Thanks for your reply. I have a fan and heatsink on the CPU + 2 case fans. I haven't overclocked.
I've cleaned the cpu fan and this has brought down the temperature a few degrees to 66, but it still goes up to 82 when the grid is running. I'll try a new cpu fan, but I'm still worried about the impact of the grid on the temperature.

jmcmanus,
It has been several months since I checked manufacturer's recommended temperature limits, but from memory anything at 80 degrees C is a red-hot emergency. I did a slight fan upgrade on my computer a long time ago so at full load I run 48-50 degrees C. Your computer needs to be taken into a shop for some bench time. This is not a WCG problem, this is a real hardware problem of some sort.
Lawrence

You should be concerned.

When I used the intel stock heatsink, I encountered temperatures in excess of sixty degrees idle, and on heavy load it would simply shut down above 70 degrees. Perhaps it's my motherboard's safety system.

However, I knew that it was way to hot and instead got a qaud-heatpipe fin-stack for $80 and a tube of thermal paste to cool the cpu. It now runs at 40 degrees idle, 52 degrees single-thread full load, 56 degrees hyperthreaded full load. Using air conditioning, I can cool it down to 34 degrees, but no lower.

The grid has no impact on temperature except load. the grid uses CPU power. The more CPU power is used, the hotter it is. Your idle temperature is low because the CPU power usage is minimal.
So long as you run ANY program that uses alot of CPU power, it *will* raise your temperature.
The grid is an example of one such program. Other examples include hi-performance games like Doom3 or unreal tournament, or utilities like anti-virus scanners.

An increase of temperature of P4s would lower performance, or available CPU power. This means that programs requiring alot of CPU power will take alot longer to finish what they need to process. This means that your CPU stays hot longer, lowers performance further cumulatively, and slowly killing the processor, and all components near it.

What may people don't think about when it comes to cooling are the components near the processor. All they think of is the CPU, whether it's fine, etc. News: You forgot about the capacitors. That row of components next to the processor. It sound hard to think of, but they are prone to meltdown at high temperatures. Even if they do not meltdown, or 'pop' (aka explode in a small way), their lifespan - or how long you can use your motherboard without sending it to a workshop specialising in capacitor problems - is reduced by months, or years, depending.
For the geek who replaces his parts regularly with the newest, this is no problem. But for the average user, your computer is dying faster. The nearer a component is to the end of its lifespan, like humans, their performance decreases too. (no offense to the seniors here)

In sumarry:
Honestly, you should get a better cooler for your CPU.

If you unsure what, or how to, seek professional advice at your nearest computer shop. Don't forget the thermal paste. It can mean a difference of many degrees.

Hi Orca,



Ah, so THAT happened! I once heard a loud POP coming from my PC (not my current one, though). And shortly after, I found out that the fan of my power supply was no longer functioning. Much later, when I dismantled the system, I also took the power supply apart, and found a popped capacitor. The POP had blown the capacitor off the printed circuit board!

We'll never know which happened first: the popping capacitor or the failing fan. But either way they MUST have been related.

Thanx for enlightening me!