Cooling Problems!

[rbaum]

People,

I have now removed and reattached the Zalman heat sink twice - each time cleaning the Arctic silver Ceramique with ultra pure isopropyl and each time I get the same result - 43C idle and up to 59C doing some heavy CPU work (these temperatures were independent of the Zalman fan speed 1000-2500 rpm). I see these posts bragging about 30C with nearly the same equipment!!!! What the XXXX am I doing wrong?

The heat sink is well tightened and I followed the Artic silver ceramique's directions of spreading some on the heatsink first and then cleaning off followed by placing a small "BB" of artic silver on the CPU. I think it is either a false MB reading (although I would expect this to read low not high if there was some contact issue) OR there is some major problem with the heat transfer from the CPU to the heatspreader or from the heatspreader to the heatsink!

Any recommendations, experiences?

Intel P4 3.0C @ 3.0GHz(w plan to OC if I can get the temp issue licked)
Abit IC7-G
2 x 512MB Corsair XMS PC3500 DDR
Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu + AS3 ceramique
Antec Sonata case
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro => way too noisy (I am replacing with a Sapphire ultra which has a heatsink & no fan)
twin Maxtor Diamondmax SATA Plus 80.0 GB
Windows XP Professional

 

[TRUMPHENT]

When you pull the heatsink does the compound look to be distributed over the entire contact area with the heatsink and the spreader?

Do you have any other results with that mainboard and processor for comparison? I believe that the readings from one motherboard can only be compared to readings from that motherboard.

If you know that the heatsink is properly installed and the fan is running and the temperatures are still within spec. then keep an eye on it.

I also thought the design goal of Zalman heatsinks were to provide a premium of quiet at the expense of heat dissapation.

You also have a full 3Ghz processor.
Intel SL6WK techspec.

You still have 11 degrees C cushion if this is the processor.:sun:

 

[stevennoland]

You don't say how you got your temp readings. I'm going to assume you got them from the hardware monitor. Those readings aren't allways accurate. Try and get a direct reading with a temp probe. You'd be surprised at the difference. Good luck. You could allways graduate to water cooling.

 

[Nebor]

rbaum, I have nearly the exact same system as you. Same processor, same mobo, same memory, same Zalman 7000, I even use AS3 and an Antec case.

I freaked when I saw my temps, which are actually very close to yours. What's really scary is when you run a prime95, and watch your temps jump up to 69C. Yikes!

But I did a reality check, and reached in and felt the HSF when it was reading 69C. It was slightly warm. The IC7-G does not report temperatures accurately. This is widely known on the Abit message boards. Link. Temps read somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees higher than they actually are.

So don't worry about it. :-D

Another easy way to tell is, take the side off your case with the computer off. Turn it on and quickly look at the hardware monitor's case temp. It should be room temp (but it's nooooot). But I know it's not 90F degrees in my house.