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AM3 Athlon X4 640 3.0Ghz - 83C! Not overclocked!

VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
I was really surprised, when I ran CoreTemp on my friend's XP computer. It was previously running a 2.1Ghz 45w AM2 dual-core (4450e or something like that?). It has an Asrock 780G mobo, good for 125W CPUs, possibly 140W. I recently upgraded it with a new Enhance 500W PSU (fan moves pretty slowly, PSU is not loaded down much), and the X4 640.

Case is a generic mid-tower, with a single 80mm exhaust fan. Fans are all working and spinning.

PC is running BOINC in the background. It was previously set to use 60% CPU time for some reason, but I changed it to run 100% CPU time, which fixed the jaggedness of the CPU graphs, but it seems the temps went up.

I re-used the previous heatsink, which I think had generic white paste on it (not dried out). It was a pretty hefty aluminum block, with like a 60mm or 80mm fan on it. Anyways, the heatsink that was already on the dual-core chip, looked and felt "heftier" than the HSF that came in the box with the X4, so I left it.

I have some four-heatpipe AMD heatsinks, I'm going to probably try one of those next.

I guess it just blows my mind that one of these CPUs, even with a potentially crappy heatsink application, would run at 80+C, not overclocked. I didn't think that the 45nm AMD CPUs ran that hot. Core Voltage according to CoreTemp is 1.4000v, CPU-Z is 1.4v (bounces slightly higher).
 
Would crappy thermal paste cause a 20C difference at load? I seem to recall re-using paste once before on an AMD rig, and never really noticing a difference. Before upgrading the CPU, a friend and I cleaned out the HSF with a can-o-air, along with the old PSU and the rear exhaust fan. It was pretty dusty.

If nothing else, should I simply put the stock X4 640 fan that came in the box on? Surely that wouldn't overheat, would it, if I'm running stock? I mean, that's what's supposed to be used with that CPU.

Oh yes, this rig is using the onboard video, so no GPU to heat up the case.

Should I just leave it? I'm afraid of temp-induced errors in my Distributed Computing projects. AFAIK, AMD CPUs are supposed to run at a max temp of 72C, and preferably around 60C or lower.
 
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High ambient temperature? Might not be making good contact with the CPU. Either way it seems like trying the x4s retail heatsink is the best course of action.
 
BD231 said:
Crappy paste application plus inadequate cooler meant for a dual core = issues.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't recall where I got the cooler that is on there now, but it did not come with the dual-core CPU, the CPU was OEM from Newegg. It seems "heftier" than the retail stock heatsink, that's why I left it on. I'll try swapping it and see what happens.
 
Make sure nothing is pressing up on the heatsink preventing it from making full contact. Somehow this heatsink is not working properly, the first step would be reseating it.
 
VirtualLarry said:
I guess it just blows my mind that one of these CPUs, even with a potentially crappy heatsink application, would run at 80+C, not overclocked. I didn't think that the 45nm AMD CPUs ran that hot. Core Voltage according to CoreTemp is 1.4000v, CPU-Z is 1.4v (bounces slightly higher).
Click to expand...

Not sure why you're surprised... For shits and giggles I threw a stock cooler that came with a Celeron G530 on an i5-2500K (stock clocks) and under load it hit 90C before I killed the application that I was using to load the CPU.

Crap thermal paste + inadequate hsf = high temps no matter the CPU.
 
Gigantopithecus said:
Not sure why you're surprised... For shits and giggles I threw a stock cooler that came with a Celeron G530 on an i5-2500K (stock clocks) and under load it hit 90C before I killed the application that I was using to load the CPU.

Crap thermal paste + inadequate hsf = high temps no matter the CPU.
Click to expand...

Hilarious experiment. :thumbsup:
 
Hmm, swapped out the old HSF for the new stock HSF that came with the X4 640, and now temps are maxing out at 53C.

Interesting. Either the TIM got hosed, there was a speck of dirt under it, or the old HSF just wasn't getting the airflow it needed for a quad-core.

When I took the old sink off, it was BURNING HOT to the touch. So it seems like the TIM was unlikely to be the problem, if it was conducting heat into the sink.

So I'm guessing an airflow problem.

I noticed that the old sink had a three-pin fan header, whereas the new stock HSF had a four-pin PWM fan. It's possible that the old HSF wasn't speeding up enough.
 
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A little dusty still. This is the old heatsink. As you can see, it's not little.

This is the retail X4 640 heatsink. Scroll down a few pictures, and it's in there.
http://forum.xbitlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=18257
 
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The old heatsink may be a bigger chunk of metal but it certainly does not have more surface area than the newer heatsink does. That base is so thick I would imagine that the heat would get trapped in for a longer period instead of instantly dissipating like the newer heatsink would.

The lack of proper thermal paste and poor contact matches exactly to a similar experience I had before with a P4 machine where it had a fairly decent thermal paste but poor contact made the temps idle around the high 80s. A little dusting could have helped a lot because that old heatsink is nasty. D:
 
Would crappy thermal paste cause a 20C difference at load? I seem to recall re-using paste once before on an AMD rig, and never really noticing a difference. Before upgrading the CPU, a friend and I cleaned out the HSF with a can-o-air, along with the old PSU and the rear exhaust fan. It was pretty dusty.
Click to expand...
A badly mounted (ei not tight enough on), low end air cooler, and a person forgetting to put on thermal plaste, could well cause a 20C differnce.


I would like to recammend your friend one of these:
intro.jpg



on newegg their about 40$, but with rebates, you can get one for 25$.

Dont think any coolers out there, at lower prices offer its performance.
I use one myself and love it (its also less noisy than the one I had before it).



Hmm, swapped out the old HSF for the new stock HSF that came with the X4 640, and now temps are maxing out at 53C.
Click to expand...


lmao stock In-The-Box CPU > old cpu your friend used 🙂
Must have been a old cooler from like 1990 or something.

Anyways nice to see you found a solution.
 
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That heatsink is trash. It looks like a hsf from 10 years ago. The stock athlon X4 hsf IS better.

Not to mention the thing is so coated in grime it is no wonder it is 80 degrees C.
 
I looked at the pics, and noticed in the 3rd one that the top of the heatsink is clogged with dust under the fan. so that could have explained why the temps where so high. I've seen the p4 series heatsinks get light that really bad too
 
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