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Anti-break-in??? :(

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RZA

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Location
San Francisco, CA
Yesterday, my SLK-800 has arrived. As I reported in the other thread, it instantly gave me some 8-9 C temp decrease comparing to my OCZ Goliath. I was hoping the situation to improve even more in a day or two - when my AS3 breaks in.

However, the situation is quite the opposite - yesterday I had 55 C under load at 2200 MHz, and today it is 61 C! Why??? Ambient temp is exactly the same - about 22 C; it's VERY cool here now. Any advice?

One more thing: a month ago, when I bought my Thoroughbred, I could boot and nearly-work at 2300 MHz - it would reboot once or twice a day. Now, with SLK, I can't even boot at 2300! Not even at 1.85V. Temps, although behaving strangely (see beginnig of this post), are lower than with OCZ...

And even one more thing: when I try to set core voltage more than 1.85V, the rig just reboots and clears my BIOS to default settings. Why?

Any tips are greatly appreciated - I'm currently sooo much disappointed with my cooling system upgrade :(
 
reseat hs is all i can think of for your temps....as for the reboots...are you getting any bsods? anyhoo, i would reset cmos and start the oc'ing process again...
 
Jarhead

Yep, I did get various BSODs during boot time. Of course I can reseat it, but it seems it was seated OK (according to yesterday's temps)?

Toysrme

Well, SLK is lapped quite good... Nearly-mirror finish and a little trace of machine lapping. Why should this make such a drastic impact on HSF's performance?
 
Well the sudden rise in temps proves that something loosened, so it is the best to reseat the HS.
 
my slk-800 gives me 38C ambient 42C load w/ XP1700+ @1.85GHz - 1.75V

I need to lap mine and spread the AS3 a little thinner as well. But I also have 2 80mm front intake and 2 80mm back exaust +1 psu fan.

It does seem like your temps are unusually high. what is your fan setup? doesn't seem like a concern w/ 22C ambient. Like they said, try reseating the hs and spread the AS3 thinner with a creadit card.

Gage
 
Have you unlocked the cpu somehow? I had a high temp and crash problem on my brother's system. Took off the heatsink (sk6+ with AS3) and found I'd smudged the pencil marks when I put the new heatsink on. Straightened that out and it works fine.
 
Well...

I lapped my SLK (you were right - it did require lapping).
I reseated it, having applied a really thin layer of Ceramique.
I upgraded to a gigantic full tower with a decent airflow - 1 intake, 2 outtake, 2 PSU fans.

Now I have 57 C under load... Less, but still not very good :(

Waiting for Ceramique to break in...
 
With an open case, its 54-55 C load. With case closed - 59 C... Despite of being full tower, this case seems to have crappy airflow :(

The hole between lower (mobo) and upper (PSU + 5" devices) compartments is rather small and stuffed with cables. When case is closed, those two outtake fans (they're at the top) blow virtually nothing :( I assume this to be source of my problems. Can anything be done?
 
need 1 or 2 more intake fans. do you have the case grills on still? they restrict airflow...cut 'em out. but i don't think it'll help your temps much....maybe temp sensor?
 
Well, crappy sensor is possible, but this doesn't explain why

1) the temps fall 5 C when case opened
2) the darn CPU doesn't go beyond 2200 MHz :mad:

I'll cut out the grills and attach nice ones, thanks for the tip. Where could I install an additional intake? Cut a hole in the side cover? There are some little holes (you know - those forming "CE" letters in Chinese cases), but I don't think they'll let in enough air even if I attach a fan there.
 
First, comparing temperatures with others is meaningless since it's all measured with socket sensors, and aren't accurate at all.

But there is still strange that the temperature rose with time after sink install. You haven't done any BIOS upgrade when the rise in temp appered? New BIOS versions can alter temperature readings. New BIOS version could also impair overclocking. But otherwise you probably have a seating problem. Measure your case temperature with a real thermometer with case closed. With all those case fans, that shouldn't be the problem, but just to be sure.
 
First, comparing temperatures with others is meaningless since it's all measured with socket sensors, and aren't accurate at all.

Right, but I'm not trying to compare - my point is why the temps INCREASED over time...

By the way, After a reseat (yesterday) it has also raised - it was 57 C under load yesterday evening, now its 59 C... (i'm comparing closed-case temps here)

You haven't done any BIOS upgrade when the rise in temp appered? New BIOS versions can alter temperature readings. New BIOS version could also impair overclocking.

No, I didn't.

But otherwise you probably have a seating problem.

Maybe. Is there a chance that HSF is just too heavy, and the clip can't hold it tight enough? Delta 80x38 is quite a baby...

As to thermal compound - both times I did everything according to well-known tips (thin layer/credit card). Besides, this time I applied Ceramique and lapped it to a nearly-mirror finish - I could distinguish fingerprints when looking at my finger's reflection.
 
RZA said:
Right, but I'm not trying to compare - my point is why the temps INCREASED over time...

By the way, After a reseat (yesterday) it has also raised - it was 57 C under load yesterday evening, now its 59 C... (i'm comparing closed-case temps here)

Wasn't meant for you, but just a general comment so no one thougt of that...

No, I didn't.

Ok.

Maybe. Is there a chance that HSF is just too heavy, and the clip can't hold it tight enough? Delta 80x38 is quite a baby...

As to thermal compound - both times I did everything according to well-known tips (thin layer/credit card). Besides, this time I applied Ceramique and lapped it to a nearly-mirror finish - I could distinguish fingerprints when looking at my finger's reflection.

Yes... Have you tried using the old sink again? Did you cleaned the core between changes? (don't get offended by the question, one thing you learn is that you have to make sure that the most basic things are done, there is so much non skilled persons working with computers)
 
Yep, I cleared both the core and the surrounding area thoroughly with alcohol. I paid particular attention to this as I was going to use a different compound.

No prob man, thanks for your care :) Thie point of this thread IS to discover a 'basic' point I've overlooked :)
 
Just thinking - How have the case temps been doing. These are more important than ambient.

Particularly, does your case temp rise over time at full load?

It sounds like the SLK800 is doing it's thing and removing heat from the cpu to the case. With bad airflow, the case temp can rise over time even though the ambient isn't changing

IE if you run 100% for an hour, the case may only raise a degree or two, but if you run 100% for several hours, the case may rise 4-5 degrees. This will cause your cpu temp to rise as well.

A hotter case would also increase the northbridge temp as well (as would increased hot airflow from the cpu) resulting in less stability and a lower o/c.

Just a couple of thoughts.
 
Sounds reasonable... I'm gonna try to get a 120mm intake tomorrow - maybe this will do the trick. And the grills definitely have to be cut out. Too bad there are no dremels for sale here :(
 
Updates...

1) I cut out rear grills and attached nice chrome ones. This, of course, improved airflow.
2) I tied all the cables going from lower compartment to upper with a nylon thingy, so they don't stuff the whole hole.
3) I installed a 60mm fan into the hole between compartments that blows up - to improve airflow.

As far as I see, there is the only improvement left: intake fan.

The temp is currently 57 C load with closed cover - not too bad, but still hotter than with open case. Still gotta do something with airflow...
 
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