AMD 1.2Ghz - Heating Inquiry

[jasonr]

Hi all, I just build a computer using the Athalon 1.2 Ghz chip.

For some reason, my chip temp hovers around 60 usually, and can reach up to 64-65 if I am gaming (which I do a fair amount when my family is sleeping and work is done). ;)

I have added a rear case fan to blow air out, as well as a dual PCI slot fan to take out some heat from the AGP card that I have, but the additions didn't make too much of a difference. I have also tried 2 CPU fans, and the same temp is reached everytime. On top of that, I added in a hard drive case that has a fan built in to keep the temp of the hard drive down.

I am wondering if this temp will be okay, or if there is something else that I can do. I don't want to decrease the life of my chip if possible.

Any help is appreciated,

Jason R.

[Hoot]

Jason, that is pretty warm. The effectiveness of your HSF relies heavily upon the temperature inside your case, which relies heavily upon the temperature of your PC room. What is temp inside your case (system temp)? Besides having a fan to evacuate case air, which is in parallel with your PSU fan, you need to balance the equation with a fan blowing fresh air into your case. That "Push-Pull" approach, generally is the most effective way to keep you system temp near your room temp.

Hoot

[wildone]

what kind of mb is it and what are you useing to check the temp,bios or software,wildone

[jasonr]

I had another 12v fan kicking around, and threw that in the toe of my case. The temp still reached 64 playing Soldier of Fortune for 5 minutes.

My case temp is 29 degrees celsius. The room that the computer is in is a little warm, but no more than a few degrees above standard room temp.

My motherboard is an Asus A7V133 board. There is an option to have CPU software cooling run all the time. Is this a performance decreasing option? Couldn't find that answer at the ASUS page.

Maybe I need a bigger CPU fan/heatsink combo. The one I am using is the Volcano II. The friend that helped me install it used that silver-based grease and we took off the standard pad that was placed on it.

What would be one of the best, yet not too expensive CPU fans to use? I have tried two of them already, and havent noticed much of a change at all. But both CPU fans that I have tried only had 1 fan on it. I have seen one with two fans, would this make a difference? It is a rather large chrome one.

Once again any help is welcome. ;)

Take care,

Jason R.

[jasonr]

Okay, now I have changed another thing.

I have reversed my PCI fan card so that it sucks air into the case, as opposed to blowing the bottom air out. I also taped up both sides of my tower (it had a bunch of holes in it) so that the air would be taken in on the bottom from the toe-fan and the pci-slot fan and blown out of the top with the rear case fan and the power supply fan. Computer idles now at 61 degrees and the case is at 31.

I am thinking maybe I need a dual-fan CPU sink?

Also, my case has holes on the top in a diamond shape, and the bottom. Maybe I should leave the top open to allow for extra air-escape.

Any suggestions more than welcome

Jason R - confused

;)

[Hoot]

Okay Jason, lets do some math. Since you did not say otherwise, I must assume you are, for the moment, running your 1.2G at 1.2G and the default core voltage is 1.75. Radiate.exe says you are generating 64W of heat. Now, if your case temperature is 29C and your CPU, under load is 64C then your Volcano II is performing at ((64c-29c)/64w) or .55c/w. That is terrible for a modern heatsink. You can get heatsinks for around $38 that perform 100% better. The GlobalWin CAK-38 delivers .25c/w. That means, in your case, your cpu would run at 45C under load. Also, enable software cooling. it mainly helps lower idle temps, but every little bit helps.

Hoot

[FRANK]

I've got a couple of ASUS boards myself, and even considering the inaccurate readings of the ASUS Probe, those temperatures are too high in my opinion. I don't know anything about that hsf of yours, but I can attest to the Global Wins. I have a 1.2g 266 T-BIRD @ 1.4g on a A7V133 with a WBK38 and my temps are in the 52 to 54C range (according to the inacurate ASUS Probe)

As far as the additional fans, I believe that quantity is not as important as quality. When you add additional fans to the case you must consider the effect of the new airflow. If the fans are poorly located, you could have a situation where the fans are disrupting the airflow around the CPU. The hot air coming off the heat sink could be being "recycled' back into the fan. In this case, you would in effect, be trying to cool your processor with hot air.


I would think that you should be able to cool that processor adequately with just a good quality hsf and no additional case fans at the default speeds. (not that I would)

Just my 2c.

[flashfx]

I have a 1ghz @ 1ghz t-bird that when i first got it under load i was at 72 C that was wayyyy to high, i took the side panel off and added a fan to the case and that dropped it down to about 62 under load, then i took off the heatsink and readjusted it and it dropped it to about 56 underload. a 16 degree C different from simple stuff like that.. You sound like you have plenty of fans. Try to reset your heatsink for better contact that might be your only problem

[Robson]

[quote]flashfx (May 22, 2001 12:11 a.m.):
I have a 1.2ghz @ 1.2ghz t-bird and is runing at 52 c under load

[Da Whip]

I have my system in the basement where it is 19C and you can see from my sig. my results. Lapping the HSF and good fan placement make a big difference.

[BILLYBOBZOE]

I definitly recommend the FOP 38. I am running my
850 Athalon at 1000 and my chip temp runs about 48c and 45 when idle. You have to be very careful installing it though because the clip is very very tight.
If you dont like noise then you will have to try something else. (It does seem to quiet down after a few days.)

[Tomas]

i guess ur using asus probe??? i got exact the same mobo as u and on mine the asus probe shows 10c too much so its actually 54-55c.

So do some gaming then restart and go into bios and check ur temp there!! If its showing more than 3-4c less than asus probe its wrong, download motherboard monitor 5 that shows right temp for me.

But still 54-55c is still too high u should be under 50 at load so get an fop38 and u will have around 45c under load. The fop32 is ok too if u dont wanna oc.

[Oni]

Asus Probe really sucks. I'd get Motherboard Monitor 5.05. Thats the latest version, I think. You'll also wanna lose that Volcano II. I had one of those, and it didn't cool for ****! Get an FOP-38 and replace the fan w/ a nice quiet Sunon if the noise bothers you too much. Just remember to be careful w/ the mounting bracket on the FOP-38. I chipped the edge of my Thunderbird w/ it. Still runs though :). You'll also wanna lap your hsf and pick up some good thermal paste like Arctic Silver II. You should also consider lowering your Vcore to around 1.50. When I did that, my temperatures dropped another 5 degrees. Acording to MBM 5, I'm currently running at 45 C, and w/ the FOP-38 I've never seen temperatures raise over 50 C on a warm day under full load!

[Yomama]

Assuming you installed your heatsink correctly (are you 100% sure?), I would move the rear exhaust fan to the front as high as possible but not higher than the CPU to draw in cold air.

Yo

P.s.: Does your power supply fan pull air out of the case?

[SleepyKat]

yes, change the HSF. I was at a 1 GHz with a coolmaster and got 53C at idle. Got rid of the heatsink tape (use acetone) and replace d it with std white HS goop and lowered the temp to 48 at idle. Then replace the HS compound with some AS and got to 46C (must use acetone and not nail polish remover, 99%OH will not remove the old compound and you WILL get worst readings). Now I gutted the coolmaster and stuffed in a Swiftech MC 462-A and OC to 1350 and am at 49C at full load (hopefully I can get more SETI WU/day). I also noticed from all the traffic that the AXIA must run hotter.. I