PAL 8045: XP1800 at 43c idle

BuckShot1969 · Jan 24, 2002

Based on what I've read, I should be in the mid 30's with this heat sink (4000rpm Delta). It's running on a KR7ARAID in a full inwin tower with the enermax 431 (two fans). I have one intake 80mmm and 2 pulling out from the back. I used ASII very thin layer, but didn't rub it on, wipe it off, rub it on, wipe it off, rub it, wipe it, rub, wipe, and rub some more. I just put a thin layer and installed the heatsink. My box temp is at 32c with two round cables, and 2 flat using 4 separate IDE channels. Geforce3 on the agp, a NIC, firewire, and sound on the PCI's. I'm using the Winbond Hardware Doctor to monitor. I don't go above 47c at full load. AND.....this is not overclocked. Can't get above 143 FSB without WinXP Pro getting qwerky. Any thoughts?

Sonny · Jan 24, 2002

1. What are your ambient temps?

2. Halt-On-Idle?

3. Is the HSF on tight enough? You need more washers for the springs.

4. What happens when you take the panels off?

5. Bad application of thermal compound.

BuckShot1969 · Jan 24, 2002

system is at 32c...room temps in the neighborhood of 72 f on average. Cooler at night and the temps do drop to 39c idle. Not sure what you mean "halt on idle". The heatsink is screwed all the way down according to the instructions. Springs are at full compression. My guess is the system temp is too high and there is a proportional relationship to system and cpu temps. Am I right?

UserName · Jan 24, 2002

flip the two back fans over to blow in and flip the front over to blow out and you will lose 3C.

Sonny · Jan 24, 2002

BuckShot1969 said:
system is at 32c...room temps in the neighborhood of 72 f on average. Cooler at night and the temps do drop to 39c idle. Not sure what you mean "halt on idle". The heatsink is screwed all the way down according to the instructions. Springs are at full compression. My guess is the system temp is too high and there is a proportional relationship to system and cpu temps. Am I right?

Yup! I shouldve realized that with a small variation in temp readings from idle to load the HSF mustve been mounted properly but it never hurts to check. I get low idle temps because I have enabled the Halt-On-Idle command for my CPU, what it does basically is to minimize the voltage feed on the CPU during idle state only but load temps will not change. Maybe better airflow thru your case would net you a cooler running system.

DodgeViper · Jan 24, 2002

Your ambient temps are to high. If the ambient temp within your home is 72 degree's then the air flow through your case is not working for you. Your case temps should be around 24c. Typically when air cooling your CPU should be 10-14c above the case temps. This is depending on the heatsink and fan combination. I have the same H/S and I lapped the the H/S. Curently my case/cpu temps are 24c/38c. Once you get more air moving from front to back you will see the case/cpu temps drop.

MadMan007 · Jan 25, 2002

Yeah, dodge is right. I mean, only one intake fan? Personally I prefer to set up cases with a bit more intake than out. Keeps the case temps closer to ambient. But you NEED to get at least one more intake, or a stronger intake fan. Also, what CFM is that fan on your HS? You might have slightly higher temps if other people are using the 68CFM model...

BuckShot1969 · Jan 25, 2002

I've got a 46.1 cfm Delta on the cpu. The case fans are your run of the mill variety. All 80mm though. I guess I could mod another fan on the intake and replace the existing intake. I bet it doesn't turn more than 3000rpm. The air coming out of the rear fans doesn't seem that hot. I wonder of the temp readings are accurate....anyone read anything about the KR7A giving false readings? I know ASUS's board has issues.

Big Mike · Jan 25, 2002

When you say the springs are compressed, did you use one washer above and one below the spring? despite the fact that it seems to be ok many have found that you should skip straight to using 1 above and 2 at the bottom per the instructions where it talks about if its not cooling well enough. Id suggest you do this, also if you lose some washers like i did Lowe's carrys metric nylon washers, i think they were 6's or 8s, just take one with you and match it up, a bag of four is like 50 cents.

DodgeViper · Jan 25, 2002

BuckShot, is the CPU fan blowing onto the H/S? Once you improve the case temps your CPU temps will follow. I place three washers on top and one below the spring and drop my temps 2c. But be VERY carefull not to over stress the chip with to much pressure (spring load).

BuckShot1969 · Jan 25, 2002

Should have said in the last post. The fan is blowing away from the cpu. I don't know if I follow the logic on adding more washers. That doesn't really tighten any more or less which is controlled by how much torque I put on the screws. It's on pretty tight. I wouldn't want to tighten it any more that's for sure. I think if I add more case fans, improve the flow of air through the case, and if you suggest turning the cpu fan to blow ONTO the cpu instead of AWAY, let me know. Thanks for everyone's input....

AntiHeiss · Jan 25, 2002

Definately turn the fan to blow into the HSF it will cool it much much better. And as for your ambient temps you should probably get another fan. If nothing else you may want to try switching your intake fan with the higher CFM on your HSF and put the lower CFM fan on your HSF. I had a friend do this and it was actually more effective. But first of all...turn that fan on the HSF and see what happens....Good luck.

DodgeViper · Jan 25, 2002

You have got to rotate that H/S fan. You want it blowing onto the H/S. You will see an improvement, but you have to increase the front to back case flow to lower the ambient temps. Good Luck.

BuckShot1969 · Jan 25, 2002

Ok, flipped the Delta cpu fan to blow ONTO the cpu. I'm running 42c now where as I was getting lower before, although my ambient temp went up to 32c. That's over 100f which is a far cry from the 73-75f max that is in my office. It's been warm in Atlanta the past few weeks so the house has been heating up and no airconditioning. Anyone have a good proportion for room temp and ambient system temp? I need to read back through the posts, someone may have put that in there. I think someone said I should get below 27c on the system temp.

Sonny · Jan 25, 2002

It's nice if you can get your system temp around 27°C but if your ambient temps are higher than that your going to need active cooling to get below it. I think that your doing ok with what you have BUT do try to get an equal amount of CFM going in & out of your case & don't forget to factor in the PSU's fans when you start to add more intake fans. The best thing to find the cooling potential of your system right now would be to take the panels of & use a house fan to blow fresh air into the case then run your system as hard as you can. Since your HSF is mounted properly this will give you a good idea of what o shoot for. Regarding the fans on your Alpha to either blow or suck the only way to find out which is better is when you have successfully taken care of your case flow issues then try it both ways. Alpha designs their HS to have the fans suck air off of it but you never really know untill you try which works best. Every configuration is unique :beer:

Written by JoeC
Interpreting C/W: For every watt the CPU radiates, the heatsink will cool the core by the (C/W x watts) plus ambient temp. For example, at an ambient temp of 25 C, a C/W of 0.25 with a CPU radiating 50 watts means that the CPU core temp will be 50 x 0.25 = 12.5 C over ambient temp, or 37.5 C. The lower the C/W, the better.

Use this formula to get an estimate of what your HSF can achieve. DO visit the MainPage of this site to get you C/W rating.

Crazy Jayhawk · Jan 25, 2002

AntiHeiss said:
Definately turn the fan to blow into the HSF it will cool it much much better.

I also have an Alpha 8045.

My CPU temps went up several degrees when I turned the fan to blow toward the CPU.

Alpha's are designed to have the fan suck air off the heatsink.

paupton · Jan 25, 2002

BuckShot1969 said:
Should have said in the last post. The fan is blowing away from the cpu. I don't know if I follow the logic on adding more washers. That doesn't really tighten any more or less which is controlled by how much torque I put on the screws. It's on pretty tight. I wouldn't want to tighten it any more that's for sure. I think if I add more case fans, improve the flow of air through the case, and if you suggest turning the cpu fan to blow ONTO the cpu instead of AWAY, let me know. Thanks for everyone's input....

You need to have the fan on the H/S blow toward the cpu not away from. You get more cooling effect than having the fan try to take hot air away from the H/S. This effect is multiplied if you provide better fresh cool air intake.

Crazy Jayhawk · Jan 25, 2002

paupton said:
You need to have the fan on the H/S blow toward the cpu not away from. You get more cooling effect than having the fan try to take hot air away from the H/S. This effect is multiplied if you provide better fresh cool air intake.

Read above. Alpha heatsinks are designed to have the fan suck air off the CPU. They cool better and make less noise that way.

DodgeViper · Jan 25, 2002

Well I am going to have to eat my words. Crazy Jayhawk is correct. My temps improved when I rotated the fan to pull heat from the H/S. Below is my image with the fan blowing onto the H/S. I then will follow with the image showing the fan pulling the heat away from the H/S.

With having the fan pulling instead of blowing my case drop 1 degree and my CPU dropped 3 degrees.

Thanks Crazy Jayhawk, but Arizona Wildcats are better.

DodgeViper · Jan 25, 2002

Fan pulling heat from H/S.

PAL 8045: XP1800 at 43c idle

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