hot ! too hot !

hello, I just upgraded, tryed to research all the components I bought, not an overclocker but found this site when I knew a lot less and immediately put it in my favs as no bull here
So I got an AMD XP2400 Thoroughbred, between the reviews here and at Toms Hardware a Cooler Master XDream HAC-V81 HSF looked like the business with some Artic Silver to boot - Sorted. I am sure my last AMD (1.3) suffered from insufficiant cooling so I don't want to make the same mistake with this one.
I followed the Artic Silver instructions to the letter and yet after a week of heavy use the CPU temp will not go below 50 degrees and thats with 4800 rpm whistling thru it :0
Is this normal ?
I was hoping for temperatures of early to mid 40's and have been thinking of reapplying the compound - but I'm pretty sure I did a good job first time round. any comments appreciated thx

Does the temperature quickly rise to 50C after you turn on the computer, or does it slowly increase in temperature up to 50? If it does it quickly, you should try reseating the heatsink. Otherwise, you might need better case airflow.

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

Case airflow is a good thing to check You can easily see if this is a problem by running with the side off and blow a house fan in there. If the temps get alot better then case airflow is probably the problem...Also what is the ambient temp?

Heh, I dunno about the house fan cooling idea, however running it with the side off would be good for testing as mentioned.

It sounds to me that the HS might not be on correctly. If its on backwards, one side may rest on the upper part of the socket, thereby putting the HS on an angle and not covering the core properly.

I suggest you take it off and reseat it making sure its absoluetly level over the CPU and not resting ont the socket.

Always a useful linky <-- Just IGNORE the bit about thermal pads/paste. Paste is better.

Now some more standard q's:

1) As someone said, do the temperatures rapidly rise or are they slow to come to 50C? If fast then it is probably an improper heatsink mounting, and if too slow then poor case airflow is a likely culprit.

2) What thermal interface material (white goop/thermal pad) are you using and did you spread it out on the core?

3) Is the fan operating at the proper speed?

Firstly thanks you very much to all who have replied
ok, I started my comp this morning and went straight to the bios where my temperature readout is. The temp started at 42 degrees and in 10 mins it had gone to 49/50 degrees. This was with my fan going at 4440 RPM and with the side off. With the side on the temp was getting to 54/55 degrees.

I don't have a fan but the side has been off long enough for me to start worrying about dropping something in there :0 tbh I probably do need to sort out my internal airflow.

Interesting point about putting the Heat Sink on backwards !
I had no idea you could do that. Will check if the general concensus here is to reseat.

I had a look at those wmv files, good stuff but nothing I didn't already know/abide by. I applied Artic Silver 3 compound using the instructions from here http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
followed to the letter.

One main question remains - Does anybody know or have a link that can show me some average temperatures for AMD XP chip running temperatures ?

thanks again for all your help

Is the fan blowing down on to or sucking up from the heatsink? It should nearly always blow down.

More case fans would be a good idea.

do you have any fans in your case besides the heatsink fan? if not, you should seriously consider getting some.

^ OMG U STOLE MY SIG!11!!!!

he said he doesn't have a fan I think

L337 M33P said:

^ OMG U STOLE MY SIG!11!!!!

he said he doesn't have a fan I think

Click to expand...

i've had this for a while -- but yours is too long LINK

yeah, and i think he did say he had NO fans. DeadEye, what kind of case do you have? You can get cheap fans from www.svc.com.

I was having the same problem with my XDream and 2400+... I put the heatsink on backwards . It actually fits backwards, but it doesnt rest right. On the bottom of the heatsink, one side is cut away to match the shape of the socket. Make sure it's inserted the right way. If you have a small case, you might have problems with your PSU getting in the way of the hold down for the heatsink...

Seems the rules have changed 0_o last time I looked size 1 was 0.5 points - anywho, I counted and it still falls within the 10 "point" limit.
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Fans are cheap - but make sure you get ball bearing and not sleeve ones.