Overheating Athlon cpu

[harvesterj]

Hi

My new Athlon CPU 1.4Ghz 266FSB is running under no load @ 57deg and reaches 63deg when an app/game is played.

Can anyone advise what could be causing the problem, and what temp the CPU should run at.

Thanks

System details

ASUS A7A266 incl. cmedia on board sound
Athlon 1.4Ghz 266fsb
2x 256 Mb PC2100 DDR
Elsa Gladiac GeForce2 GTS
IBM 75GXP 30Gb HDD - Primary
IBM 40GV 40Gb HDD - Secondary
IBM 10/100 Ethernet in PCI slot 4 (the only pci device except onboard sound)
Win 98 fully updated

TaiSol CGK760092 cpu cooler running at 4600rpm

Sunon 80mm 3pin Ball Bearing Fan x 2 - running @ 2600rpm for intake and exhaust.

Arctic Silver Compound II for the CPU Heatsink

I have an Enermax 431Watt Power Supply.

[wedor]

If you open the case and touch the CPU heatsink, does it feel warm or hot?

[glc]

Where are you getting the readings for these temps - BIOS or Asus Probe? Believe the BIOS - Asus Probe is notorious for reading too high.

[harvesterj]

The CPU heatsink is pretty much room temp warm/cool.

I am using the BIOS and Motherboard Monitor to read the temps.

What temp should I hope to see?

Something I forgot to mention - I have had both the Motherboard and cpu replaced, with reference to the heat problem, but that doesn't seem to have helped.

Cheers.

[WJWheels]

If the heatsink isn't blazing hot, you're either getting false readings or more likely, you're NOT getting good contact between the chip and the heatsink. The Athlon chip (in my experience) makes an indelible imprint on the bottom of the heatsink. Is yours doing this?

[harvesterj]

I have rmoved the pink fixing substance from the heatsink, as I was using Artic SilverII, this is leaving a silver rectangle on the heatsink, so I asume they are in contact.

Any Ideas?

Once again, can someone say What the expected temp is?

[HAL9000]

I personally like to aim for a max full CPU load temperature of 50'C.

[raydioactive]

Personaly, i think we've all got too worried about cpu temps when it is'nt really necessary. If it's not locking up when you're playing a game such as unreal tournament(very cpu intensive) for example, then surely it's ok. I wish i'd never used temp monitoring programs, now i can't stop checking it every so often and getting paranoid every time it goes over 55 centigrade. During this summer period, my athlon 1.2gig has been hitting 60 after a long session of UT , but i'm getting no lockups, so i've given up worrying. If it's gonna fail it will give you locking up signs long before the failure temp for the cpu, so if it's working, forget about the readings and just use the computer.
Just my 2 cents

[sUsHIboI]

eh i never built a case and recently got my hands on a new T-bird chip... now... when building it, im reluctant to put the white compound on top of the processor cause of all the components which sit on top of it, since it isnt plain like Intel processors. Is it okay to cover all that up with the compound?

[WJWheels]

Originally posted by harvesterj I have rmoved the pink fixing substance from the heatsink

What is this "pink fixing substance"? Before applying the Arctic Silver (just a light coating on the chip itself), the heatsink should be completely clean and smooth. If anything came on the heatsink, remove it. Pink to me means the tape that is over the pad of crap that many heatsinks are shipped with.

[WJWheels]

Originally posted by sUsHIboI im reluctant to put the white compound on top of the processor cause of all the components which sit on top of it, since it isnt plain like Intel processors. Is it okay to cover all that up with the compound?

I think we need a picture. Just what are all these components sitting on top of your cpu? A small amount of heatsink compound (about a BB size on the new small chips) should be spread thinly over the chip. Only the heatsink sits on the CPU.

[wedor]

I don't think he realizes that the CPU is only the center rectangle on the square base, the other components don't touch the heatsink, you only use the grease on the center portion.

[Werewolfdaddy]

At what mhz would it be a good idea to use a fan on top of the cpu?
My friend has a 500mhz compaq with no fan, but a big heatsink. My 933 has a huge fan on it. I noticed that the voodoo 5 chips have fans on them too.

[morriswindgate]

In my mind, it is always better to have an active heatsink (one with a fan). Most of the modern computers that have the passive heatsinks are off-the shelf retail units and rely on the Power Supply fan to pull air across the heatsink.
In other words answer this question as if you were an OFF-The Shelf Computer Builder

The best way to cool the CPU in our Computers is:

a. Passive Heatsink with a duct to allow Power Supply Cooling Fan to pull air accross it at a per unit cost of $1.50 because the Power supply fan is bigger than the normal heat sink fan.

b. Active Heatsink with a reliable and quiet ball bearing fan at a cost of $5.00 per unit.

c. (For E-Machines only) Hope it quits working before the CPU Burns out.

[sUsHIboI]

Originally posted by wedor I don't think he realizes that the CPU is only the center rectangle on the square base, the other components don't touch the heatsink, you only use the grease on the center portion.

Hmm.. here's a pic of it (actually its right off PCMECH's page =P)



How about da 4 foam corners? Am I applying the compound just on the center part? Thanks~

[WJWheels]

Yep, that's it.. only the chip in the middle, shown here in the YELLOW BOX:

[Jenni]

Ok, I've got a temperature realted question for all you guys---my BIOS has no temp monitoring capabilities. The CD that came with it has a Windows based monitoring program. Where does this program get its information from? Same thing with Sandra...

My brother has one of those Amptron/PCChips all-in-one BookPC's. He had taken it out of the BookPC case and mounted it in a mid-tower case because the thing was running so hot. His Celeron 566 was running in the mid 50's constantly. He finally bought a new MB, and put the BookPC back together to give his girlfriend. Anyway, I think he put a 633 in it this time. This case has to have a special low-profile heatsink/fan combo. Anyway, the CPU temp quickly reached 65 before he shut it down. When we pulled the HS/fan off the CPU, it had literally melted a hole in the thermal pad!!! We took out the floppy drive because it mounts directly above the CPU, put on the full size HS/fan, and mounted an 80mm fan in the floppy drive bay. His CPU is now running in the low 40's, which is still kinda high as far as I'm concerned. Hehe, because of all the fans in my case (and maybe also because it is a Slot 1 instead of FC-PGA???) my P3 800 now stays at 25 (at least according to the Windows based monitoring software). It used to get into the 30's, but now I have a 120mm fan mounted in the side of the case, blowing across it and my video card.

[sUsHIboI]

Okay, im gonna go get some of THE white and sticky stuff today =P Thx Wheels

[archie]

At what mhz would it be a good idea to use a fan on top of the cpu?

... correct me if this is wrong but I believe the answer is 486-66MHZ and up.

[Werewolfdaddy]

Do the cheaper companies just omit the cpu fan's because they think that a case fan is enough? My friend has a 500mhz with out a cpu fan; he doesn't have a thermometer on it, but I know it has to get hot.

[Jenni]

I've seen DX66's with just a heatsink, and some with both HS/fan. I just got 3 computers, 2 are DX33's that have no HS/fan, and the third is a DX4 100 that has a HS/fan.

I suppose that in theory if you have a big enough heatsink and adequate air flow in your case you could get away with no fan on it, but I don't like that idea very much. But, if you added a fan to, or blowing across, that really big heatsink, you could have one very cool CPU!

[john t. sylvanis]

My, harvest, what a screamer you got! It might be that the voltage detection in the CMOS is incorrectly set and the processor is getting more than it should. Or, you're running a DOS game (I am not a gamer, so don't know about the one you're running) and in DOS the software heating BIOS regulator is not set correctly or it's only a so-so regulator. For example, when I run my Thunderbird 900 in DOS or Novell 4.11, it heats up to 61 C. It stays there, but it's not good, too high. However, when in WIn98, it runs at 36-37 C, which means Win98 is that good about regulating temperature. Athlon consumes about 50 Watts of power, so it's a real hog, running hot in the first place. It runs MUCH hotter than the Pentium, which is at about 34 Watts.

I have a relatively small heat sink on the processor, but the fan is running at < 6300 rpm, which makes quite a difference. The real effectiveness of the fan counts in cubic units (in or cm) of air displaced. Maybe you need a second cooling fan in the box (usually in the front). But, your fan may be adequate if you have a large heat sink. Then, it may be that you have a defective CPU or, if there's a MoBo voltage regulator, it may not be as good as it should be. Then, may be the CPU is somehow exposed to Histeresis currents (which cause stray magnetic fields), which cause overheating. Candidates are Hard Disk stepping motors and the power supply itself. You know, big power supply, big transformer. Big transformer, large magnetic fields, and so on.

There may be many more causes that do not even accur to me, so I leave it to others to input. Since you got more than enough power to run on and a good cooling system, what I said above are just speculations.

John