TH7 II Raid Confusion

Hello everyone,

I am a new poster (long time lurker) with a few questions.

My Specs:

Abit TH7II Raid with Mr. Naturals 7D bios.
P4 1.6a@150 FSB *Vcore 1.9v
512 Megs Samsung PC800 (4x differential, 300x)
TT Volcano 7+ w/AS3
*Vcore is at 1.86v actual when Idle and 1.8v when full load.

The thing that concerns me the most is the temps.
I have had nothing but high temperatures...even running at default speed. Funny thing is the default heatsink gives me practically the same results as the Volcano. After running Prime95 for 20 hours, I decided to add the second sensor as close to the cpu as possible. I placed it inbetween the socket arm and cpu so it could touch the side of it and still not be in the way of the heatsink.

My results in Winbond are as follows:

System 1 Temp: 35 Full Load - 29 Idle
CPU Temp: 60 Full Load - 47 Idle
System 2 Temp: 37 Full Load - 31 Idle

AS3 has been properly applied (numerous times I might add) as per instructions on their web site. Currently I have 11 Fans total in my Lian Li PC60, so I believe air flow not to be the issue. Quite frankly I am a bit stumped.

The lowest temps I have seen was running the cpu at defaults which resulted in 42 degrees Idle.

Question 1:

Are these temps reliable and if so what must I do to cool this thing down?

Question 2:

Could there be a problem with the plastic retention causing the heatsink to not have proper contact with the cpu?

*note - I did place some extra compound on the cpu, mounted the heatsink, then removed it again. It left a nicely formed square of goop fully covered on the heatsink. So I cleaned it off and reapplied properly. (Would this constitute a flush contact?)

Question 3:

Is it normal to see such a big drop in voltage? Is 1.86v too much to feed it?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much

At first, I thought the Volcano was a pretty good cooler, but several people are not having good luck with it. I've been recommending the Swiftech or the Alpha lately. Make sure you have the fan controller turned up on the highest setting. Also, your voltage is a little high which will really create more heat than normal. Anyway you can reduce the voltage?

I am able to actually run at 1.75 volts at this speed, however, Prime95 only lasts for about 2 hours before giving an error.

I may just go ahead and order an Alpha. The main reason for picking the Volcano 7+ was due to the temps being so high with the standard heatsink at default levels, and unfourtunately I was unable to find a cooler better then this in local stores.

So other than heat, do you think there is a problem running with this much juice, or should I just clock back a little?

Thanks again

yes. there is that one dude on these forums who fried his northwood by giving it 1.9v, even with water cooling.
If i were you, i'd back the speed down to whatever will run stably at 1.75v (bios) or even 1.7v...
Ask yourself if you really need the extra speed? and also consider the fact that not all 1.6a were made to run at 2.4, at least not continually...
btw, those temps are warm, but according to Intel, they are ok.

Of course I don't really need the extra speed

I bumped down the voltage. It's now 1.76 showing on full load. Prime95 has been running for half an hour now. If it fails, next step will be to clock down a tad.

Very true, I was amazed at even hitting 2.2. These chips are great, I would really hate to burn it up. Thanks for the info.

If this is still a fairly new CPU, it might overclock at a lower voltage after it "breaks in" some more (sometimes called "burn in"). Also, the Intel limits for heat applies only to CPUs running at default. If you're running higher voltage and it's getting warm, then that speeds up electromigration. Getting that thing to run cooler might help with stability.

*update*

Currently cpu is at 2.3 - 1.7v full load. Prime95 has been running for about 8 hours now.

Also, I currently have an Alpha pep66 and an AX-7 just sitting around gathering dust. Anyone know of someone that may have modded these for use with this board?

Batboy, yes this cpu is fairly new and I do intend on dropping the voltage another notch or so in a week to test for stability. That Swiftech cooler looks just plain mean It seems a little higher in price than other heatsinks. Now that is has been part of your setup for a while, would you choose it again or go with the Alpha?

The Swifty might be just a hair better, but the Alpha is a better bargain, no doubt. Both are excellent designs and well built. The beauty of both the Swiftech and Alpha is that you can easily swap in just about any 80mm fan. I don't regret getting the Swifty, but if the Alpha was available at the time I was in the market for a socket 478 cooler, I might of got it instead.