How hot can my PC run before I should worry?

[roccenstein]

I have a case with a digital thermometer built into the front, and generally it doesn't go over 85 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take.  However, with the hot weather we've been having, it's been going up to 105-106 degrees, so I've just been turning it on to do what I need to do then shutting it down.  Now granted, this is the temperature inside the case, so some of the components could conceivably be running even warmer.  I already have three fans in the case, and don't have room to add more.  Should I be worried, or just put a desk fan in front of it?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I'm not sure exactly where I heard this but your computer shouldn't go beyond twice the temperature of the room. You don't need to worry about it burning up.

[Dusty]

some of the components could conceivably be running even warmer.

Your case temp should be ok but you should check the components temps against manufacturers specs esp the processor.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I suggest downloading Speedfan

[Broni]

I'm not sure exactly where I heard this but your computer shouldn't go beyond twice the temperature of the room.

I found this formula:

if your room/case temperature is 20C and your idling with a CPU that consumes 10watts in idling, by using heatsink thermal resistance of 0.30 C/W, you get 20C + 10 x 0.30 = 20 + 3 = 23C... But when your CPU is at full usage and consumes 100 watts, you get 20C + 100 x 0.30 = 50C at full load

http://www.computing.net/answers/cpus/define-idle-temp/13024.html

[JJ 3000]

An overheated system can cause intermittent problems or cause the system to reboot or refuse to boot. In fact, the temperature inside the case should never exceed 100 degrees F.

You can use a can of compressed air to blow out the dust from the power supply, the vents over the entire case, and the heat sink. Excessive dust insulates components and causes them to overheat.

Whatever you can do to reduce heat will improve your overall system performance.

[Dias de verano]

105 Fahrenheit is 38 degrees in modern temperature scale (Celsius), not hot at all.

I'm not sure exactly where I heard this but your computer shouldn't go beyond twice the temperature of the room

I'm not sure either! It does not make sense. If the temp is 1 degree C, (brrr!!!) then a case temp of 2 would be the limit. Temperature scale is not a measure of quantity, so "twice the temperature" does not make sense. Especially since twice a negative number is a bigger negative number, so if the room was -5 the case limit would be -10, i.e. colder than the room.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I meant twice room temperature, I didn't think anyone would be in a room 10 degrees.

[Dias de verano]

I meant twice room temperature, I didn't think anyone would be in a room 10 degrees.

Without specifying the scale, "twice" the temperature is meaningless. My room temperature right now is around 290 degrees Kelvin, but I don't think my computer case would be very happy at 580 K.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

580 Kelvin? No wonder Dinosaurs are extinct... 

[Dias de verano]

Kelvin degrees are the same size as Celsius degrees but zero Kelvin is -273 and a bit degrees Celsius.

The kelvin unit and its scale, by international agreement, are defined by two points: absolute zero, and the triple point of Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW).

This definition also exactly relates the Kelvin scale to the Celsius scale. Absolute zero—the temperature at which nothing could be colder and no heat energy remains in a substance—is, by definition, exactly 0 K and −273.15 °C. The triple point of water is, by definition, exactly 273.16 K and 0.01 °C. This definition does three things:

   1. It fixes the magnitude of the kelvin unit as being exactly 1 part in 273.16 of the difference between absolute zero and the triple point of water;

   2. It establishes that one kelvin has exactly the same magnitude as a one-degree increment on the Celsius scale; and

   3. It establishes the difference between the two scales’ null points as being exactly 273.15 kelvins (0 K ≡ −273.15 °C and 273.16 K ≡ 0.01 °C).

[Broni]

For those not aware of the term of "room temperature", yes, it does exist, and it's not a temperature in Eskimo's igloo, but..

Room temperature (also referred to as ambient temperature) is a common term to denote a certain temperature within enclosed space at which humans are accustomed. Room temperature is thus often indicated by general human comfort, with the common range of 18°C (64.4 °F) to 24°C (75.2 °F), though climate may acclimatise people to higher or lower temperatures.
[...]
For scientific calculations, room temperature is taken to be 20 to 23.5 degrees Celsius, 528 to 537 degrees Rankine (°R), or 293 to 296 Kelvin (K), with an average of 21 °C, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (°F).[3]. For numerical convenience, either 20 °C or 300 K is often used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature
Now, Lord Kelvin may rest in peace.

[roccenstein]

I suggest downloading Speedfan

I ran this program, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking at.  While the program is running it shows a number in my system tray (77), and I'm not sure if that's just an icon showing the program is running or if it's the temp of my machine.  Also, after running it, it shows a whole list of temps in my system, most have a green checkmark or downward facing arrow next to them, but one labeled "core" has a little fire icon next to it and averages around 140-145 each time I run it.  (These are all in Fahrenheit, btw).  I tried to take a screenshot of the display after running it to show you guys the results, but couldn't figure out how to copy it (copy and paste didn't work either). 

[BC_Programmer]

copy and paste into paint, save, and attach to message.

[Broni]

one labeled "core" has a little fire icon next to it and averages around 140-145

That's 60-63C. If it's for idle computer, I'd turn it off, right away, and don't use it, until heat problem is fixed.
It'd be helpful to know what processor you have.

[roccenstein]

OK, here's the speedfan reading I just did...

As for my system, I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600, 4gb ram, win XP pro, Nvidia 8400 GS graphics card, and a Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 AM2 NFORCE 570 mobo.

I have a good size case, so it's not like everything's crammed in with no room to breathe.  My processor has a fan mounted on top of a heatsink on top of it, and I have three other case fans, one 4 1/2 inch and 2 3 inch, so I should have adequate cooling.  The case itself is clean, no excess dust, etc., and none of the fans are blocked.  The only thing I can think of is if the fan over the processor is gunked up with dustbunnies.   I've had the computer a little less than a year, so I haven't taken things apart for any kind of thorough cleaning.  It looks like the processor fan is only held in place by two clips though, so I'd imagine it wouldn't hurt anything to pop it off, right?

Also, I noticed it only lists one fan, which I'm assuming is the one mounted over the processor, and why does it show two different core temperatures?

[Dias de verano]

You have to configure it. Read the documentation on the website.

[roccenstein]

Maybe I'm just not knowledgeable enough to figure it out, but I looked on the website and didn't see any information for configuring it.

[Eg0Death]

If you share more information about your hardware specifications it will make helping you much easier. 

Do you perchance have a dual core CPU?  Is anything overclocked?  Is this a custom built PC or is it stock from a manufacturer? 

If you clean out the fan and the heat sync over the CPU and it still runs hot (but is not overclocked) the thermal paste between the heat sync and the CPU may be an issue.  If low quality/not enough paste was used it may need to be replaced.

I could add a bunch of potential issues but without more info they would be speculation.

[Dias de verano]

OK. See here

http://www.overclockers.com/articles1165/

[roccenstein]

Yeah, I do have a dual core cpu.  Nothing is overclocked, as far as I know. 
I put most of my system specs in the post with the speedfan results. 

I guess my system would qualify as custom built, I bought it from cyberpowerpc.com. 

Any other specs you need that I'm forgetting?

[Eg0Death]

I just see a white box with a red X where your speedfan results are posted. 

I strongly suspect that 2 core temps are displayed because the dual core CPU has 2 cores . . .

Is the system builder local to you or did you just find them online?  If they are local that makes harassing contacting them much easier.  You might ask if any other customers have complained about hot CPUs.  The manufacturer may have gotten hold of a bad batch of thermal paste or it could have been assembled by a crummy employee. 

[roccenstein]

Well. if that DID turn out to be the problem, is it something that is fairly easy to fix?  I have experience installing drives and graphics cards, etc, but have never done anything like installing a cpu.

[Dias de verano]

60-63 is by no means too hot for the 4600. As per AMD's website your 4600 temperature ranges are 55C - 70C although Cpuworld says max operating temperature 55 - 72. The cores will always read different from each other. This is 100% normal. Core 1 usually hotter.

[roccenstein]

Well that's good to hear.  Thanks!