Has anyone tested case airflow vs HSF in O/C'ing results?

[ErikS]

After reading a lot of posts & reviews about how bad the chorb (chrome orb) is at high O/C speeds I resigned myself to the fact that I'd only be able to hit 800's with my Duron. Boy was I suprised that I can hit 963 w/o going over 43c (a bit warm, but not too bad). Granted I don't have the voltage cranked up to 1.85, but still is the chorb as bad as all that or does the case have more to do with it than we all care to say. I have a high airflow case that never gets above 2 or 3 degrees above room temp. It would seem to me that a cool case is more important than we might think. Maybe it should be as important as chosing the right HSF. This is just my .02, all differing opinions welcome.



Now, hmmmmm....how fast can we go when I can finally get ahold of an alpha?

 

[Klosters]

Please give us the scoop about just how much air is flowing through your case. Why not add to the pool of knowledge?

 

[ErikS]

I have 70cfm going in, and 120 cfm (plus the PS - no idea how much) going out. Yeah, I know negative airflow isn't the best, but it works. The rear 120mm is right next to the CPU a draws off a lot of it's heat.

My only point was that it would seem that the orb was better at cooling that one might suspect as long as the case temp was kept low. At 1.75 I was expecting a higher temp, like around 50c & I was pleasantly suprised by the "low" (relative term) 43c.

 

[Klosters]

Thanks, Erik S! Undoubtedly, a large volume of air throughput makes a less than monster fan on a HS work quite well.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Erik S,

What is your case ambient temp?


Also, you can't expect an alpha, for example, to work well without any case airflow. You need a constant supply of fresh air going into the case and excess heat being pumped out. ALl heatsinks need "new/fresh" air to work effectively.


Mike

 

[abracadabra1]

963 at 1.5V?
that's excellent. you should be able to hit a gig, no probs w/ an alpha or globalwin

 

[ErikS]

Ambient temp varies, the comp is in a small room & it goes from about 74 - 80. The 80 is in the summer, if I'm in the room w/ the machine running all day it gets real warm in there. As far as I can judge the systemp stays within 1 - 3 degrees of the room temp. I also figure that the design of the case has a great deal to do with effectiveness. The 2 120's are in the bottom of the case. The cool air comes in passes over the MB/CPU & is exhausted right out the back. The HDD(s) are in the uppper part of the case (along with the two ATAPI drives). They mount right in front of the 92mm (& the PS fan) so all the heat produced by them are taken right out. Seems to be a very effective design.

Yep, I figure I'm fortunate to get 963 @ 1.75, especially since the chip came from the Overclockerz Store (dumb luck I guess).

Thanks for the input folks.

 

[Vpham97]

If you have a sensor like a Asus A7v, the temp reading might be misleading. The temp is not actually from the Cpu itself. If you have good air circulation in your case, the wind might be blowing on your sensor, giving it cooler reading. However, good circulation can help out a lot, not trying to cut you down or anything.

 

[ErikS]

No offense taken, I always wonder if I'm getting an accurate temp reading. I only bent the sensor with the KT-7 as far as I needed to seat the CPU (used the CPU to push it that last little bit) so I'm hoping the reading is fairly accurate.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Unfortunately, even with the thermistor touching the back of the cpu, it isn't remotely accurate.

If you're using an older bios, expect a cpu core temp anywhere from 10-15C higher than the temp it is reporting.

If you are using a newer bios, expect the peak to be close(2-5C off), but dont' expect the readings to show the full range of cpu temp movement(for example, the time it takes to go from idle temp to full load temp is very short, something usually under 5 seconds, and is usually about 10-12C).

If you are using a later bios, your temps are very, very, very good for a chrome orb. If you're using an earlier bios, you're still getting pretty darn good temps for that heatsink.

Mike

 

[ErikS]

Thhanks Mike, as I said I'm always leery of those under the chip sensors. What you say makes sense, 43 + 12 = 55, about right for a chrome orb. I've noticed the same thing in the temp swings, takes a couple of minutes to heat/cool & the range is only about 8 - 10.

I've ordered some of my water cooling parts & I'm just hoping the orb can hold me until that system is complete.

Update - I just checked the BIOS & it's UL, the newest I found on the Abit site - is there a newer "leaked" BIOS?

 

[Mikewarrior2]

if it is the newer bios, then the temp you're getting is fairly close to what core temp would be( a few c off). But if you notice on this and other bbs', nobody says what bios revision they're running when saying their socket A cpu temp.

For example, if you went back to an earlier bios, the temp would probably drop 10C. Its too much hassle to do, but that's what would happen if you used an old enough bios.

43C is very, very good for a duron/corb. I'm not sure i'd use watercooling in your case, but you are getting good temps(and a pretty good overclock, too).


Mike