CPU Cooling Advice

[deeloughran]

Well i posted in here before complaing about my Prescott 3.2Ghz temps, so i went and got some arctic silver 5, but still the temperature remains around 82C!! Something which will kill it pretty soon! This is without playing games! Just normal browsing, playing music! Well i was just wondering what difference would buying a zalman cnps9500 do to this over the normal heatsink, as i can't see it cutting it down 30C! I'm going for a new build in the summer anyway but was goin to pass this onto someone else, so just wondering what difference will a better heatsink make, will it bring it down to safe temps?

Thanks

[kushtibari]

What util are you using to read the temps and how much cooling is there in threst of the system? A good cooler would normally bring the temps down by a bit but it sounds as if there is a different problem there causing scarily high temps.

[deeloughran]

Asus Probe and downloaded Everest and it's the same!! I have two 80mm LED fans (one on case door plus one on front of case) plus a 120mm noiseblocker at back of case, i also changed the fan settings to 100% so louder and has made little or no difference! And i currently have this case...
http://www.cluboverclocker.com/revie...lade/index.htm

[scrandman]

Do you have the same PSU as the one shown in that link you posted? If so, that isn't going to help matters, as it's got little / now ventilation on the back so will invariably add temp into your case.

How have you got the fans on your case configured? Rear fan should be exhaust, side & front should be intake.

[Dark Horse]

If the temps aren't changing with the fan speed going up it may be because the hsf isn't coolign the processor properly.

How much AS5 did you put on? Sometimes too much can actually block heat. Basic advice is to put a grain of rice size drop in the middle of the ihs and let it spread out under its own pressure. I'm not a massive fan (although it does work) so a good guide to follow is this one by Angry Games, the DFI-Street tech support boss:

http://www.angrygames.com/chipset_clean-1.htm

Its for a chipset but is still relevant for a cpu.

Also worth looking at are the rest of your temps and have a quick touch of the hsf (or at least put your hand near it if it is at 80c!) to confirm the temps.

[deeloughran]

Rest of temps:
Mobo : 33
GPU : 60
Hard Drive : 25

Only put on a tiny bit, used this guide...
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Yeh i have a crappy Win Power 450W PSU

Yeh put my hand near the heatsink and it is HOT! lol!

And finally yeh the case fans are all properly set up, so i'm lost is it i need a better PSU AND heatsink? Would this be enough to bring it down that much though, or is the CPU just faulty somehow?

[Woodchuck2000]

I'm running a Pentium D-805 overclocked to 3.66GHz (from 2.66 GHz) using a Zalman 9500 - I havn't done proper strees testing yet but in normal desktop usage, PC Probe reports that the CPU is at 33 degrees, as is the motherboard.

I'd highly recommend it - fantastically easy to install and if you get the Intel-Specific version, it supports PWM and is <very> quiet.

[arthurleung]

I'm running a Pentium D-805 overclocked to 3.66GHz (from 2.66 GHz) using a Zalman 9500 - I havn't done proper strees testing yet but in normal desktop usage, PC Probe reports that the CPU is at 33 degrees, as is the motherboard.

I'd highly recommend it - fantastically easy to install and if you get the Intel-Specific version, it supports PWM and is <very> quiet.

Mine idle at 54'C and Max load at 63'C @ 4Ghz, not sure why. Tried 2 different thermal pastes and tried different amount everytime (Ceramique / AS5, tried 1 rice grain, 2 grains, 3 seems to work best for me so far, may try more). Motherboard reporting 36'C though. Using optimal fan profile gives 2500rpm @ max load

[deeloughran]

Just a quick update on this...
Bought a zalman 9500, and after about an hour trying to install it finally suceeded (The socket 478 screws which i was meant to use actually don't fit and i had to use another socket's screws so that took a while to work out ). It looks cool, and has brought temperatures down to 55-58C when browsing and on msn...so overall i'd recommend this cooler and hopefully my PC won't freeze again due to heat though i don't know why these CPU's cause so much heat!!

Edit: Does anyone think these temps are still too high? As i'm sure they will rise when i start playing games...and listening to music! What temperature is around safe?

[Lu-tze]

55-58C is ok. Had i seen this thread earlier, i would have suggested flashing your bios with the latest version as this can affect reported temps. Likewise, there are issues with the temperature probes themselves being innacurate.

[amjedm]

I second Lu-tze's comments. Used to have similar problems with the Asus mobo I have until it was flashed and then temps went down around 10 degrees.


Looking at the psu in the review (not sure if it is the WinPower you mention) - it isn't exhausting heat out of the case with the little grill at the back.

Does it appear to pump heat back in to the case?

[deeloughran]

Just had a quick feel around the case...nope the PSU doesn't, but out the back it seems to be pumping ALOT of rly hot air out...Yeh it's the cheapy PSU that came with the case, does the PSU make that much a difference to the CPU temps?

[dave87]

Just had a quick feel around the case...nope the PSU doesn't, but out the back it seems to be pumping ALOT of rly hot air out...Yeh it's the cheapy PSU that came with the case, does the PSU make that much a difference to the CPU temps?

All the PSU's I have used have had either a 80 or 120mm fan in them, but with unobstructed airflow. The earlier ones I had did run hotter, but only increased temps in the region of 1-2c. However in your case, the lack of unobstructed airflow may well be a contributing factor.

I would also argue that if you were to get a better powersupply - not higher wattage, but from a manufacturer such as Seasonic for example, then you may be able to reduce the voltage required to keep the processor stable at that speed, which in turn would decrease temperatures. (this is due to cheap psu's not being able to maintain voltages underload, so in effect, your processor gets more power when idle than it may do under load, depending on its & other system components power requirements.

Otherwise, make sure that your fans are arranged so they provide airflow through the case - ie not competeing with one another, and use as many 120mm fans in place of 80mm fans as possible (they give higher flow with less noise). It might also be worth removing any restrictive grills or vent coverings that may be reducing airflow.

Hope this helps a bit.

Dave

[amjedm]

Like dave87, all the psu's I've had have had fans in them.

A psu with 120mm would be good as it would also take heat out of the case. As long as you get a good make - Enermax, FSP (Fortron), Seasonic, Antec... you should be ok.

It is sometimes possible to pickup a Forton on ebay for under &#163;20.

I picked up a Forton 250W 120mm psu from a computer fair for &#163;3 and it's currently powering my nephew's pc. XP2400, 40GB HD, two opticals, 512MB RAM and a couple of fans.