AMD XP 3200+ Barton

[computer]

I don't normally use AMD CPU's, but a customer wants an AMD platform and went with the XP Barton 3200+. I know in the case of P4's, that thermal pad is pretty bad. Is this also the case with the Barton and retail packaged HSF unit w/thermal pad? Is that thermal pad better, and OK, or is good thermal compound better than this thermal pad?

On shims, I haven't been able to find any Barton compatible shims. They all say "NOT FOR BARTON". I did find a "universal" shim, but I'm not sure if these would work. Any input also on this?
Thanks.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

thermal compound like arctic silver will always be better....provided u apply it correctly....but for the most part the pad on the bottom of the HSF is fine....less he wants to overclock.

shims are totally out of my league of knowledge... sorry

 

[Fern]

Agreed, pad's OK if no OC. Plus, since it's a retail cpu you'll void the warranty if you don't use it. Theoretically, at least.

No need for a shim, IMHO. I've never used one on any of the 3 or 4 Barton rigs I've put together.

 

[0roo0roo]

hey the engineers at amd and intel think a pad is ok. whos to argue. its probably better for a customer in the long run. normal paste has a way of working its way out and drying. pad atleast stays put. its not for o/cers of course. modders remove their sinks often enough that it doens't matter that they use paste. shims h8ave not been important for years

 

[computer]

Thanks guys. Interesting point about the warranty. With Intel at least, they only want the CPU if you RMA it, they don't want the HSF unit included. If AMD requires the full retail package for RMA, then I guess you'd have to stick with the thermal pad.

Today's decent TIM doesn't run. I usually use Nanotherm and it doesn't run, shrink, etc. AS5 is probably the same way.

I wanted the type of shim that fit around the core and helped cooling since I know these CPU's run hotter than P4's. I could always see if the thermal pad was enough, then if not go with TIM, but if I went with the pad I needed to get a shim first since I didn't want to "break the seal" on the thermal pad in order to use a shim after the HSF unit was seated. If there are no shims for a Barton that help cooling, then it's moot and I don't need a shim.

 

[computer]

This can't be right. I booted this thing up with an old cheap s370 cooler. It's not really a bad one, it's tall and has two fans (Powmax). After about 1 min, CPU temps were 107° which I thought were hot. I had some cheap white silicone TIM on it. I then put the retail AMD HSF unit on with the thermal pad.....116°-122°!!! This is only after a few seconds!! Not only is that smokin', but it's worse than the other HSF unit! Can Nanotherm PCM+ be used with Barton 3200+ CPU's? I think I heard that Phase Change Material (PCM) is not good for AMD CPU's. If it's OK, I'll try some of it.

Looks like the customer is going to have to shell out for an aftermarket HSF unit. Why in the HELL does AMD use these crappy HSF units????????? Are they insane??????

 

[0roo0roo]

f? or c? 122f = 50c which is dandy

 

[computer]

That's F, but I don't think that's very dandy. If it's 122° at idle in the BIOS, that's going to be something like 140°+ under load, maybe over 150°. As it was, the HSF unit was really hot. This is good in a sense that you know it's working drawing the heat from the core. However, "working" but not very well IMO. I'm checking out aftermarket HSF units now. I'm used to seeing temps in the 90's in the BIOS. I still can't understand why this retail HSF sucks compared to that old s370 cooler.

 

[computer]

I think I'll add this here as well........

This is insane. What the hell is wrong with Abit and their asinine temperature problems on their mobo's?? :roll:

I just spent hours trying to find out which TIM works best with a Barton 3200+ on an AN7 mobo. All temps are F and only in the BIOS at idle. NOTHING is installed or hooked up yet. BIOS is v14. Started off with a cheap old s370 HSF unit w/old generic white silicone TIM @107°. Tried the RETAIL HSF unit w/the stock thermal pad and it was over 120°!! :Q Then tried the s370 unit w/Nanotherm XTC, Blue II, PCM+, and all were waaay over the 107° reading of that of the crappy generic TIM made for transistors! Temps were all over the place from 111° to 169°!!! :Q So, I tried again with the SAME generic TIM and it's 180° now!!!! :Q :Q I feel the bottom of the CPU socket and it's barely warm!! I put a flat temp sensor under the HS close to the CPU core, and it never gets over 110°. It's bad enough it's not accurate, but even if it gave consistent temps that were 50° higher than they really are would be of some help!! The fact they are about as stable as a "Tijuana crack-whore on withdrawal" ( ) really complicates matters!

Will flashing the BIOS to v15 fix this crap? I see the Readme for the v15 BIOS comments about "fixes 119° reading in BIOS" whatever that means. Maybe it's their way of admitting this mobo has one screwed up POS HW monitor and is screwed up the way the IC7 and IS7 are.

Thanks for any input.