• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Athlon X2 running very hot

I dont blame him, if its as good if not better than this thermalright ultra extreme 120 it must be bloody good I tell you. I thought the TRUE was the best cooler money could buy but I was wrong!!
 
Just out of interest what sort of difference in speed will I see between my old 5600+ 2.8ghz and a new x3 2.2ghz?

Still a bit uncertain what to go for:

AMD Athlon II X3 400e 2.2GHz Socket AM3 1.5MB Cache Energy Efficient
AMD Athlon II X2 240e 2.8GHz Socket AM3 2MB Cache Energy Efficient

or

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3
 
Last edited:
Hi Euro_Hunter,

is there any chance you could post up some pics of this overheating system please . . . . I wanna see how much space there is as the *e* versions of the Athlon II may well be complete overkill for your needs while at the same time being more expensive and slower than a regular Athlon II . . .

The AII X3 425 I am testing will never rise above 33°C under full load while running at stock . . . . If I undervolt/underclock it then it will be an *E* version chip . . . assuming you have a mobo with relevant options! :cool:
 
Last edited:
Yeah your gonna need a new chip, or a massively effective cooling solution because at those temps your not gonna be getting much done.
 
Heres a few pics of the chassis the heatsink is not mounted atm & only one case fan in place, as I said it is in pieces;)

DSCF0992.jpg




DSCF0996.jpg


DSCF0999.jpg


DSCF0995.jpg


And one from the front of the case, I no longer have the HD DVD combo drive though as I have a stand alone BD player.

DSCF0568800x600.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey Euro_Hunter,

that looks like a Antec Fusion Remote Black (or is it a NSK2480 sprayed black?), seems like a decent HTPC chassis to me! :)

Can't see how that is causing overheating problems in your current set-up? If the older chip is running as hot as you say it is then I would expect the heatsink to be scalding-hot like a hot iron . . . . did you carefully check the heatsink before while the system was running? . . . did it get hot?

I'm wondering if some part of the heatsink attachment is faulty is some way preventing the heatsink from making good contact? :confused:

I'm not that familiar with your exact older AMD CPU but your making it sound like its a mini nuclear reactor? :D

I would try and work out what the problem is but if your patience is worn thin then the newer Athlon II will stay very cool in that chassis, don't bother with an *e* version chip as you got a big heatsink there and plenty of room for air circulation so I'd be suprised if you need a fan on the heatsink at all! :cool:
 
The case is a NSK2480 sprayed black to match the rest of my AV gear :)

May have another go this afternoon but was ready to upgrade cpu anyway to something with a bit more grunt for watching .mkvs etc.

Whilst it copes with almost any file I got the ocassional pause whilst playing some .mkv's

So which cpu would you get then Wayne?

Wouldn't the X3 be better for playing media in Windows 7 than an Athlon II?
 
Last edited:
Euro_Hunter said:
was ready to upgrade cpu anyway to something with a bit more grunt for watching .mkvs etc
Click to expand...
Isn't that decoding handled by most GPU's and IGP's? :confused:

Euro_Hunter said:
Wouldn't the X3 be better for playing media in Windows 7 than an Athlon II?
Click to expand...
Do you mean would an Athlon II X3 be better than an Athlon II X2, I doubt you could tell the difference?

Afaik all meaty video decoding duties are taken care of by the GPU and IGP these days, you don't need a mighty powerful CPU anymore . . . search out the price of the cheapest Athlon II X2 you can find and also the same for the Athlon II X3 . . . compare the prices and the decide which you prefere, an AII X2 is very capable but if you only ever had a Dual Core then the AII X3 could be a nice move if the price premium over the AII X2 is little . . . :cool:
 
Many thanks Wayne.

Got my system back together again today and temps have improved a little max of 55 deg during basic tasks, web browsing, playing movie.

But ran Linx and temp soon shot up to over 100 deg, so gave up and I have ordered a X3 400e 2.2ghz and some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste which should be delivered tomorrow :)

Hopefully this will solve my problem if not I will upgrade motherboard also.
 
Euro_Hunter said:
DSCF0568800x600.jpg
Click to expand...

Oooh, me likey! I have a nsk 2480 and would like to spray it black. Whats that in your lower 5.25" bay?

I also use a mini ninja in mine but with a intel e5200. Perhaps a silly question and you've probably tried it, had you tried to clean up the heatsink/cpu and put some new thermal paste down?

<edit to save creating a new post>

Big.Wayne said:
Afaik all meaty video decoding duties are taken care of by the GPU and IGP these days, you don't need a mighty powerful CPU anymore . . .
Click to expand...

That's true when it comes to watching a blu ray movie with powerDVD as the powerDVD's codec is spot on for decoding 1080p without a hicup. However it doesn't support .MKV files, yes you can change the file to .avi but I found that this caused a lot of my HD movies not to play properly. In the end I went with the combo of; MPC, coreAVC + haali, AC3 filter and my e5200 decodes it fine (without coreAVC it doesn't). Saying that, I tried the latest version of VLC yesturday and I am pretty sure that now plays 1080p stutter free.

</edit>
 
Last edited:
fobose said:
Oooh, me likey! I have a nsk 2480 and would like to spray it black. Whats that in your lower 5.25" bay?

I also use a mini ninja in mine but with a intel e5200. Perhaps a silly question and you've probably tried it, had you tried to clean up the heatsink/cpu and put some new thermal paste down?
Click to expand...

In my lower 5.25 bay I have a 'imon inside' which is a remote control receiver which also enables full system on/off via remote :cool:

Yes I tried cleaning heatsink & cpu and using Arctic Silver Paste instead of the basic white gunk you get given to no avail.
 
Euro_Hunter said:
In my lower 5.25 bay I have a 'imon inside' which is a remote control receiver which also enables full system on/off via remote :cool:
Click to expand...

Ah ok, cool. I found that both my 5.25" bay covers are now "bent" from when I removed them (I was very gentle). Now they dont fit flush in the case, so I am looking for something to put in the lower bay.

You can't really see it in my pic, but I know its there so it just bothers me (and you have to look real close to see it lol):

HTPC%20640x480.jpg


<edit>

Oooh, randomly found someone else with the same problem (but much worse) whilst googling for "silver bluray drive":

RobK said:
Well I've installed it and it doesn't look too bad. Shame the front bezel has got a bit bent somehow under the drive bays though.

vowrap.jpg
Click to expand...

</edit>
 
Last edited:
Nice one Euro_Hunter! :)

Is that with fan or without?

I just slapped on a 1,500rpm Akasa fan to the Baram as the passive temps on the overclocked AII X3 425 where hitting about 53°C under full stress load . . . purely as a troubleshooting measure as I was finding it hard to get a 24 hour prime stable result any higher . . .the fan knocked a clean 20°C off peak load temps so now hopefully I can continue my testing and see if I can get 3.6Ghz stable! :cool:

fanonbaram.gif
 
Thats with a fan on the Mini Ninja & using Arctic Silver 5.

The fan is silent so fan must be running very slow.

Not tried Linx or Prime yet so I guess temps will rise at 100% load, but I have a stable cool system now so I'm very happy :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom