what kind of heatsink & fan should I get?

[wonsleinad]

My computer has been crashing a lot the past week or two, and I couldn't figure out why. I though perhaps it was bad ram. But, after swapping out RAM, that wasn't it. Then I started looking at the CPU temp.

I left my computer in BIOS where it shows the CPU temperature; I came back about 45 min. later and it read 208 degrees F (that's about 100 C)!!!! And that is when it was idle!!

It must be getting A LOT hotter when it suddenly shuts down. First of all, should I get a new CPU? I mean the one I have (Athlon 2400+) is still running, it hasn't stopped working. The max CPU I can get with my current mobo is an Athlon XP 2600+ (which will cost me $85 from newegg). What kind of fan & heasink should I get? I want to keep my CPU as cool as possible, without spending more that about $30. I have no idea what kind of heatsink/fan I have now, some cheap one the computer guy suggested when I bought my new mobo/cpu about a year ago.

Just out of pure curiousity, what temperature does a CPU die? I have no idea why mine hasn't already at those temp.

Edit: oh BTW, after reading that 208F temperature, I'm not even turning on my computer.

[XtremeMaC]

what 100C?

thats is unbeliavable

what kind of motherboard do u have?

I've athlon 2500+ running at 45C with Zalman fan. it gets direct sun light too.

do u have any fan inside your box?

u don't need another cpu just get a good case!

why would u want to upgrade to a higher cpu which will cause more heat

if u want to make yourself a favor spend those 85+30 for a good case/box + a good cpu fan + some interior fans

a friend of mine just bought an asus case, its pretty nice. of course there are many other pro case's with more fan inlets and outlets.

make sure u put the fans in right direction.

I've 1 in the front

2 at the back

2 inside the case for overall cooling (mostly for the graphics card)

and 1 for cpu. (which costed me the most)

but it really pays.

if u really want to spend money and want to change something change to intel. it works on lower temp

b4 buying my athlon 2500+ and mb I knew that my cpu was going to get hot so I took precautions for it.

I dunno about athlon fx but prior ones do heat up

as well as the k7's..

[Drewdatrip]

I would consider getting a heatsink from THermaltake (if u can stand the sound) or Zalman if u are willing to spen abit more for somthignnice and quite. However the zalman are not great for Overclocking...

If your Cpu did indeed get to 100C i would be concernd of its future stablity and or working at all..

And like Xtereme said you may wanna consider some additional fans within the case

|Drew|

[wonsleinad]

why would u want to upgrade to a higher cpu which will cause more heat

No you misunderstood me, I meant get a new processor because the other one is potentially damaged. If I got a new processor, it would be in addition to a new heatsink and fan.

I've got a Shuttle AK32E motherboard, and the case is some old crap from a computer show. I don't have any other fans besides the one on the CPU and power supply (my graphics card doesn't need one-- I think, it's a GeForce2 MX400). However, my case is constanly open, so the system temperature is around 80F. I would say the case is also a problem becuase the power supply sits right in front of where the heatsink and fan are (with about an inch gap).

I will invest in a new case and heasink & fan. Thermaltake sounds fine, as for the sound, I don't care. A constant sound helps me to sleep at night.

How can I tell if my processor is damaged, it turns on and appears to be working. Will there be a loss in performance?