Home > Archive > UK Homebuilt computers > February 2005 > Looking for a good Heatsink and Fan
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| Author |
Looking for a good Heatsink and Fan
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| Stoneskin 2005-02-14, 8:48 am |
| For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz CPU is
still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
I'm not overclocking, have checked voltages, dusted inside of PC,
removed HS + Fan assembly for clean + reapplied thermal compound, have
good ventilation with 2x80mm bring air in through the front and 2x80mm
taking air our the back plus the PSU fan..
Yet still my CPU idles at around the 50 degrees mark and will peak at
around 75 degrees when it will begin to throttle under load.
So my last effort will be to replace the stock HS + fan. Any
recommendations. Ideally I would like somthing quieter than the stock
cooler but with my CPU overheating I may have to up the cooling power.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
--
Stoneskin
[Insert sig text here]
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| Iain Dingsdale 2005-02-14, 8:48 am |
|
"Stoneskin" <no@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c7aa4246ba6a41b989a8f@news.individual.net...
> For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz CPU is
> still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
>
> I'm not overclocking, have checked voltages, dusted inside of PC,
> removed HS + Fan assembly for clean + reapplied thermal compound, have
> good ventilation with 2x80mm bring air in through the front and 2x80mm
> taking air our the back plus the PSU fan..
>
> Yet still my CPU idles at around the 50 degrees mark and will peak at
> around 75 degrees when it will begin to throttle under load.
>
> So my last effort will be to replace the stock HS + fan. Any
> recommendations. Ideally I would like somthing quieter than the stock
> cooler but with my CPU overheating I may have to up the cooling power.
>
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
I'd send it back under warranty, assuming it was a retail package. If its
overheating with the intel HSF (and the fan is spinning), it has to be a
dodgy cpu
> --
> Stoneskin
>
> [Insert sig text here]
| |
| Stoneskin 2005-02-14, 8:48 am |
| Iain Dingsdale left a note on my windscreen which said:
> I'd send it back under warranty, assuming it was a retail package. If its
> overheating with the intel HSF (and the fan is spinning), it has to be a
> dodgy cpu
That isn't an option since I've had this CPU for over a year now and
probably don't have the packaging reciept etc.
It's not really a huge problem. Otherwise the PC works flawlessly and
all I really notice is a slight slowdown every now and again when in
game. I wondered if there was a better HS + fan cooling combo out there
which I could use to just lower the temp a few degrees without
increasing the already noisy PC.
--
Stoneskin
[Insert sig text here]
| |
| Iain Dingsdale 2005-02-14, 4:50 pm |
|
"Stoneskin" <no@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c7ab8c45b735373989a93@news.individual.net...
> Iain Dingsdale left a note on my windscreen which said:
>
>
> That isn't an option since I've had this CPU for over a year now and
> probably don't have the packaging reciept etc.
>
> It's not really a huge problem. Otherwise the PC works flawlessly and
> all I really notice is a slight slowdown every now and again when in
> game. I wondered if there was a better HS + fan cooling combo out there
> which I could use to just lower the temp a few degrees without
> increasing the already noisy PC.
Arctic cooling freezer
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...ic_Cooling.html
or one of the big mother thermalright ones
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...lright_120.html
the gigabyte rocket coolers are meant to be pretty good too
> --
> Stoneskin
>
> [Insert sig text here]
| |
| Trevor Best 2005-02-14, 4:50 pm |
| Stoneskin wrote:
> For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz CPU is
> still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
>
> I'm not overclocking, have checked voltages, dusted inside of PC,
> removed HS + Fan assembly for clean + reapplied thermal compound, have
> good ventilation with 2x80mm bring air in through the front and 2x80mm
> taking air our the back plus the PSU fan..
>
> Yet still my CPU idles at around the 50 degrees mark and will peak at
> around 75 degrees when it will begin to throttle under load.
>
> So my last effort will be to replace the stock HS + fan. Any
> recommendations. Ideally I would like somthing quieter than the stock
> cooler but with my CPU overheating I may have to up the cooling power.
>
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
Coolermaster XDream is nice and quiet, they do a socket 370/462 version,
is that Northwood? (Sorry, I can't keep up with Intel's ever changing
sockets).
--
This sig left intentionally blank
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| Jonathan Buzzard 2005-02-14, 4:50 pm |
| On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:04:29 +0000, Stoneskin wrote:
> For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz CPU is
> still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
>
> I'm not overclocking, have checked voltages, dusted inside of PC,
> removed HS + Fan assembly for clean + reapplied thermal compound, have
> good ventilation with 2x80mm bring air in through the front and 2x80mm
> taking air our the back plus the PSU fan..
>
> Yet still my CPU idles at around the 50 degrees mark and will peak at
> around 75 degrees when it will begin to throttle under load.
>
> So my last effort will be to replace the stock HS + fan. Any
> recommendations. Ideally I would like somthing quieter than the stock
> cooler but with my CPU overheating I may have to up the cooling power.
>
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
Consider some ducting so that the air that is blown over the CPU
heatsink is drawn directly from outside the case and that there is no
possibility of the air that has been blown over the heatsink exhausting
the case and been directly drawn back in to blow over the CPU heatsink.
This is a particular issue if you are running the case in a desktop rather
than a tower configuration.
JAB.
--
Jonathan A. Buzzard Email: jonathan (at) buzzard.me.uk
Northumberland, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 1661-832195
| |
| John Jordan 2005-02-14, 4:50 pm |
| In article <MPG.1c7aa4246ba6a41b989a8f@news.individual.net>, Stoneskin
<no@thanks.com> writes
>For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz CPU is
>still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
>
>I'm not overclocking, have checked voltages, dusted inside of PC,
>removed HS + Fan assembly for clean + reapplied thermal compound
[snip]
Make sure it's a *very* thin layer of thermal compound, because with IHS
CPUs the contact surface is too large and the pressure too low to push
much compound out. Also check that the contact surfaces don't have any
nicks or grit on them.
--
John Jordan
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| Dorothy Bradbury 2005-02-15, 11:49 pm |
| > For some reason I am still unable to fathom my P4 Nortwood 3.0GHz
> CPU is still overheating with the Intel CPU + Fan supplied.
o CPU coolers merely use Case-Ambient to cool the CPU
o If Case-Ambient is too high, cooling is less effective
For a high Delta-T between CPU-Temperature & Case-Ambient,
you want Case-Ambient as close to Room-Ambient as possible.
For later PreXXXXX chips Intel require:
o CPU-Cooler intake <40oC
---- so a reported Case-Ambient of >40oC is undesireable
o CPU-Cooler <32oC for low speed cooler operation
---- where an Intel temp controller solution is used
---- <32oC = lo speed operation & >38oC = hi speed operation
Whilst Northwood runs cooler, the same logic does apply.
An easy check of whether Case-Ambient is too high:
o Verify case temp via a motherboard monitoring utility
---- re board maker or MBM5 etc
o Remove the side of the case & see if CPU temps fall
---- if they do then your case has too few air changes per hour
Bear in mind that motherboard reporting temps have tolerance,
typically +/- 10% and there will be some at around +/- 20%.
If you do have a CPU temperature problem:
o Check the thermal design limit temp
----- eg, 67-70oC - this is the design specification for self-build
o Improve airflow -- round wire grills cost little
---- round wire flow 89-91% free air v 45-55% for punched case grills
o Reduce CPU cooler recirculation -- typically 40-70%
---- CPU coolers recirculate heated air until case fans exhaust it
---- GPU-coolers similarly recirculate their own heated air
o Improve intake airflow -- a key resistance area
---- exhaust fans breathe through the lowest common denominator
---- typically for PCs this is a 3"x1" slot in the lower front plastic fascia
---- in cross-sectional area that is half a single 80mm fan
o A simple duct can work wonders
---- cool air to the chip - duct from an intake fan to the CPU-cooler intake
---- hot air from the chip - duct from the CPU-cooler exhaust to an exhaust fan
o Don't over-use heatsink compound
---- two metal surfaces only meet truly at 3 points
---- metal surfaces are composed of microscopic voids filled with air
---- heatsink compound is an inferior conductor to metal - but better than air
---- so the purpose is merely to fill in the voids - not butter the chip
First determine if you have a problem - then prioritise the solution.
Change one variable at a time to verify cause & effect.
--
Dorothy Bradbury
www.dorothybradbury.co.uk for quiet Panaflo fans
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| Stoneskin 2005-02-16, 8:47 am |
| Dorothy Bradbury left a note on my windscreen which said:
> First determine if you have a problem - then prioritise the solution.
> Change one variable at a time to verify cause & effect.
Thanks to all who responded. I belive I have solved the problem. I
removed the cpu, HS + fan assembly and gave it a *really* good clean.
There was a heavy build up of dust among the fins of the HS which I
cleaned out. Plus I removed all the old thermal compound and reapplied
a slightly thinner layer.
This appears to have dropped the idle temperature about 5-7 degrees
although I still think that's too hot at around ~47 degrees.
I may invest in one of the Arctic Cooling solutions as recommended by
another poster and see if I can get it any lower.
Thanks to all.
--
Stoneskin
[Insert sig text here]
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| Dorothy Bradbury 2005-02-16, 4:51 pm |
| > There was a heavy build up of dust among the fins of the HS which I
> cleaned out.
This applies to laptop heatsinks - and particularly any which use
a skived-copper or similar high fin density. Does not take much
build-up of dust to create a self-reinforcing reduction in airflow.
Laptops with skived copper heatsinks clog in as little as 4 months,
by 6-8 months you may find the fan runs permanently at high speed.
--
Dorothy Bradbury
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