Ive seen several threads on the subject but did not want to highjack... I dont have any of my extra fans hooked up or my digidoc or anything else and the bios says my CPU temp is 46C 98F at idle. How accurate is this reading? Is this temp normal? (specs are in the sig.) and finally...Does the fact that it is not in a case (just layed out on bed) make any effect on the temp? P.S. Its my sons bed. **next day** Ok I pulled it off. Cleaned it with peroxide (no alcohol handy right now). put some paste on the processor and rubbed it in with my finger on the chip and sink to make sure it got in the grooves real good. Wiped gently with a paper towel. Applied about a rice sized drop and spread it with a card till most of it ended up on the card. I plugged her back in and hooked up the digidoc too. Bios idle temp says 34C system 49C processor. Digidoc says 31C on the bottom of the sink right next to the processor and 33C on the outside fin of the processor. What this tells me is that it is still not transferring heat to the sink correctly. However the sink and fan seem to be working well. I guess I need to sand it better. Off to Auto Zone tommorrow for some finer paper **next day** OK I sanded with steps up to 2000 grit Cleaned with alcohol. Rubbed in Arctic Silver 3 Wiped with cloth. applied small glob. Smoothed with card. Applied Heat Sink. I still have 49C temps. the temperature probe that it thermal taped to the heatsink less than an 1/8 inch from the processor is reading 30C. Is there any chance I am getting a bad reading on the bios?
There's every chance of that. a bios update might make it seem better, or worse. If it runs stable then I wouldnt worry about it too much, you seem to have taken the right steps to attach the heatsink. 49 degrees isnt too hot anyway mate. You've got a nice system there. Go enjoy it
As long as the system is stable I wouldn't pay too much attention to those figures. I only use the temp sensor as a rough guide to how much my temps increase or decrease.
You're right, they don't. I think it'd actually be in the 50s with a case temp of 34C using air cooling. Motherboard sensors, particularly the CPU ones, are usually wrong and cannot be trusted, at all.
Thanks for responding guys. The reason I'm concerned is that I plan on overclocking as far as my aircooling design will allow. I don't have my case ready for installation as yet and for now it will just be the HSF running. Does it sound like I am having a transfer problem? Is there any way to check the temps or the sensors accuracy? Where is the sensor? Can I assume the sensor I taped to the bottom of the sink is giving a more accurate reading? Thanks again for your help.
Ive seen P4C 2.4GHz at 32C with the SP-94 hes getting, and I have now, Im getting my processor on monday so I'll post temps. 49C is hot for stock speeds, my last stock speeds were like 39C idle and 45C load, but I had a bad chip, only would overclock to 2.8GHz, wheneveryone else gets 3.6GHz with it.
My ambient temp is around 73 degrees F Dont know what that is in C The temps above were read with the bios and the Onboard sensors. I also have additional sensors on the sink for my Digidoc 5+. I installed a monitoring program last night and it says the CPU sensor was reading 45c which is better but still not where I was expecting it to be I assumed that a stock setup would average around upper 30's C. And what is really freakin me is that now my Digidoc is reading the sink at 19C right next to the processor. I mean it is right there at the edge of the contact area.
your temps are about right, when i was using the reatil hsf my idle was 52-53, load was 68-62, get yourself an aero4 if you are on a budget, or an slk if not, then you will see a dramatic decrease in temps, the alu heatsinks arent very effective without a large temperature differential between the ambient and cpu temperatures. I only get it in the 30's when i have the door to the corridor and the patio window open at night (we're talking 10-15 degree ambient).
So Black Ice ...did not like your other forum name? Hehe keep answering for me could only be one guy. Anyway yes I have ordered the SP-94 and I have the 80mm Tornado and an angled adapter for the CPU cooling. I was just concerned that I was starting higher than I should be. Thanks guys. Anyone have an explanation for the difference between the digidoc and bios readings?
Mobo diode readers are often off by as much as 3-5 C, depending on the make/model/happy-mindedness of the designing engineer. I usualy use the temps as a "rough guideline" for temp regulation. My P4 2.4 C @ 3.0 at 100% load is running at 44C at the moment, with stock cooling and using that stupid Intel thermal pad (can't be bothered to do anything about it, as I want to get watercooling in very soon). However, I have a 2.4 B system here with a busted heatsink retention bracket that is not allowing even seating of the heatsink, it's running at 47c 100% load and has stability issues. I just ordered an alpha hs for it, so hopefuly that will lower the temps a bit. Let us know how much your temps improve with the new hs
A couple of things I noticed, 1. PLEASE do not just use your finger to spread or rub in thermal grease!! put a latex glove or use the inside of a plastic sandwich bag, the oils on your finger can cause unwanted temp fluctuations and can cause corrosion on some metals, not good stuff!!! 2. Just sitting on your son's bed is probably not moving enough air around. The HSF depends on having cool air around it, just some basic air flow around the board will remove more heated air and allow cooler air to be drawn into the Heat sink by the fan on it.... Thats my 2 cents!
My question is...where does your son sleep while you sort out your computer problems? As MrShake said, just rubbing thermal compound on with your finger can cause some issues. And having the computer in a case with proper cooling can also help to reduce the temps around the heatsink. You could also maybe try putting a box fan or oscillating fan blowing cool air at the motherboard spread out all over the bed to make sure you are getting cool air to the hsf. But I'm sure you're gonna like the new hsf. I have used the Thermalright AX-7 and SLK-900 and I can tell you that the quality and cooling ability of the Thermalright heatsinks is definitely top notch. Bios readings will always be off by a little bit. After all, they have to be reported by software (MBM5 or in the BIOS screen). And that software could be optimized, changed, whatever to read different things. Hence why flashing the BIOS on some boards helps to display lower temps.
Hey thanks alot guys. I had no idea about the finger oils disturbing the process. I will remember that when I add the new hardware. The bed thing is only temporary as I am working on the case. I had several pics in a worklog on this site but it got swallowed fast by the other threads. It's down there somewhere if you care to see it. The Mobo has (since that pic) been raised off the bed about 30mm and a Tornado fan is set to give cross flow both above and below the board. Thanks again guys.
