3700 San Diego running too hot on stock settings?

[SirFelixCat]

So I just got finished building my first ever rig last night and am quite proud of myself. All is working great and it FLIES...


Then I start reading about CPU temps on here and have grown a little concerned...my CPU Temp stays pretty near 40C at idle/low usage.

The HSF (stock on a 3700 San Diego) kicked my butt trying to get it to latch, but it finally did about about 30 mins of battling with it. This is all completely stock on a EP-9NPA+Ultra MB with 2G OCZ premium ram and a eVGA 7800GT with a AX500 PSU.

I have the PSU fan, the two 120mm case fans and the side panel is removed still...


Can I still OC this safely (minor OC'ing) or should the CPU be running lower before I start OC'ing...and if so, how to lower the temps?

The overall system is idling at 32C, but that darned CPU is at 40c...help?

 

[SirFelixCat]

Throw me a bone here people Please?

 

[SonicIce]

I think 40C is fine

 

[SirFelixCat]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
I think 40C is fine

It's fine as in I should be able to do some modest OC'ing and still run fine? BTW, what is the highest "safe" temp with an OC'd CPU? Ballpark?

 

[Furen]

Your load temperature is more important than your idle one. Personally I've never been able to idle at less than 38C with any of my A64s but I've also never loaded higher than 51C or so. This is, of course, using stock heatsinks. I havent bought any retail A64s recently but the heatsink that came with them 8 or so months ago was a breeze to set up (then again I'm still used to having to fight the AXP heatsink). If you struggled trying to put the heatsink on then you may have messed up the spread of the TIM, or it might just be sensor inaccuracy. Try closing the case as well, since having it off can mess up the case's air flow pattern. Now, I'm guessing that your "idle" temperature was acquired in windows, correct? Idle CPU temperatures in the bios are significantly higher.

 

[JohnAn2112]

Idle at 40C on the stock cooler is fine. I actually got 45C idle when I was temporarily using the stock cooler on my previous CPU (4000+ San Diego). How are your load temps?

 

[SirFelixCat]

No, the temp was from my BIOS when I reboot after, say, loading a patch or a new driver etc.


As far as load temp...I really have no clue, yet. I am looking at D/L a temp sensor program...what is the best out there and does it just run in the background 24/7?

Again, sorry for the rookie questions, but this IS my first build

 

[JohnAn2112]

Try either Motherboard Monitor 5 or Speedfan. I use Speedfan myself. I leave it running in the system tray 24/7.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Epox's Thunder probe utility (downloadable from the website) works well and has a "ghost monitor" feature that will display a small ghosted box with all the CPU info in the foreground at all times when it's enabled.

 

[SirFelixCat]

I checked out all 3 suggestions and went with Epox's one. Also, with the case closed and the side fan running (it blows directly onto the HSF) it seems to have cooled down a degree or 2...makes me feel safer.

Thanks fellas.

 

[Fallengod]

It could be how you apllied the thermal paste or if its retail hsf, maybe not in great contact with the pad?

I did have some strange IDLE temps with my 3200 venice on the epox 9npa+ ultra board at first myself. I have bought and swapped out 4 different 3200 venices for reasons I wont get into now. (basically I have some strange voltage issue or poor ocing performance issue, dont know why yet)

The first 2 3200 venices, were idle at 40C as well. I couldnt figure out why. Then the next 2, either I applied the thermal paste better the last 2 times or something. But now I idle at like 32C OC'd to 2.5ghz. Load is like 38-40C, depending on time of year. (Summer time, it was up there around 42C, winter: with window open like 35-36C load.


So I feel your pain. I really dont know how I dropped my IDLE temps from 40C to 30C. It was the same heatsink(XP-90). Like I said, I did swap out 4 different 3200 venices and applied paste 4 different times. Maybe I applied the paste better the last 2 times? Even though I did it exactly the same....It was really strange. So I have had weird temps on myself. You might try reapplying thermal compound. I have figured out that the "grain of rice" method doesnt work that great. Its better if it covers the entire top of cpu, rather than a circle which leaves edges and such. Thats just my experience.