Temperature Problems

[Blood]

I've a 2100x XP processor
Soltek SL-75DRV5 mobo

Lately I've been experiencing that the boxed-cooler is just not cutting it. If any of you are familiar with the BIOS and it's SmartDoc Anti-burn system it's using, here is the problem:

There are 3 temperatures in BIOS, the ABS II Temperature, "Temperature 1" and "Temperature 2(-)". The default shutdown level for the ABS II Temperature is 85c, and my computer has been reaching that lately. First time was when the cooler had collected some dust in it that weakened it's cooling capacity, I cleaned it and everything worked just fine. But lately after some more dust cleansings it has been overheating a bit. I think the cooler is broken, vibrates some when used. Anyway, all this brought me to wondering just how hot my computer was running at.

I've been using SiSoft Sandra as a tool for checking temperatures from Windows. Sandra's 3 temperatures match the BIOS temperatures, ABS II for Power/Aux temperature, Temperature 1 for CPU temperature, Temperature 2(-) for Board temperature. What I don't understand is that ABS II is the temperature that is making my computer shut down. ABS II is supposed to be the CPU temperature, I guess Sandra mistakes it for something else.

At one point I decided to bring down my 2100+ to 1500+ but it didn't affect the ABS II temperature much, still using 1500+ though. With my boxed-cooler I could run the computer for maybe 20 minutes before it reached 85c. That "Power/Aux"-definition can't be the power source, since I tried a power source from a different computer and nothing really changed. So I took my little brothers CPU fan (it's more powerful for some reason, he has a 1200 Duron) and now the ABS II temperature is holding at 76c, as the other temperatures dropped a bit too. I'm still not sure where the ABS II sensor is located at, so I haven't been able to locate the problem.

Anyway, my solution to this problem is going to be:
1 60x60mm case fan to the back of my case,
1 80x80mm case fan to the front of my case,
1 powerful cooler able to provide sufficient temperatures for my CPU.

Any comments anyone? Has anyone been experiencing the same sort of difficulties with boxed coolers? (by boxed I am referring to the coolers that come with the processors in 'boxed'-packages, opposed to 'bulk'-packages.

Thank you for your time.

[Lea]

Ok, I'm not AN expert on hardware. I've only had to listen 100 times from my father explaining everything because he has nobody els to talk to.

You could try bringing the core voltage down or try installing a chimney fan. I have one of those and... it's quite cold on the hand. Perfect for summer which is coming up soon!

Again, please inform yourself before you take any action. I'm just saying what I think looks ok.

[Blood]

Explain 'chimney fan' to me will you? I don't want to bring the core voltage down, I don't want to hurt performance in order to get the cooling I need, this underclocking is only temporary too.

[Ruby]

The box coolers should prove to be efficient, but as with almost all online-hardware, you can usually get a defect. Ever try looking at the RPM's of the fan? If you go check the specs on the website(the place you got it from) of the system fan, and compare it to the CFM(suppose to be)/RPM(your rpm's) ratio, you can tell if the fan is fucked up.

What he means by chimney fan is putting a hole in the top of your case (fan hole) installing a grill, and putting a fan to either blow in or out (preferred in).

If you were going to get a top fan (never heard it called "chimney" before) make sure it's at the least 80x80 mm. Smaller then that is useless, and if you get a 60x60, to be effective with it you're going to have to buy a high quality fan that produces high RPMs, and this sounds like an 3 cylinder engine going 90 MPH.

The solutions you posted seem to be ok, but what I would do is go to a specialized internet store (www.2cooltek.com) and cough up 20 bucks to buy a good fan for the processor. You can improve it's initial life line, by keeping the voltage down at normal and the temp at a nice rate. If you're not into overclocking, you don't need to worry about buying any 40 dollar heatsink/fan combos.

Hope that helps.

[Vihta]

Re: Temperature Problems

Originally posted by Blood
Has anyone been experiencing the same sort of difficulties with boxed coolers? (by boxed I am referring to the coolers that come with the processors in 'boxed'-packages, opposed to 'bulk'-packages.

Thank you for your time.

I got XP 1700+ tbred (boxed), Epox 8RDA+. No problems here, temps around 45 with the default cooler (except put some arctic silver instead of that crappy thermal paste).

[Lea]

Explain 'chimney fan' to me will you?

It's a hand-made hole made on top of the PC box. You put your fan in the inside of the box and facing inside towards the botom of the box.

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/revie...arstorm/05.jpg

There you go!

[Blood]

Never seen something like that top fan before. Anyway, my BIOS doesn't show the RPM of this fan (neither does any Windows program) and I'm not sure what brand the fan is even.

I was thinking of buying something like this:

http://www.bdog.fi/cgi-bin/netstore/...e=038700005988

or this:

http://www.bdog.fi/cgi-bin/netstore/...e=038700007442

or perhaps this:

http://www.glacialtech.com/pdf/Igloo%202500%20Pro.pdf

Not sure which one to go yet, I'm gonna go check out the local stores today though, can't wait to get rid of this problem, thanks for all your input so far.

[Lammy]

Re

Like previously stated, A chimney fan can help reduce the temperatures of your computer, given that your problem has something to do with hot air not being vented out of your case.
When adding a chimney fan though, it is important to have a good intake fan aswell, you cant have outtake without the intake.

Also, dont get 60mm fans unless that is all that fits in the back of your case. 60mm fans have such a huge deadspot in the middle, they hardly move any air at all. Unless you get a 7200 rpm delta which will make u def in a few hours of using your computer.

Check the Bios temp readings again. Can you tell what the temp of the case is? the temp of the cpu?
I am guessign the cpu was the 85'C, determining hot hot the case is will help identify what the problem really is and whether a chimney fan/case fans is all u need.

The other problem can be that the heatsink is not mounted properly thus not making good contact with the cpu, which would negate the effect of the already POS heatsink you are using. Also, the fan could be dying, or the accumulation of dust could be preventing moving air from coming in contact with aluminum fins.

My recommendation would be to open your case so the guts are exposed, and use a normal room fan to get circulation flowing to cool your case and see what kind of affect it has on the thermal readings. If the readings decrease alot it means that a chimney fan would solve the problem. If it doesnt affect the temperature much it means you need a new heatsink.

IF it is the heatsink, do yourself a favour and throw it away.
Get yourself a good heatsink that has a copper base.
I prefer the copper/aluminum combination coolers like the VANTEC Aeroflow.
All copper heatsinks are also great, but are generally more expensive, and they are very heavy which puts a burden on the cpu and motherbaord.

I wouldnt get too excited with adding a chimney fan, adding case fans, or buying a new heatsink until you do this.

If you decide to run that experiment.
1. Make sure not to poke around the computer when it is open.
2. Make sure nothing else will get in there either. eg. dog, cat mouse, bird, brother/sister.
3. I am not liable for you fucking up your system

GL

[Blood]

Well, the 3 BIOS temperatures match Sandra's given temperatures accordingly:

ABS II Temperature = Power/Aux Temperature in Sandra, this is t´he one I'm having problems with.

Temperature 1 = CPU Temperature in Sandra, this is usually somewhere between 35-45c, below 50 anyway.

Temperature 2(-) = Board Temperature in Sandra, this is usually somewhere between 45-55 so it's not causing problems.

I have yet to determine what those temp1 and temp2 indicate, since theres nothing about it in the manual. I'm not sure how exactly the ABS II system works, I don't know where the sensor is.

[Blood]

Now I'm wondering the BIOS's CPU Temperature is measured from the heat sink and the ABS II is straight from the CPU core.. this could mean that the heat sink isn't properly attached, but I don't see how that is possible.

[Lammy]

Cpu temperature is always greater than motherboard temperature. Motherboard temperature basically measures temperature of the air in the case. Depending on the heatsink, the cpu should be 10-20 degrees hotter than the mobo temps.

[Lammy]

How long can you keep your computer on for before it is forced to shutdown, are you sure the fan is spinning?
How did u clean the dust out of your case?
Did you try using a normal fan to cool your motherboard yet? :P

[Lammy]

ABs II = Power/Aux, um isnt that a powersupply, how hot is the air venting from the back of your powersupply? Does your power supply have a thermal sensor on it that plugs into the motherboard?

[Blood]

My mobo temperature isn't the problem here. I did a bit of reading and the ABS II temperature comes straight from the processor's core, and the CPU temperature comes from the socket I think. Normally the core temperature should be about 10-15c higher, but currently Sandra is showing a temperature gap of 40c. I don't know how the heatsink could not be properly attached to the processor, it should be. My cooler first had gathered up some dust and got hot some time ago, 2 months maybe, I removed it and cleaned it, I noticed the thermal batch that's attached to the bottom of the heatsink had melted completely right where the core had been. Later on someone suggested that I should scrape the batch away and put some of that pi paste on it, you know. So I did, but it didn't really help much. I wonder if the thermal batch wasn't supposed to melt away in the first place and it just did because of the heat because the processor was really dusty? And that the heat transmission hasn't really worked with pi paste? In any case, I'm getting a new CPU fan.

[Blood]

Nah the power supply isn't it, I'm running under a different power supply at the moment and nothing's changed. It's propably the "auxiliary"-word that is important, maybe Sandra just doesn't know about the new technology in the XP processors that enable heat monitoring in the processor core.