Computer CPU Processors

Don't overheat your computer

When your computer's processor, chipset, or hard drive overheats, you can wind up with big problems. From system slowdowns to application crashes, video corruption, data loss, to permanent damage to your computer hardware. It's important to keep your computer running cool.

Your computer has sensors in various places to monitor the internal temperature and regulate the fan speeds. These sensors are typically in places such as your CPU, graphics card, hard drive, and maybe one in open air (typically in desktops). Unlike your car, there's no easy indicator of what the temperature is until things start to go wrong, and those fans can only do so much. Dust can clog heatsinks and air passages, which can slow down the flow of air and drive the chip temps up. If a fan fails completely, it will stop the airflow and the temperature will climb rapidly. For those reasons it helps to have a program to actually tell you what these temperature sensor readings are. If things are getting a little too hot, you might want to know so you can check things out.

For Windows, two good utilities are Speedfan (free) and Everest . For Ubuntu, two good programs can be found in Synaptic: sensors-applet and hddtemp.

Those programs will read the temp sensors and tell you the values. Unfortunately, these numbers won't mean very much if you don't know what the limits of your hardware are. For example, while typing this article on my laptop, my CPU temp is 35C (95F). While that might sound hot to some, the thermal design limit of my CPU is actually 105C (source: Intel). I know my processor is well within the design limits.

That said, here's a list of a few common chipsets and their operating limits:

Various Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktops):

Models E6700 (2.66 GHz), E6600 (2.40 GHz), E6420 (2.13 GHz) and E6320 (1.86 GHz): 60.1 C (140 F).
Models E6400 (2.13 GHz), E6300 (1.86 GHz), E4400 (2 GHz) and E4300 (1.8 GHz): 61.4 C (143 F).
Models E6850 (3 GHz), E6750 (2.66 GHz), E6550 (2.33 GHz) and E6540 (2.33 GHz): 72 C (162 F).
Models E4500 (2.20 GHz) and E4400 (2 GHz): 73.3 C (164 F).
Source: Core 2 Duo Temperature Limit | eHow.com

Various laptops by manufacturer and chipset:

Dell Latitude D620 (using T7600 CPU): 100C
Dell Latitude D630 (using T7700 CPU): 100C
Toshiba Satellite A215-S7422 (using AMD Turion 64 X2): AMD Doesn't say — See guidelines below

(I may add to this list as time goes on)

I've been seeing a lot of conversation about the nVidia Quaddro mobile chipset and it's failure temp. While I haven't been able to find anything official, I have been able to keep my chip under 80C and haven't experienced a problem to date. See also: Disclaimer.

If you want to find the correct spec for a specific Intel product, you can use Intel's ARK lookup.For AMD, try the AMD Product Specification lookup. For hard drives, check the manufacturers spec page for your specific drive.

However bear in mind when using these spec sheets that the given specs are for the components themselves under controlled conditions. Chipsets are likely to become unstable before reaching these temps, and heat run-off may damage nearby components on circuit boards. Additionally, occasional manufacturing defects can cause chip failures before these temperatures are reached. I would always suggest to try to stay at least 15-20C below the rated temperature.

If you can't find specific temps for your chipset, good guidelines would be to try to stay below the following temps:

55C for desktop CPUs, 85C for laptop CPUs.
75C for desktop GPUs, 75C for laptop GPUs.
55C for desktop HDDs, 45C for laptop HDDs.

These are merely a reference point. While some chipsets may tolerate higher temps better than others, cooler is always better. See also: Disclaimer.

FAQ: Why are the rated chipset temps so much higher for laptops?

Laptops are by their very nature smaller and lighter than their desktop counterparts. In order to accommodate this, you will find laptops have smaller fans, heatsinks, and internal airways. Additionally, instead of fan-heatsink-chip assemblies, laptops often feature fan-heatpipe-chip assemblies, which locates the fan further from the chip. Mobile chipsets are thus designed to have higher operating temperatures because heat cannot always be dissipated quickly and occasionally the airways may become blocked. In addition, the higher operating temperatures allow the fans to cycle off to conserve battery power such as  dell Inspiron 640m battery, dell Y9943 battery and dell RC107 battery.

One last point worth mentioning is to make sure you're using the latest OEM BIOS for your computer, especially for mobile machines. BIOSes often have a fan speed table in them which is what sets the fan speed based on the chipset temperature. You can typically find the BIOS update listed on the manufacturer's website.

If you believe any of the information I have posted above is incorrect, or you would like to ask me to post data on a specific chipset, please leave a comment below. If you have any information to contribute, please do so in the comments. If you want to share this information, please do so as a link to this page for the sake of updates. Thank you.

About the Author

Choosing The Right Processor - A Buyers Information

Processors – The core of your system how to choose the one which’s best for you

There are a few things that it's essential consider when taking a look at processors and when serious about what processor can be best on your system. The issues you'll want to have a look at are socket type. In case you don’t know what socket varieties are, they are the pins situated on the bottom of the processor, the quantity and pattern are what determines the type. Bus velocity, or entrance facet bus, this is the speed at which information moves from the processor to the motherboard, this will affect the general pace of your computer. Different things to be thought of are the best way to purchase your processor and if it’s suitable with your motherboard or the motherboard you are looking at purchasing.

Socket types and motherboards go hand in hand. The socket kind has a hand in figuring out the motherboard and what socket varieties a motherboard can accept clearly has a say in what type of processor you may look at. Every processor you take a look at is going to tell you the speeds at which it can process knowledge that is the bus speed. This is a crucial issue when choosing your processor. The sooner the pace the extra you are able to do with the processor because the extra the processor can handle. One thing that additionally needs to be considered the quicker the processor the hotter it will get. Among the increased finish processors include their own fans and are an excellent investment for those who plan on utilizing your pc heavily. Once you’ve determined the bus pace, the socket kind, and if the processor you’re taking a look at is suitable along with your computer it’s time to check out the place to purchase it. There are a number of choices you should buy it OEM or retail. Here’s a run down of the distinction, OEM that is normally what occurs while you buy it with no field and no heatsink and fan. Retail is you simply purchase simply the processor itself in a retail box with the producers heatsink and fan. There might be some actual financial savings both manner depending on what you need and what you’re trying for. One other word on motherboard compatibility, older motherboards could not be capable to handle the most recent processor know-how and visa versa ensuring your processor is one that's going to work well along with your motherboard is likely one of the most essential elements that need to be addressed while deciding on your processor.

There are {two} important producers AMD and Intel every have their good points. Most people will have heard extra of Intel, or have heard of the Pentium. AMD got here into the market late however rivals Intel in quality for value. Intel does nonetheless have some edge as they produce the chipsets, which allows them to adapt sooner to new technologies. Nonetheless the AMD sixty four and Pentium D are about equal so the choice of who to go together with is up to you and your personal preferences and needs.

Now that you've got the fundamentals on selecting your subsequent or first motherboard, you might wish to take a look at some of these top producers AMD or INTEL.

About The Writer

Ethan has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years now. Not only does this writer focus on Computers and Technology, you can even check out his latest web site on tips on how to convert 3GP to AVI with 3GP to AVI converter which also helps people find the best 3GP to AVI converter on the market.

Is it possible to use an AMD heatsink with an Intel CPU? Does it depend on the chipset?

It depends on the socket of the motherboard. Some heatsinks come with adapters that make it possible to use them on anything. If you're trying to use a stock AMD heatsink on an Intel processor then it will not fit because the heatsink wasn't made for a socket 775. The heatsink does not depend on the chipset in any way.

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