TB 1200 @ 58º

[Troubled]

Help......I have a A7V and a TB 1200, it runs at 58º IDLE! Its not overclocked......damn thing just came with a fan and heatsink, and no other fan in the case......(toast any1?)

[Rob Cork]

Don't run it any longer than you have to at that temp. Normally people see a 10-20C difference between load and idle temps, so yours would probably reach 70C under load - which could be lethal. It sounds as though your hsf is not sitting flat on the core - hold it up to the light with the hsf in place and see if you can see any gaps around the edge of the cpu core. It should be a flush fit. There's a few things you can try:

If you remove the hsf, and any thermal pad on the base of the heatsink (it's probably got a crappy gum-like substance on the bottom which won't help the heat transfer). Make sure the cpu core and the base of the heatsink are clean (use rubbing alcohol or nail varnish remover to be sure), and if there's any scratches on the base of the heatsink sand it flat with progressively lighter grades of sandpaper (start at ~400 grit, up to ~1400) - try and get a mirror finish. If you do sand it ('lapping') make sure you do it on a flat surface like a pane of glass to stop the base of the hsf becoming convex/concave. Then get some good thermal paste, like Arctic Silver, and spread this over the core of the cpu in a paper-thin layer. Replace the hsf very carefully, making sure it sits flat on the core - it shouldn't rock when in place.

the best thing to do would be to replace the heatsink and fan -it's presumably a crappy generic design if it came with a retail cpu, and if you want to replace it a good choice would be the Alpha PEP66T or globalwin FOP38. There's a good roundup of socket A hsf's here: http://www.overclockers.com./articles351/

Your cpu is running way to hot, but with a little time and effort you ought to be able to bring it down to sensible temps. Expect ~30C idle, going to 40-50C under load (depending on how good a hsf you get and how good your case cooling). Good luck getting it sorted! :-)

[Troubled]

Ok, it took off the heatsink, you were right crappy kind....
I put it back on, and now its at 49ºc.
Probably just not fastened on right.
It has some white pasty stuff on it, any good?

[Achoo]

My 1.2 overclocked to 1450 ( 145x10 ) runs at about 33º at idle and 49º at load so I would get a better heatsink and some better thermal paste if you plan on doing anything with this processor. Im sure these can take a good amount of heat, but for a little bit of $$$, you can really cool it down big time.