I need to know what's the highest temp for the AMD Athlon XP 2100+ cpu. Mine is working on 60-65 C and I heard that it's too high.
I can't find the info anywhere.

Well it depends on the motherboard as temperature measuring varies from board to board. Some say that the under the CPU sensor can be 30C out from the actually core internal temperature so I would think >60 is starting to get to dangerous levels.

:( I guess it's time for a new cooling unit. Any recomandations? (I'm a little short on cash at the moment- any "Magical " deals you know?)

Depends on your location in the world whether I know of any deals or not... Check the TechSpot pricegrabber and www.pricewatch.com for US prices.

I think my gigabyte EasyTune4 software for my motherboard defaults to a CPU temperature limit of 60C! So its a good figure to try and stay under for a healthy CPU. Currently my 2100+ @ default speed underload is about 54C, but I'm transferring it to an aluminium case with better airflow to reduce the temps a little.

What airflow do you have in your case? Its generally recommended to have one intake fan and one exhaust although the system I have just now only has an exhaust :eek:

I generally recommend having a look at www.frostytech.com as you can listen to a sound sample of the HSF in action and they have very good test parameters to insure fair comparisons of equipment.

To fry an Athlon, the "official" limit is something like 90*C.

Operable temperature? Seems to vary, but I wouldn't trust anything above 70*C for stability reasons.

Should be moved to Cooling forum...

Anyway, this (http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3652) thread should help. Guy has the same problem. Definitely get a couple $5 case fans, and maybe a better heatsink if you have the money. I presume you're using the stock heatsink? Try a 3g tube of Arctic Silver 3 for $5 as well.

I also have a Athlon XP 2100+ - it runs at about 58 to 62°C - stock hsf - and thermal pad !

I definitely plan to get the cooling improved - better airflow in case, hsf, and Artic Silver III.

But I'm upgrading my video card first, and so I lack money :(

Basically read the above thread. :)

Yeah, money is the problem.

You had better all get yourselves jobs as computer technicians and then you can swap your out of date parts for newer ones when people aren't looking ;)

Thanks all, some good help here. I didn't see teh cooling forum until after I posted but yes Vehementi the forum should be moved there....
I'll work on somethink next week.
Will drilling some holes in my crappy case help? ;) I am REALLY broke. Damn student life.

I wouldn't break out the drill just yet, but you might try a few things with the fan configuration to help airflow. How many case fans do you have? Do you have any extras lying around or could you spare the $ to buy one or two if needed?

I would recommend a fan in front blowing into the case. The PSU fan should blow out. Mount another fan near the PSU(there is probably a template or grille in this area already) it should also blow out. A blowhole in the side panel would also be good(blowing out) Make sure you have good airflow throughout the case. move the cables out of the way as good as you can(or round them)

Oh, one more thing, if the case is near the heating vent in the room, MOVE IT.

I did actually have it near the heating when I just bought it but I turned the heating off!
I think I'll get a case fan cause I don't have one and there seems to be a space for it. The point is that my pc is in my bedroom and I usually have it on during the night so noie is also an issue. But I guess cpu health is a bigger issue, so I'll get a fan.

Im going to use metric for the first time since college so here goes. My processor normally runs at 63C and up to 72C while gaming. Its been that way for a year. Ive never had a crash or any instablilty except for when my northbridge fan failed.

That's probably because you're overclocking, vegas.

May I recommend you a HSF, its a Thermaltake Volcano 7 Cu+ with copper heat sink. It a nice HSF with a switch to control the fan speed. There actually 3 modes, Low, Medium and High. Its a 6800rpm max i think. If you leave the pc on during the night, you would want to lower down the fan speed through the switch, provided if you mod your case to enable the switch accessiblefrom the exterior of the case.

Thanks young&wild, looks like a gret HSF and I think I might get it but I'll have to wait as it's a bit pricey for me at the moment.
StormBringer: I got a case fan and set it to the back right behind the cpu. My temps went down a few degrees but I need more!

How can I add a front fan if my case doesn't have an opening?
I only have some holes on the side panel.

Btw, I DO have a fan that is supposed to be for my cpu, Glacialtech Iglo. how come it's not doing it's job???
Is there any way to control the fan speed? it's running on 3292-3310 rpm.

That's strange, your heatsink is really good, yet it isn't doing that good of a job? :confused:

Did you change the fan on the HSF? This review I'm reading of it states it should be a 70x15mm 5000 RPM fan, not 3300. Perhaps it's a different model.

Got a link or a pic of your case? We could find other places to put the fans. You definitely need more.

And Arctic Silver 3!

Yeah I will get Arctic Sillver! I'll have a pic for tomorrow.
No I didn't change anything on the HSF, It's Iglo 2310 just as I got it.
Maybe I put it on the wrong power source? Even though I don't htink so. Could that be why it runs low?

Nope, checked the GTECH site and it says the the fan speed is
3000 +- 20%.

When mounting a fan to the front: Are there any kind of slits or anything that air can get through, it may not look like holes. Look at the inside front of the case and see if you find either two or four tabs sticking out spaced about the distance that a case fan will fit in it. This would be where to mount the front fan, just mount it blowing into the case.

I have an Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73ghz processor and it runs at about 55C idle, and about 10 degrees higher playing Quake3/Half Life/Battlefield 1942, etc.., but I have a 18" fan pointed to the inside of the case with the side panel off hehe.. I am doing about $900 in upgrades and modifications in the next 3 months though :). I've been having problems but it is apparently with my cheap crappy PSU that came with the case. Case + PSU was $27 + tax. Getting a Xaser II case very soon though, this one is just temporary. Tip: monitor your power supply under motherboard monitor to make sure the power doesnt deviate very far. Mine deviates about 1-2v on 2 different lines. Crappy! argh.

My 2100+ runs usually below 31C idle :haha: I'm running UD now and it's at 38C.

With a 2900RPM HSF.

Quiet cooling at it's best. I have 5 case fans. Chieftec clones are great cases :grinthumb

well I have some bad pics of my case but they could let you know what I'm dealing with here.
http://home.broadpark.no/~tasp/avatars/case.bmp

http://home.broadpark.no/~tasp/avatars/case 001.bmp

http://home.broadpark.no/~tasp/avatars/case 002.bmp

cheap case!!! I know :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Rick
To fry an Athlon, the "official" limit is something like 90*C.

Operable temperature? Seems to vary, but I wouldn't trust anything above 70*C for stability reasons.

:grinthumb Thats it.... I would prefer if AMD got their act together and did some independent internal mechanism like Intel. Also like you say, good airflow in your case (or a good case) will definitely help alot (dropped my CPU temp a good 5-8 degrees C).

Besides geeting a good case plus good HSF, try to arrange and tie up your wires neatly,and remember not to put too much fans as this may disrupt the internal air-flow.

Just wondering, if I cant get Arctic Silver 3. What are other good pastes? Is GlobalWin any good? http://www.globalwin.com.tw/product/gw101.html

Jesus. With all those wires I can see you have a major problem. That is a little extreme.

Coolmaster Thermal Paste PTK-001 might help too.

http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/tim/cmcompound/

Originally posted by acidosmosis
Jesus. With all those wires I can see you have a major problem. That is a little extreme.

REALLY.

It may not be that bad since you don't have any intake fans at the front, but that's really messy. Especially with that mammoth power cable going right across your system board. Terrible cable placement.

Also, I don't like those 2 hard drives stuck together like that. They'll really get hot that way. Definitely get a new case if you can. I'm kind of partial to Chieftec clones, and you can get an Antec Performance whatever 1000AMG at newegg for $75. Great case and a GREAT deal.

Get Arctic Silver if you can! No other thermal paste is comparable. If you can't get AS3, just use the thermal pad that comes with your new HSF - most include them.

I'll rearange the wires as best I can, I just tried to keep the away from the fans, didn't thin kabout airflow in the case as I don't have an intake fan.
I found a store that has AS III so I'm getting it today.
As for the HSF, I'll keep the one I have for now, it's Glacial Tech Iglo 2310. You said earlier that it's a good one.... isn't it?

BTW how does one go about applying the paste. I should only put very little right?. And where exactlly ahould it be applyed (on that small square in the middle of the cpu back?

Only a blob in the middle of the square (CPU core). What I do is cut out some card or paper to sit round the core, then use an old bank/credit/store card to spread the paste evenly over the core.

Here is the mess my PC is in just now (see attachment), but as soon as I get back to Scotland I'm moving it to a new aluminium case, and I plan to maximise the tidiness. Might also get some rounded IDE cables just to make them easier to move out of the way of the board.

Arris, your cables are much neater than a lot of people out there. I have seen more untidy ones before like my old pc before i fix the mess.

Originally posted by Refwhett
Just wondering, if I cant get Arctic Silver 3. What are other good pastes? Is GlobalWin any good?

From Overclockers.com - Thermal Grease - Hitting the wall? (http://www.overclockers.com/articles662/):
With silver at 417 W/m K Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Resistivity would essentially be equal to 0. So the "ultimate" thermal grease, compared to what's now available, will reduce CPU core temps by about 1 C.

I repeat: The "ultimate" thermal grease will reduce CPU core temps by about 1 C.

Originally posted by young&wild
Arris, your cables are much neater than a lot of people out there. I have seen mory untidy ones before like by old pc before i fix the mess.

Thanks ;)

Well in the new case the drives mount at the bottom so that should keep the ide cables out of the way of the motherboard. Then I plan to feed power connectors down the side of the 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 mounting brackets. I'll post pictures once I've tidied it up.

Well, it's done, I've applyed AS 3. I managed not to fry any components (I assume that if something was wrong it would have blown immediatly). What is left to see is what happens to the temps. I'm not sure if I applyed enough or to much. I tried to follow AS# instructions as much as possible but... there can alwas be some mistake. Wait and see....
Thanks for the help everybody. I also saw an Antec case I really liked. Maybe in a month or two.

Originally posted by Refwhett
I'm not sure if I applyed enough or to much. I tried to follow AS# instructions as much as possible but

A tiny drop on the core should be enough.

Get some rounded IDE Cables as well since they will help improve your airflow. You could also remove some of the PCI Slot covers to help improve ventilation.

Th3M1ghtyD8: Good idea with the pci covers.
Young&wild: I did put only a tiny drop nut in the AS site they say to put some on the HS and rub it in, which I did.

so far I rhink there has been a drop of maybe one or two degrees. It's only been 48 hours though so I'm hoping for more.
I also pushed the wires aside as best I could and from looking at the pics I put on the forum it looks much better.

I can't wait to be ablt to affors that new case .... I dream about it at night :p

btw, to all the (rightfully) shocked readers out there that have helped me with this problem I would just like to add (if it wasn't obvious already) that this is the first pc I ever built! so you must excuse any ridiculously stupid things I have done (like those wires). I am learning form every post I read.

Originally posted by Refwhett
I would just like to add (if it wasn't obvious already) that this is the first pc I ever built! so you must excuse any ridiculously stupid things I have done (like those wires). I am learning form every post I read.

We all had to build our first PC at sometime. Most of us will have done similar silly things in the past. And we all learn from others in the TechSpot community. Its the main reason we post here ;)

Use zip ties or electrical tape to bundle wires up to get them out of the way of air flow. Also AMD recommends not adding fans to the front of a case because they don't show any significant drops in temps like rear case fans do. If you have only one spot in the back of your case for a fan you could get 2 of the exact same fans(speed and size) and double them up. Right now I have 4 80mm fans in the back of my case blowing out thru two holes. I also noticed that when I put my fans together like that they actually made less noise than when they were apart. I'll try and post a pic tomorrow of how tidy my case is :D

Originally posted by Supra
Also AMD recommends not adding fans to the front of a case because they don't show any significant drops in temps like rear case fans do. :D

My Front Case fans used to be blowing almost nothing but my Hard Disk Drive until i removed them due to lack of power from the PSU.

Originally posted by Arris
I'll post pictures once I've tidied it up.

Pictures in this thread (http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4349)

;)