CPU target temps and software

[archcommus]

Right now I'm running an A64 3200+ with the stock HSF and it's currently at 36 C idle. Is that pretty good? What's your own personal target temperature? What's the max you're okay with at idle/load? Also, what monitoring software do you use?

 

[richardrds]

That sounds about right. I have a A64 3000+ winchester core that i have OCed to 2.4Ghz. With my ambiant room temp at 70*F my CPU idles between 33-35*C, and 100% load about 51-53*C, using the stock HSF.

I use the Abit EQ Utility software that came with my mobo to monitor the temps and CPU fan speed.

My case has good air flow with 3 case fans. One case fan blows ouside air onto the cpu/hsf, and it has a rear and top exhust fan, in addition to the CPU/HSF, PS, and GPU fans.

As long as your load temps are under 57*F you should be fine, any higher then that and i would think about going with a better HSF.

 

[openwheelformula1]

that sounds about right on the stock heatsink. I upgraded to XP-90 and panaflo and it dropped at least 5 degree too.

 

[archcommus]

I'm using SpeedFan, recommend anything else?

 

[jazzboy]

Originally posted by: richardrds
As long as your load temps are under 57*F you should be fine

That could be a little tricky

I'm using SpeedFan, recommend anything else?

Speedfan is good, there's also motherboard manager - lots of monitoring features but the interface is a bit messy. Everest home edition is good - a couple of months ago they stoped making it free so you may have to do a bit of searching for it (if you still want it for free).

 

[kb3edk]

Temps for my computer farm...

All computers run at 100% load 24/7, running the SIMAP distributed computing project for TeAm Anandtech. Ambient temperature in my apartment is 72. All monitoring done with Everest Home Edition except my laptop, which is done with MBM.

A64 X2 4400+ Toledo, OCed @ 2.42 GHz, water cooled (Koolance): 46C
A64 X2 3800+ Manchester, OCed @ 2.4 GHz, air cooled (Zalman 7000 CuAl): 53C
A64 3000+ Winchester, OCed @ 2.25 GHz, air cooled (4 heatpipe stock AMD cooler from my Toledo): 36C
AXP 2800+ Barton, stock 2.08 GHz, air cooled (Zalman 7000 CuAl): 53C
P4-M Northwood laptop, stock 2.2 GHz, 79C

 

[archcommus]

What are you happy with idle?

 

[kb3edk]

OK, I just let my PCs idle for 15 minutes, here are the temps:

Toledo: 43C
Manchester: 51C
Winchester: 29C
Barton: 45C
Northwood: 48C

Looks like I'm getting some real nice results with the AMD stock 4-heatpipe cooler on my Winnie. Maybe I should try it out on my Manchester and see if it works better than that Zalman...

 

[archcommus]

Bump for software suggestions, preferably free.

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Bump for software suggestions, preferably free.

If you want lower Idle temps make sure you enable cool & quiet.

it's free,just grab the cpu driver from AMD's website then go to power options in control panel & select minimal power management.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Budman

Originally posted by: archcommus
Bump for software suggestions, preferably free.

If you want lower Idle temps make sure you enable cool & quiet.

it's free,just grab the cpu driver from AMD's website then go to power options in control panel & select minimal power management.

Hmm...

I have SmartFan enabled on my Epox motherboard, which adjusts the fan speeds automatically to shoot for a certain target temperature, which I set to 45 C. So when it's idle and very cool, the fans spin slower, and it still doesn't reach even 40 C. But when I game or whatever it increases it enough to keep it from going much over 45. What would Cool 'n Quiet do in addition to that?

 

[archcommus]

I gave it a try and it's not working. Grabbed driver version 1.2.2. installed, set to minimal power management, rebooted, still reports 2 GHz.

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: archcommus
I gave it a try and it's not working. Grabbed driver version 1.2.2. installed, set to minimal power management, rebooted, still reports 2 GHz.

Is cool & quiet enabled in your bios???

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Budman

Originally posted by: archcommus
I gave it a try and it's not working. Grabbed driver version 1.2.2. installed, set to minimal power management, rebooted, still reports 2 GHz.

Is cool & quiet enabled in your bios???

Only options are Auto and Disabled, and it's set to Auto.

 

[BlueWeasel]

If AMD's CnQ driver isn't working for you, then you might try RMclock or CrystalCPUID. They both have the ability to change multipliers and voltages on the fly the same way that the AMD CnQ driver does.

 

[archcommus]

But would that require running the software 24/7?

Wonder if this commonly DOES work on Epox 9NPA+ Ultra boards.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: archcommus
But would that require running the software 24/7?

Wonder if this commonly DOES work on Epox 9NPA+ Ultra boards.

Yes, it would, but neither RMclock or CrystalCPUID take up much resources. On my Epox 8KDA3I (754), CnQ is enabled by default and I have no option to control it in the BIOS. Have you tried updating to the latest BIOS for the 9NPA+?

 

[archcommus]

No I haven't, but I don't believe I'm going to for something like this. At least the board's SmartFan feature works pretty well.