Topic: Cooling CPU

[RGraves]

Just got a new stick of 512mb DDR333 Kingston RAM.  =)  Plugged it in, and up my system came!  Very nice.

I'm using a P4 2.4 ghz CPU.

Too bad happy endings dont usually come without a price, or a struggle.  I decided to go into my BIOS to take a look around at all the spiffy new tech (=P) and stumbled on the PC Health option.  Very cool little feature featuring the temperature of certain areas of the computer (like core parts of the mobo and the CPU)  very spiffy indeed.  Very spiffy until I see that my CPU is measured at 48 deg Cel.  Not so spiffy.

I boot into windows anyway to find that i cant.  WinXP gives a blue screen saying that there is a problem and that it has shut down the computer to prevent problems.  So I re-install windows (all this wasnt a big suprise considering the new hardware.)  And up comes windows!  Happy day, right?  hehehehe.

I installed the little hardware monitor that came with my mobo (Winbow Hardware Doctor or something like that)  and was immediately blasted out of my seat with alarms.  My PC cover was off (eh?  looks on to me... =/ no big deal... ignore!)  Most importantly, my CPU is over the heat limit?  Well, I know 48 is bad... but yeesh... i thought 60 deg Cel was a better alarm level.  So I check my CP temp according to the monitor.  94 deg Cel.  94.  Wow.  Thats insane.  So much so that im not sure if that can be true.

Anyone know if this program (if anyone knows what program it is) is accurate?  If so, then whats going on?

The CPU fan I am using is a CoolerMaster IHC-L71.  I am using the thermal grease that came with the heatsink/fan.  To be honest, I am no expert at applying the grease, but i tried my best to only use a film of it on the CPU and a small film on the heatsink (that was rubbed off.)  I read oline somewhere that this (or soemthing close to it) was how it was supposed to be done.  I'm clueless why it could be reading at 48 and them 94 3 minutes later.

Please help.  =(

-Robert

[Sandra]

Glad to hear that you are making progress Robert  

I would have thought that a CPU temp of 48 C would be ok.
According to Si Soft Sandra mines now running at 51.5 C for CPU and a board temp of 45 C.
A temperature rise so high and so quick sounds more like a faulty reading, unless the cpu fan had failed  

[RGraves]

I myself am VERY inclined to say a faulty reading.  *is about to go throw his system back together and uninstall the program.*

I took the side of my case off and felt the heatsink.  if it was 94C i would FEEL it... it was cool.  48 is OK to me, so I think I'm good.... just paranoid.  =P

-Robert

[RGraves]

I am actually on the culprit system right now.  About an hour ago I downloaded and ran the CPU Arithmetic Benchmark utility within SiSoft Sandra.  Just as it finished my computer restarted itself.  Considering the recent events I am inclined to believe that that was my motherboards auto-shutdown feature to protect against mealtdown.

I just took my CPU back out a few minutes ago and cleaned all thermal grease off of it and the heatsink.  I reapplied a -very- light dosage onto the cpu and spread it around as thin as i could get it (there is probably about .01mm there.)  Yet I am still getting report of high temperatures.  Could my motherboard have faulty built in sensors?

I just stuck my hand inside my machine (side panel is off) to feelthe exaust coming off of the CPU fan.  Actually, its really cool.  I felt the heatsink and it is nice as well.  Everything seems in order.  *sighs*

(This is easily the most expensive and complex system upgrade I have ever had to do.  The jump from the old 233mhz Pentium w/MMX to the 733mhz P3 was so much easier~!)

-Robert

[Dack]

Probably worth downloading http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7309,00.asp
as thats a very good application for telling the real temperature of the system (a lot of other applications seem to confuse centigrade with farenhiet)

[RGraves]

I actually have motherboard monitor 5 already installed.  I have it set to the same Winbond sensors as everything else is looking at and its giving me 36C, 93C, and 60C for Winbond sensors 1, 2, and 3 respectively.  Sensor 2 is the CPU I believe.

I am thinking it could be the actual sensors on the mobo that are faulty, since it seems most programs are in consensus and off of the same sensors.  Though, It really may be that h
high, but i doubt it =/.  =/