Possible Heat Issues: LGA775 3.4GHz and Asus P5GD1

[PJB3589]

I've been searching around Google and on these forums, and I've seen too many different answers and answers that may or may not apply which is why I'm starting a thread.

CPU: Pentium 4 550 3.4GHz LGA775
Mobo: Asus P5GD1
Cooling: 1 120mm exhaust fan (back), 1 80m exhaust fan (top), 1 80m intake fan (side), PSU has only its exhast fan, no fan on the bottom.

I know that the LGAs run hot, but I'm concerned that my BIOS is reporting a CPU temp of 60-62C degrees when my PC has been idle or was off. Asus Probe starts off with something similar to that after a reboot, but immediately drops to 48-50C. CPU Fan RPM is usually at or near 2050 on both. Which one is to be believed, the BIOS or Asus Probe?

Also, regarding the heatsink, when I was installing it I ended up taking it off because I wasn't sure if it was down all the way. The thermal pad was sort of "smeared" and some of it had rubbed off on to the CPU during the install. I put it back on without adding any thermal compound since I thought you only had to do that if you remove the heatsink after it has been used.

So, questions are:

-Believe BIOS or Asus Probe?
-If BIOS is to be believed, 60C is too hot for idle correct?
-Should I take the heatsink off, scrape off the pad, and add thermal compound?
-Should I just buy a better heatsink/fan for the LGA, and if so, which one?

Thanks in advance
-PJB

[FLG]

-Believe the bios, and yes 60c is a bit hot for idle temps. Whats HS did you use? If its the stock pentium hs it dosent need thermal compound as it already has a pad on it and adding thermal compound will increase temps. Just remove the compound and leave the pad there.

[PJB3589]

I used the stock HS. Yes I know it doesn't need compound because of the pad, but I was saying that since I sorta messed the pad up during the install, do I need to scrape it off and replace it with compound. Any ideas on how to reduce the temp?

[FLG]

Just try reseating the hs first, might not be on 100%.

[PJB3589]

Now, just pop it off and get it back on... don't have to mess around with the pad or anything? The only reason I keep asking this is because when I was switching mobos on an AMD processor/heatsink, I remember that I had to replace the thermal pad on the bottom of the HS because you couldn't reuse it for whatever reason...

Also, just out of curiousity, why is the Asus Probe so far off the BIOS?

[FLG]

Nope you dont need to replace the thermal pad. Most software is off a bit from what the bios says, some by alot some by a little. Try downloading the newest version of the probe they might have fixed it.

[PJB3589]

New version of PC Probe doesn't change it. However, I reseated the HS like you said and now the BIOS says I'm idling at 50C - turns out the four pins weren't through all the way, thus causing the HS to make poor contact with the CPU.

Thanks for your help FLG

[PJB3589]

Well, although reseating the heatsink brought the idle temp down, when I'm doing any kind of gaming, my CPU temp skyrockets to 68-70C. My ambient temperature also rises from 38C idle to 45C. My grahpics card (nVidia GeForce 6800 GT PCI-X) reports a temp of 62C when I'm doing gaming. Now, I realize that it is impossible to damage a P4 from heat since they automatically reduce their clock speeds and all that in high temps, but I'm just concerned about these temperatures. Are they too high or about right for a Prescott/high end GFX card system? If they are too high.. any suggestions to bring the temp down? As I stated above, I have a 120mm exhaust fan in the back, replaced my stock PSU to an Enermax which has a fan in the back and on the bottom, an 80mm exhaust on the top of the case, and an 80mm intake on the side panel that is located right about over the processor.

[cuog]

Did you look at this thread about dust and temps,

It could be bringing your temps up.

[PJB3589]

Computer is only a week old.. dust isn't really an issue.

[FLG]

Hmm, your gpu temp is fine as they usually run that hot. As for your proc temp, it could be normal (since prescott's do run hot) or might be your mobo isnt reporting correct temps.

Since intels really cant overheat, if theres no heat related issues (constant slowdowns, restarts, freezes...ect) id leave it alone. If you want you can try taking off the thermal pad and using Artic silver 5 instead to see if that helps any (though doing this will void your chips warrantee) Maybe try it in a friends computer and see what the temps are, which will either varify or rule out your mobo reporting wrong temps.

[PJB3589]

Yeah, I haven't really noticed any heat issues, so I'll just leave well anough alone - just was wondering if the temps were hotter than they should be.

Thanks!