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sLaM

New Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2002
I'm a tad frustrated.

I spent the money and time ensuring that this system I was about to build would NOT have a problem with heat. I was wrong.

Here are my specs:

Modified Lian-Li PC-70
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP VIA KT333
AMD ATHLON XP 2200+ 1.8Ghz
Thermalright AX-7 Heatsink
Sunon 80mm 50CFM Fan
CORSAIR MEMORY 512 PC2700 DDR RAM CAS 2.0
WESTERN DIGITAL 80GB 7200RPM - 8MB Cache
PLEXTOR PX-W4012TA-BPS/BLACK 40x12x40 CD-RW
*BLACK* PANASONIC 1.44 MB DENSITY FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
Asus GF3 64MD DDR
Sound Blaster Live! 5.0
3com Ethernet Card
430w Enermax Whisper Power Supply
WinXP

In my case, I have 2 80mm intake fans in the front bottom. I have 2 80mm exhaust in the back right above the CPU. 1 120mm intake on the side of the case blowing into the MB and 1 120mm blowhole fan on top that's exhaust. Air flow isn't a problem.

I lapped my AX-7 heatsink, it was FLAT with a great mirror shine. I then rubbed some AS3 onto the bottom of the heatsink where it would make contact with the die, and then removed the AS3. Thus hopefully filling in those microscopic valleys we can't see. I put a thin (yet covered) layer of AS3 on the die, put the cpu into the MB and then put the heatsink on. The heatsink had a Sunon 80mm 50cfm fan on top, which should be more than enough.

Now with all of this, haven't I done more than enough to ensure the temperature should be somewhat low just running at STOCK speeds?

I turn this puppy on, and it shoots up to 53 degrees celsius just being idle. The inside temp is at around 37 degrees celsius. I know that's way too hot for the steps I've taken cooling wise. So I basically am hoping that the reading I'm getting is off.

I install Tribes and start to play. Within 5 minutes I'm running at 62 degrees celsius, and my entire system locks up. I keep trying different things, yet I can't even play a freakin GAME at STOCK SPEEDS. I was/am ticked. Eventually the CPU stopped working, and I RMA'd it and am waiting for the new one to arrive.

Now the only things I can think of are thus. My room temperature does get pretty warm at times. I don't have a thermometer in my room, but I know it's probably around 85 if not higher. The cpu also could have just been bad. Simple as that. I coulda borked the lapping job (how I have no clue, it's pretty easy). No way I screwed up with the AS3, I made sure it was a layer that covered the die, yet was still pretty thin. There are 2 80mm exhause fans right above the CPU, they could be sucking away air from the Heatsink fan. I'm not sure, here's a pic of the case I'm using. You can see that the 2 80mm's are pretty close above where the CPU would be.

So what do I do? I apologize for this being so long, but I wanted you guys to know EVERYTHING I did to ensure it would run cool. Isn't 50cfm's enough? Do I need to get a Vantec 80mm that puts out 84cfm and aids in my hearing loss at a early age?

If anyone has suggestions as to why this could be happening, I would appreciate it. I shouldn't have to think about a freakin water cooling solution to run a AMD 2200 at a STOCK SPEED.

Thanks in advance for any help.
shaggy.gif
 
I hear your pain, unfortunately I have heard it lots before:( The T-Breds run way HOT, no 2 ways about it. For the AX-7 to cool the way it was designed to, you really need a higher CFM fan with focusing vanes such as the delta 68 & 80 CFM and the dreaded Tornado. The 25mm thick fans just don't have the air pressure to do a good job. Another thing to consider is your ambient air, if you say it is 85 in your room, your temps are going to be WAY high to begin with. I would get the 68CFM delta and wait on the new chip, there isn't much more you can do besides go H20. The SLK800 is supposed to outperform the AX-7 by some 5C, so you may want to consider that too but it is like $70:eek:
 
Really? I had looked at that Heatsink, but I haven't found any reviews on it.

It's a HUGE copper heatsink, and I was wondering if I should get it. At this point I need to buy a new Heatsink and Fan as I used the AX-7 and Sunon I just bought on my old computer.

So with that said, I'm willing to spend the money if it really outperforms that much. I just need to know that's the case, and I haven't been able to find any reviews on it. I tried both yahoo and google and found crap on the Thermalright SLK800.

I figured the ambient temperature would have a role to play, what do you think about the 2 80mm exhausts above the cpu? You think they could be blowing away some of the much needed air for the heatsink fan?
 
A couple of points:
first, AS3 takes some time to settle in and get the optimum results. I've seen some posts say that it never did, but I've used (and used again) it a bunch of times and every time temps are lower 3 days later: sometimes only a little, and never more tha maybe 4c but they should drop. Still too hot though.

Next point: airflow is weird, man! Best laid plans can turn out to be the least effective!
Shut fans off, turn 'em around: experiment! With what you have on hand I would think you should be able to get temps in the high 40s anyway- it may just be a matter of getting the airflow PATTERN right.

Airflow numbers are NOT enough alone: the air has to go where it is needed.

Last thought: I had one system that I could NOT get temps down with, no matter what. I made a dust to get room air directly into the cpu. Chip was cooler than the mobo for a couple of weeks!
 
i do believe t-breds are alway gonna be hotter: they have reduced power, so ur hs is gonna be cooler, however, the decreased die are will render a hotter cpu, i wouldnt think 63*c though. some people clame that lapping beyond 600 grit will worsen temp, as the as3 has no whare to go, but i cannot confirm this. i dont think 85*f room helps much though.
 
like others have said. The problem lies in your ambient temp. With the ambient temp like that you don't have much option to do other than WC. AX7 is top notch heatsink. Increase air flow to the heatsink by using a high power fan is the another way to add more cooling but it probably won't help you that much look at this link http://www.overclockers.com/articles522/index02.asp it shows delta of 21.8C over ambient temp on a die simulator with bigger contact area to the heatsink. The XP2200 is probably 30C over ambient temp at least.

I think you should start invest in watercooling. But with high ambient your water will be 3C higher than ambient. Your CPU even with watercool would stay at high temp as well. So the other way to go is watercool with boong. :)

Good luck
 
Thanks for all of your replies, gives me some peace of mind. I was hoping that the room temperature thing was a large factor.

I'm moving out of the house I live in this month, and the new place should be MUCH cooler. So with that in mind, I think things should start to turn around.

Btw, when you said:

I made a dust to get room air directly into the cpu.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that.


Also....I've looked everywhere for the Delta 80mm that puts out 68cfm, but everywhere I looked they're out of stock. I'd rather go with that, as it's still a lot of CFM but not as noisy as the Tornado.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!
heart.gif
 
I looked to see if I still had any pics of mine...nope:(


But I found this thread
which has some excellent info!

The idea is to get room air into the cpu instead of case air- which will almost always be hotter. Also if your airflow is doing something weird and not allowing your hsf to get air well, a duct may help out there too.

My duct was not optimal, because it was a mini-tower case with an xp1800 and I needed to get air from the front because the side of the case was against a desk (no place else to put it.)
But I used thin sheets of plastic and some glue to make a duct that went from a couple of 5.25 bays in to the hsf, with a smooth curve where it turned 90 degrees. Case cooling was horrible, but the cpu was ok.

A NOTE ON EXPERIMENTING: cardboard is your friend:p
It can be a duct, an air deflector or a case side panel with ease. Much easier to cut than metal, tape holds it together and if you screw it up- so what. Get another pice of cardboard! Once you find a good place for mods, you have a template too.
 
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