cpu core and cpu surface

[+Erik.+]

I've just build a new pc for a friend with an abit board and an athlon xp 1800 processor.

in the bios are some new things i haven't seen before. It tells me a variety of temperature information, namely the cpu core and the cpu surface.

My problem is, which one should i be worried about? The CPU Core reads at little over 70 degrees while the surface one is around 54. What should i be aiming to hit with these readings? There are no extra fans in his system at the moment, just the heatsink and fan that came in the official box.

With my athlon 1400 cpu in my board, there is only one reading and this can fluctuate from 52 to 65 depending on processor load.

[Herman Munster]

Personally speaking, I'd never trust the cooling of an AMD 1800+ or higher cpu to the fan that comes with the unit. These babies run HOT (they WILL fry in half a second if your fan goes south), and need as good a heatsink/fan as you can afford. Also, good quality thermal paste is important, and there should be a minimum of two case fans for proper air circulation.

I think you're okay now temperature-wise, but to be safe, leave the pc on for the whole day and monitor the temps. If they don't climb any higher by the end of the day, you should be fine (though I'd recommend putting in a case fan right away, and another as soon as possible).


Herm

[This message has been edited by Herman Munster (edited 02-26-2003).]

[knowdoubt]

I'm not all that familiar with Athlons yet (still piecing a system together for myself) so I don't know what your margin of safety is for those readings Erik but I would think the core is the main concern that will fry you. This is one week point yet with Athlons compared to P4's. P4's are virtually impossible to destroy thermally. I would advise an additional fan also. If you really want to test to see if it can keep within a margin of safety you need to max it out 100% CPU load & monitor the temp.

[+Erik.+]

thanks for the info, i will sort it out.

[mc-kk]

i would suggest using a program called "prime 95" and using the torture test, and also a program called speedfan, have the speed fan on telling you the temp of your cpu, then run the torture test in prime 95, the torture test puts load onto your CPU and also checks your RAM, if there is any problem with your CPU or RAM the torture test will stop and tell you that there is a hardware problem, the longer you can leave the torture test running the better, 6 hours would mean its a stable home PC, if you can leave it running for 12 hours then it is stable enough to be a Server PC, whilst running the prime 95 torture test you also keep on eye on the temperature using the program "speedfan", if your cpu goes over 60oC i'd advise to get a new heatsink and fan for the cpu

i run the torture test about once a month to check mine is still stable, and i run it for 12 hours, and even tho my cpu is a 1700+ (1.47ghz) overclocked to a 2000+ (1.65ghz) it doesnt go over 60oC with 100% load on it for 12 hours, under normall pc usage my cpu runs at about 45oC

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[Pretty Pretty Cyanide]

I would say that's well withing the safety margins. Mine are at 94 and 108 I believe. Athlon 1800+. I am just using the fan that came with the processor too. It did overheat once but the ASUS board shut it down with COP. And only cos I left my powercabling inside blocking the cpu fan during one of my many configs :P