In general, which runs cooler AMD or Intel systems?

[jmatej]

I am struggling to find a system that doesn't heat up so much. I am not an overclocker. I currently have a athlon xp 2200+ on a Gigabyte 7AXP mobo. Large antec case with enermax 450v power supply and two 120mm fans (front and back). My CPU quickly rises to 65C with virtually no activity (system temp around 37). The setup is fairly noisy as well (fan noise). I have gone through a couple of different heat sinks ( the latest is a heavy cooper with fan) and I am not getting much progress. I f I want a cool and quieter box (like those Dells), would intel chips be the way to go? I am under the impression that at similar performance levels, amd chips generate (and tolerate) more heat.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jmatej
I am struggling to find a system that doesn't heat up so much. I am not an overclocker. I currently have a athlon xp 2200+ on a Gigabyte 7AXP mobo. Large antec case with enermax 450v power supply and two 120mm fans (front and back). My CPU quickly rises to 65C with virtually no activity (system temp around 37). The setup is fairly noisy as well (fan noise). I have gone through a couple of different heat sinks ( the latest is a heavy cooper with fan) and I am not getting much progress. I f I want a cool and quieter box (like those Dells), would intel chips be the way to go? I am under the impression that at similar performance levels, amd chips generate (and tolerate) more heat.

First, remember this: heat does not equal temperature. If you put your CPU and cooler on a different motherboard that is calibrated differently, it might read 42C instead of 65C. The actual heat production hasn't changed, it's just what the motherboard is calling it that's changed.

Secondly, your AthlonXP 2200+ generates a maximum of 63 watts, according to Sandpile.org. By comparison, upper-end Intel processors are in the 80W-100W+ range.

So my suggestion is to

1) stop worrying about your motherboard's temperature reading It's a Gigabyte board, k?
2) make sure your heatsink is installed properly (guide here) using high-quality thermal grease
3) if you want a quieter heatsink/fan unit, get a Thermalright SLK-800A and a Panaflo L1A 80mm 12-volt fan
4) if you want an upgrade, get a retail-boxed Athlon 64 and enable its Cool 'n Quiet feature if you like. They run cool to start with, and with CnQ enabled they will also downshift to 800MHz when idle or lightly loaded, at which point their thermal output is around 35 watts

 

[Jhhnn]

Time was when intel chips ran cooler, but that's no longer the case, given their higher clock speeds for the same level of performance as AMD models...

As MechBgon said, mobo readings are notoriously inaccurate. I'd start just by unplugging the front case fan, given that they're not terribly effective...

Dell boxes are highly engineered for low noise operation, something that's tough to do in a handbuilt. And they really don't cool all that well, anyway. They'll run hot outside of air conditioned office environments, particularly if modified to contain high end vidcards and multiple drives....

 

[NewBlackDak]

Order an Athlon XP Mobile 2600+. Mine does 2.2 @ stock 1.45 vcore :Q, and doesn't get more than 7C over case temp with a thermalright SLK-800(A) and a quiet 80mm fan. You can drop it in the board you already have, get a speed boost, and get better temps.

 

[Dman877]

Grab an Antec Sonata and a mobile barton, 2600+ is ~100$ I think. Hook the 1 case fan up to the psu's fan-only connector. If you aren't ocing, use an slk900 with panflo L1A or vantec silent 80mm fan and you'll have adequate cooling and very low noise.

 

[Davegod]

Seems a shame few mobo's have built in systems for varying fan speeds based on temps, even if it's disabled by default and considered a non-supported feature. Antec PSU's do it, but thats based on the PSU's temp and not cpu or system temp.