Opteron 165 Running HOT

[SantiClaws]

Had an Opteron 146, which I ran at stock voltage on air at about 2.8 with a Thermaltake Venus9 cooler, ran about 38C idle and 55C at full load.

Did a quick and dirty upgrade, picked up an opty 165 on the cheap, but it idled at 40-41C and got to 50+ in a minute or to with even a mild OC to 2.2 with the same HSF. I picked up a Thermalright SI-120, just installed it, and temps did not improve. OC'd to 2.4, idle at around 40-42C, full load at 60C, all this at stock voltage. No errors, stable, but very hot.

Can't figure it out. I don't think I really overdid it on the compound, and even if I did, I don't think it would change temperatures more than a degree or two. I'll try reseating the HSF, and maybe flipping the fan, but I'm not sure what else I should look at. Suggestions?

 

[Ricemarine]

What program did you use to check the temperatures? Or did you use your BIOS to check instead? Which motherboard?...

40 - 42C idle and 60 C under load is still fairly acceptable. I'm running my Opteron 165 @ 2.6 GHz with 1.35v, Core Temp detects my temperatures as ~39/47 on idle (with some small apps open, winamp, IE, MSN Messenger...). I use a thermalright xp-90 with a 92mm nexus fan (27 cfm/19 dba). I haven't tested under load though.

Have you tried opening the side panel to see if it's the ambient temperature in the case that could be the possible culprit?

 

[SantiClaws]

I use Core Temp to measure on an Asus A8N5X mobo. Yep, warm inside the case, but not too much I can do about that even if I knew just how warm.

EDIT: Leaving the side of the case off makes a 6-7C degree difference, so looks like the ambient temp is the problem. I don't know that I'm up to cutting holes and putting in more fans...

 

[betasub]

Had a similar temp problem when I went from single-core A64 to dual-core Opteron 170. Seemed to be OS related becaue I got much cooler temperatures when enabling HLT-commands using RMclock. I guess the OS wasn't allowing the dual-core processor to idle properly (low power state), but RMclock forcing HLT-commands when idle worked for me.

 

[SantiClaws]

Originally posted by: betasub
Had a similar temp problem when I went from single-core A64 to dual-core Opteron 170. Seemed to be OS related becaue I got much cooler temperatures when enabling HLT-commands using RMclock. I guess the OS wasn't allowing the dual-core processor to idle properly (low power state), but RMclock forcing HLT-commands when idle worked for me.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot, although my big worry is temps under load.

 

[mooseracing]

My dual optys idle and load hang around 50-57c, they are right next to each other with blow down HSF. I better 120 on my exhaust, it's a little loud but it brought my temps down just a couple degrees. I also have 80mm blowhole but it doesn't seem to help much, changing to a higher 120 helped me the most.

I'm also loking at getting a pair of tower heatsinks with the fans blowing toward my exhasut fan to help me out.

 

[imported_ST]

When I had my Opty 165, it idled around 30-32C and maxed out around 45-47C fully loaded PRIME. Mind you, this was overclocked to 2.5GHz but undervolted to 0.98V and also de-lidded IHS with a monstrous Ninja Scythe HSF across it. YMMV, but I think your temps are all too high.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

My Opty 165 @ 2.5 idles mid-high 30's, about + 20 under max load. This is with a fairly modest Gigaybyte HSF, in a SFF case. Been running this for about 1.5 yrs, stable as can be.

ST, it's amazing you were able to run that Opty with it's voltage about 30% less than spec.

 

[SantiClaws]

I've decided I'll try reversing the fan and re-applying the thermal goo. At it is it's stable at 2.6, it never gets to 60 unless being stress-tested, and if it's life span is short, it's short. I spent sixty bucks for this thing, I'm not going to worry about it too much.

Immediately after posting I ran another test, and it looks like it's settled in - while still at 40-43 idle, it is now steady at 55 under load. Of course, it's cooler today, too. But these temps I can deal with most definitely. I might even try pushing it to 2.7 for s**ts and giggles.