AMD users....keepin' Cool?

dmw16

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
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I am currently using an AMD 900Mhz T-Bird and I am having SERIOUS heat issues. We are talking a 900 underclocked to 810 running over 50C. I dont really know what is going on. I think it is related to the thermal grease Im using. I am using that white stuff, it has a conductivity of .7w/m and the grey stuff I had before and have ordered again is 2.73w/m. So I think that is the problem, right now I have an alpha heatsink and a sunon fan, but I ordered a Delta fan, so that should help. Any other suggestions.
thanks,
-doug
 

loosbrew

Golden Member
Oct 30, 2000
1,336
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make sure that the clip isnt backwards...sometimes people mmistakenly attach the clip backwards and it doesnt apply the pressure on the core just outside of the core. happened to a few people i know, they were getting temps of almost 60!! im using an fop32 with greyish coloered thermal grease(not sure the brand) and its at ~27 idle and 40 under extreme stress, and thats a 900 at 1050 10x105

loosbrew
 

gUEv

Senior member
Oct 11, 2000
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well, if you are in the market for a new case and have some cash to spend, i would highly suggest the THEON Cyclone 5000 Ultra case.
Linked
hope that helps.
 

HaVoC

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 1999
2,223
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Bah! That case has a million fans and it probably loud as hell. It's not necessary to substitute fans for poor HSF application. Plus, I think the obsession with low CPU temps is getting out of hand. As long as it is a reasonable heat (around 40 c) it should be fine. AMD rates these CPUs as withstanding high temps. Sure, a few degrees cooler will get your another year of CPU life, but we are talking about say 5 years vs 6 years. Who is going to be using this CPU for that long??
 

nortexoid

Diamond Member
May 1, 2000
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Havoc...of course...but now u're destroying the self-integrity of these hardcore o/c'ers..
i mean, the 1 degree F makes a diff.

that's an extra 2 hours of cpu life.

50C underclocked it pretty hot tho...guaranteed you've improperly attached the HSF, or your HSF is crap...although it sounds decent...

what exact alpha heatsink are u using?

ANY thermal compound should be good enough to make relatively good contact between heatsink and cpu, unless the heatsink is malformed or something...warped or non-lapped, etc..(or are u using white wood glue by accident?)

worse case scenario - buy a new HSF combo (i.e. FOP38)
 

Cosmic_Horror

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,500
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Also remember that you only need a tiny bit of heat sink compound! Just enough to cover the surface and fill the gaps between the heatsink and the core.

What i do is put quite a bit of heat sink compound, (the normal white stuff you get from radioshack/Tandy's) then with a tissue start spreading it all over the surface of the heatsink and wipe of the excess. By the end of it the shiny heatsink surface has a dull white haze over it, but the metal underneath can be still seen.

Before i clip the heatsink to the chip (i have a coolmaster DP5-6H51, with the thermal pad removed, on a duron 800), i just sit the heatsink on the chip lightly and move it back and forth and then clip it on.

I haven't seen it it reach over 45C yet, with the room temperature in the high 30's (summer here with no air con) :(

With heat sink compound more, is not better!
 

Dan

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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If a 900 T-Bird is averaging 50C while underclocked to 810MHz there's far more wrong than poorly applied thermal compound. I agree that it definitely sounds like the heatsink is not properly attached to the cpu. I have a Duron 700 running at 1083MHz and my temp generally hovers around 38C.
 

Soccerman

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,378
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mind running a bit RC5 with those speedy chips you guys have? I'm blown away by the untapped power going through these forums..