[shea2k]

I am running a P4 3.4Ghz chip, and have on occasion, had the system almost 'stall' on me. I knew there was no software causing this directly, but something told me to monitor the temperature of the system, which i did.

When the machine is not being used intensely (such as browsing the internet), my Sensorsview Software reports the core to average at around 48degrees Celsius. But if I'm gaming (where it is more likely to stall out) the core can be sitting just shy of 70degrees Celsius.

The monitoring software (Sensorview) interestingly enough, shows a sudden dip in CPU temperature at the same time that I witness a stall in the system.

So this leads me to the following questions:

A) What should the optimal temperature be for a P4 3.4ghzHT processor?
B) Is there such a thing as being 'too cold' as well as too hot?
C) What is a good, reliable, near noiseless solution to the problem?

While we are on the subject of cooling, are Ram Heatsinks worth the while? Or is it gimmicky?

With thanks! I look forward to reading your replies.



Seamie.

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70 degrees is high for a CPU temperature, and I wouldn't play any more games until you fix something. 48 degrees C idle is a bit high, too. Pentium 4s are on the hot side, but 70 is too hot.

A) What should the optimal temperature be for a P4 3.4ghzHT processor?

It depends, but IMO should be under 50, preferably under 40.

B) Is there such a thing as being 'too cold' as well as too hot?

Not that I know of. I remember a while back seeing a video of some people using liquid nitrogen to cool a CPU and overclock it to well over 4 GHz.

C) What is a good, reliable, near noiseless solution to the problem?

I would definitely invest in a good CPU fan and some thermal paste. Is this a socket 478 or LGA 775 P4? If you don't know, what is the model of your motherboard? Also, you may want to organize the cables inside your case. I bought some tubing from Radio Shack and grouped the cables together and my airflow now is very good. However, a CPU fan won't do much if you don't have other fans removing the hot air, so how many fans are in your PC?

Newegg has some good fans and thermal paste (Arctic Silver). I have the Thermaltake Blue Orb II, which I highly recommend. At 1600 rpm I can hear it, but it is the most quiet fan in my system and at over 70 cubic feet/minute, it blows a ton of air. Zalmann also has some very nice, quiet CPU fans.

If you really want a quiet PC, you may want to consider water cooling, but it will cost a lot more than air cooling.

While we are on the subject of cooling, are Ram Heatsinks worth the while? Or is it gimmicky?

I don't have any, and I don't think they are necessary in most situations if you have enough air moving around them.

[Pi rules]

70 degrees is high for a CPU temperature, and I wouldn't play any more games until you fix something. 48 degrees C idle is a bit high, too. Pentium 4s are on the hot side, but 70 is too hot.

A) What should the optimal temperature be for a P4 3.4ghzHT processor?

It depends, but IMO should be under 50, preferably under 40.

B) Is there such a thing as being 'too cold' as well as too hot?

Not that I know of. I remember a while back seeing a video of some people using liquid nitrogen to cool a CPU and overclock it to well over 4 GHz.

C) What is a good, reliable, near noiseless solution to the problem?

I would definitely invest in a good CPU fan and some thermal paste. Is this a socket 478 or LGA 775 P4? If you don't know, what is the model of your motherboard? Also, you may want to organize the cables inside your case. I bought some tubing from Radio Shack and grouped the cables together and my airflow now is very good. However, a CPU fan won't do much if you don't have other fans removing the hot air, so how many fans are in your PC?

Newegg has some good fans and thermal paste (Arctic Silver). I have the Thermaltake Blue Orb II, which I highly recommend. At 1600 rpm I can hear it, but it is the most quiet fan in my system and at over 70 cubic feet/minute, it blows a ton of air. Zalmann also has some very nice, quiet CPU fans.

If you really want a quiet PC, you may want to consider water cooling, but it will cost a lot more than air cooling.

While we are on the subject of cooling, are Ram Heatsinks worth the while? Or is it gimmicky?

I don't have any, and I don't think they are necessary in most situations if you have enough air moving around them.

[shea2k]

Thanks for your input PI Rules. Very well laid out and easy to follow too.

My P4 is an LGA775 (SL727 spec Prescott) and Intel quote the Thermal Specification as being 67.7°C.

Does that mean that it can take up to that temperature before its gonna be in serious trouble?
Meaning that ideally, as you said, it should be kept around the 40°C mark?

As for the system casing, it has one rear mounted 120mm fan in the casing, and an air duct from the side panel leading directly over the CPU fan. The cables inside are fairly tidy to be honest, as I've heard before about how they can really restrict air-flow (makes sense!).

Thanks again for your help there. It was quite informative.

[Pi rules]

No problem.

I forgot to welcome you to GeeksToGo!

Does that mean that it can take up to that temperature before its gonna be in serious trouble?

Well, the hotter the CPU gets the shorter its life will be. When it exceeds a certain temperature, Pentium 4s will actually lower their clock speed and limit their performance to try and stay below that threshold. Still, it is best to stay well below that temperature.

Meaning that ideally, as you said, it should be kept around the 40°C mark?

Yes, even lower if possible for a longer life.

As for the system casing, it has one rear mounted 120mm fan in the casing, and an air duct from the side panel leading directly over the CPU fan. The cables inside are fairly tidy to be honest, as I've heard before about how they can really restrict air-flow (makes sense!).

I'd probably recommend more fans than that for a system with a P4 @ 3.4 GHz. Are there locations on the top and front of the case where additional fans can be placed? If so, you can buy fans at a local store such as Best Buy or get them for slightly less at Newegg.com.

Are you using the fan that came with the Pentium 4, or is it a different one? If it came with the CPU it will probably say Intel on it somewhere.

Edit: I found an informative link here on CPU operating temperature vs. lifespan.

Edited by Pi rules, 28 March 2007 - 08:56 PM.

[shea2k]

More good stuff Pi Rules!! Cheers buddy. That was good reading! I've taking on some excellent advices, and in the interim, i've removed my casing side panel and actually (LOL) placed a normal room fan to blow cold air direct into the system! Temperatures have dropped by an average of 10°C across both ambient system temp and core temp! Nice!!

On top of that, I've also overclocked the core to run now at a so far very stable 3.7ghz over the 3.4ghz stock. Oh, speaking of stock, you were right too, the CPU cooler is the normal intel one. I have ordered up the Thermaltake Blue Orb II as you recommended, though, as I live in the UK, I had to order it from a more local supply than the Newegg site you suggested, which was unfortunate, coz they had some great stuff in there too!

(I used www.microdirect.co.uk just incase anyone else reading this forum needs a UK/Europe supplier)

Thanks as always mate, and cheers for the 'welcome'.

[ulriks9]

I have a hp pavilion zd8000 with a pentium 4 3.39 GHz. It usually runs on 62C° but when I play mine craft it runs on 76C° is that normal?