Cooling SW

[SteveI]

I need to get the temp down a bit.

Friend's system:
AMD Athlon(AXIA) 1gig/AS2/Globalwin WBK68 - (not 38)
Iwill KA266
WinME
Inwin S500 (300W Enhance ENP-0730)
Front Fan 8cm in
Rear Fan 8cm out.

At default, the temp is about 45degrees.
At 1.33gig & 1.80v, the temp jumps to 52-53degrees.

For both, the system temp is about 36-37degrees. I want to say that for both it is idle, but not sure.

I tried to install CPUIdle, but I get an error message that the shareware is expired (never had it installed on system). Another program that is supposed to do the same thing says the CPU is running at 100% when it should be idling. I installed Rain, but I am doubtful it helps since the Athlon is not listed for CPUs. For obvious reasons, I am running stock speed again.

Is there software I can use to cool the CPU for the Athlon? I want to keep the temp under 50 to be safe? Without HW changes, should I leave it at 1ghz? Remember, this is a friend's, and he wouldn't qualify to be a newbie.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.
SteveI.

[Hoot]

I'm not sure about the KA266, but halt-on-idle is disabled in the KK266 without implementing the WPCREDIT hack. If the inside of your friends case is hot enough to yield 36-37C motherboard temps, I would advise him/you to get that straightened out first before you worry about software cooling. I use adequate case cooling to keep it about 2-3C above room temp, which I regulate at 20C. If your friends PC room is not air conditioned, that would be a good starting place for corrective action. If that is not possible, then throttle the PC back until winter.

Hoot

[SteveI]

thanks Hoot,
One of my PCs use the same case(Inwin S500) and fans. It is a celery2 566@850 w/ 2.0v. It never gets over 30c now, and I think my PC room is hotter than his. I guess the KA266 mb generates a lot more heat than mine, obviously the athlon does. WBCredit is no longer supported right? Since the KA266 is a newer board, I think I'm outa luck with that..

For the Athlon, is mid fifties (52-55c) safe? This is the first AMD I've worked on. I've read, anything up to 60c is OK, but my gut instinct tells me otherwise.

SteveI.

[Hoot]

Again, I have to stress that I am not familiar with the KA266 and any nuances related to it. Perhaps someone with direct experience can chime in. Personally, I would not run my CPU that hot. They tend to overclock further and at lower voltages, the cooler you can run them. It would be interesting to know at what temperature your friends CPU runs at with the case cover off and a desktop fan blowing air into it. While a good HSF is fundamental in obtaining cooler CPU temps, it can only perform as well as the air temperature around it. If the temp drops significantly with the cover off, your friend should consider enhancing his through-case airflow. You can not compare Intel and AMD CPU temps due to the difference in the power they consume, so your results won't yield much information towards helping your friends temps. Again, software cooling is only the icing on the cake. First you have to bake a good cake.

Hoot