AMD X-2 3800+ temps

[geokilla]

So my CPU idles at 40C according to Core Temp. Is this fine or is there something wrong with it. The room temp is 22C. My computer is placed directly on top of the vent so I know there will be some impact on the cooling. I have one exhaust fan.

The high temps are the reason why I'm trying to undervolt my CPU, as posted in another topic.

[odie2190]

are you using stock thermal grease?

is your heat sink making a good connection?

my room in 19 c and im folding with a cpu temp of 30 c

[geokilla]

I am using stock thermal grease and the stock heatsink.

I do not know if the heat sink is making good connection or not since it was not me that put this computer together. I tried moving the heatsink the other day, and it didn't move one bit.

My room is about 22C. The computer is placed right on top of the vent because I have no where else to put it in my room. I do have an exhaust fan at the back.

[odie2190]

it would probaly b smart to pick up some after market heat gras (arctic silver, ocz) then clean heat sink put on new grease prolly will halp alot. i have this cheapy stuff thats 505 silver and it made a 5 c drop on temps. anything is btter then the stock stuff

[geokilla]

I would do that if I don't have to spend any money and know how to take off the CPU and put it back on. My dad probably won't let me spend that kind of money. To him, as long as it's not overheating, it's fine.

How can I tell if my heatsink is making contact with the CPU correctly? As I said in my other post, the CPU doesn't move when I tried to move it.

[Zertz]

So my CPU idles at 40C according to Core Temp. Is this fine or is there something wrong with it. The room temp is 22C. My computer is placed directly on top of the vent so I know there will be some impact on the cooling. I have one exhaust fan.

The high temps are the reason why I'm trying to undervolt my CPU, as posted in another topic.

Just fyi, my 4200 (2.2 Ghz) overclocked to 2.6 Ghz stays around 41-44 at 50% load and never goes over 50 at full load.

Running the case open can help or find some way to get better air flow in your case.

[IssE]

You can always turn on Cool & quite technology

[geokilla]

So I'm planning on doing a little bit of overclocking. I am limited to using the stock heatsink and fan from AMD so please help me identify the max temperature of the chip.

Currently I have my chip at 2.1GHZ at 1.25V. The temps max out at 52C according to CoreTemp. I got this while running Orthos. Now I know that CoreTemp can vary by -+ 14C so I should not trust it completely.

The quesiton is that according to AMD's site it says my CPU's max temp is 55C-70C. http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=ADA3800IAA5CU Does it mean that once I reach 55C in CoreTemp, I should stop overclocking the CPU or does it mean when I reach 55C in PC Probe.

Sorry if I'm being confusing, but thanks in advance.

[geokilla]

So I found out that AMD reads their temps from the Tcase and not from the die. So my real temps are 32C idle and around 50 load with 1.25 vcore. I touched the heatsink and it doesn't feel warm during idle or load. Even my monitor is hotter than the HSF.

Is my heatsink not seated correctly? I posted this on another forum (like being truthful), and they say that if my heatsink isn't even warm, then it's either defective or not seated properly. If it isn't how do I re-seat it? Do I need to get myself some AS5? How do I remove AMD's thermal pad?

Sorry for the many quesitons, but thanks in advance.

[Solinari]

It definitely sounds a little high to me. I am running my x2 3800 at 2.8Ghz and it idles at around 30-35°C depending on the day. Personally i don't like going above 55°C load, absolute maximum i am comfortable with is 60°C.

The reason your heatsink wouldn't budge is probably because the Thermal Pad turns into a Blu Tac like gunk when it's warm. You would have to wait till it cools and maybe even then it won't want to come off easily. To reseat the heatsink you will not have to take out the CPU, however you will need new Thermal Compound, as mentioned you should get something like Arctic Silver 5, i used OCZ Ultra 5+ (which is exactly the same as Arctic Silver, i think it's made by Acrtic Silver actually) but i have a Zalman CNPS9500. Even with the stock cooler Arctic Silver 5 (or similar) will make all the difference and should bring your idle temperatures down significantly. You will also have to clean the Thermal Pad off the heatsink and the CPU, to do this you should either get something like Articlean, or use high purity Isopropyl Alcohol, you should try and get the 99% pure stuff and make sure it has nothing else in it. All you will need to clean it off is a lint free cloth and something plastic to scrape off the gunk, a credit card will do this, don't use anything metal cause it will scratch the surface.

There are 2 temperature readings, you have the CPU temperature and from what i have gathered it's a motherboard sensor, and then you have the Core temperatures, again from what i have read this is a CPU sensor. For me my Core temps are never higher than my CPU temperatures, which makes it a lot easier, if i know my CPU temp is always higher than i don't have to worry bout the Core temperatures. Anyway, it's the Core temperatures i would keep an eye on, and i wouldn't allow it get above 60°C. You can use Everest Ultimate Edition to monitor and even log the temperatures, you will be able to see several temperatures in the System Tray after Everest starts.

One more thing, did you by any chance install the AMD CPU drivers? I ask because if you installed the Single Core drivers then this has Cool & Quiet in it and it will conflict with your CPU. I accidentally downloaded and installed it and my temperatures went sky high, i panicked and wasn't sure what was going on, i did a System Restore then realised it was that driver. For Dual Core CPU's there is a separate Dual Core driver that doesn't have Cool & Quiet, so just check and make sure you have the right one. It might be worth getting the Dual Core Optimizer as well if you haven't already got it.

[geokilla]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm reading the temperature from the motherboard sensor (PC Probe) because I read that AMD doesn't read the temps from the Core temperature (Core Temp). My core temps are always higher than the CPU temp. Core Temp states 40C idle and 54C load (hottest core). I had been using Core Temp to get my temperatures up until I briefly went through the following AMD Power and Thermal Data Sheet. Now, as stated above I get my temperature readings from PC Probe.

I will try to get myself some Arctic Silver 5, but I have only 70% Isopropyl Alcohol, which I think is not good enough.

I installed the AMD CPU drivers. I installed the "Dual-Core Optimizer" and "AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (x86 and x64 exe) 1.3.2.16." I do not have Cool & Quiet on.

Also, http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/33954.pdf. This is where I found out that AMD reads the temps from the TCase (Motherboard sensor I assume) and I've been trying to find out what the max temp for my chip is.

[Solinari]

The maximum temperature is about 60-70°C, on the AMD website it says 49-71°C, but obviously it can handle more than 49°C. As i said, i wouldn't be comfortable with anything over 60°C, and i would try to keep it below 55°C. Core Temp 0.95 will obviously give you the core temperatures and that's the one i personally wouldn't like going above 60°C, but that is easier for me since my Core temperatures are always lower than my CPU temperature. Everest Ultimate Edition will give you all three temperatures, CPU, Core 1 and Core 2, it will also allow you to log the temperatures. It may be that the maximum temperatures are referring to the CPU and not the cores, but i can't be sure about that.

70% Isopropyl Alcohol is adequate. I recently installed my Zalman CNPS9500 and had to buy Isopropyl Alcohol, i phoned a pharmacy and asked if they could get it and they said they would have to order it. I asked them if it was 99% pure and they said yes, but when i went down to get it, it turned out to be 70% but i still used it and it was fine. The purer stuff will evaporate quicker but the 70% stuff will still work, just use a lint free cloth and Q-tips to clean it up.

[kenc51]

Remember that the internal temp diode in 939 chips was experimental! It doesnt always give correct results.

I had an 4400+ that said it was idling at 67C
The real temp was around ~36C under load!!!

[geokilla]

I have an AM2, so I think it's not in the experimental stages anymore. Thanks for the heads up ken.

[geokilla]

So I'm going to add AS5 to the heatsink tonight or tomorrow morning, but before I do that, I have a few questions.

1. On AMD's site link it says that alcohol shouldn't be used, but lots of people use alcohol to remove the thermal pads. Is alcohol safe? I only use enough alcohol on the lint free cloth so that it's damp, but not wet right?

2. What do you mean solinari by scraping off the gunk? Do you mean the thermal interface at the side of the CPU? If yes, can a q-tip be used instead?

3. Does the mobo have to be taken out of the case when I do this? I saw AMD's video and their mobo was not in a case. This is my first time removing/installing the heatsink so I've got to be real careful.

4. How difficult would you guys say this is for a noob (me).

Edit: Forgot to ask this earlier. The AS5 goes on the CPU and not the heatsink right?

[kenc51]

So I'm going to add AS5 to the heatsink tonight or tomorrow morning, but before I do that, I have a few questions.

1. On AMD's site link it says that alcohol shouldn't be used, but lots of people use alcohol to remove the thermal pads. Is alcohol safe? I only use enough alcohol on the lint free cloth so that it's damp, but not wet right?

2. What do you mean solinari by scraping off the gunk? Do you mean the thermal interface at the side of the CPU? If yes, can a q-tip be used instead?

3. Does the mobo have to be taken out of the case when I do this? I saw AMD's video and their mobo was not in a case. This is my first time removing/installing the heatsink so I've got to be real careful.

4. How difficult would you guys say this is for a noob (me).

Edit: Forgot to ask this earlier. The AS5 goes on the CPU and not the heatsink right?

Alcohol can be used, but if you spill any, wait a while for it to evaporate, it conducts electricity. It you make a big mess and spill alot, use a hair dryer to get rid of it. Don't worry about what AMD says, just be careful.
"Scraping off the gunk" means removing the old TM from the cpu and heatsink. a q-tip will work fine, it will come off in pieces so be carefull and make sure you get it all off.
you don't need to remove the cpu, but the case should be on it's side so nothing spills down onto other parts, unless there's no space to work, then remove the cpu.
You should get both the CPU and heatsink as clean as you can, the wait for ~5mins for any excess alcohol to evaporate. Add the AS5 to the middle of the CPU heatspreader and not to the heatsink. You should add about as much as an uncooked grain of rice, some people will spread it evenly over the heatspreader with a credit card / blade before mounting the heatsink, this isn't necessary, just mount the heatsink (carefully) and the AS5 will spread out evenly itself over time.

[geokilla]

So I first remove the TM with alcohol on a lint-free cloth or something similar, then I remove whatever is left on the heatsink and CPU with the q-tip right? Also, alcohol needs to be on the q-tip right?

[kenc51]

So I first remove the TM with alcohol on a lint-free cloth or something similar, then I remove whatever is left on the heatsink and CPU with the q-tip right? Also, alcohol needs to be on the q-tip right?

What ever is easiest. I always use arctic cleaner now, but when using alcohol, I use a clean q-tip to remove the old TIM from the CPU first.
It's best to run the PC for a while before removing the heatsink, this way the TIM will warm up and make things easier.
After I get most of the TIM off, I dip a q-tip into the alcohol and start cleaning things off.
When I'm cleaning the heatsink, I just get a lint free cloth and rub it all off in one go, then use alcohol soaked q-tips to finish.

Just go slow, you'll find it's very easy!

[geokilla]

What kind of lint free cloth do you use ken? The only ones I have are the ones used to clean glasses, and they are not that clean at all. They need to be washed with water before I can use em.

[Zertz]

What kind of lint free cloth do you use ken? The only ones I have are the ones used to clean glasses, and they are not that clean at all. They need to be washed with water before I can use em.

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