SPCR

Thanks to Ralf in another thread I see that the 'max case temp' for an Athlon XP2400 is 85 degrees. A Pentium P4 2.4 'max cover temp' is 74 degrees. Are these temps comparable and how does this equate to 'cpu temp'?
I installed speedfan on my Dell Precision at work today (we all love our Dells cos they are wonderfully quiet, especially compared to our 'home hairdriers' ) the results were 'something' at 59 degrees! I think this is the cpu! and the hdd at 40 degrees!
Hey if these temps are good enough for Dell they're good enough for me!
After all I'm not too bothered if I only get 12 months use from my hardware. Let's face it, it's all cheap enough - even more so for you lucky Americans!
I've only just started reading about this 'quiet pc' thing in the last couple of weeks but I get the impression folks get anxiety attacks if anything goes above 50 degrees!!!
Opinions please!!! and have a nice day! It's nearly my bedtime!!

After having three HDs fail consecuitively I became extremely paranoid about HDD temps. I installed an I-Storm cooler on the main HD and it keeps it about 28C on a average day. This was years ago, and due to a bad cheap PSU that came with a case. The drive was subject to current starvation and back then you could not run down to the local computer store and pick up a PSU tester.

I'm still paranoid.

Steve

Lifespan decreases exponentially as temperature increases.

That applies to many components, take capacitors for example. Look up the specs of your graphics card's capacitors (or the capacitors near the CPU on your mobo) and enter the specs on the capacitor lifespan calculator. You'll notice that as the temperature reaches the rated extremes (70C+), lifespan is reduced to 2 years or less.

Granted, most components are worth only a fraction of their original value after two years, but that may be a factor to take into account. My personal experiece backs that up: run an HD at unreasonable temperatures (60C+ as reported by hitachi tool), and it'll eventually fail in a year or two (1 seagate bV 80gb and a couple other maxtor <30gb drives I ran unecessarily hot because I did not care about them).

puff wrote:Lifespan decreases exponentially as temperature increases.

There's very little real evidence that this is true.


It's one of those great computer myths that gets bantered around all over the internet, but no one really takes the time to check the source. (it actually started with the US military, so you can almost guarantee it's bunk)

Yes, heat reduces the lifespan of electrolytic capacitors, and a limited number of other components. But saying that it has the same effect on integrated circuits like CPU's is only engineering guesswork. There's not even a basis is physics for why its supposed to be true.

By the time your components fail due to heat they will be obselete. Period. That or they will have broken from a dozen other real things, like static charge, before the heat does them in.


I do think people here obsess about the temps entirely too much. A search through the forums will find you dozens of thread that boil down to, "My CPU is running 3 degrees higher than someone else's. Should I kill myself today or next Tuesday?"

(that's a joke, btw)

Now for an overclocker, temps do have an impact on the kinds of speeds that can be reached, but most of the people here are not overclocking. For them (us) my mantra holds, "If it's stable, then its cool enough"