Phenom II 940 Black Edition Temperature Problems

Saekhmet

Saekhmet

Saekhmet

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Joined
4 Jun 2009
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38
Hey all, ive recently built a new system but having got it going i found my Phenom II 940 (@3ghz standard) is exceeding 55*c on 1.09v idle (according to PC Probe II and BIOS) :(

This is using stock cooler and thermal interface material, but shouldn't it be a lot less than that?? Should i invest in some more thermal interface material and reseat the hsf to ensure its on properly? And which thermal interface material should i get, Arctic Silver 5 keeps popping up but want to make sure.

Thanks in advance :)
 
try using coretemp or real temp as pc probe and your bios are most like ly not reading the core temperature but a different one
 
.... I used Core Temp and apparently:

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My temp was at 71*c :S Bad cpu or incorrectly placed hsf or what??? The hsf is on straight, and it clipped into place first time... Should i go RMA or what? Not gonna be turning it on anytime soon.. :(

Will this have damaged the CPU already?
 
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i would reseat the heatsink first but i think it is probably just dodgy temp sensors on your cores
 
I had issues with my 940 reporting temperatures of -256 degrees c. A bios update on my mobo seemed to fix this.

This may possibly help in your situation...
 
Aye, but -256 degrees c is definately wrong... whereas 70c is worrying and plausible :( Il reseat the fan then update the BIOS me thinks, when i just turn the PC on the BIOS reports it at 36*c but it rises rapidly.
 
I dunno, I don't think that your temps are actually reaching 70 degrees, the maximum temp for the 940 is 61 degrees iirc. Going much higher would crash the machine or force the chip to underclock no?
 
Thats the theory :) I just don't wanna take any chances, gnna refit the cpu fan when i can get a hold of some thermal paste and THEN ill assume that the numbers are wrong and update the BIOS if theyr still that high. Just want to be safe
 
55 could be a figure if you clocked it to 3.6/3.7.

Try changing the bios settings to default and let it settle for a while. If temps still high try toggling some of the bios options such as

C1E
CnQ
Fan Profile: Performance

What is the mobo temp like?
 
Firstly reseat - you may have used too much gunk or just got a nasty air bubble etc.

Very surprised if they're that high otherwise - they're pretty cool running chips.

And a note, the 63c max temp is for the chip overall - the cores can be a little higher (75, maybe? don't hold me to that)
 
What temp does it go by though? Cos if the temp its recording is innacurate (and is higher) then surely it'll do a lot of damage to itself. Im very tempted to be reckless and plough ahead without the arctic silver anyway now... Really bored lol, and it should be under warranty. As far as im aware the heatsink/fan is on correctly... it clipped on relatively smoothly (considering how much trouble some other people are reported to have with AMD stock coolers..)
 
Just out of interest, if the cpu WAS running at 70+*c for 4 hours or so, how much damage could/would have been done and how could i tell? I took my stock fan off and noticed that the gel hadn't even touched the processor... put it back on, rotated it slightly and now its running at 42*c... So the number looks genuine.. Makes me wanna hit things :(

Apparently Phenoms built in auto reset is 115*c, according to official AMD docs..
 
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As far as I'm aware, chips will scale down the multipier if they begin to overheat to the point it would cause problems. So I am sure that your chip wll be fine.

You say that when you took the stock sink off, you could tell that the TIM had not made contact with the proc. If this is the case, then you certainly have not clipped the sink down properly, and would explain why you have high temperatures.

When the clips are properly in place then the sink will be firmly pressed against the processor. The thermal interface material will spread out between the two surfaces.
 
A good sign I would say.

If you want some reassurance that your chip is running ok, then download a small app called prime95.
Google for information on how to run it in 4 instances on your processor.

This programme will give your processor instructions to complete complex math.
You leave this running for 24 hours, and if your processor calculates the math correctly then it passes the test. This allows you to test the processor is stable and lets you check that the temperatures do not go to high, as you will be placing 100% load on all 4 cores.
 
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