I participate in distributed processing. I have a couple of questions about the processor temperature shown on EasyTune.
Question 1:
The default upper temperature limit shown for my processor is 40 degrees C. But, distributed processing is CPU intensive and while calculations are going on I routinely see the processor temperature run 47-50 degrees. The line changes from blue to red above 40 and, if active, the alarm sounds.
Is it likely to harm the processor to run it at these temperatures for extended periods?
Question 2:
The temperature shown for the processor changes quickly. Is this really a temperature measurement? The temperature of physical objects normally changes slowly, yet when the high CPU activity stops the temperature drops below 40 almost instantly. Is the temperature shown a measured value or estimated based on calculations?
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6246962/0023.png)
After your comment I downloaded and installed CoreTemp. The problem with the way I was doing it was a real time measurement after the processing had stopped. CoreTemp catches the high point and it is much higher than I'd thought earlier.
When I looked up the upper temperature for my processor it gave a range -- 55° to 68°C. Using CoreTemp I see it's pushing the upper end of this range. Now I am beginning to get concerned.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6246962/0024.png)
I don't know what I should do to better cool the processor. My case has four fans, one pulling in the front, two pushing out the back and the power supply fan. The inside of the case is cool enough. I'm using the stock heatsink and fan on the processor and I don't intentionally overclock.