Hi, I've got a network computer constantly being a pain in the arse per usual. I do reckon it's overheating(contains 2 fans only(pwr/cpu)), because it does get very warm and then starts rebooting itself, repeatedly, with a horrid clicking noise. When it boots up it reaches around 40~45C. After about 5 mins of it being on it shoots up to 61C and stays at that heat. The owner of the computer seems to think it's perfetly normal to reach this temperature and also thinks it should be able to reach a whopping 90C, which... before you reply, yeh, I know, she's crazy. So the question is, is this a normal/safe computer temperature? Or is it too high like I think it is? ~Thanks~ Drayline.

Athlon XP can run up to 85C Atlhon Thunderbird can run up to 90C It depends on the processor and on the measuring method... For AMD, generally you get a 10% margin for securit and is not good to reach temperatures above 77 to 80C in hardware monitoring programs, at full load! If you own a Athlon Thunderbird, it is most likelly to reach 61C at low use, 59 at Idle and so on... You will reach up to 80C with a good cooler, on hot days at full load. See the website of the manufacturer for more help! The "horrid clicking noise" may be the indicator of the real problem, since I never heard something like that during boot! Clicks? Not bips? May you have a defective power supply? Be more specific and identify your processor and machine features like motherboard and PSU, please!

I agree with a lot of what arcanjohome says but I think a 61C idle temp is pretty high if this is an Athlon or AthlonXP. Under load, you may be in the 70C+ range. I've run a Thunderbird at 82C accidently and didn't hurt it but it was pretty unstable. That clicking may be the HDD or PSU.

Well, tis niether of those MotherBoards. It's a "Asus" or something. Under load it will stay around 61C. Mainly wondering because I was once told 65C was dangerous for a computer under load. Kinda trying to confirm the rumor. It had a problem yesterday whilst I was at college, where at like 10am the temperature logs just died. There's nothing listed on there until 1pm when I came home and rebooted it properly. The owner of the system I think is thinking that it would be perfectly fine for a computer to reach those temperatures of 90C whilst under load or idle or even on full load, but it isn't the best computer would more suit the use of a child or computer illiterate. If you get what I mean.

No matter what temps you are running,, If EVER in doubt about overheating.. do the following.. Unplug computer, Open case.. Use a can on "NON STATIC" compressed air and blow out the Heatsink on top of the processor. Also Blow out the fans areas of the powersupply and the intake/outake of the computer case. Dont use a vacuum to clean. Vacuums have a ton of static in them and you risk shorting out your computer. You may find the Compressed air didn't clean out the heatsink.. This is usally happens when the dust is gunky, Most likey a smokers house. Remove the heatsink and all fans and blow or brush them out. You should now see a drop in temps. ------ Get FireFox You'll be happy you did.

OH,, Also make sure the cooling fans are turning at the proper speed. ------ Get FireFox You'll be happy you did.

"Mainly wondering because I was once told 65C was dangerous for a computer under load. Kinda trying to confirm the rumor" We really need to know what CPU you have. Is it an AMD? If so, is it a Duron, Athlon, AthlonXP, Sempron? Or is it an Intel - Celeron, Pentium 2, P3 or P4? Each CPU has different temp characteristics...what's normal for one isn't necessarily normal for another. 65C under load is not dangerous for ANY of the CPUs listed, but depending on which CPU you have, it may indicate inadeqate cooling. Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit Gamer Edition WinME/WinXP Pro