If you plan to buy (or have bought) a gladiator/golden gate read this please....

[Amedeo602]

I got my gladiator today (with delta fan) via UPS. So I put on the arctic silver and attach it to the mobo....

I was getting 62C (asus probe, more likely to be 52C) with the side off my case (full tower) and a desktop fan blowing air in (idle). Now I get 62C with the side on (idle). So for me there's really not much change, except the sound is muffled a bit. maybe i'm doing it wrong or...?? i think this temp is WAY too high because i'm not even overclocking and there are SEVEN fans inside the case:

1 on gladiator
1 on PSU
1 on video card
2 in @ bottom of case
2 out @ top of case


PS: If you plan to buy the glad and you own an asus a7a266 the over-sized finger flap (to attach the heatsink to the socket) covers up the first ddr slot. don't fear, it's easily fixed: take pliers and bend the flap. just a bit of an annoyance that i though i'd mention

[MisterQ]

did you read the instructions on how to use AS2...like applying it heres the link - http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
Also is there any airflow in your case?? like are the fans all blowing in, all out, or did you position them so I would have like input and output...did you put the sink on the right way... not trying to make you feel stupid these are just questions...I hope not in a mean tone.
Hope you have luck getting temps down

[Amedeo602]

i put it on the way it says to in the manual (i might re-apply it if temps don't improve though)

hsf is on the right way

here's a **CRUDE** pic of my case from the side (i used paint)

the lines represent airflow, the bigger the line the stronger the fan is...other than the 5 arrows i have a delta/gladiator on the hsf and a stock hsf on the video card (i ordered a blorb last week, still waiting)

[Hoot]

What is your PC room temp? I ask because something does not sound right with your results. Lets examine the math for a second. First off, I assume your 1.4 is running at 1.75V. I will give the Gladiator the benefit of a doubt and say it delivers .25c/w cooling capacity. If your CPU is at 52C, then your room temp must be 34C (93F) !!!

Hoot

[CrystalMethod]

Also kinda looks like the fans are fighting for air. Might be ending up with some dead spots of air. What case do you have? Looks like a full tower, but I can't be sure.

[Amedeo602]

It's sure not 90 F in here (but the humidity is horrible...feels like it, even in the air conditioning). Also, the 1.4 voltage is 1.79~1.80 (autodetect voltage)


Yes, the case is a full tower. It's approximately 24" tall x 7.5" wide x 16" deep.


Of course there is always the possibility of Asus's monitor being faulty...the system doesn't seem to be locking up or causing any other problems, I just don't want to cause any damage to my CPU. If nothing else, I have 2 80mm (50 cfm) Sunon's ordered that should be here in a couple days...hopefully they'll help :)

[outhouse]

Did you lapp the Gladiator? mine came Saturday and when i got it it needed lapping very badly [may help some] i also noticed the HSF can rock back and forth a little more then my last HSF so its critical that it's sitting perfectly flat on the CPU.

goodluck

[Amedeo602]

no, i didn't lap it, but i still expected temps to be a bit lower than that...

[Cowtown]

The only problems I can see are the fan configuration. I have to agree on that. It looks as though you have a deadspot right by the middle of the case. I would rethink your fan strategy myself.

As well I can also see these heatsinks (copper right?) having problems with the mounting surface since it is so soft it probably deforms (even ever so slightly) quite easily.

Just my 8 cents.

Shawn

[Jetset]

What does lapping mean?

[WyrmMaster]

If you look at the bottom of your heatsink, you will see that its quite rough. Lapping is simply sanding it FLAT and SMOOTH, so that it gets better contact with the processor. Your fans might be fightint, as someone said, but the one in the rear should be putting cool air right no the processor. You may want to try ducting the air from the rear fan to the delta. You can make a duct out of cardboard.

[Amedeo602]

i looked at the bottom of the heatsink and it didn't really look like it needed to be lapped on this particular one...maybe i'll try it just to make sure that's not the issue

as for my fans: i moved the one at the top so that it sucks air out of the "dead spot" and out of the bottom pci slot

a question about ducting: would a piece of plastic (i'm thinking PVC) or aluminum (pepsi can) work as well as cardboard? And...how should i connect the duct to the fans? duct tape?

[Bad Maniac]

I think you might have some negative preassure in your case, and also, You want to suck cold air in at the very bottom of the case front (and/or back) and blowing the hot air out at the top or top back of the case. Because hot air rises according to basic laws of physic, and you want all the help you can get.
Also, as stated previously, your probe might be WAY off, but put a finger to the heatsink while running at tat temp. if it is warm it's fine, but if it's cold you don't have enought contact with the chip.

And what else would fit better making a duct than duct tape :). just a little hint, make one from cardboard, and stay away from using aluminum cans. You DON'T want your metal duct falling of and landing on your new $500 fast @$$ video card :D

[Amedeo602]

Bad Maniac (Jul 11, 2001 05:25 p.m.):
You DON'T want your metal duct falling of and landing on your new $500 fast @$$ video card :D

I think ya have a point there.... :)

[Wa11y]

I was getting 35C with my case open and a FOP38 on it. Then I put two 80MM fans above the PSU (I have a full tower, Antec KS188 (http://www.antec-inc.com/product/cases/valu188.htm)), both of them blowing out, and single 80MM fan at the bottom front of the case blowing in. I didn't cut a blowhole in the bezel of the case (soon as I get a dremel and some time!), so it's got some abstructed airflow, but my CPU temps dropped about 1C. These are all idle temps.

If I may recommend, put the fans on the bottom front blowing in, and the fans on the top back blowing out, so you have linear air flow. If you wanna mod your case, you can put a fan or two on the side blowing directly on the processor (but that's a lot of work, which is why I haven't done it yet). And if your case has a plate in the middle of it with a hole where the wires pass through, be sure to get some small (4 inch) cable ties, Radio Shack and WalMart both have them, and lock down all your PSU cables, and round out your IDE cables. Fold them in the middle, to make a "V" then fold the sides down the make a "W" and use the wire ties to lock them in place. If you have an unused 5.25" bay above the middle plate, stick all your unused PSU cables in there. That's basically what I did, and I get some pretty good temps. And I didn't lap my HSF (in case you haven't guessed, I'm too lazy!).

[Hoot]

Bad Maniac (Jul 11, 2001 05:25 p.m.):
-snip-
You want to suck cold air in at the very bottom of the case front (and/or back) and blowing the hot air out at the top or top back of the case. Because hot air rises according to basic laws of physic, and you want all the help you can get.
-snip-


Buzz
I'm sorry but that assumption is incorrect.
Hot air, being less dense than cold air, will rise. That is true. Look at a cigarette in an ashtray. That smoke (fine dust + hot air) rises straight up. Go outside with that cigarette please. Even with a slight breeze, certainly not as strong as through-case airflow, the smoke deflects in the direction of the breeze. The hot air will go wherever you case fans, working in concert, tell it to go. The best place to inject cool air is as close to the HSF as possible. Exhaust it wherever you choose, but bring it in close to the CPU, if the HS fan blows down into the HS. If it sucks air out of the HS, then the exhausting case fan should be as close to the CPU as possible and bring the cool air in as far away from it as possible. Think about it.

Hoot

[Sharp]

I had a gladiator on my 1.3 Ghz Athlon-C and I was getting temps around 53ºC with the case off. With the case on and 3 fans [excluding the delta on the gladiator] it would run up to 59ºC ;-(. My advice to anyone who wants to get a high speed athlon or overclock a slower athlon to these speeds is to water cool. Any HSF capable of cooling it decently will be extremely loud and still wont be able to cool as good as water. Save some money, don't take shortcuts. I seriously wonder how OEMs can use air cooling in their high end systems...

[Tachyon]

I seriously wonder how OEMs can use air cooling in their high end systems..

OEM's currently don't use AMD CPU's...and one of the reasons has to be heat.

[Sharp]

Tachyon (Jul 12, 2001 08:18 p.m.):
OEM's currently don't use AMD CPU's...and one of the reasons has to be heat.

Check out Gateway's "select series", they feature Athlons up to 1.4Ghz... so does compaq. Now back to my question. How do they cool them!? anyone have one?? care to check?

[FishDog3]

Check out Gateway's "select series", they feature Athlons up to 1.4Ghz... so does compaq. Now back to my question. How do they cool them!? anyone have one?? care to check?


Ha!, they don't, I know a lot of people that have high end gateway systems and they all run hotter than hell. IMO they run just below that stable/unstable line.

[Plat]

ya.

i got a compaq sittin in my room right now. has a 1ghz t-bird in it. i've wondered how it doesnt' have heating problems. it has a low end taisol on it. probably equivalent to a FOP 32. adequate i'm sure, but definitely not capable of oc'ing.

[Sharp]

that's what I figured they'd do... Seems to me OEMs wont be able to use newer faster athlons. I bet AMD has something big up their sleeve, no way would they ignore their own death in the OEM market. Athlon-4's are cooler running b/c of the die size and optimizations but still, that'll only take you so far... Intel may win the war after all..

[Paul -The Mad Hatter]

Sharp (Jul 12, 2001 11:08 p.m.):
Intel may win the war after all..

How dare you say sominthing like that!

[The Stickie]

viva la intel !!! :-)

[William]

why are saying intel may win the war, they are winning the war and have been. AMD is still the outside force, no matter how good their chips are. How about that for off topic?

[Bad Maniac]

Hoot, I agree with you to a degree. Air DOES rise, and that natural flow WILL go to the topmost spot in your case, and if you don´t get it out of the top of the case, it will just circulate up there and heat up your drives and cd:s.
But then you are right, you need flow as close to the cpu hsf as possible.
Ducting to the hsf directly from outside the case is one good way. or putting one extra inflow fan just beside the heatsink throug a blowhole in the side of the case, or from the back of the case, that will join the general airflow in the case from bottom to top.

Just ideas, any input?

[Hoot]

You are absolutely correct. There is no air cooled case solution as effective as a blowhole directly above the CPU, with a small length of duct reaching down near the fan intake. Whether it is an active or passive blowhole depends upon the noise you are comfortable with and the power of the fan on the HSF. Air filtration is a must, unless you clean your HSF and case in general at least once a month. If you have the typical mid-tower case with lower front and upper rear fan openings, the best compliment to a blowhole is to have the lower front as an intake and the upper rear as an exhaust. If you use an active blowhole (with dedicated fan) make sure you balance the fan strengths so that the case has a slightly positive pressure. If you use a passive blowhole (just a duct down to the HS fan, then be careful when balancing you fan strengths, so that you do not fight with the HS fan for its share of the flow. The alternative would be to make the HS fan exhaust air off of the HS, out the blowhole and make both case fans blowing in.

Hoot

[el]

just you wait AMD will win! P4 ha!

[Nevin]

When temperatures are much, much higher than expected after installing a new heatsink, the first thing to consider is that the heatsink is not sitting flush on the CPU core. Verify that the heatsink is oriented the proper way and that the clip is applying pressure directly above the center of the core. (The clip is offset, so if it is backwards, the pressure will not be centered above the core.) If you are using a shim, it could keep the heatsink from properly contacting the CPU core if it is slightly out of tolerance or bent as little as 0.003" (This small bend would be undetectable unless you laid the shim on a flat piece of glass.) Verify that the CPU is fully seated in the socket. Tall in-socket thermistors on some motherboards require that you press down on the CPU as you lock the socket to insure that the CPU is fully seated.

In some cases, even when everything is done right, the heatsink will not sit flush on the core. (It's like trying to balance a dictionary on a Pepsi bottle and the contact point is not the middle of the dictionary.) I have several heatsinks that require a bit of prodding or even a rubber pad under one side before they will sit perfectly flush on the core.

As others have mentioned, an additional possibility is that the temperature measurement hardware or temperature display software is not functioning properly.

Nevin House
Arctic Silver, Inc.

[Blue Jester_2112]

I recieved my gladiator, lapped it with 600, 800 and 1000 grit paper, applied ASII and carefully strapped her on so as to get as much contact as possible and my load temps are 45*C. That temp is on my 1.2 bird oc'd via fsb to 1390 using the Asus probe (notorius for being high) and side panel off.
Try touching the HS while it's on and make sure it's warm to the touch, mine is very warm (be careful not to shock anything). If it isn't then your not getting good contact and might want to try lapping it and reseating it.
Good Luck

[Amedeo602]

I took the gladiator off, lapped it with 1500 grit sandpaper, then took the AS2 off and redid the whole thing. It helped a few degrees (probably the lapping). I also got some new fans so I put those in. It's still running over 50 C.

A question about asus probe: does it also read the wrong mb temp? Right now mine reads 37 C.

I'm thinking the next step is a duct...anyone know a good, cheap way to make a duct from the cpu to the side of the case?

[Clockwork]

Those temps. are way too high and I suspect Asus probe is not giving you an accurate reading. It seems that you are being careful with the HSF installation and cooling in general. First thing to do is check your temps. in the BIOS. Some MB's give more accurate readings than others, but at the very least you will get a closer to true result than with the Probe. I would also recommend Mother Board Monitor 5 as a more accurate monitoring tool. It is available as a free download !!

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

Good luck and happy cooling

[FishDog3]

cardboard

pvc pipe

cheep and effective ^_^

[FerrariF50]

I don't have a anwer for you fan problem but I can say Amd has allways been a follower and not a leader. Well thats what it sayed somewere on here!

[Mad_Heckler]

hmm? Amd T-Bird 1.4 beating a P4 1.7. Amd chips outperform Intel chips and are much cheaper. Intel is winning the war, I guess. Intel may have more revenue but it's from many products, not just cpus. I would say Intel is winning the war of having more ignorant users, and more flashy TV commercials. No offense to you, I am just talking about the people that buy Intel because they think Blue Man Group is cool and they dont know any better.

William (Jul 13, 2001 03:53 a.m.):
why are saying intel may win the war, they are winning the war and have been. AMD is still the outside force, no matter how good their chips are. How about that for off topic?