my bad....... you only have High/Low which will give you your high temp.... and the ability to dump to a log file based off of an interval that you define.

The Asus tool must be the one that has the recording capabilities..... sorry about that.

Regardless, the High/Low screen will give us the info we need here.

While I agree with the overclocking part... i think he should solve the current issues first.

Roger that. I'll play some HL2 then report back with the temps. I'll also put the side of the case on so the numbers aren't skewed.

Alright...

Temperature topped out at 56*C during HL2, and 57*C while running 3DMark03. What do you guys think?

well that'* much better than 80c for sure...... and you SHOULD be ok with that.

But I'd want it a little cooler if it were me. I think what you have now is acceptable. Now that you have better temps..... you can work to improve them even more. How'* your airflow within the case? How many case fans do you have, and which direction are they pulling/pushing? Also, how'* your wire management within the case?

So is it the general concensus that I need a better heatsink/fan? Can you guys give me any advice for reasonably cheap options?

EDIT: CPU temp eventually topped out at 60*C last night while playing HL2 for a couple hours.

I think people are forgetting that you're in Arizona...
a) its warmer there which limits how low you can cool to with an air-based cooler
b) its less humid there and air won't transfer heat as well.

60c is within specs esp for running Halflife2.
BTW all Athlon XP'* are rated to 89c iirc, but if you do want to go cooler then try some Artec Silver compound first, then try a beefier cooler if that doesn't meet your goal. Copper core coolers were recommended on XP'* 1600 and up i beleive.

Yup they rated for that


60c is bad, but unless you spend like $50+ on a good heatsink your not really going to get much better.

Thanks for the input. I think I'll stick with the current heatsink and fan for now. I just need to suck the dust out of the case every now and again

Update:

My CPU steadily runs hotter and hotter over a period of a few weeks. It got up to 63 Celsius today while playing Half Life 2. Can anybody link me to a good heatsink/fan setup for a reasonable price? I just need this puppy to run cooler. Or should I try new thermal paste before replacing any components? I already have the paste, just haven't taken everything apart and reapplied yet.