CPU Cooling

[Ozzyfongz]

I did some searching on the forum and did not find the answer to my question, hopefully i didn't repeat the same question.

Field Value
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 1300 MHz (13 x 100)
CPU 44 °C (111 °F)

This is what my computer runs at idle, but when i play games the CPU easily overheats to over 70 degrees. I've been recently experiencing freezes to my computer. I gave the computer a clean up (as i haven't cleaned the computer for lets say...4 years =P) using compressed air but still the computer heats up easily. I'm wondering what else i can do to help reduce the heat on my CPU. Do i need to take out the heatsink and reapply the thermal compound (i've never done this before) and if so, how do i detach my heatsink from the CPU? Can someone also teach me how to clean the heatsink + fan properly?

Thank you for your time.

[Cricket]

1.3GHz would make that a Williamette P4 and those did run on the hot side so keeping the heatsink clean is very important.

Did you remove the fan from the CPU heatsink so you could remove the dust bunnies from the heatsink fins?

Do you know if there is thermal compound or a thermal pad between the heatsink and the CPU heatspreader? If it's a thermal pad you should be okay, but if it's thermal compound it might have gotten dried up and you'll need to replace it.

If you're using the stock heatsink it should have two white levers at the top. You'll need to flip those to relieve the tension on the heatsink. Once you've done that you need to remove the fan/cradle assembly. It's tricky to remove, just don't use brute force. You have to undo the latch at each leg to free the cradle section so it can be lifted free. Remember to remove the fan power connector from the motherboard. Once the fan/cradle assembly is free you should remove it from the heatsink so you can get at the heatsink itself.

Here's where it can get tricky. Grab the heatsink and see if it lifts up easily (lift gently, don't pull with a lot of force). If it does you're lucky. If it doesn't, don't force it...you'll pull the CPU right out of the socket and could break a pin. Instead, try gently twisting the heatsink from side to side to see if you can break the adhesion. The heatsink is stuck to the heatsink by the thermal pad or compound and you have to break it's "grip". If gentle twisting doesn't work, you'll have to get something very thin and try to slip it between the heatsink and the CPU. Take your time when doing this, don't rush. Just keep at it until the heatsink lifts free.

Clean both contact surfaces (CPU and heatsink) with alcohol until the old thermal transfer material is completely removed and then apply a good thermal compound evenly on both surfaces. Just a real thin smear will do...don't use too much thermal compound or it acts like a insulator and you won't get thermal transfer between the CPU and the heatsink.

Cricket

[Ozzyfongz]

I'm not sure what is conducting the heat between the CPU and the heatsink and i'm afraid that after i opened it, i will ruin the CPU. After i removed the old thermal transfer material does it matter whether i use a thermal compound or pad to replace it? I never got into computer cooling till now so i don't really know what's the right thing to do >_<

[Cricket]

Use Arctic Silver thermal compound...it's premium stuff.

Cricket

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Cricket Use Arctic Silver thermal compound...it's premium stuff. Cricket

This stuff rocks. Dropped my temp core on my old AMD Barton 3200 by 12 C

[Ozzyfongz]

Alright...while i order my tube of Artic Silver, as a side question...how often do you need to reapply thermal paste?

[Cricket]

You shouldn't have to reapply Arctic Silver unless you remove the heatsink from the CPU. I have a computer I built in 2001 that had the same application of Arctic Silver on it until just recently when I had to swap in another CPU to test in my motherboard. The Arctic Silver was the same consistency as when I first applied it...didn't dry out or become hard. It's good stuff.

Cricket

[Ozzyfongz]

but since my computer is overheating madly while playing games there must be something wrong inside my cooling...as i said before i've only opened up the case and blown out any dust i can out of the fan and heatsink. What should i do? Should i detach the fan from heatsink and clean the fan and heatsink while the heatsink is still attached to the mobo or should i reapply everything? I don't want my computer fried becux it's been quite a while now, how it suddenly freezes...someday my hdd would give away to my harsh fast reboots =P.

[glc]

Try cleaning out the heatsink fins first. It's not going to fry - P4's have a shutdown circuit to prevent that.

[Ozzyfongz]

Alright...i'll do that, but what is considered a safe way of cleaning your heatsink other than blowing air into it?

[Cricket]

Remove the fan section of the heatsink but leave the heatsink in. Look in the heatsink fins to see how bad the dust build up is. Use tweezers to pull out the big stuff and then get paper towels and fold them and wet them with alcohol. Run the folded paper towel through the fins to remove whatever dust is left.

If you end up taking the heatsink out remember that you have to clean both surfaces and reapply fresh thermal compound before you reassemble.

Cricket

[Ozzyfongz]

meh...does it haveta be alcohol? can't water do the job?

[Cricket]

Yeah, you can use water but alcohol evaporates faster and can remove grime a little better than plain water. It's your computer, use what you want to.

Cricket

[Ozzyfongz]

teheee...sorry...i still haven't ordered my artic silver...this is my final step...last question before ordering...

Do i need an adhesive thermal compound for my computer or is normal artic silver 5 alright? i have an Intel D850GB motherboard if that helps...i don't get why there are some adhesive and some plain...

Also...which one should i get? artic silver 3 or 5?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Ozzyfongz Do i need an adhesive thermal compound for my computer or is normal artic silver 5 alright?

Get the Arctic Silver compound. The thermal adhesive is for permanently gluing heatsinks to things like the northbridge chip or a video processor. You don't want to permanently glue a heatsink to your CPU.

Originally Posted by Ozzyfongz Also...which one should i get? artic silver 3 or 5?

Arctic Silver 5.

Cricket

[Ozzyfongz]

Alright, off i go then to order Arctic Silver 5

Ok, so i get rid of all the old stuff by cleaning the contact surface with alcohol then apply the new arctic silver compound by adding a rice grain amount to the centre of the processor and pressing the heatsink and locking it into position (that's what i read on the website). Alright =D

Thank you so much for your time guys (especially cricket). I'll post in here if i find any trouble :P