well after reading all this it seems i am lucky my cpu (P4 2.8) is idleing at 28C (just barely over clocked) and my system temp is at 34C with two case fans, one in one out.

wow... that's nice and cool ...

What case do you have? Aluminum? Brand?

Too lazy to read this thread again, I may have already posted this but my P4 2.6c (no overclocking) idles at about 34-38C and case is always way hotter at about 40-45C. Case is steel with just one exhaust fan...no clue how/where to mount any intake fans...

my case is just some cheap case i found online. i have no idea what brand it is. im not even sure if its alum or steal. but my cpu cooler is one of those cooler master aero fans (alum.). put an intake on the front or side. the side will help a lot with mobo temps.
for some reason my temps went up. idk why cuz i didnt change anything but now the cpu is at around 32-35 and so is the case. another thing that is strange is when i turn down the cpu fan the temps seem to go down buy a few degrees.

EDIT now its running at 2.99 GHz and it idles at 23C! haha i love it and running UT2004 it gets up to about 36-37 all with the fan at lowest possible setting.

Everyone seems to be obssesed by keeping the computer cool, and yes of course this is a good thing, but the question I would like to know is can a computer run to cold? For example, my mates pc (athlon 64, 1gb memory not sure of the other specs, but I know he uses a water cooler for his processor and graphics card cooling (home built)) ,runs at nothing more than 2 celcius under load and -4c not under load. IS this too cold? Can you have problems running too cold as well as too hot? Would like to hear feedback. Thank you.

Yogi

DAMN that guys comp is like a fridge!! but i don't think u can make a computer too cold, he might have to worry that his water cooler isn't icing up though lol. as long as it's a closed circuit and it's not getting any water what's so ever on any parts it doesn't matter how cold is stays i'll ask my comp tech teacher monday and see what he thinks.

damn. i thought mine was cool. i running music and internet and chatting on msn. my cpu is 38C/100F and my Motherboard is 36C/96F. that seems high compared to your lot...

my cpu is a amd 64 4400+ dual core.
motherboard is an asus a8n sli deluxe

Thanx for the quick reply guys! Yes it certainly is a nice cold PC!! Mine is running at about 55c under load and about 48 not under load. I have an amd sempron 2600+ (socket A) running windows ME with 512mb ram. I thought that 55c would be a little to hot, but readig here I am glad to see that it is an ok working temperature, would like to try and get it down a bit though! Thanx again!!

Yogi

not really.... you would have to get a extreme temps before you would start having problems.

[COLOR=Blue]Well, actually there is such a thing as too low a temperature on a number of levels.[/COLOR]
Too low a temperature in relation to room temperature and humidity will cause condensation (rain) on the cooled surfaces if they get cool enough. Its the same thing you get on the windows of your house in fall / winter .... warm damp air contacts cold window, air cools and drops the excess water onto the window surface. This is not something "GOOD" for the inside of a PC.
Kick the temperature down a notch further, like below 0C and you get frost build up, not as much of a problem until the frost melts and drips on your electronics. I have actually seen this happen to the backside of peltier cooled CPUs in the past.

Worst case scenario is running the CPU below the manufacturers recommended temperature - and I doubt anybody but the most rabid cooler will have this problem. Well those and a few I know who tried keeping their server outside in -40C weather (note: that’s a bad idea unless you generate enough internal heat to keep within the operating specs of all the components)

didn't consider condensation. Where I live it is very dry!

Dry is a relative term ... most building interiors have much higher humidity levels than the general outdoors in a region like Texas ... well except during thunderstorms and hurricanes ... Room humidity levels need to be high enough to prevent static build-up and the desiccation/drying out of materials.

What you do need to know is your rooms dew point if you a planning on extreme cooling levels.

As an example for a relatively dry room at 80'F and 30% humidity the dew point would be about 45'F.

Another way to look at it, at 5'C you will get condensation for normal room temperatures and humidity levels down to almost 25%.

But all this is with extreme cooling systems like Peltiers/chillers.

I personally have successfully used compressed cold dry air in industrial applications ... mind you I haven’t used it in a PC yet

oh - you're correct, it's just that we have more of a problem with heat and static here because it is hot and dry most of the year. We're in the middle of the chuhuahua desert.

(and yes- chuhuahua dogs come from here.)

My case used to run at like 29c CPU and 36c MB but then i put in my AIW 9800 PRO and the cpu went up to 39c and the MB went DOWN to 32c lol

I have a side vent as close to the vidcard area as i could make it w/80 mm fan
another 80mm fan is used for rear exhaust
and all the pci slot covers are open to help the airflow a bit

Sounds like you have an airflow issue .... which is not surprising knowing how close those vid cards are to the CPU and how they block good airflow.

If you have some way to measure the air temperature wit the case closed, then check air temperatures around thos heat sources.

All you may need to do is put in some baffles (clear styrene sheet works great) to redirect the airflow where its needed most.

More likely you need to get cool air dirct to the CPU and the warm air away as quickly as possible.

________________________________________

Back to the Original Question - how cold is too cold?

The specifications on most consumer grade chips is 0'C, industrial is down to like -10 to -15 and Military spec can go as low as -25 to -40 .... then there is the issue with all the other components working / behaving as they should at those low temperatures.

So if you really really want to go [COLOR=Blue]COLD[/COLOR] just stick the whole thing in a mini fridge and keep the air inside as dry as you can

I fixed the problem by purchasing a new case. CPU now idles at 27.8 C and Load temps of 32.5 C. Video card only gets up to about 39 C under load because i added a blower beside it. I now have (in the new case) 2 case fans, a blower and a fan controller. The controller controls the cpu fan, and the case fans. The blower is 4 pin so it doesn't fit.

bring on the btx!

My Vid card (agp) is actually pretty far from the cpu. I just think it was putting too much heat into a (old) mATX Minitower...

It was too small to be adequately cooled

putting ur CPU fan on a fan controller isnt a good idea... but hey. its ur PC

YA you're right. . . i took it off the controller and stuffed it back into the MoBo Plug

I have a Zalman CNPS7700Cu, which actually comes with a fan controller. I keep it at the lowest possible setting and my Athlon 64 X2 3800 stays at about 35 under full load, 22 (actually BELOW the case temperature) when idle. It's 19 in the room that it's in.