Hope I have chosen the correct placement for this thread in the forums.....
I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop (three years old) whose video card recently died. Replaced it with a used one I was able to purchase online for $80.00 (cheaper than the $200.00+ for a new one online.) Card works fine and now that I know it was the problem I will purchase the new one as a backup. (Curiously enough, Dell does not have replacement cards for this only three year old model!! So one must buy them in the aftermarket.) My question is this.....What is the optimum operating temperature for the Pentium 4 processor in this laptop. When I first turn it on it seems to stay around 31C when I go into gaming it jumps up to around 50C. I monitor it through PC Wizard 2000. I have 1GB of ram in it. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hello anotherwhiner,

What speed is your P4?

It's a Pentium 4-M 2000mhz

No those temperatures are fine. The P4's have the ability to slow themselves down when they get to a their maximum temperature, to prevent themeselves from being burnt out. It's a shame that not all CPU's were made this way. Maximum temperature of this CPU is between 64 - 78°C. Optimum temperature should be at least 20°C below their maximum temperature.

Marked as answered.