I've looked for this but still cant find it. All I have found is some info
for Celeron processors which say that about 89 C is ok but getting high.
So I am assuming that I can go to about 85 deg C with a P 4 2.80GHz
hyperthreading tech and still be OK?
The main problem from overheating is if it happens suddenly,
a rapid rise from unusual situation like running without
heatsink on it. In that kind of situation the temp in one
area may rise faster than the thermal diode can respond, so
the built-in safety throttling and shutoff won't work fast
enough.
With typical overheating situation, once the CPU gets to a
certain temp it will throttle down speed to reduce heat
output. Last I heard Intel was not forthcoming about the
exact temp this occurs at, that it may vary per different
CPUs. So the issue is then if CPU is cool enough to be both
stable and not throttle down since that is a bit of a waste,
paying for modern performance that you couldn't use.
The upper temps like 85 C, are not meant to be a continual
running temp for a desktop CPU, rather a max figure to avoid
damage (more it exceeded that figure, the more likely the
damage occurs more quickly). For a ballpark figure I feel
the cooling (heatsink and/or case airflow) should be
rethought if the CPU temp ever gets above 70C... that being
the full load temp, it's fairly meaningless what the idle or
partial load temp is.
http://developer.intel.com/design/Pentium4/documentation.htm?iid=techdoccntr+processors_p4&#data