Monitoring Notebook Temps: nVidia & ATI, CPU, HDD - Do your temps worry you?

[Thibault]

Thibault, you can always upgrade your videocard to a 6800/7800GTX/7900GTX/7950GTX when you want, although they run for about $400-500.

your CPU should never really get past 70C degrees since the system should cool it down around 55-60C degrees at max load.

your HDD should idle around 35C degrees, i havent seen mine go past 45C degrees for about a year now.

I can upgrade my video card >.<
Well I don't have any plans to do so in the near future but I'll probably consider it someday.

Well my HDD idles in the low 40 degree C. My CPU isn't a problem it hasn't gone over 40 yet.

[sandstorm77]

I tried running Riva Tuner and it wouldn't work for me either. Im using the
Radeon Omega Drivers 3.8.330 (Catalyst 7.1). Guess I'll try it for my desktop though.

By reading what Chaz and TwilightVampire say there is now way to monitor the temps of the X700. Is this correct?

[sandstorm77]

Gophn...thanks for the article and all the information. It is very much appreciated. Unfortunately Im not a high tech computer guru like a lot of others on this forum.

I just downloaded NHC. I understand the basics as far as the temp monitoring and all. I havent changed any settings in the software. Perhaps you can make a basic guide as far as the settings are concerned if anything needs to be changed. ie under CPU Speed settings Dynamic Switching is selected for both AC and battery power. I have no idea what dynamic switching is. Also, under ACPI, CPU temp warning is set to 80C, and CPU temp shutdown at 95C. Are those settings appropriate for all laptops in general, or does it depend on the spec of the PCU? Also, every now and then the green bars on the bottom right will jump from green to red and the 1.73GHz goes back and forth to 800 MHz. Is that normal?

[Gophn]

I have no idea what dynamic switching is. Also, under ACPI, CPU temp warning is set to 80C, and CPU temp shutdown at 95C. Are those settings appropriate for all laptops in general, or does it depend on the spec of the PCU?

you can leave it on Dynamic Switching (its default), which means that when its on battery (there will be a performance/battery balance), then if plug it into power plug (there will be max performance)

Also, every now and then the green bars on the bottom right will jump from green to red and the 1.73GHz goes back and forth to 800 MHz. Is that normal?

thats normal, those bars are showing the CPU load at any given time, I found that to be a bit annoying so I disabled it in NHC, I just wanted to know the CPU temp in my taskbar and batterylife only.

NHC is a very customizable program, I was thinking of updating my guide to cover the basics, but the program already makes it very simple to figure out.

Hope this helps,
-Gophn

[LastDance]

I'm using G1. What kind of temp is unsafe for CPU, HD and GPU?

[Gophn]

most of the comments and experiences from others that monitor their notebooks shows:

CPU: (varied, depending on type)
- although your CPU should never go past 70 C degrees

GPU: (varied, depending on type)
- GPU can get extremely hot, but has internal thermal control to downclock if it reaches a specific temp.
- i have seen people get downclocked at 80-85 C degrees, and up to 100C degrees (which is what my GPU's threshold temp is)

HDD: (varied, but usually stable)
- usually stays warm (up to 45-50C degrees) during use.
- should set the Power Options to turn off HDD after 10-15min of idle.

[LastDance]

Ok thanks. My CPU does go slightly above 70. GPU and HDD as per you mentioned.

[cb6000]

Hi, I tried using the Notebook Hardware Control program on Vista Home Premium (32-bit version), and I even downloaded the patch for Core 2 Duo CPUs. Once I tried to open the program, I got the blue screen, and I had to do a System Restore on Safe Mode to remove the program. Is there a reason why? Are there any alternatives to NHC? RivaTuner worked fine, though.

[funny.cz]

NHC is not working on Win Vista. Not yet.

[midnitdragoon]

hey i tried this today and it works great. One question though...if the program reports that it its too hot will it automatically tell windows to shut off? I say this because i was playing supreme commander today with this thing on to monitor and 20 minutes in it shut off and restarted on its own with the fans on max speed. This game never caused this to happen before today. Just wondering what caused that to happen.