• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Cooling issue.

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Bakercake

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Well weeks back my cpu been idling at high temps. I made a topic on it and received some good replies most pointing at case air flow. So I when and bought Yate Loon 70.5 CFM 120mm fan x4. Here is a picture were i mounted them. The Yate loons are connected to my motherboard, but sadly I can't control them. They blow at a high speed but quiet.

cimg5835.jpg


The yate loons are the 2 top, rear, and side panel. The front blue fan is the NZXT my case came with.

These are the temps when in general use(not gaming). The temps are mostly 40c-42c my AC is blowing at 82F.
temps42.png


I want to idle at 35c and general use at 37c-39c. Any tips on how I can improve my air flow and temps? I'm willing to move my HSF if needed.
 
Is there a reason why you want the specific lower temps? Depending on what you define as "general use" it's not very likely even with good air-cooling you'd have a 35C idle and only a 37-39C general use temp. with the 955 OC'ed. With an ambient of 82 F your CPU temps look good.
 
I want lower temps so I'll be able to OC to 3.8Ghz with good temps. At all the pictures and video I seen their temps are pretty much the same as mine when they OC to 3.8, but I'm at 3.4 @ 1.325v and getting the temps of a 3.8 @ 1.4v+.
 
There is no guarantee that your CPU will even OC to 3.8 GHz. Lowering your temps may or may not help. The thermal capacity of your heatsink/fan will determine the CPU max temp when OC'ed or under load.

AMD lists 62 C as the Max desired CPU case temp for the 3.4 GHz 965 BE. If you can stay below 60 C full load OC'ed you should be just fine as far as stability. As you up the voltage to OC the idle temp will also increase.

I use IntelBurn to do a stability check. I run 5-10x of Maximum. This will stress your CPU more than any game and show you the Max temp you'll ever see. Running Prime 95 for 6+ hours will also get you to similar temps.
 
I have the 955 not the 965. Anyways quoted from the AMD expert Dolk.

Due to the special process of how an AMD CPU is made, the max temperature of an AMD Phenom II and Athlon II is 55C. If you want to know why, you should read the information above. Intel has a different process of making CPUs so in turn their max temperature is much different than AMD, but the difference that counts between the two is not max temperature but minimum temperature. With AMD’s special blend of silicon, the company has produced CPUs that have no Cold Bugs. Theoretically these CPUs could operate close to 0 Kelvin (absolute 0; in other terms, where atoms stop moving). While on the other hand Intel’s CPU can only operate at around -175C, but there are few that do not have a CB.

Anyway back on to topic. Why give you all this information? Why create a background instead of saying that NO MATTER WHAT the Phenom II and Athlon II will not increase in speed after reaching 55C on loaded temperatures. Let me repeat that, all Phenom IIs and Athlon IIs will not increase their speed (overclock) and more once the loaded temperature on the cores reaches 55C. The understanding is all explained above, but here is the summation. Due to high amount of energy produced by the CPU, and the special blend of silicon used by AMD, the CPU will not be able to operate any higher than 55C or it will literally start to get into a range of extreme temperatures that could cause the CPU to catch fire.

Dolk says that the max temps you want is 55c not 60c. Looking at my temps at idle I can't OC farther then where I'm at.
 
Your heatsink cooling is dependent on ambient temps. In those videos you're seeing those ppl probably have different heatsinks and better/lower ambient temps.

Just because they reached a desired speed with lower temps, does not garantee you will. Not even if you have identical hardware. Every machine reacts differently with the same hardware/cooling. There are alot of variables that come into play as far as ocing goes.

Did you try reasing the sink? Check to be sure the sink is clamped down tight? Is there play in the sink? Also too much thermal goo will act as an insulater preventing the sink to do it's job.
 
I have the 955 not the 965. Anyways quoted from the AMD expert Dolk.



Dolk says that the max temps you want is 55c not 60c. Looking at my temps at idle I can't OC farther then where I'm at.

55 C is a recommendation not an absolute. AMD states that up to 62 C is fine on the 965 BE @ 1.4V under full load so you can run that high if needed with your 955 BE or similar OC'ed. I understand you have the 955 BE but when you OC you need to look at the thermal power based on the CPU speed/voltage not the OE CPU specs.

http://support.amd.com/us/Processor_TechDocs/43375.pdf

As noted ambient temps make a big difference. Your CPU idle temp can't be lower than the ambient and is typically several degrees above ambient with the best air cooling solutions.

It's unclear from your post how you determined you can't OC any further based on the existing temps??? You might want to actually try OC'ing and stability testing with IntelBurn to see what temp rise and Max temps you actually get OC'ed.
 
Last edited:
Your heatsink cooling is dependent on ambient temps. In those videos you're seeing those ppl probably have different heatsinks and better/lower ambient temps.

Just because they reached a desired speed with lower temps, does not garantee you will. Not even if you have identical hardware. Every machine reacts differently with the same hardware/cooling. There are alot of variables that come into play as far as ocing goes.

Did you try reasing the sink? Check to be sure the sink is clamped down tight? Is there play in the sink? Also too much thermal goo will act as an insulater preventing the sink to do it's job.

I know that on the videos and pictures their setup isn't similar to mine I'm just saying I kinda want the same temps as they do. I have done 5 remounts on the cpu HSF and all 5 gave same results at stock voltage. the only way atm I can lower temps and lowering my cpu voltage which isn't good when ocing. Right now I think that it's bad air flow.

55 C is a recommendation not an absolute. AMD states that up to 62 C is fine on the 965 BE @ 1.4V under full load so you can run that high if needed with your 955 BE or similar OC'ed. I understand you have the 955 BE but when you OC you need to look at the thermal power based on the CPU speed/voltage not the OE CPU specs.

http://support.amd.com/us/Processor_TechDocs/43375.pdf

As noted ambient temps make a big difference. Your CPU idle temp can't be lower than the ambient and is typically several degrees above ambient with the best air cooling solutions.

It's unclear from your post how you determined you can't OC any further based on the existing temps??? You might want to actually try OC'ing and stability testing with IntelBurn to see what temp rise and Max temps you actually get OC'ed.

I use Prime95 and my temps at 1.3250v is 40c idle at full load it's 52c.

As of now I'm looking for tips to improve air flow.
 
I know that on the videos and pictures their setup isn't similar to mine I'm just saying I kinda want the same temps as they do. I have done 5 remounts on the cpu HSF and all 5 gave same results at stock voltage. the only way atm I can lower temps and lowering my cpu voltage which isn't good when ocing. Right now I think that it's bad air flow.



I use Prime95 and my temps at 1.3250v is 40c idle at full load it's 52c.

As of now I'm looking for tips to improve air flow.


A 12 C rise from idle to full load is very good. The only means to improve cooling is more/better/cooler airflow over the CPU heatsink. Your can change to higher flowing/speed fans but they still must work with the ambient air temp to cool the CPU. It's the delta between ambient and the heat source that determines how much air must be blown across the heatsink to maintain a specific temp.

I believe however that your 82 F ambient is the real issue. I would not get hung up on the 55 C recommendation as you are going to have issues with the relatively warm 82 F ambient temps you are working with.

I'd suggest trying IntelBurn which will quickly give you results unlike Prime 95 which needs to run for hours. If your OC'ing is stable and below 62 C you don't have any issues. Just enjoy. ;)

http://products.amd.com/en-us/Deskt...2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=&f11=&f12=

BTW, the 955 BE has the same 125W TDP as the C3 965 BE so it's no surprise your CPU runs warm with 82 F ambient.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk.../Pages/phenom-ii-model-number-comparison.aspx
 
Last edited:
Back