Huge AMD 64 temps

epgriffin

Hi everyone!
Just wondering if anyone else has noticed high temps on the AMD 64's with the stock cooler. I'll prob fork out for a better cooler soon but i was hoping to get away with it for a little while at least since i just blew all my savings on the system in the first place (us poor students!)

I'm getting about 48 - 50C idle and 65ish under prime 95 stress test (which then gives errors once it reaches these temperatures)
I haven't overclocked at all. All fans are at max speed (Including all 7 case fans in the thermaltake xaser III).
The temperatures are coming from ABIT's ABIT EQ uGuru utility which i know can be a little out but when i get the prime 95 instability i think it's spot on. The hardcano temp probe gives about 42C when placed on the heatsink under load.

I've tried replacing the thermal paste with Coolermaster Premium paste but it made no difference at all. If i have to i was going to fork out for the Venus 12 fan on komplett. I can't get much else. There's sweet f a pc shops in Limerick except PC World who haven't realised that the A64 was even released! Would it make much difference if i got the fan? Have i a dodgy chip to start with?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Eric

Col_Loki

Those temps are very high for a stock AMD64, especially when you have 7 case fans. One thing that could be a problem is case air flow.......... try blowing air in through the bottom of the case and removing it out through the top. If its setup badly then it can have a bad effect on temps (but i dont think to the degree your seeing).

Idle temps should be ~30'degrees, with load temps roughly ~40-45' . Depending on the motherboard. Anandtech - temp's listing

You shouldnt be getting any prime95 errors , are you sure the heatsink is installed correctly? Mabye put too much paste on?

One of the best Air coolers for the AMD64 is the Zalman7000alcu (www.hitide.ie), its expensive but extremely good performance and v.quiet.
How long does prime95 last?
Any overclocking at all?
What memory do you have?

[edit] PS with 7 noisey fans running full your temps should be very good, check the airflow, heatsink installation, and possibly too much thermal paste.

epgriffin

The air flow should be perfect. It's the original thermaltake setup. 2 intake fans at the front. 2 intake at the side. 1 intake at the top and 2 blowing it all out the back. All i can feel is cool air out the back.
The heatsink is installed correctly. You can't really go wrong with these new socket 754 clips. And i've only used a very thin layer of paste. I had the same temps with the original pre-applied paste on the heatsink.
Prime 95 can last up to 1 hour hovering around 65C but if i up the FSB to as little as 204 (which is actually the default setting on the KV8 MAX 3) it only lasts about 2- 4 minutes.
The memory is Corsair XMS 3200 CL2 Platinum. But i don't see how that would push temps up.
Could a bad chip give this problem or would it just fail completely?

Giblet

Change the top fan to an outtake, you're just blowing the warm air back into circulation.

Col_Loki

Yea exactly, there are too many fans blowing air into your case...... it tends to trap the warm air.

Should be 4/5 taking air from your case, 2/3 blowing it in. Try adjusting them and see if temps change...... oh and BTW just because TT have put them that way doesent means its the perfect way to have them, try a few combo's see if it helps and which one suits your system.

epgriffin

Thanks guys.
I'll give that a go later tonight and let you know what the story is. Sounds like it might help.

BabyEater

You can see how much higher your CPU temps are because of your case temps by keeping the side of your case . Your CPU temps with the side off the case will be the best CPU temps you can get because they are getting the air mostly from the room and not the case. These are the temps you should be trying to get as close too.

Giblet

You shouldn't have to take off the side of the case if you have the fans set up right.

BabyEater

I don't mean take the side of the case of and leave it off I am just saying that the temps you get when you have the side off is the about the best you can do . You put the side back on to see how far you are away from the temps you have when the side was off. To see if your case cooling is very bad or good.

neokenzo

I was reading in another forum where he fried his A64 CPU when it reached 90-95C. How did he get it that hot? He didnt use any cooling on it :dunno:

BabyEater

He probably never put his heatsink on right.

neokenzo

Originally posted by BabyEater
He probably never put his heatsink on right.

Ermm...he didnt have any heatsink on at all LOL

epgriffin

Ok guys. Sorry for not replying sooner. I tried lots of case fan configs but the original seemed best. (I put a little scented burner in the case and watched the flow of smoke to judge the air flow!)

I read some really good reviews of the Thermaltake Venus 12 so i ordered it from komplett yesterday and got it this morning.

First off, a word of warning. Anyone with the KV8 MAX3 should be weary of this one because it uses all 3 clips on each side of the A64 mounting bracket and the KV8 has a capacitor obstructing one of them so i had to cut one of the clips off but it still fits very well with the other 5, considering the stock only uses 2 (the middle on each side)

At the same speed as the stock it drops temps by about 6-8 C. If you push it up to full speed it moves a huge amount of air over a pure copper heat sink and can take about 10-15C off the temps but sounds like a lawnmower on a bad day! Overall a good cooler and i haven't been able to push the chip over a max of 58C under full load now at the low fan speeds...... this is acceptable for me. See how it overclocks at full fan speed soon!

Thanks again for the tips

Eric

Giblet

Your heatsink is unbalanced.

Col_Loki

If it was going on a smaller core like the XP's that would be more of a big deal, the fact that its on an AMD64 which has a heatspreader i think it would have less of an impact.

Your temps have improved and most of the AMD64 systems are using either MSI or ASUS or Gigabyte so temp references are different. Compare your temps to people with the same sort of setup (motherboard being very important).

Temps still look a little high but i dont know how the motherboard reads in relation to other brands. Its stable which is the main thing.

sutty

I've seen a few P4 3gigs do this. where the temps just keep going up. Nothing to do with the heatsink. Its was the chip/heat spreader its self. We returned the chips and got now ones. The temps where WAY different on the new CPU's (about 10C less idle and never went above 45 under load) You may be having the same probelms. I'd see can you return the chip saying that the temps are running to high. Tell them the different cooling you have tried.

Col_Loki

If you are going down that road you do have a pretty strong case. Your airflow is excellent and still your chip wasent Prime95 stable..........

sutty

And the CPU wasn't overclocked. So this CPU was running at default specs. If you overclocked the CPU, your warintee(spell) would be void. As long as they can test the chip and get the same temps, then your sorted