Overheating CPU

[Gilgamesh]

Hi,
I have a 3Ghz P4 that to me seems to be overheating. In idle it sits at
about 55C and when I put a load on it (video rendering) it shoots up to just
over 70C (which I believe is a little beyond the Intel rating). I'm using
the standard Intel heatsink and fan that came with the CPU.

I can change the heatsink & fan to bigger units but these produce more
noise. I've debated going down the water cooling path but it seemed quite
fiddly to set up properly. I've had a look at the AseTek VapoChill standard
system and I find it quite intriguing as it seems I could set it to maintain
the CPU at a constant 10C without stressing it.

I don't overclock my system (yet).

As you can see by my consideration of the vapochill price is not the
overriding factor for this (noise followed closely by constant cooling come
higher). Would anybody care to provide insight into the pros and cons of
the three options I've been looking at.

Thanks

 

[Zotin Khuma]

Hi,
I have a 3Ghz P4 that to me seems to be overheating. In idle it sits at
about 55C and when I put a load on it (video rendering) it shoots up to just
over 70C (which I believe is a little beyond the Intel rating). I'm using
the standard Intel heatsink and fan that came with the CPU.

I can change the heatsink & fan to bigger units but these produce more
noise. I've debated going down the water cooling path but it seemed quite
fiddly to set up properly. I've had a look at the AseTek VapoChill standard
system and I find it quite intriguing as it seems I could set it to maintain
the CPU at a constant 10C without stressing it.

I don't overclock my system (yet).

As you can see by my consideration of the vapochill price is not the
overriding factor for this (noise followed closely by constant cooling come
higher). Would anybody care to provide insight into the pros and cons of
the three options I've been looking at.

Thanks

Don't you think you should first address the question of why you're
getting such high temperature readings ? I'm no expert on Intel
systems but those temps look quite high even with stock cooling (Intel
gurus correct me if I'm wrong), and that w/o overclocking. If the
readings are reasonably accurate, there must be something wrong other
than the type of heatsink and fan.

Try touching the base of the heatsink immediately after power off and
if it feels relatively cool (compared to 55-70 degC), then you must
have either an improper CPU-heatsink contact or erroneous temp
readings.

You gave no indication of the age of your computer. If you've had it
for some time, has it always been like this ? If it's new, is the
heatsink seated correctly and the thermal compound properly applied ?
Or voltages ? Maybe something is obstructing proper airflow or the fan
is running slow for some reason.

 

[kony]

Hi,
I have a 3Ghz P4 that to me seems to be overheating. In idle it sits at
about 55C and when I put a load on it (video rendering) it shoots up to just
over 70C (which I believe is a little beyond the Intel rating). I'm using
the standard Intel heatsink and fan that came with the CPU.

I can change the heatsink & fan to bigger units but these produce more
noise. I've debated going down the water cooling path but it seemed quite
fiddly to set up properly. I've had a look at the AseTek VapoChill standard
system and I find it quite intriguing as it seems I could set it to maintain
the CPU at a constant 10C without stressing it.

I don't overclock my system (yet).

As you can see by my consideration of the vapochill price is not the
overriding factor for this (noise followed closely by constant cooling come
higher). Would anybody care to provide insight into the pros and cons of
the three options I've been looking at.

Thanks

Any heatsink will only lower temp a certain amount below
ambient, check what the ambient case temp is (you might need
more case airflow instead).

Remount heatsink after cleaning off the original thermal pad
with petroleum based solvent and applying fresh thin coat of
thermal compound to middle of CPU heat-spreader only. If
heatsink base isn't very smooth you might lap it.

Larger heatsinks are not necessarily louder, that just
depends on the fan used. The key is to buy the most
efficient "hunk of metal" which will provide best results
with any fan, then choosing an 80x25 or 92x25mm fan with low
RPM, say under 3500RPM. Panaflo FBA08A12M might be ideal.

 

[Bobby]

It's sounds like a Prescott CPU. These are notoriously hot chips. Well, some
are and it sounds like you have a hot one.

I had the same problem (idling at 65C and rising to 68C whenever I did
anything. Decided to return it and get an Athlon 64 bit - which runs at 42C.

Bobby

 

[Gilgamesh]

Don't you think you should first address the question of why you're
getting such high temperature readings ? I'm no expert on Intel
systems but those temps look quite high even with stock cooling (Intel
gurus correct me if I'm wrong), and that w/o overclocking. If the
readings are reasonably accurate, there must be something wrong other
than the type of heatsink and fan.

Try touching the base of the heatsink immediately after power off and
if it feels relatively cool (compared to 55-70 degC), then you must
have either an improper CPU-heatsink contact or erroneous temp
readings.

You gave no indication of the age of your computer. If you've had it
for some time, has it always been like this ? If it's new, is the
heatsink seated correctly and the thermal compound properly applied ?
Or voltages ? Maybe something is obstructing proper airflow or the fan
is running slow for some reason.

The PC is almost 18 months old but it has not been static. Since I got it
I've added (at different times):
DigiTV tuner card
Adaptec SCSI card
LG DVD Burner
Antec Trupower 550W power supply
Additional hard disk (totalling 5)
Additional fan to push outside air into the case (over the hard disks)
It was only recently that I looked at the temp so I can't say if it was
there all along.

I have used rounded cables throughout to avoid restricting airflow but it is
all in a midi case so there is a fair amount of clutter so I couldn't get to
the base of the cpu heatsink but the top was cool. I'll start by getting
some good silver thermal compound and reseating the heatsink. What is the
proper way of cleaning off the old thermal compoud?

Thanks

 

[Zotin Khuma]

The PC is almost 18 months old but it has not been static. Since I got it
I've added (at different times):
DigiTV tuner card
Adaptec SCSI card
LG DVD Burner
Antec Trupower 550W power supply
Additional hard disk (totalling 5)
Additional fan to push outside air into the case (over the hard disks)
It was only recently that I looked at the temp so I can't say if it was
there all along.

I have used rounded cables throughout to avoid restricting airflow but it is
all in a midi case so there is a fair amount of clutter so I couldn't get to
the base of the cpu heatsink but the top was cool. I'll start by getting
some good silver thermal compound and reseating the heatsink. What is the
proper way of cleaning off the old thermal compoud?

Thanks

Scrape off as much as you can, but *not* with hard metal. I use
finernail, plastic screwdriver and the like. Then wipe off what's left
with soft cloth dipped in alcohol (methylated spirit). Others will
have their own favorite solvent. Make sure it's dry before applying
the new thermal compound.

Also, 5 hard disks will consume roughly the same power as a 64-bit
processor, much of which turns into heat. Blowing cool air over them
is a good idea in itself, but you're probably also blowing the heated
air over to the CPU. And if you're using any kind of mid-to-high-end
graphics card, that's a lot of heat being generated inside a small
case. I think you'll see a significant improvement if you move
everything into a full ATX tower.

 

[Zotin Khuma]

Any heatsink will only lower temp a certain amount below
ambient, check what the ambient case temp is (you might need
more case airflow instead).

Oops, kony... A heat-producing device will become hotter than ambient.
The heatsink and/or fan can only reduce the temp rise above ambient
rather than lower it below ambient. Temporary lapse there, I guess...

 

[kony]

Oops, kony... A heat-producing device will become hotter than ambient.
The heatsink and/or fan can only reduce the temp rise above ambient
rather than lower it below ambient. Temporary lapse there, I guess...

Yep, OOPS.