Permissible Peak CPU Temperatures

Hello everyone,

I came across this interesting article today regarding permissible peak/maximum CPU temperatures:

http://www.technibble.com/…cpu-temperature/

In the quest for the ultimate media center or home theater PC (HTPC) system, one criteria - overall system quietness - remain elusive to low end systems. Fan noise has traditionally been a problem, because standard stock fans are usually installed, making it sound like a jet engine.

Well, what does this have to do with CPU temperature?

If your motherboard has it, you can tweak your fan speed via the BIOS, or even with a program/application. Ideally, you'd want to set the peak limit as equal to the maximum allowable CPU temperature, so that your fan will only turn on or engage once it's starting to get "too hot," as to minimize fan noise.

However, note that this always isn't a good idea. Setting CPU temperature too high may cause inadvertent effects. For example, your entire motherboard may depend on the CPU fan action to cool other surrounding components (e.g. RAM, onboard video). Especially if you have a "larger but lower RPM" fan, the CPU fan may actually be cooling your TV card, add-on video, etc. Having a higher overall temperature may cause inadvertent effects, which can be unpredictable with the variety and myriad of hardware options out there.

Thus, for media center / HTPC DIY-ers, experimenting and tweaking for the best compromise temperature for good heat dissipation vs. low noise may be a many week endeavor. Be sure to start low, to limit any possible damage to components.

For those who are interested in a "ready-to-go" or "out-of-the-box" solution, we've engineered VidaBox™ systems to emit minimal noise / near silent operation. During normal use, VidaBox media centers emit less than 30 dBA at a 1m range. After installing it in any home entertainment center, the background noise of any home will usually drown out any noise that the VidaBox™ emits.

Have fun with your media centers!

The VidaBox Team
Media Center & Home Theater PC / HTPC System