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Here are some VERY general guidelines:
Below 45'C (Full Load): If you have a .18 micron Palomino AthlonXP 2000+ than this is an excellent temperature, with a cooler-running .13 micron chip its merely average, but regardless, you'll see no problems at this temp.
45-55'C: You should still be fine in this range, assuming your mobo is REMOTELY accurate. If your temperature sensors are off, however, this seemingly-ok temperature could begin to show problems--lock-ups, BSODs, and the like.
55'C-65'C: At this point you are running pretty damn hot. You aren't over the CPU's thermal rating yet, and you may not even be having problems, but its still a good idea to look at your cooling solutions and see how they could be improved. An additional case fan or better heatsink / CPU fan could do wonders, knocking 6-8'C off your 'net temperature, for only a few dollars.
65'C+: Danger zone. Problems will almost certainly start occuring (the higher you go, the more likely they get). If you are running at 85'C and up, you are risking meltdown.
These ARE general guidelines, and the thermal readings vary board to board. I have an EPOX 8K3A+ that habitually reads VERY hot, showing temps above 55'C when the CPU has just started and is quite cool to the touch. The original .13 micron AthlonXP 2200+ I had would hit 75'C stable, but that was an exceptionally hot-running chip. AMD had tuned it to run stable at that heat--but it was still one damn burning cookie.
Two rules of thumb are #1: Cooler = better and #2 = if you aren't having problems, lock-ups, or failures, the heatsink feels cool (or just moderately warm) to the touch, and the temperatures look reasonable, you are probably in good shape.
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"A ship in the harbor is safe--but that's not what ships were made for."
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