Chipset too hot?

[beefjerky911]

Current setup is:

Opty 165 @ ~2.6
DFI NF4 Infinity
BFG 7600 GT
1gig Corsair XMS
74 Raptor

I'm pretty hardcore WoWer, World of Warcraft, so most of the time I run two instances of WoW in windowed mode with all graphics settings turned down. The resolution is set at 1024x768 and my desktop is at 1280x1024. When I run dual WoW it would randomly reboot sometime and I couldn't figure out why. I was running an ATI X1300 and thought my card couldn't handle it so I switched to the 7600 GT. The GT helped speed up things but it would still reboot sometimes. I noticed that when I have iTunes opened blasting music it would almost always reboot, I use the onboard audio and NIC. So I started monitoring the chipset temps with ITE monitor. Temps would get up to 48-50C with 2 windows of WoW and iTunes running. Are my chipset temps normal? And would my temps go down if I disable onboard audio and NIC? I would assume the additional stress of my CPU ocing and the extra data coming in/out would add to temps rising.

 

[mazeroth]

My chipset is usually 52c when I'm gaming with the same motherboard+cpu as you. I have an X1900XT as a video card. I've never experienced a problem like you're having. I have my chipset fan running at ~4200 rpm, which is a good spot for it. Anything above that and the frequency gets too high and it bugs the hell out of me. At 4200 rpm I can barely tell that it's spinning.

 

[Shimmishim]

my chipset runs around 50C's and i get zero crashes

 

[dawza]

In my experience (albeit limited) with overclocking, random crashes during periods of CPU stress can often be traced back to RAM instability. Try backing off on your OC and/or loosening your timings and see if that doesn't help.

I can Prime until next summer, but if my RAM is not happy, I will get a flash of a BSOD followed by an auto reboot during actual computer use. This most often occurs during CPU-intensive tasks (i.e. running dual monitors and gaming on one while watching a movie on the other). I have even had it happen while randomly surfing the internet (weird, but others have had similar issues). Not sure if this is a RAM problem per se, or an issue of the CPU memory controller, but easing the timings has always helped me. If that alone does not help, try running in 2T (if not already). Boosting the RAM voltage within safe limits (as covered by the warranty) would be my third step. If all that does not help, it may be time to lower the HTT (I am assuming you have adequate CPU cooling and a stable PSU).

As others have stated, your chipset temps are well within normal range; I would consider anything under 50C at full load to be excellent, as the NF4 is rated for up to 90C, IIRC.