whats wrong with my 7700alcu?

[n604]

i've posted this problem on several different forums. so here is the summary of everything...

my new comp:

asus p5p800s
p4 3.2ghz 540 lga775
zalman cnps7700 alcu

mother board and hdd temps never go above 30c

my CPU temp:
in 1-2 seconds it jumps from 48 idle to 58, then in the next 5 seconds it jumps to 68, then it kinda slowly goes up to 78... and the CPU is only used at 40-60%... with winamp visualization..

is this normal? i wouldnt want my cpu temp to go above like 65c!!!

fan is at full speed...
i also tried it both with the fanmate on, and off

its pretty cold in my case... when i put my hand around the 7700 theres cold wind all over the place...

the side of the case is off most of the time... but i do test it often with the side on.... the temps dont really change much... +3c maybe... the airflow inside is pretty good both ways...

i got a nexus fan in the back for exhaust, but when i turn it off it doesnt effect the temps that much.
also the psu fan is pulling the air out from inside...
and i got an aerocool fan in the front blowing at the hdd...
not too many cables.

here are some pics:
http://mysite.verizon.net/ndroid/comp1.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/ndroid/comp2.jpg

here is a forum where a lot of people are having the same problem:
http://www.zalmanforums.com/showthread.php?t=769

i dont use artic silver 5. i just use the regular zalman thermal greese i got with the heatsink.
but would artic silver fix a problem like this? my cpu temp jumps like 30c in a matter of seconds, when i occupy the cpu.

at this point i dont really know whats "too much" or "too little" thermal grease... i reinstalled the cooler 3 times.. with 3 different dozages of thermal greese to see how it reacts.. i wish there were some pictures on the net (other than the artic silver site), where they show the right ammount...

i tried applying gentle pressure on the cooler while some apps were stressing the cpu... nothing really happened.. the temps didnt drop.. the cooler is strongly screwed into the brackets, so it cant even move a milimeter... so pushing down on it doesnt help i guess...

i have the latest bios updates. these versions support asus Q-fan control. i just enabled it to see if it does any magic, but it doesnt effect the fan speed at all.. the speed is constantly around 1800rpm...

people suggested the temp sensors might read the temps inaccurately. how can i be sure of that?

i re-installed this 7700 cooler 3 times already... no luck.

what am i doing wrong?

any help is apprechiated. thanks.

 

[slidax]

Originally posted by: n604
is this normal? i wouldnt want my cpu temp to go above like 65c!!!

sure is with the current P4s, sorry to say this but they do run quite hot.

my 3500+ is 29C idle with the 7700alcu (edit: fan on lowest rpm)

 

[RichUK]

ok i've just skimmed through, you should try using Arctic Silver 5, if you haven't already, and also try reseating the Heatsink in case it is not making proper contact, and no it shouldn't be running that hot

 

[Stonemason]

only thing i could think of is a software error- try a different monitoring tool. When CPU readings are very hot, feel it (wait, this might be hard, but it is a sure test of temperature).

 

[Bona Fide]

Yeah 68C is going to be VERY hot to the touch.

 

[n604]

i touch the heatsink, its not warm,...
there's tons of airflow in the case. and with these very thin aluminum slices that come out of the heat sink i cant really feal any hotness...

i cannot possibly touch the cpu while the heatsink is mounted on top of it...

 

[RKS]

update your BIOS

take the HSF off

clean both the cpu and Zalman with 90% Isp. Alcohol and dry with lint-free cloth (micro-fiber?, coffee filter) watch for fingerprints

apply AS5 as per the AS site (.5 BB in the center?)

screw down HSF really well

try again and good luck

 

[furballi]

stop the Zalman fan from spinning and touch the Zalman heat sink fins near the base after waiting for 2 minutes. The heatsink should be very warm. This tells you that the CPU is working.

 

[Stonemason]

Yeah, I thought you wouldnt be able to touch the CPU. Did you try a different software monitor?

Most importantly, if your CPU is running hot, you would start noticing. It would be unstable and crash. Try running Prime95 to see if your CPU is stable:
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htmhttp://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

I'll edit in with what tests to do.

Do the torture test for an hour. If you are running 65+ you wont pass that.

 

[n604]

alright... i tested the cpu with prime 95 for one hour.
this is how it went:

at the torture test options i chose the third one:
blend (test some of everything, lots of ram tested)

i got 1.5 gb of RAM.. prime 95 was stressing it around 1.37gb
the cpu was constantly stressed around 50%-52%
the cpu temp was at 77-80c throughout the whole hour
the computer never crashed.

so does this mean its stable?

wonder what would happen if the cpu is stressed more, like at around 80%?

5here is the log from prime 95:
http://mysite.verizon.net/ndroid/prime95test.jpg

 

[furballi]

Run at MAX HEAT mode.

 

[imported_rod]

Try the second test (In-place large FFTs) . It's the hottest of them all. If you system can handle the heat from a couple of hours of that, then heat isn't an issue.

RoD

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Heh, it's a P4, it'll run quite hot. Is it a 6 series or a 5 series? The 5 series were disasterous IMO with their thermal control issues.
The biggest problem users have been having (andI've seen many posts on this) with their P4's is the LGA775 mounting mechanism. Make sure you mount the heatsink on nice and tight.

-TPG

 

[n604]

sorry for the delay
i'm in europe, it took a long time to get the arctic silver 5.

half an hour ago my temps were: 50c idle, 75c loaded

my new temps are: 35c idle, 45c loaded !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now i dont know what the hell solved this, maybe its the magical arctic silver 5...

but this time i used alcohol to clean off the zalman greese (looked the same to me when i cleaned it without the alcohol)...

also there is still a slight chance that the mounting was not right... (even though i installed it like 5 times...)

now i'm not taking off the heatsink anymore!!! finally its working... it took me a month of nightmares...

thanks everybody for all the great help...