I'm worried...

[InCreator]

...about the temperature of my CPU.
It's Athlon XP 2200+ ~1.8GHz processor.
Not overclocked, since it's shitty even without it.

But temperature oscillates around 20 degrees Celsius all the time.
When I turn CPU on, it's around 40. After 10 minutes, It rises to 50C.

After a while doing nothing - or if I start anything that gives CPU some work to do - It rises to 56-59C. Which safety - I'm not sure about.

Now the strange part. After reaching 50C, everything goes into "bullet time" and Win XP lags as hell. If I take the cover off from main unit, temp lowers 2-3 degrees. This means that I could efficently use my computer as long as I surf in net or draw. When I start some 3D game or 3ds Max for example, it adds critical few degrees and snail-fest starts.

If I open window (my room's one) or manually make air move over unit, like waving some cloth or something, temp decreases 15 degrees! I have a HUGE fan over CPU, but there's no sign of word "stability". I close unit after reducing the heat to about 45C and... it stays so! What the hell...?

Now, the questions.

Does anyone have CPU like mine?
What's your average temperature?
How much is critical? If it goes to slow motion at 50, isn't it too much already?
What the heck could that all mean?

Ah, another one: Since the fan is freaking huge, I keep power-box (the one with two power cables and a fan inside) outside of the unit, because otherwise it would block half the top of the CPU fan, which is logically taken - bad. So it rests on top of the cover.

From mainboard manual, I read that power-box, with the fan inside it, makes air move inside the unit.
But -

Could that cause instability?
I plan to buy new main unit, a bigger one so I could put powerbox inside too. Maybe that helps.

[Haddas]

Your computer is most likely posessed by an evil demon. I suggest you go to the local library and find the answers in a book about exorcising. Alternatively you could get a bigger fan, or more fans (I saw a computer today with 8 fans! and it had one of them cold cases too. the temp never got above 10!). OR you could use a hammer to solve the problem. I'm a genious, and I know it. Remember to thank me when everything has cleared.

[Flippy_D]

I had this problem, although it didn't result in 'bullet-time' (how quaint!). Crack open your PC and check that the coolant between PSU and cooler is still okay, you might need to replace it. You can also buy fan cards that don't cost too much if you want better system air flow. You can ALSO buy rounded IDE cables which are pretty handy things.

[LGM]

Or you can make rounded cables by cutting each ridge with an exacto knife and just tieing them together with a zip tie. Something to think about   (Practice first on old IDE cables)

[Isegrim]

Maybe the slowdown is caused by something else? Have you recently checked for spyware? Defragged your Hard disk? Got a lot of background processes running?
As far as my computer knowledge goes, high processor temperature should not interfere with the performance.
Besides, I think that processors only go critical above 70°... (not sure there)

And about the hint with the power box inside the case: The power box is among the components which produce most heat... So putting that thing inside the case won't help you too much, I guess...

[Remco]

Where is your pc standing? i hope not next to a radiator.

[Meowster]

You can buy fans (very cool ones that are ultra silent and ultra powerful) for around E40 - E60 in PC world (I am not sure about this price, maybe they are cheaper).

But I would suggest getting a new PC, quite frankly.

Can't remember the name of the model, I think it was Advent... 17'' TFT, 512mb Ram, 60bg HD, 3.8Ghz, Intel Celeron Processor (it's not THAT big a deal) for E890 the other day.

And a Toshiba 17'' laptop, same specs, for E1099, with Bluetooth.

Plus I get 10% off because I work there.

Ha!

Seriously, a new PC is always an option. There are always good deals out there and you might want to check out paying on Credit or Interest Free. In fact, if you call PC World in Waterford tomorrow and ask to speak to Rusalka, she can probably get you sorted out with a great package deal...

(that was some clever selling...)

[Flippy_D]

Alternatively, get my new one for 1,595,795,608 Turkish Lira.

(or 891.76 EUR)

Specs:

1 gig DDR RAM
Radeon 9800 pro 128meg (which you don't need if you're not a hardcore gamer or use artist/designer software, you could settle for a 9600)
AMD Athlon 64 3000 [OEM] with Scythe Samurai cooler
Asrock K8S8X motherboard
(Socket 754
DDR1 up to DDR 400
AGP 8x
5 PCI slots)
Onboard sound is decent too.

'Tis a bargain price, the only hinderance being you have to assemble it yourself.

[_T3_ [returned from oblivion]]

Perhaps there's a buildup of dust in your heatsink?  or your fan?  Is the fan pushing a lot of air, can you tell?  You may need to clean the heatsink, the fan blades, the fan's bearings, or other stuff...  Also, some additional case fans could not hurt ( Haddas) - and you can get them cheap usually (www.newegg.com has a great special on 80mm fans right now - 10 for $10 American, free shipping - dunno if they do international orders tho).  Or yank one from an old computer, if you've got it.

Critical temperature is generally accepted as 80 degrees... but most system information tools will warn you when it reaches 60, so this could be the low point...

As for the spyware issue... Spyware will only raise your cpu temp if it's pushing your processor at 100% all the time... if your Task Manager says it's around 5 or 10% active, the software is not to blame.

Well, that's my two cents.  Good luck.

[InCreator]

Yah, of course. Maybe I'll just buy a new house somewhere colder, like North Pole maybe?
No, wait. I think I'll hire someone to run around with blocks of ice 24/7, yep, that's it.
Nah. I'll buy 5 processors and change between them after every 10 minutes. No, hire someone to change them.

Damnit, motheboard and processor both were purchased only 4-5 months ago. There's no way I'm gonna spend my non-existing money for new one just because I can't get the temp down.

Well, performance reduction is a thing I've tested million times, yes, it IS so. More heat, slower CPU "thinking".

How could IDE cables affect processor's temperature?
I think Haddas is right. Yeah, now I recall myself always laughing at the salesmen at the shop where I do my computer shoppings and calling them ironically "typers" because of their ultimate typing speed, (1 letter per 20 seconds) and wondering how someone like that could get a job at computer store.

There's what happened. I laughed at him, he became sad.
Coming home after hard work, head filled with sadness and insults, miserable salesman hit some kid with car. Went to trial and was convicted guilty. Spent 2 years in prison, became gay. Wife left him, took kids and money. It all ended with suicide. All because my impatiency while he typed the check for my processor. Now he's haunting my machine.

Ah.
A believeable explanation and cool story for a freaky adventure game. What was the theme of AGS team challenge again? "mystery"? Damn. I must tell Vel that we should change the plot.

[Haddas]

I've done it again!

[Flippy_D]

How could IDE cables affect processor's temperature?

IDEs are BIG BASTARDS. They block the flow of air around your computer, thus increasing heat levels. Rounded IDEs just cut back on all that sail-like structure. Also, I'm guessing your CPU cooler/coolant is okay? (I'm serious about checking the coolent. If it was put on wrong, or if it's burned out (which is what mine did) then it's not good news). Do check it.

[_T3_ [returned from oblivion]]

IDE cables will only (for the most part) restrict airflow if the case happens to have a front-mounted fan... for a regular case with only a CPU fan (or cpu and rear fans), air is generally not drawn from the front of the case, and if so, is only drawn to equalize the pressure drop caused by the rear fan moving air out of the case... I don't think they'd be a major problem...
(If my logic is off, i apologise... i'm a little wired right now )

What's the model of your processor, Flippy? are you using a retail processor and heatsink combo, or an OEM processor and homebuilt cooling system?Ã,  This might be helpful information to get from you, too, InCreator..

[Flippy_D]

I still have the processor I started with (an AMD athlon ~1.0GHz), but the cooler that came with it failed and died, and the coolant dried up. The cpu hit 104 degrees  O_o

So I put in a new cooler and some more heat transfer stuff. Which was fine, and my system went back to normal.

[_T3_ [returned from oblivion]]

Funny, most motherboards have a safety shutoff when they detect that either the processor's temperature has exceeded 80 degrees, or the processor fan's RPM is below, say, 1000RPM :/

I'll agree, though, that stock coolers are usually worthless.  Especially if you overclock.  And if I wasn't so poor, I'd replace mine, too.

[Sylpher]

50 C is in no way abnormally hot but it is pretty warm. 65+ is when you have to seriously worry about damage. Either way, the cooler the better. Mine runs around 32 C but when I do anything graphically heavy or play a pretty recent 3d game it can jump to 50-55.

Unless you want to go water cooled all you can really do is, as suggested, increase airflow and circulation. Fans and rounded cables..

(And the splicing IDE cables and making your own rounded cables is okay with 33's and if you are good 66's but anything higher just spend the 10 bucks and buy them.. you get lossy data problems very easily if you don't know what you are doing)

[Wormmaster]

My friends computer had same thing.
He had a program that alerted when temperature was 60.

Agree with some others:

Buy new fan!