[tuskenraider]

Looking for some opinions on my situation. I just put together my first amd system and don't like how hot it runs. All these temps are with the case open and an ambient temp of about 70 F in my basement. I know there has been documentation the my mobo reports higher temps than normal but this doesn't seem right. With the case closed temps are all 5-6C higher, eventually getting a Lian Li. Not overclocking drops the temps about 2C.

Idle:
Coolermaster 60mm 5000rpm fan/aluminum hs = 50C
Vantech 6035D 60mm 7000rpm fan/copper hs = 49C
GlobalWin CCKII38 60mm 7000rpm/copper hs = 49C
GlobalWin's fan on Coolermaster hs = 46C
Alpha PAL8045 hs w/Sunon 80mm 3000rpm fan = 45C

For one, it's ironic that the copper hs didn't work as well as the aluminum with the same fan. Going against what most people have been saying - copper conducts and cools better. So I got the Alpha with a copper core and aluminum fins thinking I would get the best of both worlds. This has been rated the best hs money can buy with a huge fan and it barely works better than a 7000rpm Delta fan on a $10 aluminum hs. What gives?

I've wasted about $120 in hsf combo's when I could have just bought a better fan for my cheap heatsink and only been one degree hotter than "the best". Anyone have similar experiences?

[Silver]

I had the same problem and went to water and from 1.45 to 1.73. Hang in there and one of the guys with a good air cooling solution will jump in and help I'm sure. There are a number of 1.4s on the site.

[Über~PhLuBB]

I think the best bang for the buck nowadays is the AX-7 by Thermalright. If you check the heatsink ranking, you'll see that the AX-7 is on top of the list. The $28 pricetag (without fan at Newegg) is very attractive as well.

The Alpha looks like it would be a winner, but as you can see in the heatsink standings, it's far from the top of the list.

It's a shame that you went and bought all those cooling solutions without checking the heatsink ratings list (No offense of course). If you sell just one of those other HSF's, you can pay for your new AX-7. =)

[Kendan]

How are you getting your temps? The insocket thermistor on Asus boards is known to be off as much as 10 degrees celsius. I can vouch for the AX7 it is one hell of a heatsink.

[tuskenraider]

The reviews I've seen were at Hardocp.com and others. All had the fans you mentioned in doing well but the Swiftec462 and the Alpha were always in the top out of 30 or so coolers. You know what they say about opions....

[jboy]

I had a similiar but not identical experience trying to cool my 1.4 Tbird. I mounted the delta 38cfm that came with my alpa 6035 on the stock amd sink, and it seemed to cool as good as the alpha, actually a bit lower at times-(seems a little hard to get exactly replicatable results, as it seems that everytime you swap out a sink your measurements change a bit) Also, ditto on what the previous poster said about the asus temp monitoring, they do seem to read about 10c higher than real, so you're probably actually getting good temps !

[ve6jhc]

I would try to lap your heatsink and mount it with a fresh dab of Artic Silver. I have a second computer that is running a 1.2 TBird on an old Asus A7V at 42C under load with a no name $12 HSF that I lapped. Some HSF have more or less spring pressure. I bend mine to make firm contact (be careful as too much pressure will damage your core). I also run a CPU shim so that the HSF is more stable.

[Puer Aeternus]

My 1.4(oc'ed @ 1.64) is at 41c load right now w/ a Volcano 7+. I put a compuNurse in to read temps and the temp diff vs. the MOBO is 8c off! Now this is on my a7v133.

Unless you got mad cash to blow on a accurate thermal sensor and new HS dont worry about your temps too much(IMOM=if my opinion mattered-new acronym folks, you saw it here first!).

Check in at the asus mobo threads and see what a7v333 users have to say about mobo temps and accuracy. You may be reading temps a little high....I dunno. Good luck!!!

[Dagon]

Originally posted by tuskenraider
The reviews I've seen were at Hardocp.com and others. All had the fans you mentioned in doing well but the Swiftec462 and the Alpha were always in the top out of 30 or so coolers. You know what they say about opions....

[H]ardocp's hardware reviews are a joke.

I would double check your motherboard's thermistor with a compunurse and make sure you're applying thermal paste correctly. Otherwise as long as it's Prime 95 stable then don't worry about it.

[tuskenraider]

Thanks again for all the imput. Just went out today and ran into a Lian Li case at CompUSA and bought it on the spot. I'm aware of the higher temps reported with my mobo in other threads but of course I want to be as cool as possible. Anyway, this case rocks! It's got so many f**king fans I was suprised I had enough molex plugs to get them all running! I'm running about 5C cooler with the new case. Nice improvement! And it's quieter than my other case with less fans! God bless Lian Li!