Rock Solid without Case Side Panel

ginjaninja · 30 Dec 2007 at 09:08

Pride comes before a fall...
my rock solid machine (9x400Fsb) falls over very quickly when I put the side panel of the case on (1hr prime 95). the machine reboots everytime so far.

I would welcome some advice on how to fix.

What I know,
I have
G0, TRU 120 Extreme with Noctua 1200 rpm, Asus Formula X38, Antec P182, GTS512MB.
The Top and Rear Exhaust fans are on max.
The P182 has space for a 120mmm behind the HDD drive cage.

What I think
I think that that the orientation on the the noctua 120 (and the fact it doesnt point downwards like the stock cooler) and that it is high above the x38 means that x38 is not getting adequate cooling.
Ive think the board may be dodgy as even at stock values asus probe says it is overheating and then probe will stop reading temp / voltage values.
lapping cpu/tru wont help that much as it is presumably the case the which is over heating too much causing a non cpu component fail (given that it is stable without case).?

I could get a 120mm case fan for the vacant slot (but its more pointed towards gpu)
I could get a beefier cpu fan (but its higher than x38 anyways)
I could change the orientation on the cpu fan so its sucks accross x38 and pushes through cpu onto to top exhause fan. (but its higher)

any advice please.
Im going to prime 95 test at 400x6 stock cpu volts to lend weight that it is the x38 that is falling over.

ginjaninja · 30 Dec 2007 at 12:13

falls over at 400x6..think its the motherboard...got bios message opt temp3 over heat protection..f1 to resume...
Ive checked the manual opt temp3 is down bottom away from x38 and cpu..infact right underneath x-fi and next to power supply....but it doesnt have the optional sensor attached.

ginjaninja · 30 Dec 2007 at 12:24

disabled over heat protection in bios on opt 3. will test again

Cob · 30 Dec 2007 at 14:26

I would put a 120mm intake fan behind the HDD cage. You really need cool air being sucked in the front if you're going to be expelling it out at the top and the back.

I would even try moving the top fan down to the front for the time being.

Brian Stuart · 30 Dec 2007 at 14:29

Download Core Temp and post temps. I have a P182 and temps are fine with fans at min setting. What happens when the PC is at stock?

ginjaninja · 30 Dec 2007 at 17:29

thanks for advice so far,
at stock levels (266 x9), with prime 95 heat test temps are 39,39,39,39 on core , asus probe reports sb 45, nb 47..fans on max. I think these temps are normal and fine? prime 95 stable 5 hrs plus at stock.

but this board should do 400mhz fine..so 400x6 should pose it no problem...i think its a case cooling issue with my choice of air cooler etc, that or the board is dodgy...

I have disabled overheat protection and removed x-fi temporaily.. i dont see how the bios should report a error on temp sensor if there is no sensor pluggged in...unless the board has a problem...I will get another high cfm (hang the noise) fan for behind the drive cage to see if i can get my good overclock (3.6ghz), stable with the case on.. (as it is with the case off).

ginjaninja · 30 Dec 2007 at 19:40

removing x-fi or disabling the opt temp over heat protection has made the system a lot more happy...
will try for 8hrs prime stable and put the x-fi back in...I suspect the over heat protection is what was causing the problem...hopefully it was being over cautious.

ginjaninja · 31 Dec 2007 at 02:04

the chewbacca defense of under overclocking

This does not make sense.....Given that 3.6 was hot and noisy ..i thought i go the other way a see how fast and stable i could get on minimum fan/noise....

im 1hr prime 95 stable at 3.2GHz, all fans low, case closed @ 400x8 @ 1.182V vcore! loads temps @ 60 degrees... maybe these 1.200 VID chips are penryns in disguise?

ginjaninja · 31 Dec 2007 at 02:22

40 mins of prime 95 @ 1.168...57 degrees .ill go lower...the x38 is belting out more heat than the cpu (65 degrees) !!!!..dont like this x38 very much... iwanted 400 FSB and pci2.0 but the p35 would make 400 fsb and pcie2.0 is probably not going to make any difference for a couple of years. i think im going to lap cpu/heatsink anyways...might get and fit an abit p35 pro..when i disassemble...whilst the temps are norm im still not convinced that my boards not dodgy.

am I in the twilight zone? or is there an explanation

ginjaninja · 31 Dec 2007 at 03:28

well it does eventually fail...thought i might be going mad.. 1.16 vcore is required to run prime95 for a few mins @400x8 . 8Hrs+ stable can only be a few clicks higher. i ve benchmarked with everest and its not speed steped (besides thats disabled in bios anyways)....need to reappraise why 3.2ghz is possible on c. 1.2 vcore but 3.6 ghz requires a lot more juice...(1.31)..perhaps i need to lower lower other voltages to compensate for lower than average vcore? still doesnt change the fact the x38 is v. hot.

Cob · 31 Dec 2007 at 03:36

3.6ghz is a huge step up from 3.2ghz. Far more than the 400mhz would suggest.

Your load temps are still very high. Did you check to see if the heatsink base was flat? Both the Intel chips (especially the Q6600) and the TRU 120 Extreme are known be less than flat in a lot of cases. A combination of both could be a nightmare.

ginjaninja · 31 Dec 2007 at 03:50

priming away..400x8..Vcore @ 1.16...with case fans on high..but all the case closed..cpu is @ 50 degress, SB is 52 and NB is 60 degrees...3.6 is not looking worth it for the noise / temps...but im definitely going to buy another case fan..there is definitely an under performing air flow issue with this p182..asus maximus formula, and TRU 120 setup.

ginjaninja · 31 Dec 2007 at 09:36

Cob said:
3.6ghz is a huge step up from 3.2ghz. Far more than the 400mhz would suggest.

Your load temps are still very high. Did you check to see if the heatsink base was flat? Both the Intel chips (especially the Q6600) and the TRU 120 Extreme are known be less than flat in a lot of cases. A combination of both could be a nightmare.

the tru definitely wasnt flat. I bought all the grits of wet and dry, habe a mirror and articclean as per instructions and Im ready to go. So Cob you think i should lap then? Wondering wether i should reseat the x38 heatpipe with as5..anyone know some good instructions...6 hours stable @ 1.16 so far..

Cob · 31 Dec 2007 at 14:59

I would lap it.

Weescott has a lapping guide here. It's for a CPU, but lapping the heatsink would follow the same method.

cuke2u · 31 Dec 2007 at 17:12

ginjaninja said:
priming away..400x8..Vcore @ 1.16...with case fans on high..but all the case closed..cpu is @ 50 degress, SB is 52 and NB is 60 degrees...3.6 is not looking worth it for the noise / temps...but im definitely going to buy another case fan..there is definitely an under performing air flow issue with this p182..asus maximus formula, and TRU 120 setup.

Hi, no way is 52c too high at all, I had my CPU up to 85c once at 400x9, it still didn't trip over. Also your nb/sb also isn't high at all, they're rated up to 92c. Ignore probe as it will give you false readings, are you sure your vcore is correct for overclocking, I can't find where you state which cpu you have...
Chris

ginjaninja · 2 Jan 2008 at 10:43

Ive lowered my NB,SB and FSBT voltages to their bare minimum (from auto) - made a massive difference to chipset and case temps, im prime 95 8hrs+ @ 3.6Ghz @1.32v with all the case closed and fans on max..central heating on.
cpu @ 61 degrees under load, 31 idle...
system whilst not silent is much better than the dell 3ghz sitting next to it. Once my new case fan arrives I reckon i will be able to put all the fan on low (in fact might be able to do it already).

if its stable @ low fans then 3.6ghz will become day to day running speed.

now to try and get more out of the fsb/cpu/chipset...but this time start with case on..normal operating conditions..
thanks for the advice..

mnemonix · 2 Jan 2008 at 10:51

Nice, not enough people do this imo, seems the macho thing to do with a new chip is start pushing the Vcore as high as it will go, I always start by lowering it first.