Help! Failing Prime 95 Torture Test - CPU hits around 59C

[DaveyTN]

Hello all - I have an AMD 4000+ (not overclocked) running in a Tsunami Dream Tower case with three fans and an Enermax 535w power supply. I have the stock AMD heat sink and fan.

I've been experiencing complete lock ups while playing half life 2. So, I decided to see what I could find.

I've been running the second option in Prime 95 (In-place large FFTs) and I fail everytime. Usually before 30 minutes. I check the CPU temp while this is running and it is between 57C - 59C.

Am I running too hot?

One more note; I had this system built my Monarch and I requested the Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease - its suppose to cool the CPU better.

Please let me know what to do? Thanks all!!!!!

 

[sharkeeper]

I would be more concerned with the failure rather than the temperature reading.

59C is certainly nowhere near the ABMAX of the core per spec.

I had dual MP 2200's that would hit 84C during torture runs. No problems out of them.

 

[DaveyTN]

What could be causing the failure? Should I just send it back to Monarch?? Also - I'm using SpeedFan to monitor the temp...

 

[ssvegeta1010]

That isnt too hot.

But would it void your warranty to raise voltages a little? That may help.


Edit: If you can troubleshoot with Monarch, that might help.

 

[DaveyTN]

Well, its a new machine; so it may. Just out of curiosity, what should stock voltages be for this chip 4000+? Speedfan shows VCore1 = 1.44v and VCore2 = 1.15v....

 

[DaveyTN]

Actually, one more thing. I'm assuming that the CPU is running around 58C. Its hard to tell with speedfan because it gives you three temps.

It has

Temp1 : 58C
Temp2 : 47C
Temp3 : 54C

I think Temp1 is the CPU temp because as soon as I start running Prime 95 option 2 - then Temp1 starts taking off quickly from around 44C drifting up to 58C in about 20 seconds or so...

 

[wisdomtooth]

Run your machine for a while to build up the temps, then reboot into BIOS. The temps are usually more clearly labeled in BIOS so you should be able to tell which temp is which.

If any of those temps are your case temps, either your temp sensors are not accurate or you are slowly baking your system.

HTH.

 

[DaveyTN]

Ok, super dumb question. What key do I press to get into bios during bootup?

 

[wisdomtooth]

Most computers have you press DEL to get into BIOS when booting... Some might be F1, then some of the more obscure machines might be something else.

Try DEL first.

HTH.

 

[DaveyTN]

I'm using version 23.81 of Prime 95 - Is this the latest version - could that be the problem??

 

[DaveyTN]

Ok, I ran my machine for a while with Prime 95 and then rebooted into BIOS. Here are some reports; can someone tell me if they look ok?

AMD 4000+
CPU Core Temp 51C
PWM Area Temp 46C
Chipset Temp 54C

CPU Fan Speed 4017
Chip set fan speed 5443

CPU Core Voltage 1.46V
LDT Bus Voltage : 1.19V
Chip set Voltage : 1.49V
Dram 2.5 Voltage : 2.72V

 

[wisdomtooth]

If those temps are anywhere near the ballpark, you got a poorly-vented case. You need to improve ventilation in your case to move cool air in from the lower front and hot air out the upper back.

HTH.

 

[DaveyTN]

I've got the Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case which is supposed to be a pretty good one from a ventillation stand point - It has one fan in the bottom front, one fan in the upper back and one fan in the side of the unit. Do I need stronger fans? The cables inside the case are neatly tucked away....

 

[wisdomtooth]

Make sure:

1) your front fan is blowing INTO the case,

2) the side fan is blowing INTO the case,

3) the back fan is blowing OUT OF the case,

4) and your PSU is blowing OUT of the case.

Things you can do to improve airflow:

1) Make sure you have at least 5 inches of space behind the computer to allow exhausted hot air to escape.

2) Cut out those stamped fan grills with either a dremel or a hole saw in a power drill. They look very restrictive to airflow.

3) Get a 120mm-fan PSU if you don't already have one.

HTH.

 

[DaveyTN]

Thanks for the info. All of the things you mentioned appear to be ok in my case... Just for fun, I'm trying to run Prime 95 now with the side panel of the case off and a fan blowing directly on the mobo.

It hasn't really changed the cpu temp of 58C.

But, it did drop the chip set temp from about 54C to 49C.....

 

[DaveyTN]

Could my Prime 95 failure be the result of memory issues?? What kinds of test should I try running to get to the bottom of the problem??

 

[wisdomtooth]

You can download and try Memtest and see if memory is an issue...

The next thing I'd try would be to blow an oscillating desktop fan at the open case and run Prime95 again and see if it stabilizes. If it does, your lockup is due to heat.

 

[DaveyTN]

You read my mind! That is what I'm trying right now. I've got the side of case open and a large oscillating type fan blowing right on it. We will see if it helps. So far, it seems to have made it farther than it did before. Maybe the heat!

One thing about my dfi mobo - it has a chipset fan on it which is partly covered up by my video card. I have vid cards in sli mode and i don't have a choice on where I can put them. There are only two pci-e slots on this thing...

 

[rise]

i'd be on the phone with monarch to see if i could remove and reseat the heat sink with out voiding the warranty. i'm sure its ok, but i remember they freaked out about using as5 awhile back, although they took care of it eventually.

you shouldn't need fans blowing all over the place if those temps are high and the others seem to think they are.

and definitely run some memtest.

edit--- btw yopu have memtest in your bios, under genie bios scroll down and select enable and it will boot into it. when your done just disable it.

also what bios or did i miss that? i'm curious what bios monarch flashed it to.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Two vid cards in SLI are bound to heat up your computer some... Maybe you also want to think about putting better HSFs on the cards.. Zalman VF700s or Arctic Silencers.

And yep, you got a pickle there with the dinky NB fan... The NForce 4 boards presents quite a dilemma on NB cooling because they put it in such a stupid place-- No easy solution there unfortunately.

Hopefully you are able to pass Prime95 now with the case open and the desk fan blowing at it.

 

[DaveyTN]

Good advice guys. I'll be calling Monarch tomorrow. Knock on wood, in the mean time I have been running prime 95 for about an hour now and its still going with the case open and fan blowing on it. When the case was closed Prime 95 would die before 30 minutes. I'm starting to think more and more its a heat issue. Could be the heatsink....

 

[DaveyTN]

Yea, sli is going to heat it up some, but it shouldn't really affect the prime 95 test. The big question I have is if prime runs ok with case open and fan on it, how do I ultimately solve the problem with case closed????

 

[rise]

did monarch build your whole system or just the mobo/cpu combo? if its your whole sytem they're supposed pre-test it, no? you'd think temps like that would have shown up rather quickly in any testing.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Well, it's looking more and more like case heat slowly baking your computer indeed...

As I mentioned before, in order to bring down that case heat, I would:

1) Cut out those fan grills. They are too restrictive to air flow.

2) Figure out some way to better cool your NB.

3) Better cooling for those SLI cards... Personally I've had good luck using Arctic Silencers to directly dump heat from the vid cards out of the case so they don't contribute to the case's thermal burden, but some other people didn't have such good luck with it.

4) GET A 120mm OR 140mm-FAN PSU TO HELP WITH THE VENTING. That Enermax PSU you have with the dinky 80mm fans suck at venting.

HTH.

 

[DaveyTN]

Yes, Monarch built the whole thing and yes you would have thought they would have noticed this!!

And, they also sent my system to me without sli working. Took me about 10 hours to figure out why. Each video card had different bios in them. I had to flash the bios of the cards to get them working.

I've heard good things about Monarch but I've not been impressed thus far.....