ALpha PAL 6035 & quickly rising cpu temps

[Wiz]

I put my new pretested P3 700e cpu in my new CUSL2-C mobo last night and had a load of troubles.
Here is a strange one that maybe someone else has seen or can help me figure out:
I had the Alpha HSF hooked up when I had this chip briefly in my BH6 mobo. CPU temp was good and stable.
I put the Asus mobo in and connected up the Alpha and went into bios to look at the temp monitor and it would zoom up from 80 - 85 - 90 - 95 - 100 - 105 - 110 - 115 - 120 - 125F and then I would shut it down to avoid damaging the chip.
If I reach in and press down on the HSF the temp stabilizes and starts dropping.
It's clearly a case of th HSF not pressing tightly enough to the cpu, I HATE the clip that came with the thing, it sucks like no other I've ever used.
Anyone have any ideas on what to do to make this thing fit good and snug without causing damage?
BTW, I removed the Alpha and hooked up the GORB and it ran fine, although I think a tad warmer than I like at about 115F, but very stable. I won't overclock until I can get more reliable cooling.

 

[compuwiz1]

Thermal paste being used?

The Alpha should have no trouble cooling that, but do not underestimate the value of thermal paste. You need no more than a thin layer on the cpu slug to fill in the imperfections. Also, does the Alpha have plastic feet, or rubber pads? If feet, you may need to sand them down or cut them back to get the heatsink to make proper contact.

 

[Wiz]

It has the pads, tried it both with and without them.
Using arctic silver paste, wiped that clean off and tried two other brands of thermal goo. Always the same results. Tried thin layer, medium layer and a glob. Always the same. Just seems the HS isn't sitting on there right. It was working fine when I had it hooked up to the MSI slocket and my BH6 mobo.
I was thinking about getting a copper shim and putting it between the HSF and cpu.
Steve, if you wouldn't mind can you also give my other thread here a look and tell me if you have any ideas?
W2K Blue Screen

 

[Wiz]

Look at me, I'm a 'Senior' now!
If I could only get my system back together with my new CPU...

 

[bonkers325]

u must be doing something wrong cause i have no probs with the same setup u just described

meaning no spikes no wierd temps and yes its a cusl2-c with a cc0 700e and same heatsink u use

could it be that u got the clip the wrong way as the alphas are unassembled when u buy them

cause this does lead to awkward temps i have tried

 

[Wiz]

dunno how I could get it wrong way, but maybe it's a clip for AMD and I'm trying to get it to fit fcpga?
This is my first time with an alpha so anything is possible. Is there a way to get a new clip if mine is wrong?

 

[Dexion]

What direction is the fan blowing at? Blow or suck?

 

[Wiz]

Same exact results either way. Tried both as I couldn't believe the rise in temp I was seeing.
I really think the thing isn't making good contact with the core, when I apply pressure with my hand pushing the top of the alpha straight down the temp lowers quickly. I think it must have something to do with the clip
like bonkers325 suggested. I have tried 'adjusting' this clip, I am not a newby when it comes to these things - I designed and built my own custom peltier sandwich cooler for my C300a way over a year ago. Geez, was that 2 years ago now? ANyway, that's what I think, so how do I get a clip for fcpga use?

 

[Dexion]

Does your alpha have the plastic "feet" for FC PGA cpu's or does it come with the self applying black foam ? If you purchased an Socket A version, it might be "see-sawing" on the core without the feet causing hardly any contact on the CPU, since computers are mostly vertical nowadays, your heatsink would be horizontal greaty increasing the chance of gravity doing its part and causing it to tip slightly downward(less contact with core). The socket A version of the clip isn't as tight as well for a FC-PGA to secure the core for vertical placement, just take the clip out and give it a good bend.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

I think what bonker325 was suggesting was to rotate the clip 180 degrees with respct to the heatsink... To flip it around.

What may have happened, because the "pressure point" is not "centered"(it is off to the side a little bit), if you have the clip backwards you will get nowhere near enough pressure on the cpu core. Without good heatsink contact, you could definately see the temp rise you're currently seeing.

Also, The socket-a clip should exert quite a bit more pressure than the p3-clips. AMD specs call for a higher-pressure clip.



MIke

 

[Wiz]

Thanks Dexion, it came with the sticky back rubbery feet. I had them on there, no difference so I took them back off.
When I had it hooked up to the MSI slocket it seemed fine, although there's no real good way to tell except the chip didn't burn up and it ran hours and hours doing a seti@home set at a rate of about one every 4 hours.
This was on my BH6 mobo.
I took it off the slocket and hooked it upto the CUSL2-C mobo and that's when I noticed the problem. Of course the new mobo has a temp sensor for cpu while the BH6 only has a generic mobo temp. THe mobo temp on the new mobo stays right at 78F which is fine, the cpu temp goes wild.
I can take the clip off and try bending it into something that looks like it will work better, it looks like you suggest using the rubber pads, so I can put some on again.
It's obvious to me it needs to be tighter, since applying pressure by hand reversed the effect.

 

[Wiz]

Thanks for clarifying that Mike, that is what I thought he was saying, not the way you describe. I will flip it and see what happens.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

NP... Just make sure the clip "pressure point" is to the left of center, if you're looking at the heatsink the way you would mount it.


Mike

 

[Jhhnn]

First, be sure that the processor locking lever clears the bottom of the sink. Alphas are relieved on one side to allow for this, but that doesn't mean that it will work on every board. Use a dental mirror or similar and a flashlight. Unplug the computer for this, of course. Tweak the lever or take metal off the sink til you have clearance.

Next, hold the cpu and sink together, and hold it up to a light so you can see between them. Hold the sink/cpu in the correct orientation. Be sure that the clip has the pressure point directly on the cpu, you'll be able to see that it can be done wrong.

Somewhere in there, I think you'll solve your problem.

 

[potatoBBQ]

I have an old Alpha PFH6035 an I noticed that I sort of have to play around w/ the placement of the heatsink... when it's not totally flush w/ the cpu core, my p3 933 runs at up 72 C but i tried moving it around a little and i guess i got it to mount flush because within 10 seconds the cpu temp dropped to 42 C... that's a 30 C difference!!! I would recommend just sort of moving the heatsink around while the computer is actually on so you can monitor the temperatures because once it's on there flush w/ the core, the temp should be significantly lower. Also, does anyone have any suggestions on using the old PFH6035 on coppermines? It's pretty hard to get it to mount flush on the cpu core since it doesn't have the little rubber spacers and I pretty much just have to keep playing w/ it until the cpu temp drops... kind of annoying.

 

[Wiz]

Thanks Mike, Jhhnn and potato.
I decided to go ahead and leave my celeron 300a @ 505 in the bh6 mobo and pretty much leave that system intact. I had an adaptec 29160 controller and a Quantum 36 gig U160 drive here so I decided to go ahead and put together a whole new system. The 36 gig is formatting now...
I still have the P3 fcpga running with the GORB, as I didn't have so much time to play around with the Alpha right now while building the whole new system. Once it's all installed and stable I will again attack the Alpha and see if any of you guys are on the money about why it's not working right. I do remember when I was hooking it up to the slocket it was not sitting flat so I just kind of shoved it around until I could no longer see light. Unfortunately it's not that easy when sitting in the socket on the CUSL2-C mobo. I do believe that is the problem though, it just must not be sitting flat on the core.
I'll update this when I've had a chance to get back at it again.

 

[Wiz]

Turning the clip around solved the problem. Running cooler now. Still can't get this thing up to 133fsb on my CUSL2-C mobo... But it is running fine right now at 132fsb 925mhz on a P3 700e from Compuwiz1.
I should be getting my replacement Geforce2 card soon so when I replace my TNT2 with it then I will try going up to 133 and beyond.
Thanks everyone, I appreciate your help and support.