Problem with CPU Temp and Sandra 2005?

[bovinda]

Hi folks,

I have a couple questions. This is my first time building a computer, and I'm a little stuck as to where to go from here. My idling CPU temp is (according to CoreCenter) 46 deg C, and when I ran the CPU Arithmetic benchmark in Sandra 2005 (which took about 1 minute or so) the temperature went up to 53 C. Aren't these high for idling and slightly loaded?

Furthermore, when I run the CPU and BIOS info module in Sandra 2005 it stops almost immediately and says my CPU has failed. That seems "not good." It has been doing that since I changed the BIOS from the "safe" setting to the "optimized performance" setting.

I am pretty sure that I installed the (stock) heatsink correctly...or so I thought?


My other question is: how do these benchmark results look? I don't know anything about benchmarking yet, or what I should be looking for. What other benchmarks should I run or would be helpful in assessing what I should tweak on this system?

Sandra 2005 CPU Arithmetic test: Dhrystone 9146 MIPS/Whetstone 3254/4261 MFLOPS.
3DMark05 was around 3300.

My system:

AMD 64 3200+ CPU (939) with stock HSF
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
1 gig (2*512) Corsair Value Select RAM
BFG nVidia 6800 OC
Seagate 120 gig SATA HD
NEC 3500 DVD writer
Antec Sonata Case with stock PSU (Antec Truepower 380 watt) and cooling (1=one 120 mm case fan)
Hauppauge PVR-150
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

And I'm not overclocking anything that I know of (because I wouldn't know how to if I wanted to yet). If it matters, this system will be mainly for gaming and acting as a media center PC.

Thanks folks,
Jeff

 

[bovinda]

Anyone? Can I clarify anything?

 

[pantner]

well, those temps are fine...you should enable "Cool'n'Quiet" in the BIOS, and the set your Power Sceme to "Portable/Laptop" and that'll make the idle temp drop...but you will need to install the AMD-A64 Drivers from AMD's Website, otherwise your CPU will not start up again and will stay underclocked!

those score look ok...but i can't say for sure...

for the CPU Failed message, it sounds like it has *MAYBE* set the RAM Timings too tight or something similar...i never use the Optimized Defaults...i find EVERY system is different, and some react differently to some tweaks then others...even if they're supposed to be the same hardware...did you notice any performance difference be using the optimized defaults??? if not, then go back to "factory Defaults" and change everything that you want manually...(ie Boot Priorety)

my A64 3800 idles AROUND 33C (with Cool'n'Quiet enabled) and goes up around 50-55C under load...but i do have better then stock cooling...

 

[bovinda]

Thanks pantner. I did notice a performance difference when I switched the BIOS settings, but only in terms of the Sandra 2005 benchmarking (I hadn't yet run 3DMark05). The Sandra Benchmarks almost doubled. Does that sound probable?

I have the Cool'n Quiet thing enabled with AMD's drivers, but I didn't see where to change the powering scheme. Is that in the BIOS? It's still idling around 40-42 right now...I dunno. If that sounds okay maybe I'll just work with it, then. I heard that the CoreCenter utility can misrepresent temperatures, and maybe throw off fan speeds on a thread in the MSI Forums, but has anyone else hard anything like that?

 

[pantner]

yeah, virtually all A64 boards had that problem in the beggining...(the temp problem)

make sure your BIOS and CoreCell are fully updated...(had similar problem with MSI 875P NEO...just BIOS and CoreCell)

to change you power scheme, boot into windows like normal...right click on desktop and go into "Properties"...then "Screen Saver" and then go into "Power"...and it is in there...