whats the highest stable temperature when idle do you think my socket 939 x2 3800 will go up to using the retail heatsink
as long as your not hitting 50*C full load then you should have no problems. it should never go that high idle, but if for some reason it was 45*C idle. it would still be stable. untill you maxed both cores and took it over 50*C
Generally, you don't want over 40C idle, or over 50C load, just to be on the safe end, though I suppose you could go higher before the chip actually fries
My X2 is at about 40C idle and 50C load. It's stable as and this is bloody hot for an X2. Really must reapply that thermal paste soon.
My Oppy 175 (Same as X2 4400) runs about 45c at full load with a Thermalright Ultra-90 HSF and quiet fan..