First things first, i do understand you guys probably get this question a zillion times, so sorry if i'm repeating the same question.

I have 3 questions that i hope someone can answer:

1. I have an Athlon XP 2 GHZ (1667 MHZ). During normal operations (like surfing) the temp is between 57.5C! However whenever i play a game that shoots all the way up to 61.5-63C. Is this normal? Because i keep hearing from everyone a system should not reach higher then 60C.

2. I am able to play ALL games very smoothly without any problems. However there is this one game that seems to have problems running on my machine. And the funny thing is is that i don't lose frames! Its just the game slowing down a lot. Slow down so much that you can actually see the characters animation frame by frame. I have never seen this before. Is this overheating issue or a video card issue (I have a GeForce 2 GTS)

3. Final question: Perhaps i'm being parnoid about my barebones, but i just wanna make sure. My system is not to old (about 2 months old) but i 'hear' the noise to the cpu fan tend to die out high and low, (kinda hard to explain) meaning the noise gets lower then higher. Sometimes REALLY lower then really high. I have Hmonitor installed on my system and the highest RPM for the cpu fan was at 4821 and lowest RPM is 4500. Is it normal for a cpu fan to drop that low?

thx in advance.

I forgot to mention this:

Details for question 1:

I have 2 fans blowing out air, and no fans blowing in air.

Case Temps are 38C

your case should have the fan in the front
blowing in and the one in the back
blowing out

Yea, your case temp is a bit high...probably because of your fan setup. If you reverse that front fan as suggested by 666, your case temp will probably drop & your CPU temp should follow.

Although the temps you're getting are nothing to worry about (high side of normal), it wouldn't hurt to bring em down a bit.

Jam: Could you or anyone tell me what temperture threshold i should start worrying? a lot of people have different opinions about this. One person says 70-75, and another person goes as high as 80-90!? Could someone clear this up? thx in advance.

I start worrying if I see temps higher then 50. people say its fine until 65. Anything higher then 50 I consider a problem

This MOBO you have wouldn't happen to be an ECS K7S5A?
I had one that would create this effect of fan's draging down. And it ran really Hot no matter how many fans to cool it.
I've been building comps for years but lately alot of the new Mobo manufacturers have been putting out crap.
Oh Yeah the ECS finally died taking the CPU with it.

It's hard to say what is "normal". AMD is no help...they provide a max safe temp which is 90/95C depending on the CPU. But they basically state that normal CPU operating temps are as individual as the systems they're installed in. Personally, I'd say you don't wanna see temps higher than 70C. You need a bit of a buffer due to discrepancies in temp sensors. Obviously, the cooler, the better. It seems that most people that post on here have temps between 40-60C. I just checked my temp (Duron 1.2ghz o/c'd to 1.32)...I'm at 45C & room temp is approx 23C.

Was this unit pre-assembled or did you do it yourself? There should be thermal compound (aka grease or paste) between the CPU core & heatsink...it makes the thermal transfer more efficient.

Have a look at this...maybe it'll make ya feel better:

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/maxtemp.htm

And I'd be interested in hearing how much your temps change after changing that front fan.

Good luck!

from my experiences, I've never encounter any heating problems with my cpu. I have the heatsink that came from the factory and my cpu temp XP1700 temp is between 60-72C. My computer is fine, fast and reliable, plays dvd, games and surf internet. I have learned to not follow what most people say on this board because they are just crazy with adding 10 cooling fans along with a 7000rpm fan on the cpu.

It's a shame that there's so much disinformation in this forum regarding CPU temps. No matter how many times it's said & no matter how many times reputable websites are posted, there's still those that think it's time to panic when your temp hits 50C. And for whatever reason, people tend to believe those posts rather than the reputable ones.

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TRM said:
This MOBO you have wouldn't happen to be an ECS K7S5A?
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Don't think so, its a ASUS A7V33. If that didn't answer your question, i'm sorry... Im unfamilar in what your trying to say, i'm a newbie in this kind of area. sorry. :(

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Jam said:

Was this unit pre-assembled or did you do it yourself? There should be thermal compound (aka grease or paste) between the CPU core & heatsink...it makes the thermal transfer more efficient.
--------------------------

It came with the MB and Case, that is all. I had to do the rest myself. For the processor i used Artic Silver. Since this was my first time, i was extremely nervous on how much i should put on. I kept hearing thinner is better, so i tried to make it as thin as possible. The HSF im using now is a Cooler Master. I'll update you as soon as i see a difference in cpu temp when i get myself a front fan.

By the way, thank you for the site. It really was helpful.

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Chris said:

from my experiences, I've never encounter any heating problems with my cpu. I have the heatsink that came from the factory and my cpu temp XP1700 temp is between 60-72C. My computer is fine, fast and reliable, plays dvd, games and surf internet.
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Hey Chris, mind if i ask what is your motherboards temp?

Thx everyone for the help! :)

See, I haven't check my temps in ages but the last I remember it was in the lower 50's not quite sure though. Will take a look tonight.. But my motherboard I think will shut the computer down if the CPU gets too hot. ASUSA7v333

Jam: I got myself another fan for the front. However there doesn't seem to be much of a difference. I only notice 1C difference... better then nothing. I do also have to mention that my room is hot. Its the hottest room in the house! Dont know why, its really annoying. And my case is rather a mess, cables all over the place. I'll get around to fixing that.

For a fact Tommy: temp greater than the range of 50-60C is not good for your system. Get a heat sink with a better structure. It will dissipate heat better.
Hey Chris: fans of 7k rpm? Never heard of them.

ok, i've got another problem on my hand and i'm hoping someone can help. At random times when i shutdown my comp (start/shutdown) the Power Supply and CPU Fan are still running while the message prompt saying to shutdown your comp is still there. The Power button on the front doesn't even work and i'm always forced to go to the BACK and power it down through the ATX. It doesn't happen all the time. But at random times it does. Is this a bad sign of things to come? I'm not even sure if this is a power supply issue or mobo issue. Or even perhaps a Windows issue? I sure hope so! Can someone plz gimme some help on this one?

Has this happened to anyone else?