Asus - PC Probe software

[teknoguy]

How accurate is Asus's PC Probe software. I just bought an
a7a266 motherboard with a athlon 1000mhz. I was playing my mp3's and pc probe came up with a graph displaying the cpu temperatures spiking. should i be worried?

thanks

 

[netguyzllc]

Ok, it's time to start the fun! Cooling is a huge issue with the Athlon processors! Now, don't get me wrong, I love AMD I think they are great chips and there is nothing wrong with them it is just that a great chip puts off alot of heat. The motherboard monitors are accurate to an extent and SHOULD be trusted. What temp did it say it was running at? Now a coiple more questions for you.... 1. Are you running DDR RAM or PC133 RAM? 2. How are you cooling that monster? (CPU Fan what kind, what kind of thermal grease, etc...) 3. What kind of power supply do you have running the system? One more tip...another great program to use is called motherboard monitor. Go to Google and type motherboard monitor 5 and download it where you find it. Let me know some more info and we'll go from there.

Harry
Net Guyz, LLC
hfolloder@net-guyz.com

http://www.net-guyz.com

 

[teknoguy]

Ok. I am using DDR SDRAM.
case fan in the back blowing air in.
case fan in the front blowing air in.
case fan on the top blowing air out. and one slot fan sucking the air out of the back.
300 watt power supply.
volcano 2 cpu fan
the computer now has been running for 2 hours at 43 C
i didn't use thermal grease just the coating they give ya from the bottom of the cpu fan.

 

[netguyzllc]

You might want to try reversing the fan on the back of your box to blowing air out. The reason for this is because you are blowing all the air in to your pc and all the air is getting heated but not moving out fast enough causing your system temp to heat up. If you reverse the fan on the back it will automatically pull more air in from the front fan causing better circulation through your machine. Another BIG MUST when running 1Ghz with DDR is the thermal grease. The stuff that comes on the bottom of the fan is good, but in my experince it only suffices for speeds of up to 900 and thats pushing it). I would HIGHLY recommend getting Artic Silver 2 thermal grease and putting it between the heatsink and the chip. This should take off about 2-3 degrees C. Idiling at 43C is not bad for a 1Ghz but I'd try to get it lower. Good luck!

Harry
Net Guyz, LLC

http://www.net-guyz.com

-*-If my advise helps, please repond back and let me know by hitting the let me know this post was helpful. -*-

 

[osuman]

Well, 43 C isn't that hot. You said it spikes when you play mp3's, so does it get hotter than that and by how much? You should definitely use the thermal grease. I know it seems like a pain but i'm told it really helps, although I don't know that it's true. Make sure you don't get too much on though as it will only make things worse since it can tend to form a heat shield. You only need enough to fill the microscopic cracks between the processor and heatsink.

As for the fan setup. Sometimes you can have a setup that doesn't get much air flow around the processor itself. Although it seems that it works, sometimes you will have one intake fan blowing directly to an outtake and the air doesn't actually circulate that much. Also, watch out for ribbon cables obstructing the flow of air. Unless you have seen that type of fan setup recommended somewhere you could try switching some things around. Maybe get your aeronautical engineering degree first, that way you can be sure it will flow correctly.

Anyway, put the thermal grease on, and try it, if it's still too hot for your tastes, try a different fan configuration. For reference, I have an Athlon 800 with one heatsink fan, the PS fan, and another exhaust fan out the back directly across from the CPU. It runs at an average temp of 30 C. Justin
Feel free to email me at:
beckham@mailbox.orst.edu

 

[teknoguy]

question - i have case fan on the top blowing air up and out. since heat raises, is that the best place for it.

thanks for all the tips. i now know that athlons are a massive heat generator.

 

[osuman]

I suppose it makes sense logically. I don't see the heat really having much chance to rise in a circulated system though. It could be a good location or could not be, i think it's really tough to tell with all the variations that can take place. Justin
Feel free to email me at:
beckham@mailbox.orst.edu

 

[teknoguy]

My former computer was a pentium II so I didn't really have to worry about heat.

Does heat affect the transfer rates on the MB bus?
I have a 60 GB hard drive which is directly below my 30, should i be worried about that? hard drive do put out some BTU's but is it enough to damage or effect the hard drive in anyway?? i know there is hard drive coolers but what do they do for efficiency?

what do you think about heat sinks for ram? are they worth it?

thanx for the info.

 

[york3]

The Artic Silver thermal grease can make a big diff. With a Duron 700 running at about 820, couldn't keep the heat under control with any intensive cpu work. Got a cpu fan with bout 5 more cfm, added Artic Silver, the little Duron now running at 927 for the past 3 weeks with no problems. Highest have seen temp is 47c.

 

[teknoguy]

Yup. Arctic Silver II is good . i put the stuff on last night. the Athlon in down 2-4 degree's. I think it has silver compounds in it to transfer the heat faster to the heatsinks.

 

[Guest_imported]

Just out of interest - What are good temp ranges for Athlon CPU's.
I mean I'm seeing 43 degrees bantered around and thinking Jesus - my PIII runs at 18. The real question is - what is acceptable and safe for an Athlon, and what do they usually run at because I was thinking of upgrading to one?
Thanks in advance.