Abnormal system temp?

[minotaar]

Is it normal to have two cpus which run at different temperatures? Im running a duallie 1800+ with Vantek 6035d HSFs, and one of them insists on running 5 degrees hotter than the other one.

I think this is being caused by a bad interface between the core and the hsf - when I mount the HSF and then unmount, all the thermal grease (at least all tghe visible grease) is not squeezed off the cpu - some of it stays around the sides, and only the center has the grease squeezed off.

This suggests to me that it's not fitting well; maybe the HSF is slightly convex? What should I do?

I've already swapped thermal greases to arctic silver from the stock silicon gel, to little effect. Right now the hotter cpu runs between 45 to 52 degrees depending on load, and Im uncomfortable about the high end.

What's also bothering me is that I've gottan occasional system lockups, but not at peak cpu usage - just twice, actually, and only when I was doing other stuff. Is this likely to be related? it's only happened twice in about 2 weeks.

 

[HonestJhon]

maybe the hotter cpu is the one that is above the other, so the hot air that is coming off the heatsink on the lower cpu is warming up the other cpu...
i dont know, but it might be.
also, the thermal paste gets squeezed out. it just happens. the heatsink is probably fine.
and 52 is not too hot, unless you have some massive cooling going on, like extra case fans blowing in...
if not, then 52 is pretty much ok.
as for the lockups, i dont know, might be caused by something else. like a software problem, os problem, hardware conflict.
if it is only getting to 52°C then i doubt that the lockups were heat related.

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[minotaar]

If the bottom line is that 52 isnt a big deal, then thats great; but what I was saying about the thermal paste is that I expect all of the thermal paste to be squeezed out except that which is too thin under the proper pressure. But when i lift the HSF off, there's still a pretty thick (opaque) layer of the stuff on the sides of the core's top, meaning that these parts arent making as good a contact as the center. This issue is precisely my concern.

The baffling thing is that this is the cpu which is closer to the case fans at the edge of teh case - it's a TigerMP, and this is CPU2 (closer to the back by the ps2 and usb ports) so I would of expected it to be better cooled.

 

[HonestJhon]

hmm..
maybe you put too much arctic silver on?
you only need enough to cover the cpu core with a layer about as thick as some construction paper.
and yeah, if the cpu is closer to the fans, then it should be cooled better.
but then maybe the thermistor in that socket is either reading closer to reality, or further...

i would clean off the cpu core, and the heatsink, and reapply using a smaller ammount than last time.
because you only need enough to fill in the microscopic gaps and pits that are in the cpu core and the heatsink base.



-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-