Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

In the words of (Max Bygraves?), "I wanna tell you a story"...

A couple of years ago I bought a crud PC from Time/Tiny, and subsequently tore it apart (as you do). With the original motherboard my processor temps were fairly high, if I remember correctly.
Shortly afterwards, due to a crummy power supply, and even crummier mini ATX case and motherboard, I upgraded. With the new motherboard and existing fan I was getting temps in the mid to high 60s.
Fine, got a new heatsink and fan, some nice new thermal paste, and yet still temps were in the low to mid 60s. There were, however, no side effects or symptoms, so I left it.
Two weeks ago, the upgrading obsession got the better of me again, and I thought it was time for some nice new RAM and a new motherboard, and (for the hell of it) a more expensive heatsink and fan. I put it all together meticulously, and, yep, you guessed it temperatures are in the mid to high 60s, often knocking 70.

The processor is the common factor in all of this and is an Athlon XP 2200+. Could the problem be a dodgy processor, dodgy temperature sensor, or a continued inability to fit a heatsink properly?

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

where are you picking the temp up from , the bios ???????? , as for the heatsink , did it have a pad on it ???????? , did you remove it ????????? , and did you follow the thermal paste instructions to the absoloute letter ????????? , hey loads of questions :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Hiya,

Atlons always run quite hot if I remember correctly :) But it does seem damn hot :eek: Although if your not seeing any problems then I guess that it will be fine.

I use "Speedfan" for my temps (and checked them though the BIOS too) it will slow the fan down when needed and speed it up when the cpu gets too hot

My idle temp is around 32C and load temp is about 44 - 45C - But thats with a P4 2.6C and a decent Heatsink/fan

I would flash your bios to the newest version if you havn't already and double check temps in bios to any software temp you might be running.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

athlons are cheaper and run hoter its fine to see it running in the early 70's if you want to take the temp down then u will need a fan and heatsink that will sound like a small jet engine and will suck any small mamals into it ruinning in the 60's is fine i have the same cpu (well overclocked) with a good cooler and 3 fans in the case top get it to run in the 45-50 range i had to underclock it about a gig and thats not easy ive hada few athlons now and so do all my mates but i recently (early last year) got a p4 2.8 on day of release and havnt looked back :) cant hear it and it dosnt go above 40c

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

The temperatures are from both Speedfan and BIOS and seem fairly consistent. The current heatsink/fan is a Thermaltake Volcano 9, it did not have a pad on it, and I did follow the instructions to apply a very thin layer of paste. I even applied the heatsink a couple of times to check that there was enough to bridge any gaps, but not too much so it oozed out of the sides. As I have said, this processor has never had a temp below 60 degrees irrespective of heatsink or motherboard.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

its fine...its by design

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Make sure that you have not put too much thermal paste on.. To much can be worse than none at all !!!!

Allways try and use heatsink's that have thermal pads as these are better than the paste.

HTH

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Thank you, given that it hasn't exploded yet (touch wood) I thought that might be the case.
Slightly off topic, but bearing in mind price and performance, if I wanted to upgrade the processor (Socket A), what would you recommend the minimum should be for me to appreciate a performance improvement?

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Whats the rest of your system - pure Mhz are not the key performance driver anymore. RAM bottlenecks (I see you just bought new), or lack of, or HDD speeds or GPUs all slow things down. What do you want the extra speed for? Games, Video Editing, Database manipulation / queries?

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

I've always been told the opposite :D

Look into a new fan. I've got an athlon 1.4 and for the last two years I've had a super orb cooler, loud and the temperature was always around the 70 mark with no problems. However, I've just fitted a coolermaster that has a (manually adjustable) variable fan. On it's lowest speed, my cpu never goes above 55 degrees and it's a lot quieter than my orb. The fan says it is rated up to 2800+ so definately reccommended.

If you wanted super cooling and can afford it though, go for a water cooled system.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

I am sure there is a way you could harness the heat of your processor? plumb it into your central heating system perhaps, or use it to cook food (which I have seen done in a magazine)

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Thermal pads are the work of satan and should be removed straight away, always use a good thermal paste, like Arctic Silver III, and only use a pea sized amount, it's only supposed to fill the inconsistencies in the heatsink plate and the processor core to create a better contact.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

To my mind a greater improvement might come from a faster HDD, say upgrade from 5400 to 7200 rpm or from 7200 to 10000 rpm. :cool:

(PS: I go with Bifta re. the pad v paste - a smear of Arctic Silver = :cool: )

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Also, don't neglect case cooling. If the inside of the case is as hot as hell it don't matter how good your CPU heatsink/fan is.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

I've seen it piped to the garage for underfloor heating.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Not entireley true. :)
True that Athlons are cheaper and Do run hotter but not as hot as this one is running. Any athlon running above 60C has a heatsink problem simple as that.
My athlon XP Idles at 40C and full load at 47C and thats with the Stock heatsink that AMD supply in the Retail package and a little bit of Arctic silver, wich I spread with a plastic sheet across the bottom of the heatsink for even distribution.
The highest temp my CPU has ever reached was 55C running full load during mid summer, in the middle of that heatwave we had last year.
Running in the 70's any CPU will start to become unstable especially under full load, supprisingly some CPUs still run stable even at this temp but it wont last, sooner or later performance and stability will decrease.
One thing I have done with a few other machines but havent done with mine yet to increase heatsink performance is to sand down the base of the heatsink. This must be done correctly otherwise you will ruin your heatsink and I dont have the How to guide to hand but the general idea is that for optimal heat transfer you should be able to see your reflection in the base of the heatsink.

No offence to anybody with a p4 but I have always considdered intel to be the Lazy/rich mans choice, i.e. they run cool with little or no knowledge about heatsinks.
However the amount you spend extra on an intel CPU could be spent on buying a better set of fans for your athlon and the result would be the athlon running much cooler than any Intel would for the same price.

Though I have been thinking of going with intel for my next upgrade, does anybody have any CHEAP reccomendations for CPU/Mobo combo?

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Found that How to guide online, its called lapping.
Might be worth trying even if you get good temps out of your CPU as it cant hurt to have them a lil bit better can it?? :D
http://www.bigbruin.com/html/lapping-guide.htm

EDIT: please bear in mind that you may ruin your CPU heatsink so its best to only do this if you have a spare and understand the risk involved ;)

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

id disgaree with your p4 point but im far to lazy to go into it and yes if my cpu was running at 70 id get another one simple as that but some athlons are more than happy to run that hot

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

According to MBM5 my CPUS's are averageing about 70 degrees - and they are pentuims (one celeron and one P4). They seem happy enough to me.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

Well my comment was mainly about Athlons and Durons as I have little experience with Intels since the PII. but that still sounds terrible to me :eek:

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

You must have pretty good hearing to be able to hear them over the fan :rofl:

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

im surpised a p4 is running that hot ..all depends on location and what else is in the box .but thats still pretty hot

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

My P4 2.8 peaks at 47C under full load. There is little noise from the case, but saying that the heat sink inside the case is HUGE and its right next to a case fan.

Re: Dodgy Processor = High Temperature?
 

My Celery 500 (aka Ol' Faithful) is currently running at 49C and it's chugging along doing extra stuff in the background whilst i'm typing this. I don't have a particularly good fan, but it does have 3 coloured LEDs on it that are very cool :D