Linux may make your CPU work hard, but it shouldn't cause it to overheat
if the hardware is otherwise OK. See the other posts in this thread.
And there is the key.
Even if you were to run your processor 100% usage 24/7. If the hardware
is properly cooled, you will never overheat. The answer is never going
to be "Let's stop the CPU reaching 100% usage, because that will CAUSE
overheating". Overheating is caused by poor thermal solutions.
Software is not responsible for poor thermal solutions.
Things I have discovered:
1> A dust caked heatsink on a Northwood or Prescott CPU can make the
temperature jump from a stressed 55 Celsius to as much as 76 Celsius
when stressed, causing the BIOS to kick in and prevent overheating (the
result being different for different motherboards).
2> Simply adding cheap case fans does bring the temperature down a
little, adds a lot more noise, but most importantly DOES NOT prevent CPU
overheating. No matter how good the air circulating around the
fan/heatsink, an improperly functioning fan/heatsink (i.e. covered with
dust), will simply have to be dusted or replaced.
3> Zalman! I've played with Thermaltake, Coolermaster and Zalman CPU
fan/heatsinks and it always seems to me the Zalman's are not only the
coolest, but the quietest as well. For point 1 above, where I was
getting 55 Celsius stressed temperature for a new CPU and 76 Celsius
after a year or so in the dust, no matter how much I stress that machine
now, I cannot get the CPU temp above 43 Celsius, after fitting an $AU80
Zalman. Expensive I know, but the results are SO worth it.
My experience in a nutshell after 9 years of business - take it or leave it.
Regards,
Ed.
