andrew4728
Technical User
Hey all, I've been searching all over the web for several weeks now regarding this problem, and thought I'd finally make a post of my own because I am still unable to resolve my problem.
I purchased a brand new system for myself, and bought a new processor for my old computer to give to my wife. I bought an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 400MHZ FSB (OEM) with a lower end heatsink and fan.
The specs of this PC are now the following :
ThermalRock Circle Case by Thermaltake (Full Tower) with 2 120MM fans (intake and outake).
350W Allied Power Supply
MSI K7N2 motherboard (Socket A, 400MHZ FSB)
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (400 mhz FSB)
512x(2) PC3200 RAM (kingston)
Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT 256 MB vid card (AGP)
Western Digital 36gig Raptor (10k rpm, HD cooler attached)
Lite-On DVD Dual layer burner.
When I put the processor in and booted it up, I had minimal problems getting the mobo to recognize the cpu. I had to flip a switch on the mobo to get it to go up to 400MHZ FSB. After that it ran fine, installed winXP pro.. Updated all drivers, win updates... installed a game (Yes, I play world of warcraft right now) and hopped in. Everything ran beautifully, until the system eventually CRASHED and rebooted on it's own.
I booted into bios and looked at CPU temps, and was not satisfied with them. At idle (in bios), it was running between 58-65 degrees Celsius! I'm no professional with CPUs, but this seems WAY hot.
I immediately suspected the heatsink/fan I bought with this cpu isn't pulling it's weight. The heatsink came with a thermal PAD on it, rather than using thermal paste. I've read that these can get old and dried out or just not work well. I cleaned it off the heatsink completely and applied a small dab of thermal paste I have to the processor and reinstalled the heatsink/fan and was running at the SAME temps. I attempted to use the heatsink/fan that came with a Retail AMD 2800+ I've purchased in the recent past and ran at same temps.
After some research, I discovered many other things that can affect cpu temp ranging from motherboard settings, motherboard bios, the motherboard itself, powersupply, case fans, room temperature, thermal compound.
I've tried the following :
1. replaced mobo with a GA-7n400s I have available, no change in temps
2. Change the powersupply to a 450W allied psupply I had avail, no change.
3. Tried different thermal compound (diff brand).. no change
4. Left office window open over night (aprox 40 degrees F outside). The room was colder than crap in the morning, cpu temps were same.
5. Took side of case off pc, put a large box fan (same size as the tower itself) against the side on LOW setting. No difference after several hours.
6. Unplugged all extras, including DVD rom, Hard drive, case lights. Same temps
7. Updated bios on both motherboards, no difference in temps.
8. Reset CMOS on Mobo to default settings, no change in temp. Confirmed Vcore is set correctly.
I got to thinking this was a bad cpu and something was wrong with it. Also was reading several websites where people were saying that many companies take 2500+ processors, and modify them to auto detect at 3200+, which causes them to run very hot. That got me all freaking out that I got a fake cpu.
I borrow a 2600+ athlon CPU from work, installed it and got it up and running on my PC and it was running the same temp as the 3200+. This made me feel better about my athlon 3200+ not being a fake, but confused me even more why it would run hot too!
I Purchased a Thermaltake liquid cooling kit (wanted to experiment with liquid cooling anyways, so though this is good time anways), installed it with no problems and got it up and running. It seemed to have helped a good deal as my temps are now at aprox 50 Celsius at idle. I still feel this is too hot for what it should be from what I am reading. I've read many people with same processor running at 38 celcius at idle, with a 40 dollar heatsink/fan. Even if my cooling kit is lower end (Thermaltake CL-W0005-01) it should be able to adequately cool this cpu!
Any Ideas?
Thank you for reading my long post guys.. I am going to continue to search the web for answers.
Oh, and NO I am not overclocking AT ALL. I just want the speed I paid for and I want it to run STABLE.
Oh and I have tried putting alll this hardware into another case, hoping the difference in location of everything (fans and such) might make a difference. It did NOT.
I'm stumped and sick of rebuilding this system left and right.
Thanks again guys!
Andrew
I purchased a brand new system for myself, and bought a new processor for my old computer to give to my wife. I bought an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 400MHZ FSB (OEM) with a lower end heatsink and fan.
The specs of this PC are now the following :
ThermalRock Circle Case by Thermaltake (Full Tower) with 2 120MM fans (intake and outake).
350W Allied Power Supply
MSI K7N2 motherboard (Socket A, 400MHZ FSB)
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (400 mhz FSB)
512x(2) PC3200 RAM (kingston)
Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT 256 MB vid card (AGP)
Western Digital 36gig Raptor (10k rpm, HD cooler attached)
Lite-On DVD Dual layer burner.
When I put the processor in and booted it up, I had minimal problems getting the mobo to recognize the cpu. I had to flip a switch on the mobo to get it to go up to 400MHZ FSB. After that it ran fine, installed winXP pro.. Updated all drivers, win updates... installed a game (Yes, I play world of warcraft right now) and hopped in. Everything ran beautifully, until the system eventually CRASHED and rebooted on it's own.
I booted into bios and looked at CPU temps, and was not satisfied with them. At idle (in bios), it was running between 58-65 degrees Celsius! I'm no professional with CPUs, but this seems WAY hot.
I immediately suspected the heatsink/fan I bought with this cpu isn't pulling it's weight. The heatsink came with a thermal PAD on it, rather than using thermal paste. I've read that these can get old and dried out or just not work well. I cleaned it off the heatsink completely and applied a small dab of thermal paste I have to the processor and reinstalled the heatsink/fan and was running at the SAME temps. I attempted to use the heatsink/fan that came with a Retail AMD 2800+ I've purchased in the recent past and ran at same temps.
After some research, I discovered many other things that can affect cpu temp ranging from motherboard settings, motherboard bios, the motherboard itself, powersupply, case fans, room temperature, thermal compound.
I've tried the following :
1. replaced mobo with a GA-7n400s I have available, no change in temps
2. Change the powersupply to a 450W allied psupply I had avail, no change.
3. Tried different thermal compound (diff brand).. no change
4. Left office window open over night (aprox 40 degrees F outside). The room was colder than crap in the morning, cpu temps were same.
5. Took side of case off pc, put a large box fan (same size as the tower itself) against the side on LOW setting. No difference after several hours.
6. Unplugged all extras, including DVD rom, Hard drive, case lights. Same temps
7. Updated bios on both motherboards, no difference in temps.
8. Reset CMOS on Mobo to default settings, no change in temp. Confirmed Vcore is set correctly.
I got to thinking this was a bad cpu and something was wrong with it. Also was reading several websites where people were saying that many companies take 2500+ processors, and modify them to auto detect at 3200+, which causes them to run very hot. That got me all freaking out that I got a fake cpu.
I borrow a 2600+ athlon CPU from work, installed it and got it up and running on my PC and it was running the same temp as the 3200+. This made me feel better about my athlon 3200+ not being a fake, but confused me even more why it would run hot too!
I Purchased a Thermaltake liquid cooling kit (wanted to experiment with liquid cooling anyways, so though this is good time anways), installed it with no problems and got it up and running. It seemed to have helped a good deal as my temps are now at aprox 50 Celsius at idle. I still feel this is too hot for what it should be from what I am reading. I've read many people with same processor running at 38 celcius at idle, with a 40 dollar heatsink/fan. Even if my cooling kit is lower end (Thermaltake CL-W0005-01) it should be able to adequately cool this cpu!
Any Ideas?
Thank you for reading my long post guys.. I am going to continue to search the web for answers.
Oh, and NO I am not overclocking AT ALL. I just want the speed I paid for and I want it to run STABLE.
Oh and I have tried putting alll this hardware into another case, hoping the difference in location of everything (fans and such) might make a difference. It did NOT.
I'm stumped and sick of rebuilding this system left and right.
Thanks again guys!
Andrew