VCool Question

[GJB]

I'm running XP home on a HP with an AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Thoroughbred-
A,FIC AM35 motherboard, KM 266 VIA chipset. There is no change in
temperature with NB Coolbit enabled. If I check Halt Detect in PCI
options I get an immediate 6 to 8 degree drop in temp. Has anyone
checked the actual CPU temp compared to the read out from VCool to see
if it actually changes the temp or is it just messing with the way the
temperature is read?

 

[Dennis Roark]

I'm running XP home on a HP with an AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Thoroughbred-
A,FIC AM35 motherboard, KM 266 VIA chipset. There is no change in
temperature with NB Coolbit enabled. If I check Halt Detect in PCI
options I get an immediate 6 to 8 degree drop in temp. Has anyone
checked the actual CPU temp compared to the read out from VCool to see
if it actually changes the temp or is it just messing with the way the
temperature is read?

I use VCool on a similar VIA chip set with an Athlon XP 2100+ at home
and 2200+ at work. It definitely does reduce the temp, and your numbers
look about right. I usually see about 7 to 10 deg Centigrade drop. I
put it on one machine (not the two I just mentioned) where the CPU temp
readout was not working and on this PC I had to check if it was working
by the unscientific method of touching the heatsink. There was a very
noticeable difference with VCool enabled vs disabled, Also, on the
other machines where I could get values for the CPU temp and system temp
the cpu temp agreed with the cpu temp reported by the system BIOS (as of
course it should). So it is real.

Remeber that different motherboards may use different sensor numbers for
the system and cpu temp. The easiest way to tell whether the cpu should
be 1 and sys 2, or vice versa, is to note that the cpu temp is the
higher temp and that it is the one if you increase cpu load or turn off
cool bit and halt detect the one that will rise. On my Shuttle board,
the CPU is #2.

I use VCool 1.8 beta 10a and on this chip set have both the cool bit and
the halt detect enabled. On this chipset with these CPU's don't enable
the idle loop. (On some older cpu's and via chip sets the idle loop may
be needed, but with your setup the temps will rise with the idle loop
use.)

I am running Window's XP Home at home and XP Pro at work and find the
temp drop on both OS. There was a crazy discussion on the board a
number of months ago where other posters kept claiming that windows XP
could not benefit by software cooling. The temp drop that I am seeing
and the one you are apparently finding indicates this is not so. XP may
not "need" the cooling from VCool, but it certainly does "benefit" from
it. Glad to see someone else has found the truth here. Because of the
previous discussion, VCool was not included in the Pricelessware list
and the list indicated that only pre win-xp operating systems should
have software cooling. Perhaps this oversight will eventually be
corrected. I love running my PC nearly 10 degrees cooler. Of course,
when you start doing some cpu intensive work, the temp will rise back to
the level it would have without VCool, but during normal use you should
see good cooling. My temps run about 35 deg. C.

--
Dennis Roark

(e-mail address removed)
Starting Points:
http://sio.midco.net/denro/www

 

[dadiOH]

Dennis Roark wrote:

My temps run about 35 deg. C.

It used to frustrate me that I couldn't get temps similar to what others
reported so let me add that the actual temperature will depend on ambient
air temperature...if you live in Norway your CPU temp will be lower than if
you live in Singapore.

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

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Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________

 

[GJB]

I use VCool on a similar VIA chip set with an Athlon XP 2100+ at home
and 2200+ at work. It definitely does reduce the temp, and your numbers
look about right. I usually see about 7 to 10 deg Centigrade drop. I
put it on one machine (not the two I just mentioned) where the CPU temp
readout was not working and on this PC I had to check if it was working
by the unscientific method of touching the heatsink. There was a very
noticeable difference with VCool enabled vs disabled, Also, on the
other machines where I could get values for the CPU temp and system temp
the cpu temp agreed with the cpu temp reported by the system BIOS (as of
course it should). So it is real.
My temps run about 35 deg. C.

My temps run 58 deg. C. without VCool but drop immediately to 48-50 deg.
C. with VCool and Halt Detect enabled. My concern is that I also run
Speedfan which lowers my fan speeds at temps below 55 C and if VCool
doesn't really lower temps I don't want to cook my CPU. I've rebooted
and checked the bios on restart and the temp read between 50 and 58 C.
so it appears that VCool might be working. But I'd like to know if
someone with a temp gauge attached to the CPU other than the motherboard
monitor shows a drop in temp. My concern is that VCool could be messing
up the motherboards ability to read the temps correctly. My
experience temperatures do not drop instantly on the heat sink attached
to the CPU and that heat sink must have an effect on the CPU itself. So
if there are any overclockers who have an external thermometer attached
to their CPU are running or tried VCool I would be very interested in
their results.
Thanks!

 

[Dennis Roark]

My temps run 58 deg. C. without VCool but drop immediately to 48-50
deg. C. with VCool and Halt Detect enabled. My concern is that I also
run Speedfan which lowers my fan speeds at temps below 55 C and if
VCool doesn't really lower temps I don't want to cook my CPU. I've
rebooted and checked the bios on restart and the temp read between 50
and 58 C. so it appears that VCool might be working. But I'd like to
know if someone with a temp gauge attached to the CPU other than the
motherboard monitor shows a drop in temp. My concern is that VCool
could be messing up the motherboards ability to read the temps
correctly. My experience temperatures do not drop instantly on the
heat sink attached to the CPU and that heat sink must have an effect
on the CPU itself. So if there are any overclockers who have an
external thermometer attached to their CPU are running or tried VCool
I would be very interested in their results.
Thanks!

Again, I am quite convinced that the temp reports by VCool are correct
(as long as you have the sensor numbers correct, 1, 2, or 3 for cpu, sys
and fan, the order will vary from board to board.) One of the reasons I
say that is that on one board I did the trivial experiment of seeing if
there was a palpable difference in heat sink temps with VCool enabled
and without it enabled. I simply saw if one could easily feel the temp
difference by touching the radiating fins of the heat sink. It was very
obvious that the heat sink cooled down when VCool was enabled (halt and
cool bit) and heated back up when VCool was disabled. The temps are
correct at least on a relative basis. But remember that the temp
sensors in CPU's and on motherboards have their own errors. What will
be correct is the temp drop you see when you enable VCool. Doesn't your
fan control allow you to set the temps at which the fan speed will be
reduced. I would try to keep the fan fast enough so that your temps
don't run above 50.

Another indication that VCool reports the correct temp drops and is not
faking the motherboard temp monitors is that I have seen situations
where the PC running in a warm environment became unstable. With Vcool
installed, stability was improved as CPU temps were reduced. It is an
undervalued utility. I don't know if it works with the new NForce chip
sets, but for AMD cpu's on VIA chipsets, and Windows XP, it is a very
useful utility that has never given me any problems.

On some motherboards, there seems to be a fight loading the VCool driver
and the network drivers. I got around this problem by writing a tiny
program that I have in my startup folder rather than VCool itself. The
little program introduces a 10 second pause before starting (spawning)
VCool. If anyone needs this, I can make it available.

--
Dennis Roark

(e-mail address removed)
Starting Points:
http://sio.midco.net/denro/www

 

[Hello]

fan control allow you to set the temps at which the fan speed will be
reduced.

Or... just wire the fan itnto the appropriate power line ( snip snip)
and leave it on whenever the computer is on