Duron 1.3 running hot - 143 d F - how to cool it down?

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I just put together a Duron 1.3 system, and noticed after playing a basic "breakout" style game, that the CPU was running at 143 degrees F - already 3 degrees above the lowest "auto overheat shutoff" temp that the board supports. This is the hottest I've ever seen a Duron of this speed. This is a used CPU I just bought off of someone last month, and just recently got it installed and tested.

I think I have a smaller heatsink on this, and I believe it is about 5 years old, so maybe it's not up to snuff. The heatsink definitely isn't big like the one I had on an Athlon XP. It reminds me more of one I had on an old Cyrix 5x86 years ago.

Anyway, at first I had this 5% overclocked, but it couldn't handle it, and the system shut down. Now I have it set to failsafe defaults, and it runs ok, though hot. This is going to be a system for my grandparents, so I need for it to be quite stable and cool. Occasionally, it has an hourglass come up for a while, and seems to forget what it was doing. At those points, I usually have to reboot to get it to work properly. I think this is temperature related. In the past, I think I've had Duron 1.3's running at about 108 degrees F after running several programs. That means this one is about 35 degrees hotter than normal.

Can anyone suggest a CPU heatsink/fan in the $10 range that would do a good job for my socket A platform? Thanks! I wouldn't have worried about it much, but I've never had a CPU installed that had an average temp above the lowest shutoff temperature. Don't really know if I can trust it as is.

Is there a chance that I might just have a bad CPU that tends to run hot? Not only is this one incapable of overclocking even 5% and staying stable, it actually seems like I need to underclock it about 20% to make it reliable. (which this board won't let me do) Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[myocardia]

Yep, 62C is too warm for a Socket A chip. You'll need to get a better heatsink for it, or get some airflow in that case. BTW, when discussing computer temps, always use Celsius, so we don't have to go find a website to convert your F temp to C.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Not surprising that it won't OC when it starts at 60C!

A decent, ordinary Socket-A cooler should run you less than $10 and fix your problem.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

>BTW, when discussing computer temps, always use Celsius, so we don't have to go find a >website to convert your F temp to C.

I don't think so. I've never heard another person ever use the Metric system before, and I certainly don't intend to ever use it in print either, as a matter of principle.

English system forever!

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: GunsMadeAmericaFree
>BTW, when discussing computer temps, always use Celsius, so we don't have to go find a >website to convert your F temp to C.

I don't think so. I've never heard another person ever use the Metric system before, and I certainly don't intend to ever use it in print either, as a matter of principle.

English system forever!

Then you'll want to stop posting questions about computer-related components' temps on hardware forums.

edit: I live in America, also, and refuse to use metric for anything, except working on cars, and cpu/NB and other computer temps. But, if you want to try to use your SAE wrenches/sockets to work on your car, that's up to you. I wouldn't, though.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

>Then you'll want to stop posting questions about computer-related components' temps on hardware forums.

For future reference, you really shouldn't tell other people what they want or don't want. I reserve the right to write and speak in English, just as I reserve the right to use the English system of measurement that is commonly used as a standard across the entire United States of America. Telling me that I can't or shouldn't do either of these things is about like telling me that I should start trying to pay for things with pesos at our local grocery store.

Besides, the BIOS monitoring utility I use reports the temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius. I'd rather not have to get online and consult a chart just to put it into a frame of reference that most folks in the USA wouldn't even be able to relate to everyday life easily. If this website were based in Pakistan, I would consider doing as you suggested.

Anyway...

Oh my goodness. I opened up the case and you will not believe what I found in there! No, it wasn't a chipmunk. Actually, somehow I had reversed the CPU heatsink. You know the raised area the side of the socket A, and the corresponding depressed area on one side of the heatsink? Well, I had it reversed, which meant the heatsink was at an angle, not even really making contact. There was a big pocket of air above the CPU core, and the heatsink compound hadn't even been spread out.

I applied more of the thermal compound, and then got it right this time. The temp went from averaging between 133 and 143 down to about 120 F.

Then, I noticed that ECS had released two different versions of the K7VZA motherboard. I have the 1.0 board, but had flashed the BIOS with the version 3.X BIOS. I flashed it back, and now the Duron 1.3 shows up as a 20 MegaHertz Athlon processor in the BIOS. The important thing, though, is that everything seems to run faster on the system, yet the CPU temp has dropped down to
104 F! When I run Sandra, it still shows the CPU info properly, and that the system is really running at 1300 MHz.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: GunsMadeAmericaFree
>Then you'll want to stop posting questions about computer-related components' temps on hardware forums.

For future reference, you really shouldn't tell other people what they want or don't want. I reserve the right to write and speak in English, just as I reserve the right to use the English system of measurement that is commonly used as a standard across the entire United States of America. Telling me that I can't or shouldn't do either of these things is about like telling me that I should start trying to pay for things with pesos at our local grocery store.

Your right, he does not have the right to tell you what to do. But the moderators have the right to shut this post down for an unwarranted flame. The fact of the mater is, you are posting in the COMPUTER world. Most people that use computers and and understand what they are talking about use the metric system when dealing with their computers (especially with regard to temperature).

All in all, this has nothing to do with My Rights as an American, it is just common manors. You shouldn't just post that crap about freedom just because someone tried to correct you. Of course you have the right to, but your stay will be short lived in Anandtech if you do that every time someone is trying to be helpful.

Again, the reason you tell people the temp in Celsius is because that is what most people here are familiar with. You would not appreciate it very much if I was to start using meters and Kg to describe everything to you, and in fact I would not because I know you would not understand it very well.

Nobody was "telling you" what to do, just suggesting something that would help get better responses for your posts. I hate it when people go out at bash on a post that was generally meant to help a person out. (Yes, when you post CPU temps in Fahrenheit, people are less likely to respond to you because you are screaming "I don't know what I am doing!". As well, they don't want to take the time to convert it to something they are familiar with)

Besides, the BIOS monitoring utility I use reports the temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius. I'd rather not have to get online and consult a chart just to put it into a frame of reference that most folks in the USA wouldn't even be able to relate to everyday life easily. If this website were based in Pakistan, I would consider doing as you suggested.

Most people that use this site ARE from the US, and, in fact, most people that know what they are talking about in the US will understand CPU temps better if you put them in Celsius. Why? Because many of the fail points given by CPU makers is measured in Celsius. As well, we are talking about technical equipment, and as such we use the SI standard system for measurement. It has nothing to do with adopting European standards.

Anyway...

Oh my goodness. I opened up the case and you will not believe what I found in there! No, it wasn't a chipmunk. Actually, somehow I had reversed the CPU heatsink. You know the raised area the side of the socket A, and the corresponding depressed area on one side of the heatsink? Well, I had it reversed, which meant the heatsink was at an angle, not even really making contact. There was a big pocket of air above the CPU core, and the heatsink compound hadn't even been spread out.

I applied more of the thermal compound, and then got it right this time. The temp went from averaging between 133 and 143 down to about 120 F.

Then, I noticed that ECS had released two different versions of the K7VZA motherboard. I have the 1.0 board, but had flashed the BIOS with the version 3.X BIOS. I flashed it back, and now the Duron 1.3 shows up as a 20 MegaHertz Athlon processor in the BIOS. The important thing, though, is that everything seems to run faster on the system, yet the CPU temp has dropped down to
104 F! When I run Sandra, it still shows the CPU info properly, and that the system is really running at 1300 MHz.

Anyways, glad to see that you fixed your problem. Make sure you blow the dust out of your heat sink (as I would imagine that there should be some build up there). If you think about upgrading your fan, I would consider getting a new CPU (socket A semprons aren't that expensive I believe) and should give you a good boost over the duron.

BTW I am American, have been all my life. I love the Imperial system, but understand that there are applications of other systems of measurements (could you imagine measuring a light bulb by horsepower? Yeah, that would be confusing. And yet that is the Imperial standard measurement for power. Guess what, you are using the SI measurements there...)