Hi- Straight off: HP OEM a810n AMD Athlon 64 3300+ (no OC) 512MB Samsung RAM stock heatsink/fan Everest states my idle temps around 52-54C, and full-load can get up to 70C. Stock heatsink fan always runs from 2400~2900RPM (which im assuming is roughly its max), and just can't keep up (right now just ran up to 2900 while idle, and is audible). I've been looking at the Zalmon copper flowers, which got great reviews at newegg, but I'm wondering if it's max RPM (2600) might be too low? Obviously it's way better material/quality than my current one, but factoring that in, would I still be okay? or should I go for a heatsink/fan with a higher RPM range? Thanks for your help.

Before "wasting" your money on an expensive heatsink/fan, you should try to confirm your temp readings. Unscrew your side panel so that it can be remove quickliy, then get your CPU up to it's max temp under load. Once you've reached 70C, shutdown, remove the side panel, & carefully touch the heatsink. If it feels very warm/hot, the temp reading is probably correct...if not, you have a temp reporting problem. Also, I believe the a810n is a minitower? Does it have any case cooling fans? You should have at least one intake fan on the front & one exhaust fan in the rear to purge the inside of case of warm air. You can't air-cool a CPU very well if the case air is in the 40s. Does Everest report a system temp? Have you tried any other software to confirm what everst is reporting? ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

Well, because it's an OEM Asus mobo, it's pretty stripped down as far as sensors go. I've tried several programs (hMonitor, AMD's dashboard temp monitor...) and none have acknowledged any sensors. Everest is the only program so far that acknowledges the BIOS measurements-basically just reflects them. But until Everest I wasn't sure of the idle temp, since the OS allows for idle and thus CPU runs full-on while in BIOS. The temps in BIOS are same range of temps while under full load in WinXP(2-3pts less usually). I always knew the thing was running hot-just a matter of alarmingly so or not. The thing literally heats up my room, and whenever someone comes in they immediately remark about the temp difference. You can _feel_ the hot air coming out the back of it. I usually leave it off while I'm not using it because of this. It is out in the open, just under my desk-not lodged into some tower cabinet. The case: microtower, with one rear exhaust chassis fan, and of course the heatsink fan. The only way I could get a front intake would be to jerry rig something up; there's no mount, and the front of the case is solid with no vents. I bought this thing because it was so economical, and would rather avoid cost/time of transfering the whole setup to another case. So would u say a higher quality heatsink w/higher RPM fan be useless? Maybe a more powerful rear exhaust fan to take out the hot air more effectivly? Or am I stuck mounting this into another case...

If the problem is poor/inadequate case cooling, buying a new HSF isn't gonna help much, if at all. Have you tried running with the side panel temporarily removed to see how that affects the CPU temp? If not, give it a go...if your CPU temp drops a fair amount with the panel off, you'll have to come up with a scheme to get some more air into the case. Adding another exhaust fan *may* help, but you really need an intake fan to "feed" it. ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

alright, took of the sidepanel and that seems to have done the trick-temps down to normal. but should I be in fear that my cpu is at all damaged from the time it has been running hot? how could i tell if im suffering any kind of performance penalty? If i am even in the slightest, i'd like to find out, as the thing is still under warranty. Thanks.