Idle temps for 2.4c

I just built two computers for my church's office, and am wondering if
the coolers are working properly. One CPU is running in the 90'sF, the
other around 110 degrees. This is before any software install- I was
just in the bios to set up boot devices.
Is this a normal temp, or is something wrong? I do plan to attempt
overclocking, so would there be an advantage to using Arctic Silver
on the retail box cooler? If so, do I need to scrape the stuff off
that is there now?

thanks.

 

My 2.4 is at 37C-100F right now. OC'd to 2.7
Cooly

 

Hm?
Mine idles near to room temp.

I don't know.

My Xeon stays around 35 & 36 C on Idle.

Denny. ;-)

 

The idle temperature for a Pentium 4 2.4C, when using Windows 2000
Professional or Windows XP should be about the same temperature as the air
inside the system case. When at idle using these operating systems the CPU
is issued a series of low power consumption instructions and dissipates only
a few watts of heat. The important temperature for the CPU is the
temperature under load, though the idle temperature can be of diagnostic
use. Without knowing the 'under load' temperature and the room ambient air
temperature it is impossible to suggest more than that the air flow through
your system case may be poor.

--
Phil Weldon, pweldonatmindjumpdotcom
For communication,
replace "at" with the 'at sign'
replace "mindjump" with "mindspring."
replace "dot" with "."

 

The case temp was 75 degrees. The idle temp I was talking about was
just from looking at the bios with no OS installed yet.
Any ideas about using the thermal grease on the boxed cooler? It's a
pain to take the heatsinks off again to apply it but I can if I need
to.

 

The case temp was 75 degrees. The idle temp I was talking about was
just from looking at the bios with no OS installed yet.
Any ideas about using the thermal grease on the boxed cooler? It's a
pain to take the heatsinks off again to apply it but I can if I need
to.

 

There's many things to consider here. Listen to "Phil Weldon"

2. For a P4C, that's Very hot.
Mine runs around 21-23 C Idle with a room temp of 74ºF
My P4 gets up to about 39 or 43ºC Under load.
My Xeon's I already said about, Temps are anywhere from 35-36
& up to about 48C CPU1 And 53C CPU2 SmartFan kicks in @
right about these temps, and it goes down a little.

Try and reseat us CPU.
Maybe even do what u suggested, go back to stock cooling.
Those thermal pads do seem to do the job well enough.

Denny. ;-)

 

"jester_s1" wrote

I assume you meant to reply to my post, but instead replied to your own.

I should have realized you hadn't yet installed an operating system, so the
special low power instructions would not be issued.

Do you have the boxed, retail Intel CPU that comes with the Intel heatsink,
fan, and thermal pad? Or a third party heatsink/fan with thermal pad?

In either case, if you have installed the heatsink/fan with a thermal pad,
you should leave that in place, at least until you can test the systems
under load, with the operating systems installed. The CPU temperature
reported by the BIOS is fairly useless since you don't see it under real
operating conditions. The 35 degrees C ( 95 F) temperature the BIOS reports
is certainly no danger to the CPU, and Intel CPUs have good protection
against overheating... while they may get hot enough to temporarily lock up,
they are not allow to get hot enough for damage to occur. [The Pentium 4 C
CPUs throttle down as the internal CPU temperature increases above a limit
set inside the CPU, then, ultimately, are shut down by an internal diode
sensor.]

AFTER you have installed the operating system, install a temperature applet
like MotherBoard Monitor so that you can read the CPU and motherboard
temperature while the system is running applications. You will likely find
that the motherboard temperature is between 30 and 35 degrees C unless you
have heroic case ventilation, while the CPU temperature will vary between 30
degrees C (idle) and 55 degrees C underload. Unless you plan to attempt
overclocking, as long as your CPU temperature (under load) is under 60
degrees C, there is no reason to worry about your CPU cooling.

Your fan may be temperature controlled, so, in the interest of reducing
noise, the fan may not even operate at temperatures as low as 35 degrees C,
or, at least, may run at low speed.

If you are able to begin installation of an operating system, but not
complete the installation, a faulty CPU cooling setup would be ONE of the
possible causes (along with possible problems with other components such as
power supply, memory, case cooling, etc.)

--
Phil Weldon, pweldonatmindjumpdotcom
For communication,
replace "at" with the 'at sign'
replace "mindjump" with "mindspring."
replace "dot" with "."

 

I'll reseat them and see what happens. I didn't use the grease yet
because the stock cooler had the gummy stuff on it already.

Any suggestions for seating technique? The last system I built was a
slot 1 PII, which came already put together.

Thanks for the info so far.

 

Thanks for the help, Phil.
I am using the boxed Intel cooler. The fan was running around 2300 rpm
when I checked the temp. I'll leave it alone until I get the OS
installed and can monitor the temp under load.
I am planning to OC the processor if I can get stable operation from
it. I see little reason not to take advantage of the free speed if I
can do so at no cost.

 

If ur using the Stock Cooling, that should be fine.

The Thermal pad I said about is Thermal paste.
It's a white if I remember right.

If when you said 75º if you meant 75ºF
that's about right.
That would still be 20 some in C.
You could also try 3rd party thermal grease.
People say that Artic Silver is good.

If it is reading it as 75ºF I would touch the Heat Sink.
If it's just warm by a little, then your MB's Monitor is (WAY) Off.

Denny. ;-)

 

"jester_s1" wrote in part
"I am planning to OC the processor if I can get stable operation from it. I
see little reason not to take advantage of the free speed if I can do so at
no cost."

I am glad you are taking a 'wait and see attitude'. The fan speed is
certainly not near its maximum, so, without the operating system installed,
the 35 degrees C (95 F) CPU idle temperature seems reasonable.

As for overclocking; I wouldn't do it. No matter how stable overclocked
operation seems, office requirements really don't even demand stock speeds
from a Pentium 4 2.4C. I doubt any user would notice performance
differences between 2.4 GHz and 3.2 GHz. For office work, hard drive
performance and memory size can make more difference than the jump from 2.4
to 3.2 GHz. In a small office with no technical support staff any systems
should save the temperature safety margin for things like dust bunnies
clogging the heatsink and ventilation grilles rather than for overclocking.
It would be of little use if the overclocked CPU ran at a throttled down
speed because of dust degradation of the cooling system. Especially since
the user would likely
a. not realize the throttled down mode was active
b. not realize WHAT speed the CPU was running.

Finally, if you are using a website to post, you should be aware its Usenet
newsgroup posting is broken. Each of your replies shows (by indentation) as
a reply to your own initial message rather than the message you intend
response. In addition, there is no information from the message you reply
to, so the thread becomes hard to follow, and will be especially so when
viewed in Usenet archives (at Google.) Using your own newsgroup reader to
post (Microsoft Outlook Express or third-party news reader) as well as read
newsgroup messages would be helpful for you and others.

--
Phil Weldon, pweldonatmindjumpdotcom
For communication,
replace "at" with the 'at sign'
replace "mindjump" with "mindspring."
replace "dot" with "."