Having Problems With New 4400+ Please Help

[ClownShoes16]

I just got an Athlon 4400+ and it is running extremely hot. I have it on an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, and also have a 7800 GTX and 2 Gigs of Kingston HyperX. I have it in a Lian Li PC-V1100 case, and I replaced the 120mm intake fan, and 120mm exhaust fan with 120mm nexus fans. They move 36.87 CFM of air each. The case only has one intake and one exhaust. I also have a nexus 120mm fan on a thermalright xp-120 heatsink which I'm using to cool the processor. The processor idles at about 40 degrees celsius, and after running two instances of prime95 for 6 hours, one on each core, it got up to 63 degrees celsius. The other night when I played battlefield 2 for a few hours it got up to 78 degrees celsius. The system runs perfectly fine despite all of this. When the processor temp was at 78 battlefield was still running smooth as glass with all settings on max. I tried taking the heatsink off and reapplying the arctic silver 5 and that didn't do anything. Does anybody have any ideas of why my processor is running so hot? Most of the people in the forums are saying they overclock their 4400+ to 2.6GHz+ and it never goes above 45 under load. Mine is running at stock speeds. Could the processor be faulty, or the temp readings be off? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[LT4CAMSS]

ClownShoes16 - I hope this comment can be of some help. In no way do I mean to belittle you or offend you...but do a quick check to see that the exhaust fan is facing so that the warm air is expelled out of the case from the back. Also...same w/ the front fan. It should be facing so that is sucks in cooler air from the outside and pushes it through to cool off parts. Sometimes when replacing parts we accidentally put things in the opposite way. It happens when one is extremely excited about brand new computer parts. I know I would be w/ a 4400+. If that's not the reason...it could be your case. I've heard complaints about poor air circulation in those cases. Hope you solve your problem mang.


Edit: BTW...welcome to the forums! Peace...

Edit #2: Maybe you could try a BIOS update. It could be possible your temp. reading are simply off, too. I would doubt it's the processor itself though.

 

[ClownShoes16]

Thanks for the quick reply LT4CAMSS. I just double checked the fans and they are all moveing air in the right directions. The BIOS update might not be a bad idea though. The BIOS I have now is the first BIOS to support dual core so there are probably bugs with it. Does anybody know what AMD says the max operating temp of the X2's is? If it's around 60 degrees then most likely the temp readings are off, cause I don't think the processor would hold up that well under temps that high. Oh, and thanks for the welcome.

 

[piddlefoot]

l had similar problem with 3500+, overheat, in the end l had to put a massive 9000rpm fan on it, l dont want to be a downer but l was never happy with the 3500+ amd , l preffer my 3200+ 32 bit over the 3500+ 64 bit, the 3500 had better benchmarcks but the 3200 smashed it playing battle field vietnam, not even a comparison, the 3500 would suffer from glitching the chugg chugg effect and would be slow between windows aplications, overall l didnt like it, l never had a 4400+, but the heat prob sounds similar, the first thing ld check, if you built it, is the, grease/paste thats applied between the cpu and its heat sink, make sure theres not too much or to little, this can cause severe overheat, especially on cpu and gpu chips, then bigger fan, make sure case air flow is good, make sure cpu fan is actually running when booted, and maybe be especially carefull if planning to overclock.
Never forget to pull the fan off the cpu once every 12 months at the LEAST and make sure heat sink is clear of dust.

 

[ClownShoes16]

Well, I feel kind of stupid now. I just noticed when I had the side panel of the case open to check the fans, that the temp when down to 35 degrees. I decided to run prime95 and right now the temp is at 42. I guess it is the air circulation. The air inside the case must just be getting hotter and hotter over time. Anyway, thanks again for the fan advice. Thats ultimatley how I found this out. I guess you just tend to overlook the simple stuff. Anyway, looks like I'm going to have to purchase some fans that move more air, or a new case. :-(

 

[LT4CAMSS]

ClownShoes16 - No problem. Ok...one more question. Did you have to invert your MOBO in that case? The Asus A8N-SLI Premium and some Lian-Li cases have beef w/ each other. Some of them require the MOBO to be mounted in an inverted position. That might account for the overheating. I think there is some posts on this in the MOBO forum here. Let us know about the mounting on your board.

 

[ClownShoes16]

Thanks for the tips piddlefoot, looks like I might have to get a fan like that. Only problem is, I built this computer to be silent. I wanted a really powerful, silent computer. Guess the two don't exactly go hand in hand though. Do you know of any fans that move 50+ CFM and are fairly quiet. I bet your comp sounded like a jet engine with that 9000rpm in it.

 

[ClownShoes16]

Actually, the board is mounted upsidedown. The cables for the front USB and Firewire would barely reach the ports on the motherboard because of this. My powersupply is also mounted upsidedown. Come to think of it, there is not fan above the video card. The exhaust and intake fans are both below it, so that might be why all that hot air is getting bottled up inside the case.

 

[LT4CAMSS]

Yea...therein seems to lie your problem. I really don't know any solution to that other than a different case. Unless someone else out there has experience w/ dealing with this problem. Sorry I can't help more than this. At least we narrowed down the problem. That saved you a possible rma and some frustration.

 

[Merovingian]

Also, I would say that you need to clean up the wires in the case to get better airfllow but I like LT's intuition about the inverted case.
/where is that beer pic when I need it =)
//I wish people could PM brew for solid advice. LOL.

 

[freethrowtommy]

65 is the max temperature the X2 should be

 

[Markfw]

I have a Lian-Li 2100b, and have the same problem. I had to leave the side cover off, worst cooling solution I have ever seen.

 

[BeakerChem]

Quick question to another X2 user. Any issues with games running faster than normal on your system? Some users are reporting that they have to disable the second processor in order to get games to run at normal speed.

Thanks,

 

[Markfw]

No probems with games running strange, other than normal type faster.

 

[ClownShoes16]

Thanks for all the replies. To BeakerChem, my X2 runs battlefield 2 flawlessly with my 7800GTX. I am running it at 1600x1200 with every setting set to high, and AA and AF set to max and it doesn't skip a beat. This is at stock speeds. As for the case, I was reading reviews of it on the net, and it seems that most people think it cools fine. This link http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/LianLi_review/ is a review of the PC-V1100 and his video card is above the fan just like mine, and he doesn't seem to have a problem. I guess I just don't understand why my computer is running so much hotter than everyone elses. I expect it to run a little hotter becuase I have some high end components in there, but 20-30 degrees celsius hotter? Something doesn't seem right.

 

[BeakerChem]

Cool, thx for the reply.

 

[Pooed Unit]

Hey ClownShoes

I think I have a pretty good idea why your temps are so high. You cannot use the a8n-sli premium with that case as the mobo is inserted upside down. Therefore the heatpipe on your chipset doesn't work (it fries it after a while) and the heat lingers near the cpu. Try swapping it for the a8n-sli deluxe (just remember to get one with the chipset fan set like a diamond not the original chipset fan - its crap (I have gone through 3 before the replacement arrived). When you get a new motherboard, insist that they use Arctic Silver 5 and apply it properly (not too thick - not too thin) to the chip (after removing the existing crud with artic clean). I would also look at the XP-90 because, funnily, it works better than the XP-120 (due to the offset issue apparently).

I have that case and a8n-sli deluxe and have experienced nothing but great temps with it.

 

[n7]

Leaving the case open is something i always do now.

It's handy, since i am always fiddling around, switching parts, & it keeps airflow issues at bay

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The heatpipe on the A8N-SLI premium doesn't work at all when in an inverted position. A case that requires you to invert the mobo, is a bad idea with the Premium

 

[monster64]

The whole idea of an upsidedown mobo is just stupid. Hot air goes up, and it all ends up back where it started if the mobo is upsidedown. A new case would fix everything. Heatsinks/pipes do not work well at all upsidedown. I dont know if you really wanna do this, but flip your case upside down so the mobo is on the bottom. You probably will need to flip your optical drive(s) but if theres nothing else you can really do, try it.

 

[Velk]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
The heatpipe on the A8N-SLI premium doesn't work at all when in an inverted position. A case that requires you to invert the mobo, is a bad idea with the Premium

Why is that ? Surely it has to work if the motherboard is mounted horizontally or vertically, why would inverted vertical make it non operational ? I'm not arguing that it doesn't, I just can't visualise why that is the case.

 

[Dadofamunky]

That's unbelievable with the Lian-Li - I'm glad I didn't plump for that now, inverting the mobo seems to lead to some unpredictable results. You made a really good choice all the way around with the components - it sounds lke that system smokes (and not literally). I would also suspect the temp reporting from the motherboard, those results are notoriously unreliable. Water cooling won't help you that much.

All in all, I'd consider trying another case that uses a conventional layout. Too bad, the Lian-Lis have a good rep for quality, but the inverted installation just sounds problematic....

 

[Pooed Unit]

Originally posted by: Velk

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
The heatpipe on the A8N-SLI premium doesn't work at all when in an inverted position. A case that requires you to invert the mobo, is a bad idea with the Premium

Why is that ? Surely it has to work if the motherboard is mounted horizontally or vertically, why would inverted vertical make it non operational ? I'm not arguing that it doesn't, I just can't visualise why that is the case.

Heatpipes work by liquid turining into its gaseous form (by boiling) and rising to the top of the enclosure (taking the heat with it) where it cools and converts back into a liquid and falls to the bottom. With the heatpipe inverted (follow this link, click to enlarge the image and picture it upside down http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-p/overview.htm#) the liquid doesn't end up over the super hot chip but ends up at the cool end and does nothing.

 

[Pooed Unit]

Originally posted by: Dadofamunky
That's unbelievable with the Lian-Li - I'm glad I didn't plump for that now, inverting the mobo seems to lead to some unpredictable results. You made a really good choice all the way around with the components - it sounds lke that system smokes (and not literally). I would also suspect the temp reporting from the motherboard, those results are notoriously unreliable. Water cooling won't help you that much.

All in all, I'd consider trying another case that uses a conventional layout. Too bad, the Lian-Lis have a good rep for quality, but the inverted installation just sounds problematic....

Actually this case rocks and get great reviews for cooling ability as it is divided into two areas to keep components cool. It consistantly beats cases with 5, 6 and even 7 case fans for cooling due to its design. I have it and have just been playing HL2 for 2 hours. Looking at my temp history the cpu never got over 45 degrees C using the stock amd heatsink and cooler. The design makes more sense in a lot of ways as the CPU is at the bottom receiving nice cool air rather than receiving sloppy seconds from the GPU(s). It just doesn't work very well with that mobo.

 

[Topweasel]

Originally posted by: Velk

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
The heatpipe on the A8N-SLI premium doesn't work at all when in an inverted position. A case that requires you to invert the mobo, is a bad idea with the Premium

Why is that ? Surely it has to work if the motherboard is mounted horizontally or vertically, why would inverted vertical make it non operational ? I'm not arguing that it doesn't, I just can't visualise why that is the case.

The Heat Pipe, it is filled with liquad. The heated water travels up to the The finned heatsink next to the CPU. When inverted the hot liquad is staying at the Chipset because it is the highest point in the heat pipe. You also have problems with the PSU not stealling the heat from the CPU. Look into a P180 by antec sleak design but awsome cooling potential with compartment cooling.