I live in sunny California. It's hot most days.
I have an AMD 9850 quad core which is rated at 125W. I recently put in an HTPC case and had to use the stock AMD heat-sink / fan because of the height restriction.
It idles in the 50s and heats up to 70+ under full load with all four cores maxed out.
Is this normal? Have I misapplied the thermal grease? Any advice? Thanks.
With a zalman 9700 it idles at 40 and maxes at 50ish (with the lid unsheathed since I can't make room!).