Through TBirds like Grant took Richmond

[SteveMazza]

Hi -
I seem to have a problem with some hardware and was wondering if anyone a) was having similar difficulty, or b) could see anything egregiously wrong.
The Problem: I've lost 3 normally clocked (i.e., not overclocked) AMD CPUs in about 8 months; 2 850MHz aluminum cores and 1 1.2GHz BlueBird.
The Setup: MSI K7T266-Pro2a, chrome orb (no grease, as per instructions from manufacturer), Sparkle 350W ps. That should be all the pertinent information.
Any help, advice, or insight is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve -

 

[punkrawket]

<< chrome orb (no grease, as per instructions from manufacturer) >>

well... i found two flaws so far....

1. orbs don't do the best cooling wise first off...
2. i don't know. never used an orb... but do they come with a thermal pad??

if not... you didn't use grease or artic silver II... and that is bad..
no thermal pad, grease, or asII = fried processors

 

[SteveMazza]

Yeah... pad on the bottom of the orb... I suppose that's why they say not to use grease? dunno. Anyway, what would you cool with? I'm certainly open to suggestions at this point.

Thx for your reply.

 

[punkrawket]

well... so it had a pad.... hmmmmm that's interesting... have you gotten the board to work fine with any other processors witout them dyin??

i use the vantec 6035 all copper hs... it comes with a price... (not $$, it's only like $25) it has a screamin delta on it... though i can stand it

EDIT: forgot... yes... they said not to use grease because of the pad already on the bottom... it is easily removed and using generic grease will give maybe and extra 2-5 degree drop in temps

 

[SteveMazza]

thx again... I'll give your hs a day in court. Cost is not really an issue if I can stop buying new CPUs every couple of months.

I appreciate your help.

 

[Brian48]

Well, it's true that the Orbs are really not any better than any other conventional heatsink, but generally it shouldn't cause your CPU to burn up either. I would wager There's probably a problem with the clip retaining heatsink. It's more than likely holding the unit in a canted position, not allowing it to properly make contact with the processor.

In any case, I'd get rid of it and get another heatsink the next time you replace the CPU. The Vantec mentioned above is a solid choice.

 

[McCarthy]

Steve,
If you've been using the same chrome orb this whole time, then I'm confident the pad/grease issue is your problem. The pad is only good for 1 use. Install heatsink, leave in place forever. Once you remove it for any reason the pad needs to be replaced. Cooler temps aside, this is why people who fiddle with their machines quite a lot always go with easily reapplied grease over a thermal pad.

For the 850's the chrome orb would have been adequate cooling - iffy for the 1.2, all depends on case airflow. But if there's a used pad in the equation then you're not getting proper contact. I'd advise switching sinks anyway as the orb is really not advised for the speeds we're using today and because the clip is a real core crusher, not so much on install, but removing..had one, lucky mine survived.

You said price is not a problem, at this point I suggest the Alpha 8045 for anyone but the penny pinchingest of people. Bolts to the board, does a wonderful job cooling and you can use a nice quiet fan on it - have great cooling and happy ears. It requires there be the 4 holes around the CPU socket to mount, please check to make sure you have these. The motherboard compatibility page shows the K7T266 Pro-R and a number of others as being ok though.

Popular site for buying the 8045: at svcompucycle.com Price is 29.99, add the 80mm fan of your choice (I use a very quiet Panaflow on a XP 1600+) I'm not familiar with those 31cfm fans listed as options on the page, but I'd go with one of them if you don't already have an 80mm fan. The 48cfm will cool better of course, but then you're getting into more noise. Under 30cfm is what I have, though I have very good case airflow around the CPU area as well.

The Vantec sink suggested is also a top performer, I just happen to be sold on the 8045 personally. Whatever sink you get, make sure to get thermal compound (artic silver II being what most people around here use) and apply it carefully. Instructions are on the Artic Silver page.

Good luck
--Mc

 

[WarCon]

I hope you realize that pads are one time use only. It should of been a sticky mess that made it hard to get off the first processor. Never reuse a thermal pad. Your temps should of been very high on the second and third one.

And Orbs and Athlon's don't mix well anyway.

 

[SteveMazza]

Thanks, everybody!

I ordered a ThermalRight SK6 + Delta (noisy, but effective) based on the Anandtech roundup of socket-a coolers. I did this yesterday, else I might have gotten the Alpha. Also picked up a tube of Arctic Silver II.

Just for kicks, I also got a ZENscr325 CPU Radiator Zen. Couldn't help myself. I'll let you all know what I think when it arrives (Jan 3rd).

Thanks, again...
Steve -