need help...

[ViRam]

i've installed the cpu and the heatsink using the backplate that came with the zalman (not the mb)
the problem is not the there isn't enough pressure on the cpu, but that the pressure is on the sides and not on the whole processor...
i thoght maybe the backplate bent the mb but that doesn't make sense... or does it?
help... almost fried my athlon 64 3400...

 

[JenniAMDCHP]

It's extremely important to put a thermal paste on the head spreader - the flat metal surface that the bottom of the Zalman will push against. Did you put any thermal material between the CPU and the Zalman heat sink? If not - that is a major 'Eek!' - something you don't want to do. A lot of people recommend going out of the way to get 'Arctic 5' paste over most others - and a little dab will go a long way. Arctic's web site shows how much to use - about half of what a grain of short wild rice would be.

The zalman also comes with little cardboard washers that go underneath the golden screw-ports that the screws go into. Make sure you use the washers. What temperature reading did your bios give you? Just make sure to apply a bit of paste before applying the heat sink.

 

[ViRam]

i have arctic silver II and i did put it on the spreader excatly as their web site said
the temp in the bios is about 60-65 c when i turn the pc on and it just keeps rising until the pc shut down on me one time... i didn't notice, lucky nothing happend...

any other advice?

 

[Subhuman25]

Operator error!

I'm using a Zalaman on my Neo2 w/ 3500 and had no problems at all,so are a gazillion others.Must be your error.

 

[ViRam]

well... i solved the problem!!
it was the k8n bios (1.1) it read the temp wrong... i flashed to 1.4 and it works fine.

there's another thing now - while the bios gives temp reading of 40 or so, the nvidia system utilties gives me ~30 c and the msi core center gives me the same.
how do i know which one is more accurate? (other than touching the heatsink and trying to guess...)

 

[rforum]

I also have an Athlon 3400+ and MSI motherboard. Having read the MSI forums at http://msihq.designlab.info/ I found people generally dismiss Core Center's ability to give accurate temps. I have found likewise. I bought a case with a themal probe that I placed between the fins of the Zalman - I know it's not an accurate reflection of CPU core temps but it will surely notify me if something is wrong. My case and fin temps are usually in 29C-40C range.