Advice on Overclocking my P4 630 (3.0Ghz stock)

[andper10]

I have been thinking lately about overclocking my Pentium 4 630 3.0Ghz CPU beacuse it seems like it is a bit of a preformance bottleneck (or it might be down the road) after my recent upgrade to an X1950XT video card. Please voice your opinions. Would I notice much in games if I overcolcked it to say 3.8Ghz (I know I might not be able to get it that far but just throwing out a number). I haven't overclocked before and most of the guides that I have read seem too dated to be easily understandable. Does anyone know of a good recent LGA775 overclocking guide?

Also I currently have 1GB of Corsair Value Select DDR400 ram. Would I have to overclock the ram to notice a CPU overclock (I have heard that value select doesn't overclock well)? Also I am thinking about adding another stick of ram ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505 ) to bring it up to 2GB. Would it make a big difference in games, or would it just bottleneck my CPU more? For the Heatsink I read some great newegg reviews about this $20 Sunbeam: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835207001 . I don't want to spend like $60 to overclock this CPU when it now retails for $80. I was also thinking that if I rigged up 2 Yate Loon 120mm fans ( http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-12...2-pr-3009.html ) and removed the stock 92mm fan (one Loon on each side of the Heatsink so that they moved air from front to back), it might make it really have some good overclocking potential for a very low price. I have a little tube of Artic Silver 5 that I can use by the way. Plus I have a 120mm exhaust fan that is literally less than an inch from the current Intel stock cooler and the 120mm fan in the PSU about 2 inches above the edge of the current stock Intel heatsink. And I have a 120mm intake fan in the bottom 3 of the 4 drive bays using a Scythe Kama Bay ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185020 ) about an inch or two higher than the exhaust fan. To me that seems like a great airflow setup for creating a "windtunnel" for my CPU and for overclocking.

Right now the stock cooler gets up to about 55*C in intense gaming, but it does blow the heat in a big ring around the case, so I think that design in itself is causing the CPU fan to take back in some of its own hot air thus increasing the temperatures. I am not set for sure on overclocking or on adding another 1GB of ram but I just wanted to see what your advice would be. Thanks!

[andper10]

Let me break it down into more reasonable single questions:
1) How much of a preformance would I actually notice / get from OCing my P4 630 from 3.0Ghz to ~3.8Ghz while gaming?
2)Would I need to OC my ram as well in order to notice a preformance increase from OCing my CPU?
3) What are some good low priced Heatsinks that I could use? I know Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is good but I was hoping for something cheaper. I don't mind jerry-rigging fans to it if it will save me money and increase my preformance (and not increase noise over the stock Intel HSF)
Thanks!

[Mr.Ferrari]

Redfallon's guide should get you started, otherwise google is your best friend. P4's weren't all that hard to overclock, the real wall was limited by how much voltage you could push. These things get hot but they overclock like beasts in the proper conditions. Use Speedfan, CPU-Z, and Orthos/Prime to stability check.

You also need a stable powersupply, as these prescotts draw alot of power in overclocked situatinos. What would be your motherboard model? Not all motherboards can easily overclock.

1. With the X1950XT, yes you'll probably reduce the bottleneck and recieve a performance advantage, I can't tell you how much though. Thats something you'll need to run benchmarks and test.

2. Dividers come in play here, check out the guide I linked earlier. But your processor runs at a native fsb of 200mhz. Your ram also runs at 200mhz stock. If you keep the divider 1:1, your ram will overclock clock for clock with your cpu. Meaning, you'll need ram thats overclock friendly and can reach high speeds. The 630 has a 15x multplier. So you'll need ~253fsb for 3.8ghz. Either you can run the ram at a slower divider, reach 3.8ghz, and loose some performance. OR you run it 1:1 and not reach 3.8ghz. Every stick of ram is different, you'll need to add voltage and experiment to see what speed your ram maxes out. Don't expect much at all from valuselect.

3. I would get the arctic freezer 7 pro instead, the sunbeam seems like a ripoff design. Its the same price and would probably perform better. People have tried to ghetto rig bigger fans, but noticeable temperature decreases weren't noticed unless high cfm was used, you'll have to experiment with this.

[andper10]

All the info is in my sig. The Motherboard is an Asus P5GPL-X. PSU is a Corsair 520 Watt. I am guessing that I will have plenty of power for OCing with that PSU. When you say that I will "loose some preformance" if I run my ram at a divider, could you explain that more? Will it run slower than stock speeds? Would it be better to use a divider and max out the Ghz or just keep 1:1 and go as far as I can from a gaming preformance standpoint? Or should I go with max Ghz and set the divider so that the ram is still overclocked as much as it can handle (but not clock for clock with the CPU)? Thanks for the link for the better price on the Freezer 7 Pro. I will probably get that then if I end up OCing. It seems like newegg's prices have been becoming less competitive recently. Should I use the stock thermal stuff on there or should I use my AS5? Also should I try out OCing with the stock Intel cooler or do I need to wait until I get a new cooler? Thanks for the help!

[Mr.Ferrari]

My bad, I didn't notice your sig.

1. The P5GPL-X is based on the 915p/chipset. Now these weren't the greatest boards for overclocking. Infact the 915p has been reputed to being less of an overclocker then its older predecessor, the 865p. I know this first hand as i've owned a P5GD1 and a P5GDC Deluxe, both 915p boards. The reason why is due to most 915p boards not having a working PCI-E lock. So as you raised the overclock, the PCI-E bus would overclock too, giving you huge instability past a certain amount.

However getting to 3.8ghz will *probably* be within its reach. Depending on how good of an overclocker your board is. Im just preparing you for the worst.

2. Sure, what I meant was, if you compared a clock of 3.5ghz with the ram running a slower divider (with the cpu), with a clock of 3.5ghz with the ram running 1:1 (with the cpu), the 1:1 divider would have the performance advantage when compared to the slower divider. It will be faster than if you had the CPU speed at stock, though it wouldn't be AS fast as if you ran the cpu and memory 1:1.

This is something you'll need to run benchmarks on to figure out the performance advantages of running as fast as your ram can go 1:1 versus running at a faster CPU speed with the ram in some sort of divider, in example, 5:4.

3. The stock stuff aint bad. If your not at a point where your a few degrees away from being above a comfortable CPU temp, then I would stick to the stock paste and keep the warranty. Temperatures dont really rise until you start adding voltage. As long as your overclock doesn't require voltage, you could save yourself a couple bucks.

And yeah, your right, newegg does price gouge a bit on brand new or stuff selling in high volume. Such as PSUs .

[andper10]

So you are saying that if I use AS5 on the Freezer 7 Pro it will void the warranty of the Freezer 7 Pro, or the CPU, or both? I might try the stock stuff but I have AS5 sitting around and I have heard that it is the best. However, I wouldn't be comfortable with my CPU going much over 60*C and it gets to 55*C with the stock cooler while gaming. What benchmark program would you recommend for testing 1:1 vs max ram OC and max CPU OC with a divider? And is 2 instances of Prime 95 still the best way to test for OC stability? And how will I know if my PCI-E lock is working? If I find out it is not working will it have already done damage to my video card? Does it damage PCI-E devices if you don't change the voltage?f I might try OCing with no voltage increases tomorrow with the stock cooler and see what happens. For the ram I was reading that DDR could take 3.2V. I haven't checked what the max voltage option is on my motherboard yet. Do I risk shortening the life of / frying the ram if I run it past a certian voltage? Also, what is the max recommended voltage for P4's like mine? From my reading I found that anything over 1.6V is dangerous. Is that accurate? (I found an extreme OC site where they were using LN2 Cooling and they had the Voltage at 2V ) Sorry for asking so many questions. Thanks for all of the help!

[Mr.Ferrari]

No prob,
I was talking about the cooler, but this is probably not really a issue either. AS5, if you have it, is slightly better.

Your Prescott will run hot, they were known to be little furnaces . I would not however go above 70c for the longevity of the processor. 60-70c is a good load temperature while overclocked.

Sisoft sandra and 3dmark 01 and 03 were cpu/bandwith dependent. Also the games you'll be playing, most such as CS do have a built it benchmark. Mind as well look at performance in something you'll be using.

Orthos/SP2004 is a good one too. Like prime but more efficient.

Download CPUID, you will need the PLL for your motherboard. You can find a bunch on the site itself, if not, you'll have to physically look for the etching on your motherboard. There are full instructions on the site. Once you get it setup you'll get the clocks of your PCI-E, PCI, Ram, and CPU. Your PCI-E runs at a default of 100mhz. There should be a area under the overclocking options in for changing it/locking it.

It will not damage your videocard in any way. It could however cause graphical corruptions, loss of video, and loss of LAN since on most 915p boards, they were on the PCI-E bus too. Some have SATA drives on the bus as well. This means you could loose connectivity to the drive. It can't really cause any kind of long term damage, compared to say, too much voltage could.

Not all DDR can run at that or any specific maximum voltage. It all depends on the chips they are using. It seems your sticks run at 2.5v default. You can fry or damage your stick if you use too much voltage. Since its valuselect ram, you have to be even more careful. 3.2v would not be something I would ever try on them.

Its hard to give a certain number. If your on Air cooling, you will be limited by the temperature before any kind of maximum voltage. 1.6V would be something that could be reaching a maximum safe on something like good watercooling. Stay well under 1.6v for air. And yeah 2v is very possible. Remember, these things were overclocking beasts if fed enough voltage and kept cool enough. You reach well below -100c while under LN2 or even Phase. At those temps, high voltages are sustainable for a *few* hours.

Good luck.

[andper10]

Well I have made a little progress. Unfortunately I now have another heap of questions.

I downloaded CPU-Z from the CPUID website. I assume that is what you were talking about when you said download CPUID. I also downloaded ClockGen from the CPUID site. After opening up my computer and looking around I found the PLL chip and put the number into clockgen. It now lets me control a slider (top) that changes the FSB and as a result the CPU and Ram clocks. There is a slider below that but I can't figure out what it does. However, for the PCI-E and PCI clocks it says 1#J. So I am guessing that I can't view/lock them. That is probably a bad thing. The only options under the options tab are "Frames Snap" and "Apply current settings at startup". The first one is checked (don't know what it does) and the second one is not (but I might check it if I want it to load at startup every time). I don't see anything about locking it. So if I "loose connection to a drive" or "loose LAN" will they come back if I put things back to default?

So what should I do now? The BIOS is confusing. I don't see anything about a RAM divider. It will let me change the memory timings though. It will also let me change the FSB in 1Mhz increments from 100 to 400 and the CPU voltage up to 1.6V. It says that the max recommend temp for my CPU is 67.7*C and the recommended voltage is 1.25V-1.388V. I have been watching CPU-Z and my voltage currently has hit a maximum of 1.416V. I read that you can force Ram to a lower speed (DDR 333 in my case) and then when you Overclock the FSB it will go up with the CPU and then you can stop OCing after it gets back around its original speed. It looks like if I can hit 3.8Ghz that will only take my ram to about DDR 440. Do you think the Value Select will be able to handle that much of a OC? Do you think that will work since it looks like I don't have the option to use a divider?

I am going to start messing with the FSB in BIOS soon.

EDIT: Locked the PCI bus to 33.33Mhz in BIOS and now it shows up in ClockGen as 33.34Mhz, but the PCIE still has the 1#J in the PPL control. I didn't see any PCI-E Lock option in bios. I also set the ram down to DDR 333 and it still works ok. Clockgen says it is running at 160Mhz (x2)= DDR 320.

[discodanman45]

Your RAM should have some OC'ing ability. Taking DDR400 to DDR440 may not be possible with Value Select RAM. Personally I would not use a RAM divider to OC my cpu. 1:1 is the way to go, so for a huge OC you will need better RAM. Another thing is you have this 3.8 GHz number in your head. Forcing an OC will lead you down a path where you will have serious problems. Only your individually cpu knows how much it can be overclocked. OC'ing is an art which will take a long time to understand how to run your system at its best.

Messing with the FSB will not cause any problems. Make sure to go slow and constantly monitor temps and test for stability. Even raising FSB without increasing vCore can raise temps.

[andper10]

Don't worry, I always have speedfan and ATI Tool running and I watch the temps. I am basically just trying to get some more preformance from my CPU without spending much more money. I don't want to spend a bunch of money on nice OCing ram when I could use that for other things. Like I said before, 3.8Ghz is just a "goal". If I can't get it that far I don't mind, but I just like to have a point to shoot for.

EDIT: Got the CPU to 3.26Ghz (217 FSB) stable with the stock intel cooler and no voltage increases (Ram is at DDR361). The system wouldn't start Windows at 3.3Ghz.

[andper10]

Well, the latest development is that the system hangs if I put the FSB at anything above 217. I will add that at 217 FSB (3.26 Ghz) the temps don't rise above 54*C even after 10 minutes of orthos and about an hour of CS:S. When the FSB is set above 217, some of the time it comes to a black screen with a blinking white underscore. When it does that it will blink for a while and then say "A drive read error has occured. Press ctrl+alt+delete to restart." So do you think the CPU just needs more voltage or do you think this is the way the PCI-E bus is telling me that it can't go any faster (if the SATA ports are linked to the PCI-E bus)? I also noticed that the Hard Drive activity light was just solidly on when the FSB was over 217. On a side note CPUZ says my ram is now running on a 5:4 (FSB:RAM) Divider! So even though my board has no divider options by underclocking the ram and then "overclocking" it I successfully set a divider. And I don't think the slower ram is a problem yet because my FPS average in the CS:S Video Stress Test has gone up compared to stock 3Ghz/DDR 400. So should I start adding CPU voltage in the smallest possible increments or do you think that I have hit the cap of the PCI-E bus? Thanks for all of the help!

[andper10]

ahem/cough/bump

Should I start slowly raising the CPU voltage and see if the error goes away or have I hit the cap of the PCI-E bus? How can I find out if the SATA ports are on the PCI-E bus?

[Tech-Boy]

So you can reach 3.26GHz before windows dusnt boot up? I have a brother model of ur cpu..a Intel P4 640 i've o'c so far to 3.6. I too wanna get 3.8 but my Windows Vista won't load after 3.68GHz. But wat i dont get is why ur cpu runs so hot! 54c in my opinion is really bad and before u know it ur gnna smell smoke and hear a pop. Have u installed the HSF correctly? When u push the pins down onto the motherboard...you should hear a crecccckkkk from each of them. I wouldnt buy another HSF because the stock ones they give u are sweeeet as! they cool ur CPU really good!

[Mr.Ferrari]

Sorry about the late responses, been busy with personal stuff.

Originally Posted by andper10 There is a slider below that but I can't figure out what it does. However, for the PCI-E and PCI clocks it says 1#J. So I am guessing that I can't view/lock them.

Seems kinda odd to me, because back when I was on 915, I could still see my pci-e ad pci clocks. Are you sure you have the right PLL? If its not on the site, a google search might yield a few more PLL choice.

And about the options, there should be an area in your bios called jumperfree settings or something the such. In it you'll find full overclocking options, including an area where you might be able to see PCI-E and PCI locks. PCI should always be locked at 33mhz fyi. Clockgen itself won't lock anything, you can change the fsb temporarily, but permanent locks are in bios. Like I said, 915p didn't really have this. If yours does and WORKS, well your lucky.

Originally Posted by andper10 So if I "loose connection to a drive" or "loose LAN" will they come back if I put things back to default?

Yes it *should*, but then again, I can't gurantee anything. It always did for me, I can't see why it wouldn't.

Originally Posted by andper10 So what should I do now? The BIOS is confusing. I don't see anything about a RAM divider.

The divider itself is a list of 3 or 4 DRAM speeds, it should be right there with the other overclock settings.

Originally Posted by anper10 I read that you can force Ram to a lower speed (DDR 333 in my case) and then when you Overclock the FSB it will go up with the CPU and then you can stop OCing after it gets back around its original speed. It looks like if I can hit 3.8Ghz that will only take my ram to about DDR 440. Do you think the Value Select will be able to handle that much of a OC? Do you think that will work since it looks like I don't have the option to use a divider?

Yup, thats what I've been trying explain. Thats how the dividers work. DDR333 would be something like a 4:3 or 5:4 divider technically. The whole point of slower dividers is to get more out of the ram before it reaches that maximum wall.

For AMD systems actually, this is widely used and lose of performance is non existent to minimal. But with Intel systems, as I explained earlier, its has a slightly higher impact.

I can't say if your ram can handle xxx mhz. As i've never used valueselect. But DDR 440 should be pretty reachable. As thats only 20mhz. If you run 1:1 you'll need DDR 506 for 3.8. Obviously much lower if you run a divider. If you want to find your maximum ram speed, run 1:1 until you know you've hit a ram wall. Then slow down to a divider, very optional though.

If the PCI-E lock is just not there, its not to big of a issue as you probably would not have been able to to lock it anyway. IF I remember correctly, you can calculate the PCIE bus by this formula: PCIE Freq=FSB/2.2. That is if im not forgetting something.

When the FSB is set above 217, some of the time it comes to a black screen with a blinking white underscore. When it does that it will blink for a while and then say "A drive read error has occured. Press ctrl+alt+delete to restart." So do you think the CPU just needs more voltage or do you think this is the way the PCI-E bus is telling me that it can't go any faster (if the SATA ports are linked to the PCI-E bus)? I also noticed that the Hard Drive activity light was just solidly on when the FSB was over 217. On a side note CPUZ says my ram is now running on a 5:4 (FSB:RAM) Divider! So even though my board has no divider options by underclocking the ram and then "overclocking" it I successfully set a divider. And I don't think the slower ram is a problem yet because my FPS average in the CS:S Video Stress Test has gone up compared to stock 3Ghz/DDR 400. So should I start adding CPU voltage in the smallest possible increments or do you think that I have hit the cap of the PCI-E bus? Thanks for all of the help!

Those are definately the symptoms of hard drive or memory read issues. Since your ram is in a divider, it does look like the SATA is causing issues. Since I didn't own a SATA drive with my 915p setup, I can't say this from experiance, but from what I used to hear, SATA drives were supposed to cause issues in some situations while overclocking. I can't say how true this is though.

Lower it back down, and boot into windows and check your ram timings and speed with CPU-Z. Make sure its running slower.

You shouldn't of hit the cap so early though, it took me around 250-260 before I totally capped out, 250-255 was somewhat stable. Good job on the clocks so far though. If nothing esle works, take baby steps with CPU voltage.

and 54c is no where near hot. You can run 60c+ comfortable on load.

[andper10]

I haven't tried upping the voltage yet, so that might be why it won't go over 3.26Ghz. Pentium 4 CPU's run hot. The official Intel web site says that the recommended maximum operating temperature for my P4 630 is 67.7*C. So I am perfectly comfortable with those temperatures. Just out of curiosity what are your temperatures? I have a Prescott core which run hotter than the Northwood cores. Perhaps you have a northwood? Or maybe it just runs cooler than mine. I have a clear acrylic case and I can visually see all 4 of the little plastic clips coming through the back. And I remember hearing 4 distinct clicks when I installed it. I attached a picture of the clips. They look completely clipped in to me.

@ Mr. Ferrari:

I have the PCI locked to 33.33 Mhz. There isn't an option to lock the PCI-E bus as far as I can tell. You can look at the manual if you feel like messing with it: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...93_p5gpl-x.pdf (right click, save target as) I actually read the inscription off the chip on the motherboard and it matched one of the options in ClockGen. So I don't think that I have the wrong PLL number. I checked it about 3 times just to make sure it was right. I just tested my OC with Orthos overnight and it was completely stable. It topped out at 55*C and reported 0 errors and 0 warnings. I am thinking that I will add a little bit of voltage and see what happens. Thanks for all the help! You don't need to apologize that you didn't respond right away. That is completely understandable.

What is the normal (No Overclocking) PCI-E bus speed?

EDIT: I just noticed that one of the features on the website says: Fixed PCI/PCI-E frequencies. So hopefully I just haven't been able to find it yet and it is really there.

[andper10]

I think that I am going to try to update my BIOS. According to the Asus website there should be a PCI-E lock, so I am thinking that maybe it didn't come until a more recent BIOS revision. I just tried a 1:1 Ratio and it is working fine at 3.1GHz / DDR 414.

[andper10]

Sorry for the triple post. I switched the divider back to 1:1 and I was plesantly suprised that the ram is chugging happily along overclocked to DDR 435 (217 FSB). Unfortunately I still get that disk read error thing if I go above 217 FSB. I tried raising the voltage a couple of notches and it didn't help. So I am thinking about getting an add-in SATA controller to see if I can overclock more. Do you think that it is worth it? My motherboard ports are SATAI but the $20 upgrade card ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124027 ) will support SATAII (my HD supports SATAII as well). Do you think I will get a preformance boost from a SATAII card over the SATAI on my motherboard? Because if I move the SATA ports to the PCI bus (which I can lock) then the only thing that I know of left on the PCI-E bus is the video card. So that should translate into me being able to go past 217FSB, right?

[Tech-Boy]

My CPU is an Intel Pentium 4 640 that i've o'c so far to 3.6 (3.2 is stock). The idling temp for my comp at 3.6 is only 24-29c and thats with the stock HSF. Ive brought the FSB to 225 and it can o'c even further. My CPU is also a Prescott like yours.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy My CPU is an Intel Pentium 4 640 that i've o'c so far to 3.6 (3.2 is stock). The idling temp for my comp at 3.6 is only 24-29c and thats with the stock HSF. Ive brought the FSB to 225 and it can o'c even further. My CPU is also a Prescott like yours.

You've got a overclocked Prescott P4 that idles at only 24 - 29C with the stock heatsink? Wow, that's amazing. I've got a Cedar Mill 631 that idles around 38 - 40C at stock speeds and the stock heatsink. My 2.8GHz Northwood idles around 32 - 34 with the stock heatsink. The cores of my P4s are known to run on the cooler side where the Prescotts are known to run on the hotter side. I've never heard of a Prescott idling below 40C before.

Cricket

[Tech-Boy]

Originally Posted by Cricket You've got a overclocked Prescott P4 that idles at only 24 - 29C with the stock heatsink? Wow, that's amazing. I've got a Cedar Mill 631 that idles around 38 - 40C at stock speeds and the stock heatsink. My 2.8GHz Northwood idles around 32 - 34 with the stock heatsink. Cricket

That's what it shows on Asus PC Probe II. And in BIOS i get the same results. Cedar Mill CPU's are based on 65nm technology better than the 90nm of Prescotts. I wish i waited just another week before the Cedar Mill came out...I would have bought one for sure! They have massive o'cing power! Cedar Mill makes less heat then Prescott I heard but I dunno why ur comp is running so hot...when u installed the HSF, did u hear a creeecccckkkk from all of the pins? If you didnt then I dont think its installed properly :] My uncle also has a Prescott...The Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz :] He uses a Gigabyte HSF and it idles at 28c. He's never o'c the beauty before.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy Cedar Mill makes less heat then Prescott I heard but I dunno why ur comp is running so hot

The idle temps for our Cedar Mill isn't considered hot at all, that's about average for that particular processor

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy ....when u installed the HSF, did u hear a creeecccckkkk from all of the pins? If you didnt then I dont think its installed properly.

I've been building computers for 10 years and built several other LGA775 computers before I built my wife's one (it has the 631 in it) and quite a few after that...I think I know how to install heatsinks properly.

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy :] My uncle also has a Prescott...The Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz :] He uses a Gigabyte HSF and it idles at 28c. He's never o'c the beauty before.

Again, I've never, ever heard of any Prescott P4 idling below 40C before...the Prescott P4s that I built all had idle temps around the mid to high 40's. But I live in Hawaii and don't have A/C in our house so the ambient room temps are always around 27C (80F). I just find it amazing that your overclocked 640 idles around 24 - 29 C (75 to 84 F).

Cricket

[andper10]

My P4 non-overclocked will idle around 35*C if I have the CPU fan speed set to 100%. However, I have Speedfan automatically vary the fan speed so it stays in the low 40*C's idle right now because I value the quiet more than the cool. Tech-Boy: Do you use the stock thermal pad or do you apply an aftermarket thermal paste to your CPU's?

So what do you think about the SATAII card? Do you think it will let me OC more? How much FSB increase do you think the PCI-E bus will take before my video card starts having problems? I don't want to get a new HSF unless I can overclock with the stock HSF to the point that I need a better HSF.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by andper10 Do you use the stock thermal pad or do you apply an aftermarket thermal paste to your CPU's?

The temp difference between the stock thermal pad and a good quality thermal compound like Arctic Silver isn't much...best I seen on my own computers is less than 5 degrees C.

Cricket

[andper10]

I have noticed this interesting glitch since before I started overclocking my CPU and I figured that I should show you since this thread has to do with my CPU to some degree. I think it could have to do with my X1600Pro video card that I removed for an upgrade recently (it never happened until after I removed the X1600Pro and installed the X1950XT). The X1950 series doesn't support temp monitoring in many programs yet (only ATI Tool 0.27 Beta) and I am thinking that it has something to do with the old video card that was there. Everest, PC Probe, and Speedfan all say that the video card temp is 47C or 48C. But ATI tool actually varies and controls fan speed based of temps. I get from about 50C Idle to mid 70's C on the X1950XT when gaming, and the video card fan adjusts accordingly.

Currently, in Speedfan my CPU temperature says 115*C! I have checked the temp and it was ~52*C and then I check it again in 2 minutes and it says 114*C. Now 115*C would be hotter than boiling, but I kept my finger on the heatsink of the CPU for 10 seconds and it was just warm. No burning, no nothing. Just warm like it should be. And my CPU isn't thermal throttling (see attached screenshot for proof from CPU-Z). So I think that there is either a problem with the internal CPU heat sensor (but then why doesn't it thermal throttle), or the software that reads the temps (This happens in Asus PC Probe, Speedfan, and Everest) has some sort of glitch. And I have been using this PC for over an hour at "115*C". It is perfectly stable (even while gaming) and there is not an excesssive ammount of heat coming out of the exhaust fans. A screenshot showing the high temps and the CPU-Z screen (no Mhz decrease due to thermal throttling) is attached.

[andper10]

Just a moment ago I was loading CS:S to do a video stress test (turns out I get 15FPS average better when I drop the OC down to 3.21Ghz) and I watched the "CPU Temp" drop to 2*C! Something is fishy with this. I got a screenshot of the graph shortly after it happened. It is attached.

[Tech-Boy]

Originally Posted by andper10 My P4 non-overclocked will idle around 35*C if I have the CPU fan speed set to 100%. However, I have Speedfan automatically vary the fan speed so it stays in the low 40*C's idle right now because I value the quiet more than the cool. Tech-Boy: Do you use the stock thermal pad or do you apply an aftermarket thermal paste to your CPU's? So what do you think about the SATAII card? Do you think it will let me OC more? How much FSB increase do you think the PCI-E bus will take before my video card starts having problems? I don't want to get a new HSF unless I can overclock with the stock HSF to the point that I need a better HSF.

I use the stock thermal pad and no I dont use aftermarket thermal paste. I'm also using the stock HSF on my comp. I think my comp idles low because its been pretty cold in Melbourne lately. Temperatures havnt been above 15c all week and my room has no heater...only the living rooms does, so u can imagine how cold my room must be! that might b the reason y my comp is idling low but i doubt it. For now, just o'c with the stock HSF because it is very very good. Although many others complain is crap... and ALWAYS leave the fan speed set to 100% thats the best way to cool ur CPU

[Tech-Boy]

Originally Posted by andper10 I have noticed this interesting glitch since before I started overclocking my CPU and I figured that I should show you since this thread has to do with my CPU to some degree. I think it could have to do with my X1600Pro video card that I removed for an upgrade recently (it never happened until after I removed the X1600Pro and installed the X1950XT). The X1950 series doesn't support temp monitoring in many programs yet (only ATI Tool 0.27 Beta) and I am thinking that it has something to do with the old video card that was there. Everest, PC Probe, and Speedfan all say that the video card temp is 47C or 48C. But ATI tool actually varies and controls fan speed based of temps. I get from about 50C Idle to mid 70's C on the X1950XT when gaming, and the video card fan adjusts accordingly. Currently, in Speedfan my CPU temperature says 115*C! I have checked the temp and it was ~52*C and then I check it again in 2 minutes and it says 114*C. Now 115*C would be hotter than boiling, but I kept my finger on the heatsink of the CPU for 10 seconds and it was just warm. No burning, no nothing. Just warm like it should be. And my CPU isn't thermal throttling (see attached screenshot for proof from CPU-Z). So I think that there is either a problem with the internal CPU heat sensor (but then why doesn't it thermal throttle), or the software that reads the temps (This happens in Asus PC Probe, Speedfan, and Everest) has some sort of glitch. And I have been using this PC for over an hour at "115*C". It is perfectly stable (even while gaming) and there is not an excesssive ammount of heat coming out of the exhaust fans. A screenshot showing the high temps and the CPU-Z screen (no Mhz decrease due to thermal throttling) is attached.

What mobo do u have? there should be cpu/mobo temperature monitoring software in the CD u receive with it. Try use that. My Asus mobo CD i received didnt support Windows Vista so i just took my uncles driver from the Asus Striker Extreme and installed Asus PC Probe II. Ok, because ur monitoring software says 115c or so, open CPUZ and check clock speed. Its nearly impossible for P4's to burn because they automatically lower clock speed once the CPU gets a little to hot to prevent them burning out. Thats what i love abt my CPU :]

[Tech-Boy]

sorry for the triple post people XD but heres pics of my clock speed and cpu temps at this speed. enjoy :]

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy I think my comp idles low because its been pretty cold in Melbourne lately. Temperatures havnt been above 15c all week and my room has no heater...only the living rooms does

Geez, that's why your idle temps are so low. Ambient room temps have a lot to do with what temps your computer runs at.

Originally Posted by Tech-Boy so u can imagine how cold my room must be! that might b the reason y my comp is idling low but i doubt it.

Ambient room temps will affect computer temps. Let us know the idle temps when your summer comes around.

Cricket

[andper10]

I have an Asus motherboard and it came with PC Probe and I have that installed along with Everest and Speedfan. What is that voltage program in your screenshot?

And look before you post. I have a screenshot of the "115C" and CPUZ is right above showing that the CPU is still running at the correct speed despite the high temp reading. This makes me think it is a glitch in the software and not the actual sensor in the CPU that is broken or else it would be thermal throttling.