At what temperature should I start worrying?

[ChrisG]

Heh, you just know I'm probably already kind of high if I'm asking that. I've got a pretty sorry fan on my 1.2ghz Athlon and my CPU temperature is about 51 C when idle. Since my current fan is incredibly noisy and the CPU temp bothers me I'm trying to get one of those Silverado coolers. It's going to be awhile before I can get one of those though and I'm wondering if just normal computer use could damage my CPU. What do you all think?

 

[Guest]

if it is 51c idle definately don't overclock. I don't think it is good to go over 50c at full load so be careful.

 

[ejsmith2]

If you're only planning on using the same processor for a maximum of 3 years, then don't worry about the temperature until your system becomes unstable (i.e. crashes/lockups/artifacts). If you will be using the computer for 10 years, then you will have to get medi-evil on heat.