I need an official set of acceptable temperature ranges for AMD Athlon
and XP chips. Everything I have found so far simply indicates an
extreme upper limit at which the chip malfunctions and a
recommendation of "the cooler the better."

My problem: I have many machines using AMD chips, all at different
speeds. Some I can keep down around 100 degrees F., but faster ones
are naturally hotter. No one can tell me how hot is too hot. If I have
an XP 2200 with a large CPU fan running at 123 degrees, I'm certain I
could get an enormous one that's three times as loud and drop it to
115. Is there any point? For all I know, it might be perfectly fine to
run it at 140.

Nothing I have seen has broken it down: < 105 ideal, 106 - 120 safe,
121 - 140 acceptable, 141-150 too hot, > 150 prone to failure. If it's
at the AMD site, I could never find it stated plainly. I just need
something in black and white (pixels) that states what a perfectly
acceptable temperature is so I don't waste time and money trying to
decrease perfectly safe temperatures. Something legitimate I can show
to a coworker and say, "See, it's fine. Quit worrying about it."

Thank you

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Request for Question Clarification by pwizard-ga on 05 Nov 2002 13:52 PST

Greetings jbbarnes,

I wasn't able to find the information broken down exactly how you
wanted it (with the different "safe" ranges and what-not) but I did
find a list of CPU maximum safe temperatures for the different AMD and
Pentium level processors. That page can be found here:

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/maxtemp.htm

I also found another "heavy" article that explains the temperatures
and internal methods of responding to extreme temperatures for both
the new Athlon XP and Pentium 4 CPUs. That article is available here:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/pentium4athlonxpthermalmanagement/

It also has some good temperature information and links at the bottom
of it.

Will this information suffice for what you are requesting or should a
researcher try to find even more detailed specifics than what is
listed above? If this will suffice, plase indicate so and I will
create an official "answer" and close out the question for you.
Thanks!

Sincerely,
PWizard

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Clarification of Question by jbbarnes-ga on 05 Nov 2002 20:51 PST

This isn't quite what I'm looking for--still basically a list of
maximum temperatures. The issue is that the chip's lifespan is
decreased by excessive heat. So if 90 degrees C is the max, I can't
expect to get much life out of one running at 88. That seems
intuitive. But what about 70? 50? I don't know what the curve looks
like.

If 25 C is great and 90 C is terrible, what happens inbetween? Is the
degradation linear? Exponential? If it's not liner, then how long does
the line slope gradually before it skyrockets?

If I walked into the AMD lab and said, "My XP 2200 chip runs at 70 C",
what would the reacion be?  "Well, as long as you're below 90..." or
"Gee, that seems a little high for a 2200. We think you would get
significantly more stability and longer life by getting it below 50."

I have had problems with a machine or two locking up, only to find a
bad CPU fan. As I recall, they were running around 150 F, which is
around 66 C. The maximum temperature listings don't help very much in
a case like that. What I need is something indicating that, even
though I'm below the maximum, I'm in an undesirable range and could
return to a point of stability by dropping it to 55 degrees, for
instance.

If you can't find what I'm looking for, don't worry about it. I have
looked, too. I was just hoping that one of you had seen something more
informative than the max temperatures because I know that problems
occur long before you reach them.

at's still far below 90 F, but

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Clarification of Question by jbbarnes-ga on 05 Nov 2002 20:57 PST

lyrix-ga:
Thanks for the comment. If I'm reading the official AMD answer
correctly, then it appears there may be no answer for this question.
If AMD takes the straightforward question "What is the normal
operating temperature of my processor?" and answers "'normal'
operating temperatures are not specified for AMD processors," maybe my
question is proven unanswerable.

In addition, AMD liturature states in their Athlon FAQ (
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/FAQ_new24_09_02.pdf
)

"What is the normal operating temperature of my processor?

The operating temperature of a system or processor is highly dependent
on the characteristics of the system as a whole and the combination of
components that make up the system. Consequently, the "normal"
operating temperature will vary from system to system, depending on
each system's make-up. Some of the variables that affect the operating
temperature of a system are: case size, air flow characteristics,
installed components, processor speed, processor heatsink/fan
solution, thermal interface material, power supply, voltage settings,
workload, and ambient air temperature.
An approximation to the typical reading from a BIOS or an external
software utility is expected to be around 60ºC-65ºC or lower.
Although "normal" operating temperatures are not specified for AMD
processors, there are maximum operating temperature ratings that must
not be exceeded."

Note that it seems that the official line is that there is no official
operating temperature ranges. (I am posting this as a comment since it
essentially a non-answer)

-C

JDB --

I believe that what JDB is seeking is unlikely, if not impossible, due
to the way that microprocessor speeds are determined.  When the chips
are produced, then mounted, they go to test.  Those failing at the
highest clock speeds are triaged at lower clock speeds to see if they
will pass.  A significant portion do and can be sold at the lower
price that slower CPUs will bring.

Of course a primary reason for failing at each speed is: heat.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA