CoolerMaster DP5-6I11A not cooling like a master!

[essoft]

I have recently got an Athlon 1.4Ghz with a CoolerMaster DP5-6I11A and the CPU temperature when idle is 54 degrees centigrade! :eek:
Is my heatsink faulty or is this just a bad heatsink, do any other members of this site have this heatsink?
Also my Athlon 1.4 is clocked down to 1.2Ghz to avoid even higher temperatures, it's about 60 degress at full speed! :mad:

[plague]

what kind of system are you running? (cpu, mobo...etc) And case fans, you need case ventilation. a hsf is only as good as the air around it, so if the inside of your case is a furnace, your hsf wont be able to do anything. one more thing...what are you using between the cpu and hsf, i'll bet the little thermal pad that came on your coolermaster, right? get some arctic silver II, ASAP.

edit: i almost forgot, welcome to the forums!

[essoft]

Thanks for the (very) quick reply, I only posted the message about 5 minutes ago! Also thanks for the welcome to the forums, I visited overclockers.com about 6 months ago but I didn't register, but I decided to today.

My computer has a GigaByte GA-7VTXH mobo, 1.4Ghz AMD Athlon (Thunderbird Core) 266Mhz FSB CPU, 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM, 40GB IBM DeskStar HDD (which gets hot but is very fast) and a Abit Siluro GeForce2 MX400 + TV out graphics card. I built the system myself about 3 months ago but I have had to have it underclocked to 1.2Ghz (CPU Host clock - 114Mhz), this didn't particularly bother me but a friend said that if I paid for a 1.4Ghz it should run at 1.4Ghz and I should put up with it running slower.

I have a case fan but I wasn't really sure which was round to put it, is it best to have it drawing new air into the computer or pushing out hot air?

[plague]

Well thats the problem right there, you have A case fan, and it's probably 80mm, and its probably pushing air through a few holes punched out of the case. This is nothing against you, cases just arent made with good cooling unless you pay a lot of money. So heres my suggestion:

1) more fans: at least 1 pushing air in from the front and one exhausting air out the back.
2) bigger fans: the biggest you can fit in your case. if you have room for any 120mm fans, get them. theyre quiet and can move a lot of air.
3) cut out the holes where you put the fans (with a dremel, jigsaw, hole saw) and get a fan guard so you dont get your finger caught in there.

What is your case temp now??

[azhari]

There are several issues here:

1) Coolermaster HSFs are not really that good to begin with, especially with the stock fans they come with.

2) Case cooling is very important. You need air flow through your case to get cool air to the HSF. You need at least one fan blowing in (usually at the bottom front) and one fan blowing out (usually the power supply). This is the bare minimum. As you can see in my sig I have 8. The cpu temp is directly proportional to the temp of the air in the case, so you need lotsa airflow.

3) Check to make sure that the HSF is seated properly. Sometimes an edge gets caught on the socket and gets raised off the cpu (not really visible to the eye :( ).

Hope this helps.

[essoft]

Thanks for all the help :)

I have tried the fan (which is an 8cm fan) both ways round before and it doesn't seem to make that much differench (temperatures still over 50 degrees).
I have enclosed a screenshot of my system temperature program (bitmap format - 128KB) which shows details for the current temperatures + fan speeds + voltages.

Current CPU Temp. = 54 degrees centigrade
Current System Temp. = 44 degrees centigrade
(the program open is the web browser)

[plague]

whoa, 44C in your case is WAY too hot. You definitely need more airflow in there, one fan just wont cut it. my case temp right now is 27C at full load. it usually stays under 25, its kinda warm in here, though. the other day there was a cool breeze blowing in the window and my case went down to 19C:cool: . Your goal should be to get the inside of your case the same temp as the room youre in, which isnt a very difficult task. my case is about 2C warmer than the room.

[essoft]

Sorry, I forgot to say; the heatsink does not contact the edge of the socket, I checked before powering the computer on for the first time - there is about a 1mm gap between the part of the heatsink that hangs over the step of the socket and the socket itself, the heatsink rests entirely on the processor.

The heatsink was however very difficult to install as it has a 'nut-driver' type spring, and I didn't have a nut driver so I had to install it with a screwdriver, so it is just possible that the heatsink's thermal pad may have contacted the die a bit before it was finally installed and yes I am just using the thermal pad that came with the heatsink :( , i tried to get Arctic Silver II but I couldn't find anywhere selling it in the UK.

[essoft]

I thought the second temperature given by that program was the northbridge temp, because even when I have the case open it says the System Temp is 40 degrees +.

[plague]

well, the system temp is measured by the northbridge, but its not under a chip. heres what you do, get a big house fan of some sort and blow it in your case with the side panel off. The temp should be the same temp as the room. then look at your cpu temp, it will be the best temp you will get with that hsf and better case cooling.

[essoft]

Ok, i'll try and remember to aim a house fan at my computer with the case open tommorow and i'll post the temperatures.

btw, I like the animation of Ralph from The Simpsons, it's very funny :D

[plague]

Originally posted by essoft
Ok, i'll try and remember to aim a house fan at my computer with the case open tommorow and i'll post the temperatures.

btw, I like the animation of Ralph from The Simpsons, it's very funny :D

thanks, it's been getting a good response, everyone loves Ralph:D

[Yodums]

Heres my suggestion to you.

Change that 8cfm fan to a better 60mm fan possibly an Everflow 38cfm fan since it will work WAY BETTER.

Lap the heatsink and make sure it is making 100% contact or head will occur and lead your chip to dangerous temperatures.

Case flow is very important.

You have to think both ways intake and exhaust.
Intake on the bottom front and exhaust on the top back.

Their should be equal amounts and air should be getting through the case without a problem so try to make rounded IDE cables since cables get in the way of everything zip tie PSU wires and your case will look clean and have very good air flow.

Keep us updated use artic silver and use a very thin layer.

Before you put it on put the heatsink on only and try to move it around up and down and side to side and see if it moves...

The heatsink shouldn't be moving whatsoever.

Yodums

[plague]

Originally posted by Yodums
Heres my suggestion to you.

Change that 8cfm fan to a better 60mm fan possibly an Everflow 38cfm fan since it will work WAY BETTER.

Lap the heatsink and make sure it is making 100% contact or head will occur and lead your chip to dangerous temperatures.

Case flow is very important.

You have to think both ways intake and exhaust.
Intake on the bottom front and exhaust on the top back.

Their should be equal amounts and air should be getting through the case without a problem so try to make rounded IDE cables since cables get in the way of everything zip tie PSU wires and your case will look clean and have very good air flow.

Keep us updated use artic silver and use a very thin layer.

Before you put it on put the heatsink on only and try to move it around up and down and side to side and see if it moves...

The heatsink shouldn't be moving whatsoever.

Yodums
hehe, he didnt say 8cfm fan, he said 8cm. he meant his case fan (80mm). :D

[essoft]

Thanks again for all the help, I haven't had a chance to try aiming a house fan at the machine with the case open to get the temperature down yet and see what the CPU temp would be but I will try to test it soon.