good and would work in my mobo?

Also, do you have any suggestions for different timings on the cpu or voltages that might help? I think I should be able to get up to arond 3100-3200 mhz with the FX60, but its stuck for the moment at about 2925 to be stabile. Thanks in advance
 

RyanMicah

Distinguished
Oct 13, 2006
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My comp is in the process of being built, and I am wondering if the fans will be enough.

I have:

Enermax 460W PSU
Core 2 Duo E6300
GeForce 7900GT
Corsair 2x 512mb RAM
Seagate 250gb HD

We tried to find the artic cooler 7 pro in compusa but they didn't have it, so for now just for the sake of getting the comp built we're gona use all the stock HS/Fans.

I'm not going to overclock yet because that would be stupid without an extra cooling mechanism, but should it be fine with just the stock stuff? Here is the case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811145065

I know it's not the best case, we've already had to superglue a crack in the top left corner that it came in, but it should serve me fine because I'm not the type who takes stuff to lan parties or really goes to lan parties, it's a stay at home comp. Does anyone know how the airflow is in this one without any extra fans other than the ones on the GPU/CPU/PSU?

Oh and can someone link me a program that shows core temps? I don't know how you see the exact degrees your comp is at. THANKU :O

Couldn't you just use pricegrabber or froogle to find the cooler you want? I've read several places that the E6300/6400's OC pretty well with stock heatsink/fans.
 

Mobius

Distinguished
Jul 8, 2002
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18,780
Because you quoted the word safe, you are actually asking for a temperature which is NOT safe. That does not make sense.

DON'T USE QUOTES UNLESS IT IS SPEECH - OR UNLESS YOU WISH TO IMPLY THE OPPOSITE MEANING TO THE ONE STATED.
 

halcyon

Splendid
You're probably right. The question is what is the right amount of paste. The AS website gives different instructions based on intel vs. amd, single core vs. dual-core. ...and unless the Pent D dualcores have the same physical layout as the Core 2's then their website's in need of some updating. Again, what is the right amount of paste?

A paper thin layer across the whole CPU? ....or a thin stripe or dot only over the core itself (As Artic Silver suggests).

I don't really see any big difference in performance between pastes but their may be a notable difference in longevity. ...but I don't keep a CPU long enough for that to be a factor, I imagine.

I'm thinking case airflow is way more important than what kind of thermal snot is used.
 

sailer

Splendid
Again, what is the right amount of paste?

A paper thin layer across the whole CPU? ....or a thin stripe or dot only over the core itself (As Artic Silver suggests).

I don't really see any big difference in performance between pastes but their may be a notable difference in longevity. ...but I don't keep a CPU long enough for that to be a factor, I imagine.

I'm thinking case airflow is way more important than what kind of thermal snot is used.

I do the paste thing this way. I put a line of paste on the cpu about the size of a grain of rice. Then I smear it over the rest of the cpu so that the whole thing has a layer of paste over it. I reaply the paste every time I remove the heatsink from the cpu, after giving the cpu a good cleaning with some alchohol to get the old stuff off.

I have found differences in pastes and Artic Silver has done a good job at reducing temps 2-5c over the stuff that comes on cpus from the factory, unless the factory actually used artic silver in the first place. That hasn't happened in my experience yet. I did try the paste that came from Zalman once, but it didn't do as well as Artic Silver.

I agree that case airflow is important, but no matter how good the airflow is, if the paste on the cpu doesn't do a good job, the cpu will overheat, especially if you're overclocking.
 

halcyon

Splendid
Thanks for the input. I've tried using just a little dot (on my FX-55 and A64 3200+) and that's worked well. With my Xeon 3060 I've used a dot, not been satisfied with temps, and then used a thin stripe as Artic Silver instructs here: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf

Either I'm still doing not quite right because I'm a not too swift or my ambient room temperature and case airflow are really hurting me. My core temps idle @ ~40-43C and with an Orthos or TAT load rocket to 60-65C using an Artic Freezer Pro 7. I can get them down a hair to 58-60C using a Tuniq Tower. (The Tuniq Tower doesn't fit well on my Extreme Striker so its not in use). The room this rig is in does not have good circulation and after several hours the PC, noticably, heats the room up...meaning the air the PC is breathing is also warmer...and temps rise accordingly...a vicious circle.

My chassis/case? An expensive beast ( http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/mozart_tx/MozartTX.htm ) that doesn't cool as advertised unless you use 10 jet-engine sounding 120mm fans. I cut these back to 5X 800rpm Scythe S-Flex and good cooling just isn't happening. I'd probably would have had better cooling with a Cooler Master Centurion 5...or something else with a nice side vent. However, going in I knew I'd have 5 hard drives and a warm video card so I thought the case I chose would do nicely. I was wrong there. So perhaps I'll waste some more $$ and get a cheaper case with better cooling and a nice silent-quiet, yet more effective cooler...Zalman 9700?

...all that length to say this...in my case I think its the air circulation that's hurting me, not my application of Artic Silver. 60-65C under load may not be dangerous but its not comfortable for the enthusiast in me either.
 

halcyon

Splendid
Don't feel bad, I've had some bad luck with seating my Artic Freezer Pro 7.... When I was first building that rig (I have 3 and that one is sleeping right now) I was working in the cast and slightly bumped the cooler...only slightly...and d@mned thing just about fell off and hit the bottom of the case! I was just hanging there. I just stood there in noob-shocked terror with this dumb-@$$ look on my face. Its funny now, but it wasn't funny then....32 minutes later I had a Zalman 9500.

Those intel-type twist mounts take some true care and attention to install. More than I think a cooler should...its too easy to screw up, even if one's read the instructions. ...and at the time I didn't realize it was likely my case that was killing me and blamed the Zalman and took it back. Dumb@$$ that I can be when I get impatient. ...got a Tuniq Tower, which is now too big for my new Extreme Striker so this morning I decided I needed a new cooler and a case with better airflow. ...even though I was a little more when installing my Artice Freezer this time and believe I installed it it right. I just don't think that even correctly installed there's quite enough pressure from the HSF to the CPU. Therefore, I like the screw-down mounts.

...just my experience.

Today I treated myself to a mid-January good-behavior NewEgg splurge...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835188003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835188003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068

$160 after rebate...only $10 over budget and it should keep things quiet and cool enough for a mild 15-20% OC.

Forgive the length, but that's the "As Brad's Computers Turns" episode for today. Don't begrudge an old man his post.