Can anyone please advise a safe CPU temperature to aim for if one suspects overheating is causing FS2002 to lockup or sometime to make the system spontaneously reboot.At present temps are, At idle 57c / 134f, FS2002 running, 63c / 145f.That's with side covers removed from the case.The Ge Force is running at a temp of around 65c with FS running.Thanks fellas,Clive(Ausie) Marriott.AMD 2000+512 ramGeForce 3 ti500 Sound Blaster 5.1Win 98se

Your too hot....You should be under 55c under full load. Alot of other people may say that you should be under 50c under full load, but I find that keeping it under 55c while under full load will still provide good results.May I suggest getting a larger heatsink fan for your CPU and make sure you use a good silver thermal compound when you mount it to your CPU. Artic Silver II or III.http://www.articsilver.com/arctic_silver_compounds.htm[br][br][div align=center][br][link:members.cox.net/fstimes/wetimage.html]Click Here For Weather Image of the Day!

That's what I thought. Thanks for the advice.Ausie.

My XP1900+ is right now running at 57c and thats after about two hours of playing GTA3. To me thats too hot. But it is the summertime. I know that once it got to 59c and it shutdown my game and restarted the computer. Cooler is always better.When it gets hot and humid I will open my case door and us a $10 table top fan to blow more air into the system...it's such a shame that 4 case fans, one PS fan, one CPU fan, one motherboard CPU fan, one GPU fan (8 fans total) is not enough. :(

Hi Josh,I found that the case has much to do with the temperature. I have two virtually identical computers, one in a mid-sized tower (Enermax) and one in a full sized server case (Antec). The CPU in the Antec runs about 5C cooler under load, even though it has fewer case fans (both CPUs are cooled by a Volcano 7+ copper HS).

>Hi Josh, >>I found that the case has much to do with the temperature. I >have two virtually identical computers, one in a mid-sized >tower (Enermax) and one in a full sized server case (Antec). >The CPU in the Antec runs about 5C cooler under load, even >though it has fewer case fans (both CPUs are cooled by a >Volcano 7+ copper HS). Funny you say that...my case is the Antec 1040B :) I just have a hot room, its small, and closed in, and my 19" Sony screen doesn't help with heat either.

Thanks Guys, great feedback.I have just put the covers back onto the case and here's what the temps read. Idle 67c/ 152f, FS2002 running 73c / 163f.Now bases on the earlier posts that IS way to hot. Is it enought to make the system spontaneously reboot? Which it has done at times.Ausie.

Was that 67 CELCIUS?!!!LOLand i was worried that 41C was too hot i THINK the temperature might cause the system to reboot. Did you overclock it or anything like that?

It's really all relative...I have an Athlon 1.2ghz (no overclocking here) and at idle mine runs about 52C (Asus Probe reported, which takes it directly from the CMOS), and during the winter, when my ambient room temp is lower, I've seen idle temps of about 46C.It's really quite funny...I've had people tell me 130F is too hot (about 55C), then other people I know run rock solid systems running near 70C at idle. I build systems, and know I would never install a processor/fan combo that wasn't manufacturer recommended (not saying any of yours are).The Athlon Thunderbird has a max die temp of 95C...which is the never exceed temperature. Highest mine's ever gotten running FS2k2 is about 64C, and it runs solid.But, I don't worry about it too much. I bought my AMD processor with the fan included, in a retail box. If it burns up anytime in the three year warranty period, I send it off, and AMD sends me another one. Might be a flippant attitude to take about it, but if you spend less time worrying about your temperature, and more time simming, isn't the world a better place?? :-)AMD TBird 1.2ghz256mb Crucial PC133 ramAsus V7700 Deluxe GTS (GeForce2)WD 40gb HDSB Live PCI300watt PS

Hoss, as I am sure you are well aware that die temp is a very useful guide, if only we knew how accurate the mo/bo probes are ;) It would nice if the mo/bo manufacturers gave some guide as to how accurate their readings were, say a reported temp is 10C lower than die temp with a tolerance of +/- 2C. With current technology I would not have thought such a guide would be difficult to produce.I know some time ago one of the hardware/overclocking sites did measure die temp using some specialist probe. Can't remember the figures but they would be irrelevant anyway because they were only pertinent to that mobo/CPU combination.For sake of comparison my XP1800 on an Abit mo/bo records high 50C's/low 60Cs when running FS2k2 and that's with a GlobalWin FOP38 HSF, and I have no lock-ups.I am looking to change the HSF to a Volcano 7+ or 9 purely to reduce the sound of the FOP38 fan.I would guess for an XP2000 that up to 65C would be OK provided that the mo/bo probe is in good contact with the base of the CPU and it had a dab of Artic Silver on it.

Ausie...Yes higher temps can cause your system to reboot. It happens to mine a lot when the temps get anywhere above the 57c mark. The best way to test the CPU temp is through your BIOS if it supports it.You should check your heatsink fan to make sure that its working correctly. Make sure that you have enough airflow into the system. From what you describe with your temps running that hot your heatsink fan unit is NOT making proper contact with your CPU die. If you take a look around that Artic Silver website I posted earlier you will see how a properly seated heatsink should look. A good thermal paste, not too much, is important to help maintain lower temps.Good luck....keep us posted.- Josh

My comp is at full load temp at 58 celcius and 62 when the weather is really hot like today. I consider it too hot when it goes further than 60

You are too hot for sure.My XP1900+ idles at about 36C and goes up to 46C full load on a typical day. During some of the hottest summer days the computer has been a bit hotter also, but not that much.The biggest difference for me is the case fans. When I use my baybus to turn off all the extra case fans, the CPU temp rockets up past 55C in notime when playing a game. As soon as I turn them on again it cools down slowly to around 46C.How many casefans have you got? I recommend at least one extra exhaust fan in addition to the one on the power supply. In addition, at least one intake fan is recommended.Also, make sure that you have a good CPU cooler mounted on the socket. The faster the CPU, the better cooling is needed. The heatsink should either have a copper core or be made from copper only. The fan on the heatsink should at least be a 4500 RPM 60mm fan. If you want less noise, you can go with an 80mm fan and a heatsink that is designed for those. 80mm fans can spin slower but still push the same amount of air, giving you less noise without any loss of cooling performance.

Hey ya'll,someone told me the following:"-When the Athlon gets too hot, it will just 'burn' (don't know the word...)-When the P4 gets too hot the performance will decrease significantly to prevent overheat."Can anyone confirm this??Thanks for any helpEtienne

Hi to all, I want to thank all here who spent time to answermy query. You all have given me lots of leads to follow which I will do and report back asap.Thanks again.Ausie.