processor cooling

[vader89]

I built a computer with an athlon xp 1900+ processor. I used the cooling fan and thermal compound that AMD bundled with it. Right now the CPU tempurature is going over 60 C.,and it is causing a few instabilities (A thirty second freeze up when playing games, its actually just more of a nuisance) when running KDE or another Desktop enviroment that takes up more system resources than ICEwm, not to mention the loud overheating alarm that the motherboard emits. Do you have any CPU cooling tips? Please write.:(

[kapong]

the stock heatsink/fans that come with AMD processors are usually crap. I suggest getting a new BRAND NAME heatsink/fan. I would avoid any generic coolers as they tend to be just cheap crap.

you might want to look at this: http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030113/index.html

[Darksamurai]

Vader,

I've got my 1800+ water-cooled... Still, I've seen Athlons running upwards of 90C and still operating normally (although I kept waiting for the damn thing to explode). I repaired a damaged heat-sink on a 1ghz Athlon... the heatsink I put on there was twice the size of the one I pulled, and it was running 55C just off the boot... it ran fine.

You've got a few options with cooling.

1. Water cooling: Quiet and efficient, but the risk of leakage and cost tend to be a deterent.

2. Air: You're looking at the thing sounding like a vacuum cleaner inside your case. Best to look for high air displacement, low decibel ratings.

Another option you might try is to cut a hole in your door and/or the top of your case and put a fan in to improve airflow inside your rig. This can be accomplished pretty easily with a dremel tool.

Also, if you haven't already, tap out existing fan placements. Fans are pretty cheap, and they DO drop the temperature of your case. I'd probably recommend following the advice above and getting an after-market heatsink, but make sure you're careful as hell when you install it. AMD processors have a tendency to crack on the install if you're not careful (I haven't cracked one myself and I've done several of 'em).

Also, depending on what kind of case you have, sometimes moving into another case can help.

3. Experimental stuff like direct-dye cooling or Peltier set-up.

If you want a little more info on the above, just let me know... I'll give ya the expanded version.

[Stween]

Originally posted by vader89
Right now the CPU tempurature is going over 60 C.,and it is causing a few instabilities

How far over 60C? As Darksamurai was already saying, that shouldn't be enough to cause any instabilities.

Athlons will generally top out at just over 90C before things really start to go wrong; my laptop is set to power down hard if the CPU hits something like 87C (default settings) - I don't think I'd want it anywhere near my lap if it were running that hot, although when idle it sits around 50C, and tops at 65C when running something that really uses the whole CPU (batch mp3 encoding, for example).

[arkaine23]

Look into products made by Thermalright, not to be confused with the crap produced by Thermaltake mind you.


SK7
SLK800

These run around $25 - $40 and you'll need to buy a fan for them. But the good news is that they're solid hunks of copper with huge surface area. You just need a decent 80mm fan to keep 'em cool, and since these are well-designed, that fan doesn't have to sound like a vacuum cleaner.

You might also consider a $7 tube of Arctic Silver 3 thermal paste, and looking into options to get your case ventilated with fans or even by just running the thing with the side panel off.

[JohnT]

I run with my side panel slightly cracked open to increase air-flow. Dropped temps by 10 deg. Remember ambient room plays a large part in cooling, if your not going the water route.