A question of temperature.

[Pope Mobile]

Alright, I'm a bit mystified as to if my temperatures are acceptable here. It's hard to go by what other individuals say, because critical things like room temperature and case fans are frequently not mentioned. Here's what I'm experiencing:

Zalman fan: 5 degree Celsius difference between maximum and minimum fan RPM setting.
Room temperature: About 5 degrees, again, between about 80-ish temperature (no AC) and closer to 72-ish (AC).

And my setup:
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard
Pentium 3.2 GHz northwood core, 512 KB cache, 800 FSB
Zalman 7000 CNPS7000A (aluminum and copper)
GeForce FX5200 PCI video card
Western Digital 120 GB SATA HDD w/ 8 MB cache
Maxtop Signature Series II midtower case (model CSX-147K2FGRAY)
Allied 500 watt power supply, two fans (one input, one exhaust)
Two case-mounted fans, top input, side exhaust

So, since i noticed a bit more noise with the Zalman fan at max (5 decibels = 50% more volume), i'm keeping it at minimum for now. This should be fine, since i'm not overclocking. When the room is cooler, or the AC is on, I notice lower 30 idle temperatures (32 average). When the computer gets going, under load, it gets up to about 45-ish. That's all within bounds. Now, when the room is hotter, i'll notice idle temperatures of 36 or so, and max temperatures up to the low/mid 50's (50-54-ish). That's when I get a bit worried. My question, then: Is this normal for my setup?

By the way, perhaps a sticky should be made for temperature references? I'm not sure if anyone knows good sites, but i know it's a frequently asked question, and one that's difficult to deal with, due to all of the things which factor into temperatures.

[Alaron]

Your temperatures are perfectly fine. Even at their highest, that is well within the limits of a safe operating temperature. All cpu and case temperatures fluctuate due to room temperature and fan speed. As long as the system is not locking up or crashing, it makes no difference if the temp is 40 or 50 C. Rest assured that your system is fine.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Pope Mobile My question, then: Is this normal for my setup?

Yes, perfectly normal.

Cricket

[Panama Red]

This info from Intel should help you understand why you have nothing to worry about. The internal thermal protective features of the P4 will prevent you from damaging the chip. The chart at the bottom of the page gives some good temp numbers for better understanding.

http://support.intel.com/support/pro.../cs-007999.htm

[Pope Mobile]

Alright, thanks for assuring me with your quick and helpful replies.