OK Temps for AMD64 X2 939 4200?

Hi,

I just ordered a 4200X2 and an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 64 from OcUk (excellent service!), I've installed them in my Chenbro midi tower case. I have:

Gigabyte GA-K8NS-Ultra 939 Mobo
2GB RAM
4 HDs running (2SATA 2PATA)
2 DVDDrives(PATA)
Geforce 6600GT AGP running 2 monitors
Soundblaster 5.1 sound
Elsa Synergy 2 PCI card (running 15"CRT)
ZALMAN 400W PSU
120mm fan front bottom,
120mm fan rear top - pretty well aligned with the Freezer Pro

I'm running Ubuntu Feisty

I'd hoped to overclock this a bit bit it seems to be running a bit warm. Not sure on stress testers under Linux (anyone?) so I'm running glxgears whcih seems to have at least one core at 80-100% all the time.

With just a browers etc. running I seem to have one core at about 26C, the other at arounf 40C. With glxgears running after about 10 minutes both seems to around 60C (58-61C). I assuming one hot core will heat the other a little.

I've just closed dow nthe app and within a fewseconds I'm down to 34/47 and dropping.

Now, I'm located in my attic so the room is a bit warm anyway. Also the case is pretty cramped so I'm not sure how good the air flow is.

Are these values reasonable?

Should I look at a roomier case (full tower) to give better airflow?

Would taking the side panel off and pointing a big fan inwards give some idea if internal airflow is the problem?

I would really like to OC this chip a little. It's the last upgrade I can do on this mobo before I go Intel Quad so I'd like to get a bit more use out of it.

I don't do gaming with this, only occasional video processing etc. and development, although I and strating to run XP in a VM

Any comments much appreciated.

Andy

PS temps now down to 29/43 after 5 mins

Well, quick update.

While searching these and other forums for peoples experiences with the 4200 and the Freezer Pro 64 I made the slightly embarrasing revelation that I had the heatsink fitted the wrong way! I had the fan at the back of the case facing inwards. Basically next to the rear case fan but sucking in the air the case fan was trying to pull out.

So, after a bit of faffing I manged to get it the right way round. This heatsink does not fit well on the gigabyte mobo. Big capacitors in the way and hopefully I've not done any damage.

Problem is now still that the fan is being blocked by cables to the HDs which are sitting right in front of it. I've had to put cable ties on to keep the power lines away from the fan. Now with 4 HDs this has got to be pushing very warm air over the CPU.

I've had glxgears and cpuburn running for 10 mins which has put both cores to max. Temps on both cores are still at around 58-62C.

Shutting the apps down drops to 31/46 in seconds and then with only one core at 7-8% temps are 25C and 41C.

Are these still OK temps or should I be looking at a case that moves my HDs clear of the CPU?

Cheers

Andy

The temps are safe but are right on the maximum that chip should be getting to. I usually say 60C max for them.

Overclocking is a definite no-no in the current situation. Seems very high for an ACFP64 though, although as you say that could be down a combination of environment and all the HDDs.

I'd look at sorting the temps out before you think about overclocking. A new case with better airflow etc might be in order. Yep, take the side panel off and see if that makes a difference. If yes, your internal airflow needs improving.

Jon

Thanks Jon. I'll give that a try first. I'd like an excuse to buy a new case

Andy

Well, 20 mins with both cores at max and with a bloody great fan blowing into the case sees the cores at 50-55.

Is there a particular way I should position the house fan to help the case temperature/flow?

Given these figures and the fact I'm doing little with the HDs so they're not too hot I'm brginning to wonder if things ar enot looking good?

Andy

Well there's not a lot of adjustment for the position of the house fan. It's so big it's going to blow air pretty much the same way whereever you put it.

Still high temps though. Your interal airflow doesn't seem to be great, but on the other hand, it's not the main problem here.

What fans (position and size) are in your case?
Using something like Everest, how hot are the HDDs, graphics card, and any other temperature readings it shows?

Jon

bad mount / very warped ihs?

when you rmeove the hsf, how does the thermal paste patern look? is it very very thin (just like a slight colour changing layer, almost seethru) or thin but opaque or very thick, any obvious uneven areas in the spread?

temps are not to bad, all told. (i was up arround 80c loaded, oc on water before i decapped!)

certainly they arent worth worring about much as yet. as for oc, if you have a good core, nothing stopping you dropping v-core a touch and bumping the frequency so you end up faster with same temps...

Today is a bit cooler in the attic. Must have been quite warm yesterday and day before which may have affected things a little. Currently with side panel off and no house fan running I have a core at rest at 14-15C and the other at 7-10% at 35C. I ran both at full load for 20mins and neither topped 55C. Beginning to think the room temp is a bit of a problem as well.

i will run the Everest Prog ASAP and post results. I've also taken a pick of the inside of the case to show layout and problem with HDD positions. May get chane to do this tonight but tomorrow more likely as have to iron all my shirts for the week

Cheers for the comments

Andy

Even more info

Hi again,

I'd hoped to post some images here but for some reason my webspace ftp is down so they are on my blog http://aslstuffandnonsense.blogspot.com/

First image shows the CPU spec.

Second the result from 10 minutes of the EVEREST stability test.

Now, this only shows one temperature and the max was 52C. While running this the readings from CPUCore were showing an average of 8 degress higher. Currently I have temps of 17C and 36C with usage at 3 and 8% respectively. The difference in cores seems large?

Should I try reseating the HSF?
Should I fully clean off the paste that came with it and apply new?(Recommendations?)

My Freezer 64 is a tight fit for the mobo due to capacitors. The instructions mention possibly turning the fan around 90 degrees for some boards. Does this mean I can turn it 180 degrees so that the locking switch is the other side?

I've also attached a pic of the inside of the case to show how close the HDDs are to the CPU fan.

One again, comments appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

Sorry mate, I meant to answer this this morning and completely forget. My apologies

Well temps from the stress test look OK. I'm not familiar with that test so I don't know if that's reading from the IHS probe or the CPU's internal DTS. In either case, the temps are acceptable. I would still recommend CoreTemp though, as that shows the DTS readout.

I see what you mean about the hard drives & crowded case. Lots of air being warmed up there! Not ideal, but also not enough to give those temps. I think it's something else. Yes the HDDs aren't helping, but I don't think they're generating enough heat to make the CPU run that warm.

17C and 36C for each core is a massive difference. Nearly 20C! One thing you sometimes get with the X2s is bad IHS contact on one core. Now that usually only produces a difference of, at maximum, around 10C. So I'll take a guess at that being only part (or none) of the problem. I reckon that's a badly mounted heatsink, making better contact with one side of the IHS than the other.

So yes, do a reseat. With the temps as they are, it's a good idea. Clean off all the thermal paste from the CPU and heatsink and apply new stuff. Most people tend to recommend Arctic Silver 5, it's good stuff. The MX-1 is also very good I find. Follow the instructions on the website for applying the paste, it really is the best way to do it in my opinion (and other people's).

The option of turning it 180 degrees is probably not a good idea, because it will go against the rest of the airflow in your case. It might be worth it as a last resort, but not yet. Give a normal reseat a try first

Let me know how you get on, and good luck!

Jon

GeForce said:

Sorry mate, I meant to answer this this morning and completely forget. My apologies

Click to expand...

No problems. The advice is much appreciated

17C and 36C for each core is a massive difference. Nearly 20C! One thing you sometimes get with the X2s is bad IHS contact on one core. Now that usually only produces a difference of, at maximum, around 10C. So I'll take a guess at that being only part (or none) of the problem. I reckon that's a badly mounted heatsink, making better contact with one side of the IHS than the other.

So yes, do a reseat. With the temps as they are, it's a good idea. Clean off all the thermal paste from the CPU and heatsink and apply new stuff. Most people tend to recommend Arctic Silver 5, it's good stuff. The MX-1 is also very good I find. Follow the instructions on the website for applying the paste, it really is the best way to do it in my opinion (and other people's).

The option of turning it 180 degrees is probably not a good idea, because it will go against the rest of the airflow in your case. It might be worth it as a last resort, but not yet. Give a normal reseat a try first

Click to expand...

I'll try a reseat when I have some paste. I probably didn't explain the 180 bit very clearly. I wondered if it's possible to detach the 'clamp' mechanism from the HSF and rotate it 180. At the moment the fixing 'handle' is resting against some capacitors. If I could rotate that to the other side it would fit easier and still have the fan blowing the right way.

Hope that makes sense

I've a feeling it'll be the weekend before I can buy some paste so I'll try then unless I can find some old stuff (does it have a sell by date?)

Cheers

Andy

Oh I see what you mean with the rotating I stick by what I said though: give a normal reseat a try first and then, if that fails, try rotating the bracket.

No real sell by date, but you're meant to store it tip down. If you haven't, you'll have to squeeze a bit out first before you get to the good stuff

Jon

Thanks.

I've just ordered some Artic Silver 5 which should arrive Wednesday. I'll not be pushing the system for a while so will change over then and post the results.

Cheers

Andy

Well, arctic Silver arrived today. Removed HSF and cleaned it and chip. Applied paste as per instructions. at boot had 1 core at 15-18C the other at 36-40C.

removed HSF and the paste onlt seemed to be in a c.20mm circle in middle if cpu. Tried spreading it sround a little and refitted. now have 18 and 38C.

Possibly I put too little paste on first time?

HSF is not sitting level to contact both cores evenly?

Tired, miffed and going to bed.



Andy

Very, very odd. 18C is pretty low, you must have fairly low ambient temps if that's correct. 38C is above what I'd expect for idle, but not too bad.

It could be uneven contact between HSF and IHS, maybe try laying the case on its side to take the load of the heatsink's weight off the motherboard. Also, if you have the stock 939 cooler, you could give that a try. Obviously, it won't cool as well as the F64P, but it it far easier to seat and should help identify the problem.

Also check the CPU is sitting properly in the socket. I doubt that's the problem, but worth checking.

If none of that sorts it out, it could just be bad IHS contact on one core. Unfortunately there's nothing you can really do about that, short of removing the IHS. The other option is that one (or both) of the internal DTSs are damaged, so the readings being reported aren't actually correct. I have my doubts about that though.

Are these readings from CoreTemp?

Let me know how you get on,

Jon