how hot is to hot for a system temp?

hi guys this summer heat is starting to cook my main rig.
how hot is to hot for a system temp? my cpu has been staying under 50 which is fine but my system temp lately has been as high as my cpu temp. highest i've seen it so far is 41c with 49c cpu temp. i have been noticing instability since the season changed. my screen goes black in bf1942 and lags alot.
i had my setup oc'd but dropped everything back to default hoping it would lower the temps but it didn't help.

my system specs are :
abit kx7-333r
xp1800 currently at default
volcano 11
1x512mb pc2100 crucial w/ thermaltake active ram cooling kit
2x20gb hd's
dvd
cdrw
raidmax 500watt dual fan psu
i have a raidmax case with 4 front 80mm intakes 2 rear 80mm exhuasts and a hole in the side panel where another fan was that i took out.






i would put the fan back in the side panel as an exhaust but the v11 and the rear fans are really close and already fight for airflow, adding the side fan as exhaust would just make it worse.


so how long do i have before i should start worrying?

I become concerned once I see system instability. You need to find a way that works with your case that can keep your system temperature cooler - if the fan in the side panel isn't an option, consider a top blow hole, rear exhaust, or bottom front panel intake.

How is/are your case fan/s currently configured?

Wow.. thats like a degree or so what mine is idle and i have on the side the mobo isnt on a fan blowing out and not perfect ventalation for the intake in the front.. I'd say get a fan for the top blowing out to make like a blow hole.. which will blow out so you even out the intake and outtake.

Take comfort my dear twump, I too am experiencing a very similar problem. My system temps are around 42c, and my cpu temps get up around 47c and 48c. When that does happen, my computer experiencing a massive slowdown in fps and loading times. I'm very much sad, because I have an SLk-900 heatsink and a smart fan 2 running at medium-high. I thought my heatsink might not be on right, so I took everything apart and reinstalled it yesterday. I still am getting the problem. It really sucks, and I know how you must feel. I wish I could help you, but I can barely help myself. I have an xp2100, and I have it overclocked, but I get the problem even when its not overclocked. My room temps are pretty hot, so the problem could stem from there. Probably around 82f-83f. Not too bad. Does you motherboard have on die temp reader for your cpu? Mine doesn't. Someone said my 47c could mean like 60c+ which could be causing the problem. Maybe your experiencing the same problem. Anyway, all hope is lost. It sucks to spend 1000 bucks on something, and then have it give you many problems. What annoys me more than anything is that it shouldn't be happening. Not when you get one of the best heatsinks and have a fan that blows high cfm and arctic silver 3. Its not like I have the stock heatsink or something. To take all the precautions so stuff like this doesn't happen, and then have it blow up in your face is really messed up. You probably feel the same way. Somethings gotta be wrong, either the cpu or the heatsink is broken. That's how I feel at least, maybe you dont think so. I just think if something wasn't wrong, tons more people, (Mostly the people with stock heatsinks etc.) would all be getting this problem.

Perhaps the only solution would be to turn to water cooling. That wouldn't be that annoying if I hadn't already spent 50 dollars on a heatsink, and 15 on a fan. You probably feel the same way. But hey, wouldn't have to worry about the annoying fan noise, and I'd get cooler temps.

No airflow means higher CPU temps which, in turn, means higher case system temps. It seems to me that your problem is with the amount of airflow you're getting. Make sure all of your fans are facing the right directions and that there's not too many screwing with the airflow.

my system is at 47 degrees while my CPU is at 61

My computer still works...

But I'm going to get new stuff soon lol