CPU Temperature Suggestion

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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
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My CPU Temp is at 56C at idle and 60-62C while playing games. At one point, i was playing Sim City 4 and my system just shut down. the power switch on the casing was switched off by itself. but i restarted and everything seemed fine. my fsb is 133 at the moment but the shut down happened a day after i cranked it upto 166 so my 2700XP+ would read 2.1GHz (it should be running at this speed but runs at 1733MHz when fsb is at 133)

here are my system specs.

AMD Athlon XP 2700+ (2.17Ghz)
ASUS A7N8X-E mainboard:

8x AGP/Pro
dual gigabit ethernet
built-in Wifi 802.11.b
serial ata raid
6pci slots
4 usb 2.0 ports on the back + 2 more on top of the case
2 firewire 400 ports
6 channel surround sound, spdf out
supports up to 3GB dual channel DDR 400 RAM
Running WinXP Pro w/service pack1
Coolermaster Wavemaster black all aluminum case
lite on combo drive
200 GB 7200 RPM Western digital HD
512MB DDR RAM
420W Thermaltake Powersupply with active PFC
floppy drive
Genuine ATI 9600XT video card

Please advise on ideal CPU Temp. I installed ASUS Probe to monitor all temps and it says everything is A ok.
 
viivo

viivo

Diamond Member
May 4, 2002
3,345
32
91
56 sounds rather high for idle, especially since the cpu is underclocked. Is it the stock heatsink? What kind of cooling setup do you have in your case? Have you messed with any voltage settings in the BIOS?
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
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0
i havent messed with anything. Voltage cannot be selected. As for cooling, I have four sets of fans.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
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0
it is the heatsink and the fan that come with the CPU from AMD.
My power book G4 goes upto about 53-54C while in regular usage, as in internet browsing etc.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
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0
Heres the complete list:

CPU External Frequency [166mhz]
CPU Frequency Multiplier Set [auto]
CPU Frequency Multiple [13.0]

rest of the stuff is set at auto and optimal.

Now for voltage:
+12v 12.48
+5v 4.945
+3.3v 3.408
V Core 1.68

Now the fan RPMS:

CPU Fan 3835
Power Fan 1562
Chassis Fan 2311


Motherboard temp at 27C and CPU Temp at 59C at idle.

All of the above settings are for 166FSB. The only thing that changes with 133FSB is CPU Temp comes down to 57C at idle.

ALL THIS INFO TAKEN FROM MY BIOS SETUP WINDOW.
 
mechBgon

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
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Originally posted by: heresiarh
My CPU Temp is at 56C at idle and 60-62C while playing games. At one point, i was playing Sim City 4 and my system just shut down. the power switch on the casing was switched off by itself. but i restarted and everything seemed fine. my fsb is 133 at the moment but the shut down happened a day after i cranked it upto 166 so my 2700XP+ would read 2.1GHz (it should be running at this speed but runs at 1733MHz when fsb is at 133)

here are my system specs.

AMD Athlon XP 2700+ (2.17Ghz)
ASUS A7N8X-E mainboard:

8x AGP/Pro
dual gigabit ethernet
built-in Wifi 802.11.b
serial ata raid
6pci slots
4 usb 2.0 ports on the back + 2 more on top of the case
2 firewire 400 ports
6 channel surround sound, spdf out
supports up to 3GB dual channel DDR 400 RAM
Running WinXP Pro w/service pack1
Coolermaster Wavemaster black all aluminum case
lite on combo drive
200 GB 7200 RPM Western digital HD
512MB DDR RAM
420W Thermaltake Powersupply with active PFC
floppy drive
Genuine ATI 9600XT video card

Please advise on ideal CPU Temp. I installed ASUS Probe to monitor all temps and it says everything is A ok.
Click to expand...
First count your PCI slots. I think you will find you have five, not six. :) And you have one gigabit ethernet controller, the other is 10/100. ;)

Now then. The stock AMD heatsink has a square patch of phase-change thermal-interface material on the bottom. It is good for precisely one single usage and then it is All Done Bye-Bye. If you installed your heatsink and never, ever took it off (and if it is on the right way and not the wrong way), then that is not the problem. If you HAVE ever taken it off one single time (or more) then you need to scrape off all of the used-up thermal patch and use a high-quality thermal grease in its place, such as Shin Etsu 751 or one of the Arctic Silver variants. Re-using a dead phase-change patch is Not A Good Idea.

Also, disable Q-Fan in your BIOS. If it's enabled, it purposely slows down your CPU fan to quiet it down, at the expense of some cooling.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
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0
Q-fan is disabled from the beginning. I just installed everything once. Also, I havent had any problems with the system, i don't shut it down that often, i just put it on sleep mode, ive never had a lock up situation with my pc. it just happened this once with sim city 4.
aren't there any external ways of cooling the system down ?
 
mechBgon

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
0
Hmm, and you're certain that you got the Sasser infection 100% dealt with, right? Because another one of those would certainly shut 'er down and you might not get a chance to see the warning window if you've got a game running. WiFi = potential virus/worm/trojan magnet too... got any neighbors within range of your WiFi setup?
 
mechBgon

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
0
(oh joy, looks like there's another variant of Bagle going around! :frown: )
 
mechBgon

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
0
Click the link in my signature, go to the Resources page, and find the link to McAfee Stinger. Get ZoneAlarm basic firewall software on all your PCs and head to Windows Update for 1 million patches :) Go back repeatedly until you're not needing any further Critical Updates.
 
mechBgon

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
0
Click the link in my signature, go to the Resources page, and find the link to McAfee Stinger. Get ZoneAlarm basic firewall software on all your PCs and head to Windows Update for 1 million patches :) Go back repeatedly until you're not needing any further Critical Updates.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
0
0
Yes i had the two worms you mentioned and had them removed by using stinger. thankyou for that. are there any external methods of cooling down my system? maybe leave the casing open and put a fan? i cant afford to change anything on my system so i have to do something the cheap way.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
0
0
do you think its possible my bios settings are messed up? whenever i setup default settings in bios, processor info shows i 2100+XP @ 1733MHz in windows XP. weird?
 
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emmetfitzhume

Junior Member
May 10, 2004
7
0
0
Your problem is almost certainly that your heatsink is installed improperly. The reason your board shut off was the Asus C.O.P (CPU Overheating Protection) feature kicking in. The board will shut down to avoid damage to your CPU.

You should remove the stock heatsink. Scrape off the thermal pad with a plastic sticker scraper or a credit card... Something that wont scratch the heatsink. Rub it clean with 90% or better isopropyl alcohol and a low lint cloth. Lens cloth or some kimwipes. Apply some thermal grease of your choice and reinstall.

Make sure the heatsink is sitting squarely on the CPU. Make sure it isnt on backwards. Make sure the raised edge of the socket isnt catching on the heatsink.

If you dont want the stock heatsink the Thermalright ALX800 is a decent budget choice. If money is no object go for something like a Thermalright SLK-900a (clip on), or 947u (bolt on). Just buy any 80mm fan of your choice and slap it on top.

With an older thermalright sk-7 and a fairly slow 32cfm fan Im seeing 42C idle on my OCd 2500+ (11x202), Asus a7n8x-e deluxe. If I wanted more niose and a faster fan could probably be down at 38-39 idle.

As far as BIOS settings. Stock for your CPU is

FSB: 166Mhz
Multi: 13
Memory Frequency: Best to set this at 100% of FSB.
Disable FSB spread spectrum
Memory latencies should be set to whatever the manufacturer of your RAM recommends.

Finally since you were infected with sasser you should download the appropriate microsoft patch so that your computer is no longer vulnerable to infection.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS04-011.mspx



Good luck.
 
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heresiarh

Senior member
Apr 30, 2004
316
0
0
Thanks. You've been a great help. I will do exactly as you have instructed. I am just a little scared doing installations and what not. I dont have a steady hand :)!
 
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emmetfitzhume

Junior Member
May 10, 2004
7
0
0
If you are worried about installing a clip-on heat sink. Id recommend that you buy a hollow point socket driver or nut driver. These are fairly cheap at hardware stores, or sears. Instead of inserting a screwdriver into the clip and worrying about slipping and scratching the mobo you can put the hollow point over the clip. Feels much safer to me.


Other ideas are to put a credit card on the mobo beneath the clip so that if the screwdriver slips the plastic will protect you from damaging your mobo.


It isnt that hard. Take your time and for best results the mobo should be outside the case on a flat surface. Ill usually spend about 10 minutes fussing over the orientation of a heatsink before I clip it down.


Good luck.
 
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