AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Temperature

Please excuse yet another "is my CPU running too hot" question, but...

According to AMD's AthlonXP Data Sheet (page 23), my processor (AthlonXP 2200+, CPU ID#681) can handle a maximum die temperature of 85 degrees celsius.

My BIOS shows a current CPU temperature of 64 degrees celsius.

My Thermaltake Hardcano temperature sensor (placed directly between the processor and the processor socket) averages 52-60 degrees celsius.

I was under the impression that 64 degrees is really hot for this processor (and had my Hardcano temperature warning set at 61 degrees celsius).

Am I reading this data sheet right? Is 65 degrees celsius an acceptable temperature? Or do I need to change my Hardcano temperature warning to somewhere around 75 degrees celsius instead?

 

While I don't profess to know squat about a hardcano and will therefore assume its a temperature probe by any other measure, what does your Bios give you for temperatures and how do they compare? If your "hardcano" is "accuratemento" its time for you to get a new heatsink/cooler "pronto ". Your cpu should be capable of running in the mid to high 40's all day long and may pass the 50C mark under stress, but 65C is way way too high no matter what. What did you use for heatsink compound?

 

They are within 2 degrees of each other.
The HardCano has a temperature probe sandwiched between the processor and the processor socket on the mobo.

The pad that came attached to the heatsink in the processor/heatsink combo package.

I do, however, have some "Arctic Silver" lying around if that is better.
Is there any special thing I need to do in order to clean the old compound off before applying the new stuff?

Then what does AMD mean when it talks about 85C degrees?

 

ArticSilver is recommended as the best. Go to www.arcticsilver.com and follow the tutorials.

Temperatures in the 60s would indicate that something is wrong with the heat transference. It should be operating at temperatures a lot lower. The above is saying that the processor will run up to those temperatures, but you would be slowly (quickly?) cooking it. Not far over that temperature and the processor is "cooked ".

Do you have adequate air flow in the case. Investigate adding more fans if the air in the case may be "stagnating ".

Matt

 

I have 7 case fans (1 above, 2 front, 2 rear, 2 side) in addition to the power supply fan. I have them positioned to pull air in from the front and side, and blow air out the rear and top, to try to keep it cool.

My Case = ThermalTake Xaser III V1420DU

 

MMMMMM....think you're covered on the cooling side

Matt

 

I had recently rearranged my cables in the case to have easier access to the motherboard components.

Tonight I pulled off the processor heatsink and found that part of the thermal pad had cracked and slipped; apparently I had ever-so-slightly bent the mobo and cracked the thermal pad.

Tonight I removed the thermal pad and used Arctic Silver's Ceramique instead.

Now, at boot time, the BIOS temperature sensor says:
Current System Temperature: 29C
Current CPU Temperature: 42C

Previously it was:
Current System Temperature: 33C
Current CPU Temperature: 64C

At full stress (using my TV Tuner card to record one program in MPEG-2, while watching another MPEG-2 recorded program and surfing the web at the same time), it got up to 53C.


Removing the cracked thermal pad and using Ceramique instead dropped the CPU temp by over 20 degrees!


I thought 64C seemed high, but AMD's Data Sheet (which I previously linked) provided some confusing data.


Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Oops! Apparently I spoke too soon...

After letting the system run for 15-20 minutes, it now idles at 55.1 degrees with no "taxing" programs running.

Still lower than before, but not as low as I would like it.

Any other suggestions?!?

 

Kheldar,

FYI,

I have the XP 2200+ and I have a temperature probe setup on my heatsink and the temperture indicates 36 degree C and my BIOS indicates 34 degrees. I know others who are running at around 45 degrees with the same basic setup.

All those fans that you have might actually be hurting you. They might be causing turbulance that is actually trapping heat near your CPU.

George

 

Did you see

Where are you taking the readings? Do the readings agree?

Maybe wait and see after the settling-in period. Your replies are coming very quickly.

Matt

 

I missed that time requirement. This morning, the temp reading is averaging 49 degrees at full stress. This appears to be heading downward as time goes on.

Cool! (bad pun, I know)
The Ceramique appears to be working much better than the old thermal pad.

 

Proper fan direction?

I just rechecked my fans, and this is how they are set up currently:

(Picture of front fans: http://www.sparhawks.com/mycomputer/frontfans.jpg)
The front fans pull air in through the front of the case.

(Picture of top fan: http://www.sparhawks.com/mycomputer/topfan.jpg)
The top fan pulls air in through holes in the top of the case.
Now that I think about it, this one should probably be blowing out, not pulling in, right?

(Picture of rear fans: http://www.sparhawks.com/mycomputer/rearfans.jpg)
The rear fans push air out the back of the case (with over a foot of breathing room behind the case).

(Picture of side fans: http://www.sparhawks.com/mycomputer/sidefans.jpg)
The side fans pull air in through the side of the case.

With this setup, what directions should the fans be facing?

 

Kheldar,

First of all WOW on the fans. You got a lot. It looks like you have the fans balanced as far as sucking and blowing.

1. You are correct about the top fan. It should be blowing out since heat rises.

2. The side fans are pulling air in and it appears that the top fan, of the two, is sitting right opposite the CPU fan. This would create issues with air flow from the CPU fan. The CPU fan would wind up not blowing off air as efficiently as it normall would if there was not are being forced in by the side fan. Can you turn off the top fan of the side fans so it is not blowing and see how the CPU temperature is?

George

 

My case (ThermalTake XaserIII V1420DU) came with all those fans.

The top and rear fans do not have filters, suggesting that they are supposed to blow air out of the case (who cares about a filter on the way out?).

The side and front fans have the filters (like seen on the side and front fan pics linked above), suggesting that they are supposed to be pulling air into the case. However, on the page I linked to in this post, it shows the side fans with the text "Dual 8 cm fans dissipates heat from CPU ", suggesting the fans should be pushing air out the side, not in through it.

 

When I flip the side fans around to pull air away from the CPU, the system now idles at 43C and gets up to 49C at full stress.

Some of the temperature drop may be attributed to the further bonding of the Ceramique as previously described, but I think reversing the fans helped. My graphics card (a Connect3D ATI RADEON 9200 w/256MB DDR) is vertically centered between both of side fans, so having them pull out air is probably beneficial to the graphics card.

All sides of the steel case are now cold to the touch. Oddly (or maybe not so oddly), the computer seems to be running faster now, but that might just be wishful thinking also.

 

That's a lot better and is certainly closer to where you should be. You might also try cleaning up the spaghetti factory inside your case.

 

That is what I was doing originally when the temperature spiked (I moved some smaller cables under the mobo, and apparently cracked the heatsink's thermal pad). Now the only "spaghetti" left is the power connectors and IDE cables. I am going to try to tie them down somewhere so they aren't hanging loose.

 

That was actually intended as somewhat of a joke because despite the sophistication of your multiple fan environment with all those orange thermaltake fans, you have a real mess in there. On a more serious and hopefully helpful note, shoving wires (even audio cables) under the board is going to restrict some airflow. You might want to look into some wire loom which you can get in different sizes. Home Depot has it in the bigger sizes and a car stereo shop will sell you some 1/4" or 3/8 ". It's split so it's easy to get on or off and it won't present the nightmare that wrapping that clear spiral stuff caused you up in the top of the case. Cheaper too!

As long as we're into the show and tell, here's a little something with a lot of UV mesh to neaten things up a bit.