Athlon 1GHz w/ overheat problems

[rbaibich]

Hi!

I bought an Athlon 1GHz system in a local dealer here in Brazil, that builds custom made PC's. My problem is that it seems they don't know how to build an Athlon system... Today I went to the store for the 3rd time with overheating problems.

I found out that my PC didn't have a chassis fan nor a power suply with a bottom air intake. For now, they changed the CPU cooler with a double fan heatsink, and put a chassis fan. My room now sounds like I'm in a plane, I have the noisest computer on earth.

So I have 2 problems:

To cool the processor properly, and to do that in the most silent way possible.

When my computer crashed, I checked the temperatures: My CPU was at 72.5ºC (162ºF), the MB was at 42ºC (107ºF) and the video board was at 70ºC (158ºF). Right now, after the changes, I'm running the CPU at 68ºC (154ºF), the MB runs at 39ºC (102ºF) and the video board is at 58ºC (136ºF).

My configuration is this:

Athlon 1GHz
Asus A7V133 MB
Asus v7700 AGP (based on the nVidia GEFORCE2 GTS)
40Gb Quantum FIREBALL lct2
ATX Case

This are my questions:

1. What are the most effective/silent coolers available (I don't want to overclock my computer, I just want a silent cooler that will do it's job well)?

2. What are the recommended running temperatures for the Athlon 1GHz?

3. The chassis fan is set to blow the air to the inside of the case. Is that right?

Anything else that will help me is welcome. I just want to have my computer running fine, making the least noise possible.

Thank you
Roberto Baibich

 

[Scouzer]

Stop cutting down your rainforests! Sorry thats what my social study course tells me to tell you.

 

[AvidOC]

OPEN DE CASE!

i have my athlon 1.1ghz running at 38C here

 

[Mem]

TaiSol CGK742092 heatsink/fan is good,try and see if you have room in the back for one or two 60mm fans I find it works quite well as a exhaust in crappy cases,a good range should be in the 40s or 50c max,my own 900t-bird stays around 45c under full load with my single 60mm fan and one 80mm,you could run it with the cover off.

Also a Enermax PSU is handy to have in your PC since the second fan comes in handy for cooling if you have money to burn.But your CPU is way too hot.

 

[heffe734]

72??!!! You need to order some cooling. Ya i recommend the enermax PSU too. But for cooling...you're not gonna get the best cooling with a quiet quiet fan. Go for performance...i don't think it's gonna be as loud your HSF right now...but Taisol's are good fans. There's a guy here in the forums called compuwiz1...he sells them...and he could arrange something for u. But ya...you need to get some cooling fast...cuz those temps are really high...no joke.

 

[Remnant2]

Those temps are quite high, but what's the ambient air temp where you live? with that MB temp, I'd say your case needs better airflow usually, but if the ambient temperature is high, there's not much you can do about it.

 

[RanDum72]

If he's in Brazil, the temps there could get really hot and humid unless you are inside an airconditioned room. I say, open the case and have an electric fan blow into it. Also, check the heatsink if its attached correctly to the CPU.

 

[Degenerate]

<< top cutting down your rainforests! Sorry thats what my social study course tells me to tell you. >>


that would help his computer?


Get some good cooling, like an ORB. spending some more will defintly cool it down.

 

[Jiggz]

You're lucky since your CPU is not fried yet. Anyway, make sure you remove the frag tape that came with the HSF unit and replace it with Artic Silver or even a Radio Shack thermal paste is better than the frag tape. Second make sure the HSF is blowing into the HS. Third, at a minimum you only two case fans, one at the bottom front and one at the top rear. And the most important thing to check, make sure you do not have a &quot;pushed&quot;(overclocked) CPU running at a very high voltage. You can find out about this in the Bios and looking at the CPU markings. A regular 1Ghz CPU with ambient temp of 32-34 degrees will run about 45-55 degrees nominally

 

[rbaibich]

I live in south Brazil, near to Uruguay. If you want to look, my city is called Porto Alegre. We have 14ºC right now (57ºF). My room is always at about 20ºC (68ºF).

 

[rbaibich]

Wouldn't two case fans turn my PC into a helicopter? Can it be done silently? My computer is set to run at 1.75 core voltage, although the Asus Probe software tells me I'm running at 1.776.

Shouldn't I ask the store to replace my processor? It already overheated three times, so it's gonna have some kind of damage, no?

Can I improve my temperatures by changing my mini case to a midi case?

BTW, thanks very much to all of you, you've been very helpful.

 

[WildeBeast]

check the stepping on the proccesor, but as long as it says 1GHZ on it (AMD1000) it shouldn't be that. If you are using the thermal strip as indicated by Jiggz that oculd definately be the problem. Use or have the store install a new heatsink with arctic silver2. This, however, is not the biggest problem. I ran my full-tower case with one measly fan with a 1GHZ proccie for a long time with no temp problems, recently I added 3 case fans. Aside from one loud exhaust fan, they are all pretty much silent, or close enough. Anything under 356 DBa I have found to be quite fine. I am using 3 80mm cheapy fans that are around 35CFM @ 25DBa, and they are not audible. I am using two awesome sunon case fans, one 36 DBa 86CFM in a modded hole acrfoss from the mobo, it blows directly across the PCI and AGP sockets and onto the motherboard. Your problem is probably that heat cannot escape. Take off a panel or install at least 1 exhaust fan, two if possible. Your system will never be stable at those ridiculous temps. My system runs around 28-30C with the case closed, 26C with one panel open. If you have a minitower with one fan, that is the problem. A larger case also helps dissipate heat and aid airflow.

 

[kaimeng]

Hi,

I think your temp is way too high. Here in Singapore,
the ambient temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. My frineds'
Althon running temperature is always below 50 degrees Celsius.
I think you forgot to remove some insulating material from the
bottom of the heatsink.





<< I live in south Brazil, near to Uruguay. If you want to look, my city is called Porto Alegre. We have 14ºC right now (57ºF). My room is always at about 20ºC (68ºF). >>

 

[rbaibich]

Well, now I have some new temps... The guys at the store came by and opened the case, I have it now opened, in a horizontal position, with the PSU out of the case. The CPU runs now at 62ºC (143ºF), MB at 35ºC (95ºF). It will be like this until monday, when I'll send the computer to the store again, but this time it's their last chance.

How can I find out if they installed a thermal strip?

 

[Jalva]

62c is still high. My 1000>1181 is only 50c after hours of Q3 and UT. On your ATX
machine, make sure you have at least 1 fan in the front blowing in and 1 fan in the
rear blowing out. Definitely Arctic silver 2, bet. your heatsink and processor.
And make sure they didn't sell you an overclocked cpu.

 

[TunaBoo]

Take off the heatsink. Look on the bottom of it. See if there is a paper strip with burn marks, if so take it off.

Do not worry about AS2, to have it shipped to you is not worth the benefit. I would recomend you ask the store owner to use THERMAL PASTE instead of a THERMAL PAD between your heatsink and your processor. If it has a thermal pad, ask the dealer if you could remove it, and put paste there instead.

HOWEVER - no mater what, with your CPU out of the case in a 20C room, you should be well under 55C. I bet he left a piece of paper between the heatsink TIM and the CPU, which is pathetic for a computer dealer. Show the dealer this thread, or at least my post. He should understand any of the lingo if you don't.

 

[TunaBoo]

I cannot belive the obsession of you guys with artic silver 2. It lowers temps 2c over the &quot;white stuff&quot; if you are lucky. OOOOOOO. His CPU is running at frying-egg temperatues. He obviously has problems with a weak HSF install or a incorrect HSF install or an inadaquet (sp?) HSF. His problem is NOT that he needs AS2.

*bangs head on wall for a while*

 

[rbaibich]

Ok, I took the HS off to take a look. There are no burned papers, but there are two warranty tags with the date of purchase. There's a 20mm circle of white thermal grease in the center. And next to each corner of the processor there are little circle sponge pads.

This isn't OK, is it?

 

[RanDum72]

Are the tags in the way between the CPU core and the HS? If it is, take it off. What kind of HS is it? Is the clip still firm? At those temperatures you have in your area, its colder than having airconditioning so your PC temps shouldn't be that hot. What does your chassis fan do, blow air in or out? Is it at the front or back? The CPU temp has something to do with the HS installation. However, the other temps has something to do with poor airflow. If your case is one of those really smal cases that don't have vents or an option to install a case fan at the rear, then I suggest you get a mid-tower case instead.

 

[johneetrash]

<<
Get some good cooling, like an ORB. spending some more will defintly cool it down. >>



are you kidding?

 

[rbaibich]

The chassis fan is in the rear, blowing air in. When the guy at the store installed it, I said to him it wasn't supposed to be this way, but he said he thought that would be the better solution for now, until he got me a new PSU and coolers.

I'll try to do some ascii art here to describe how's my CPU:
_________________
|O O|
| wrnty date |
| ------ |
| | | |
| | | |
| ------ |
| wrnty date |
|O O|
-----------------

The &quot;o&quot;'s in the corners are those circle pads I told you about. There are two sticker with purchase dates (for warranty purposes, I think), and a small square higher than the rest of the chip, in the center (is that the core?). The white grease covers a circle a little bit more wide than the small square. the rest is clean.

The HS is about the size of the processor, just some mm wider. It has two fans one in the top of another, both blowing the air to the HS.

 

[TunaBoo]

Humm, does the Heatsink feel heavy? It needs some weight to it or it cannot take all the heat it needs to.

The warrenty stickers probably cover the bridges, those are not a problem.

Can you see in the thermal paste where it was dented in by the processor? I mean can you tell if the processor core (little rectangle part in middle) is flush and the HSF is evenly pushing down on it?

 

[rbaibich]

Damn! My ASCII art worked so well in the form window... Anyway, I think you can go by the description I made.

 

[cbuchach]

Wow. I have to say that your A7V133 is the hottest I have ever seen. Mine, with a 1.2 Athlon, runs usually ~20 degrees C over case temp. I second (or third or fourth) the notion that you need much better cooling.

 

[WildeBeast]

Whatever you do, do not remove those pads. They are essential to keeping to much pressure off of the edges of the core (the raised part). Removal most likely will result in chipped corners. Please tell us what heatsink you are using, it could be that it is so pathetic that your temps are ridiculous like that. Also, how tall is the fan, or what is the model? Tell the guys at this store to put in a 26CFM fan by YSTech or Sunon, those are fine for a 1GHZ. A mediocre HSF combo should still keep you under 50C at 1GHZ, unless it is installed incorrectly. Put in a better one and install it correctly, you should be good. AS2 is not essential at all in this case, the problem is clearly elsewhere!