Problem with thermaltake volcano 7 HSF

[Lich King]

I have a abit kx7-333 board, 512MB samsung pc2700 333mhz ram, and a athlon 1600+ agoia. And I use thermaltake volcano 7 on the cpu. The problem is that once I overclock the cpu above 1650mhz, the cpu temp at full load (ie under prime95) becomes extremely high: 50c+ easily. And at 1743mhz, the cpu gets over 55c within few mins of prime95. After reading some of the cpu temps posted on this forum, I came away with the feeling that my cpu is extremely hot by comparison. One thing I suspect is that because my volcano7 has a variable speed fan controlled by temp readings from mobob, it might somehow get stuck at the lower fan speed of 2900rpm and never get the chance to work at 5000rpm. The cpu fan speed reading via Sandra seems to support this hypothesis. Unfortunately, thermaltake, being made in China, has the obligatory crappy packaging and wanting information: no manual, no instruction leafleft, no idea as to where on MOBO to insert the 2 fan plugs (one with 1 yellow wire, another one with one black wire and a red wire), and if there’s any way to bypass the variable fan setting by manually forcing the fan to rotate at max 5000rpm.

Your help would be much appreciated.

 

[Arkaine23]

Volcano 7

Plug the red and black into a 4 pin adapter and straight to a molex on the PSU. It could burn out the mobo fan header if you plug the red and black into the motherboard. Plug the yellow wire into the motherboard header- this is the rpm monitor.

Full speed:

You'll see a little green nub on the side of the fan, connected to 2 wires. This is the speed control.

You can-

1. Remove the fan and tuck that thing down into the heatsinks fins, being careful so that the fan blades won't hit those wires. This will increase the speed because the heat sensor will be closer to the heat.

2. Remove the fan and cut the little green thing off, then reconnect those 2 wires. Do that by stipping back the insulation and either by twisting them together really well and covering the job with electric tape. Or by soldering the wires back together and then using electric tape or heat shrink to cover up the job. This will force the fan to run at full speed all the time.

I've foyund the Volcano 7's are somewhat decent at full speed. They are a bit louder of course, but by no means do they scream or sound like a hair dryer like some fans do.

 

[lazerin]

You might find this pdf manual for the volcano 7 useful.

 

[james.miller]

the fan spins at max when the temp is 35c. the problem is that the thermistor (that green nub that Arkaine23 talked about is waaaaay too far away from the cpu to detect its temp.
where that thermisor currently is, its reading the ambiant tempreature,not the cpu. so your ambiant would need to be 35c for it to spin at full speed. (it very bad if your ambiant gets that high). that why you should move it closer to the cpu.

but. id like to add the following option:-

3) cut the thermistor off. but this time put a 10k potentiometer in its place. you could then manually adjust the fan speed to your liking so you could turn it right down if its not needed.

i went with 3. and it works perfectly

hope that helps

 

[Stedeman]

You could also just pick up a high out put BB fan for $5 and replace your sensor fan and
1) increase your air flow
2) lower your temp
3) not worry about rpms

 

[james.miller]

You could also just pick up a high out put BB fan for $5 and replace your sensor fan and
1) increase your air flow
2) lower your temp
3) not worry about rpms

oh and
4) dont forget to use earplugs - cause that high output fan will be LOUD lol