Athlon 2500 XP Temperature/Overclocking issues .... 1

[Metalized]

Hello folks !

I have just purchased an Athlon 2500 XP and I want to overclock it ... The problem is that the temperature is already way too high in opinion :

Idle/Full Load - 59/64 Celsius !

I have a Volcano 9 fan, and I have applied thermal compound when I installed the fan. I also tried the AMD's fan that came with RETAIL processor, and the temperature is approximately the same with that fan too. I have tried reinstalling the fan a couple of times and I still cannot get lower temperatures ...

Now, on the official AMD site it says that Barton 2500 can support temperatures up to 85 Celsius ...

What to do ? I have an older ATX case, that is relatively small and a 300 WATT ENERMAX power supply (2 fans).

Another curious thing : in SiSoft Sandra under CPU temperature is written 33 Celsius and in BIOS 59 (idle). Gigabyte's utlity (easy tune) gives me the same temperature as in BIOS. Board is Gigabyte K7 Tritron (via 400).

 

[micker377]

Running an AMD XP2200. It also ran hot. To fix, I got a case with a side fan (new case fan sits right above the CPU) = 10 degrees. Volcano fan blows down on CPU. Had to reverse the side fan to blow down on CPU fan = 5 degrees. You can get a new case (larger is better for air circulation) or take your sidecover off, cut a hole and mount a case fan.

 

[xomcat]

What,s your case (ambient) temp? What kind of air flow in & out of your case ? What's your mobo ? Vcore? Ocing is a package deal . Lots of variables & lots of opportunities to spend a lot of money. But what fun!

 

[Metalized]

Yeah micker377, that is what I was thinking too, however maybe that is not the only problem in my case.

I think the thermal grease I put is too thick and not of good quality ?

Xomcat : ambient temperature was 34 and while the cpu was at 62. Mobo is Board is Gigabyte K7 Tritron (via 400). Vcore is at default setting, haven't overclocked yet.

 

[xomcat]

Micker has the right idea.Try taking off a side panel & increase air circulation by using a table fan blowing right at the CPU.If you get a substantial drop in temp. then you know you're on the right track.

 

[harly]

also remember that Athlon does run hotter then intel, but 59 in idle is a little too high.
all the feedback is excellent way to drop your temp, also use good quality "arctic white", as thems not all the same.
about 6 to 8 bucks for a really good one.

Try Zalman fan for around 40 bucks.. they're excellent. mine is cooled by zalman although its an Intel. But AMD users swear by them.
frozencpu.com

good luck

 

[paparazi]

Just to list a few things for your consideration:
Yes good quatity metal particle heat transfer paste (Artic silver III) or similar does help, just remember that the paste is not intended to be a layer between core and the heatsink, it is supposed to be a "filler" to dispell microscopic air pockets that would atherwise form and replace them with a better heat transfer medium (ACIII)
It is essential that you have good airflow in the case, front lower to top back, so it is recommended that you fit at least two standard 80mm case fans, this will feed your CPU fan with the coolest possible air supply.
To this end a bigger case will definately help (smaller cases always run hotter (aluminium cases are even cooler)
How have you got the Volcano 9 wired up?? doesn't this cooler have a resistor type control? does it have the "tape type" thermocontrol? if so have you fitted the tape in the correct place? without proper control the fan will spin too slowly and allow the CPU to heat up too much.
Depending on your climate AMD XP2500+ CPU's idle in the high 40's and max in the low 50's C
Mid 60's C are regarded as being the point at which instability issues can start to arrise.
The heatsink has a recess in it's base, this must be positioned over the "socket A writing" otherwise the heatsink won't sit squarely on the CPU core.
Last but not least, many new boards have been reported to be reading the temperatures too high, those motherboards with such issues can be fixed by flashing to the latest bios.
Gigabye motherboard are the easiest of all to upgrade. the flash utility is built into the bios (Qflash) you just need to download and extract the new bios onto a floppy and boot into bios, follow Qflash instructions.
Martin


Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[BionicJohn]

> Try Zalman fan for around 40 bucks.. they're excellent. mine is cooled by zalman although its an Intel. But AMD users swear by them.

Yup, My AthlonXP 2000+ runs at 42°-44°C, and will drop to under 40°C if I take the side of the case off. Good airflow is all.

http://www.quietpc.com/uk/cpucool2.php#flower

Iechyd da! John
01:01 25/09/2003 BST

 

[Metalized]

Hello folks !! First let me thank you all for the interesting inputs on the subject.

Today I went and bought a tube of AS3. I removed the CPU and cleaned the old mess, re-applied a really thin layer on the CPU and Heatsink : two together are as thick as a sheet of paper, as it has been suggested.

Temperatures are lower now.

On idle, I get 6 degrees (Celsiuis) lower temperature than with the other thermic compound that was not properly installed.

Now, with the case open, on idle, CPU is at 53 degrees C.

Remark that the fan is not spinning at the highest speed, it is merley at 4000 RPM (I use the resistor on the fan to adjust its speed). When I put it on max speed, it is way too loud, but I will try running it at full speed for the sake of statistics.

I will let you know.

Any thoughts ?

 

[Metalized]

Damn. I just updated the BIOS and the idle temperature is 44 degrees instead of 53 ...

That explains a lot of things.

 

[paparazi]

Yes! I've had this a few times recently, Nforce2 motherboards particularly seem prone to exagerated temperature readings and they too are cured with a bios upgrade.
But hey! no harm done, that ASIII will stand you in good stead.
martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[Metalized]

The only problem now is that I got the worst board possible for overclocking ... GA-7VT600-l.

You cannot change the multiplier, only the FSB, which isn't locked ... The board becomes very unstable after the FSB modification ... I.e. :

at 200 Mhz FSB the PCI/AGP - 40/80Mhz ...

I think I will get a new one, any suggestions ?

 

[xomcat]

Can you raise the vcore ? I'm not familiar with that board, but try small incremental raises with the fsb. When it starts to get unstable ,increase the vcore a little to see if it stabilizes.Repeat process and monitor your temps.Good luck.

 

[xomcat]

N-force mobies unlock the multipliers or you can do it by modifying the CPU (not for the faint of heart).

 

[Metalized]

Yeah xomcat ... But, until what speed should I go with PCI/AGP bus speeds ? I do not want to damage my video card by increasing the AGP speed too much (over the 66 mhz) ...

Until what frequency it can go approximately without being damaged ?

I thought of buying another board, but looks like I can't get refund for this one because it is not defective.

 

[xomcat]

You probably go at least 10% without worrying. Each piece of hardware will have its own tolerances. Go slow and a little at a time.You may want to try a proggie like SoftFSB. With those,a reboot will bring you back to to your BIOS speeds. A good way to test.