A7V8X CPU Temp Too High Help!!

[dsd17]

I recently purchased and put together my first system. It seems to be running quite warm. The lowest I've seen it has been 61C. I've seen it as high as 78. I have the shutdown set at 80 and its hit that a couple times. What are some ways to cool this thing down?! Here are the specs:

Antec 1080AMG Case w/ 430 watt true power psu
Asus A7V8X
AMD XP 2200+
CoolerMaster HSC-V62 HSF
CoolerMaster Thermal Compound
Crucial 512mb PC2700 RAM
PNY Ti4200 8x 64mb
4 80mm fans

Any and all help is appreciated!

 

[BG4533]

My first guess is your Heatsink is incorrectly seated. Make sure it sits flat on the processor with the raised part going over the raised part of the ZIF socket. Is your fan sucking air out of the HS or blowing into it? The best way generally is to blow into it. What are your case temps?

 

[mechBgon]

In this photo of your heatsink, we see the big thumbrest at one end of the clip, and that end of the heatsink/fan unit must face the memory slots on your A7V8X, so that the raised section of the base is at the right end like BG4533 said.

 

[dsd17]

I did have the heat sink backwards but when I switch it around my computer will start up for about 3 seconds then shut down. All of the fans come on, the hd starts up then everything shuts off. My case temp is typically around 21-23 C.

 

[mechBgon]

If the power cuts off then the CPU is probably not making proper contact with the heatsink. Take the heatsink off, reapply a thin coat of thermal compound, and reinstall it. If you can get a side view of the heatsink (taking out the motherboard would be the best way), peek between the heatsink and the CPU to make sure the heatsink is touching the CPU core and nothing else (other than the four foam cornerpads on the CPU).

 

[dsd17]

Ok, not sure what I did but it worked. Took the hsf off and the cpu out. mounted both of them, turned it on, and now its running at about 55C.

One other problem if anyone knows. I have an amd 2200 but in the bios I can only get it to run at 1350mhz. If I try to do it at 1800 it shuts itself down and when I restart it tells me that the computer shut down because I have an incorrect CPU speed listed.

 

[mechBgon]

What multiplier and bus speed are you attempting? The correct combo is 13.5 multiplier x 133MHz bus speed = 1800MHz, and you want your RAM set to run at a 1:1 ratio with the CPU so it also runs at 133MHz (DDR266).

 

[dsd17]

Thanks so much for all your help. I get off work in about 2 hours so I'll have to see what the settings are.