Standard CPU Temperatures

I just put together my P4 rig yesterday, then pulled the HS off and reapplied my thermal goo today, so these temperatures should drop.

Anyway, here's my system:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8C
MB: Abit IC7
HS/Fan: Thermalright SLK-900 w/ Vantec Tornado (intake)
GPU: eVGA e-GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Sound: m-Audio Revolution 7.1

Anyway, my case has excellent cooling in it as the old Athlon system I had it in ran at 29 C when overclocked decently.

I'm running at 39C idle, 42C load right now with my new system.
System temp reads at 25C

Is this normal?

I've heard something about the Abit boards giving higher temperatures than are accurate, but I'm not inclined to believe it unless a lot of people confirm it.

Oh yeah, I'm using Arctic Silver's Ceramique thermal compund. My old system used Arctic Silver 3.

how is that ceramique working for you? I gave it a try and didn't really like it, the arctic silver 3 is much easier to work with IMO...

anyway, yes those temps are normal. You don't have to worry much under 55c load in fact.

So far as the asus boards exaggerating temps, I personally wouldn't jump at the thought

uh, scuse me. I meant abit boards.

How do I like the Ceramique? Umm... bleh?

It's definitely a huge pain in the *** to spread compared to AS3. I had to put the tube in some hot water before applying it to make it more spreadable.

As far as cooling goes I have no basis for comparison on this CPU, as I used my AS3 on an Athlon (I made the switch).

We'll see in a few days how the temps hold up when I start with the overclocking.

Your temps sound good, lots of people say abit temps read high, its strange that your idle and load temps are so similar. Make sure you have good intake and exhaust fans to supply some fresh air to that tornado. Also, try and tie up extra wire length and keep everything neat inside the case so the air has an unobstructed path.

It's all tied down already. Very little flow obstruction. I'm also using rounded cables on the IDE, floppy, and main power.

I have 3 intake fans and 3 exhaust fans, plus an intake/exhaust on my power supply. I'm quite sure my airflow is good in the case itself, as it is currently running at 22 C (~72 F) in there (on the motherboard).

The CPU is reading 37 C right now. Most likely because the thermal goo has settled somewhat. Hopefully the trend will continue. I'd like to see the idle temps at around 32.

As far as idle/load temps being similar, this is a good thing. It means the heatsink is doing its job well.

My fluctuation on my old processor was 29-32 idle (32 after prolonged web use), 33-35 load (games). The total range was 6 C, which means my heatsink did its job.

You are right regarding the fluctuation. The better the heatsink the less fluctuation.
Your temps should continue to drop over a few day period.
I am one of the few people who use and absolutely love Arctic Alumina. Very easy to work with and cleanup. Temps are virtually identical to arctic silver.
I am overclocked and running a Panaflo L1 fan.
Temps are 32c-37c. They were 29c-34c with the higher RPM panaflo.