What should be the average Min./ Max Temp.of the above. Mine is now running at 50c to 60c after some good advice from this forum' George Poulson

If the 50C temp reading is at idle, it's fairly high. A very general (& unofficial) rule of thumb is that the system temp should be within 10C of the avg room temp & the CPU temp (@ idle) should be within 10C of the system temp. For example: avg room temp = 22C (72F) system temp = 32C or lower CPU @ idle = 42C or lower If you check this old thread of mine, I overclocked a Sempron 2500+ from 1.75GHz to 2.1GHz. I had to jack up the CPU voltage to 1.80v but the temp @ idle was a cool 32C...& that was with the stock HSF w/thermal pad. http://www.computing.net/answers/cp... Where are you getting your temp readings from - software or the BIOS? The BIOS *should* be more accurate. Do you know which BIOS version you're running? If you're still running the original (version F1), there have been numerous updates since then, one of them being an adjustment to the "CPU temperature monitoring tolerence". If you are running an early BIOS version, I suggest you update to version F11. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/... "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

Hi jam, temp. from BIOS and PC Wizard are about the same. I thought from my previous POST and your kind reply that I had solved the problem by putting a much thinner layer of paste on the CPU resulting in a drop of 10c. I have just put the side panel back on the case and the idle temp.has gone upto 55c so it would seem that i still have a problem. But not as bad as before. Have BIOS ver. F11 which i think is the last ver.they've done Many thanks for your help. George Poulson

What's the system/motherboard temp? "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

jam, have now removed the case side panel to get the CPU back down to 50c ish. System temp. via the BIOS is 36c Room temp. at the time was 18c. If I fit a case ex. fan i'm still only down to 50c ish so I suppose that will creep up a bit. Hardly any choice for Socket A CPU coolers! Now got the bloody central heating on and it's only mid September. George

Let's go over some basic case cooling. As you see; the cooler the case, the cooler the processor. Inlet air probably gets into the case through a not very big slot at the bottom front of the case. Call it a vacuum cleaner case. So, insure you don't set the case on a carpeted floor and seal off that little slot. Fans: Place one under the power supply to exhaust warm air and help air flow from front to rear. If you have a side panel fan, lose it. Side panel fans generally do two things; disrupt airflow through the case and give a false indication of actual cpu/motherboard temps by blowing cooler air directly on a sensor. Use good fans. It's been said (by johnoh) that of cheap, cool, and quiet; you can have any two of the three. Naturally, the two you would like are cool and quiet. You've come a long way with one change but you won't see large changes again unless a BIOS update helps. You're now looking for small changes in the right direction. Skip

36C system temp is a bit high. If you can bring that down, the CPU temp will follow. AMD recommends a rear exhaust fan, nothing else. Side panel fans are disruptive & front intake fans have shown to be of little benefit. Have a look at the AMD Builder's Guide: http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/con... You didn't state which HSF you're using, but I had very good luck with inexpensive Cooler Master units. "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction