Is 72°C on a Pentium D 820 too hot?

mag820

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My Pentium D 820 operates at about 40° C when idle, 50-60° at normal usage and 72-75° when stressed (CPU Burn-in or S&M). The CPU is not overclocked (i.e. operating at 2,8 Ghz). Is this normal or is there something wrong?

Key hardware:
- CPU: Pentium D 820 2,8 Ghz @ 2.8 Ghz (not inbox)
- Cooler: Gigabyte 3D Rocket-Pro PCU22-VG @ 3400 RPM
- MB: Asus P5LD2

It is also worth mentioning that ambient temperature is high (Spain), ranging from 25° to 40° C. MB temperature is usually around 45° C.

I have tried changing the CPU fan speed. When low, the CPU throttles (observed with ThrottleWatch).


Any opinions or suggestions are welcome.

Regards,
Mag
 
G

Guest

Guest
It is on the high side, your temps should be more like 35 or soo when idle and 55-60 mac load(stressed). BUT your room temperature is really high. So maybe it's normal. I would first off remove the fan from the CPU remove the thermal stuff and re-apply some new one. Usually, when I have 8xx running at these kind of temps, the CPU is'nt seated properly.

But as I mention with room temp this high, I would suggest a new cooler, Zalman's CNP-7700 line would be a good choice, because it has a much larger surface than the Intel boxed cooler and it has much more airflow both are important in a hot environement.

Finally, what video card do you got and how is the airflow in the case? Try re-organising the cables so you have a good airlfow going from front to back, no heatsink will work properly in a badly ventilated case!
 

m25

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My Pentium D 820 operates at about 40° C when idle, 50-60° at normal usage and 72-75° when stressed (CPU Burn-in or S&M). The CPU is not overclocked (i.e. operating at 2,8 Ghz). Is this normal or is there something wrong?

Key hardware:
- CPU: Pentium D 820 2,8 Ghz @ 2.8 Ghz (not inbox)
- Cooler: Gigabyte 3D Rocket-Pro PCU22-VG @ 3400 RPM
- MB: Asus P5LD2

It is also worth mentioning that ambient temperature is high (Spain), ranging from 25° to 40° C. MB temperature is usually around 45° C.

I have tried changing the CPU fan speed. When low, the CPU throttles (observed with ThrottleWatch).


Any opinions or suggestions are welcome.

Regards,
Mag


DEFINITELY YES!!! 8O
Your SHF may be too weak for a PD. Otherwise Check your CPU fan: if its below 4000 rpm, that is the problem. If it's OK and runs fast enough, try reinstalling it with new & decent thermal paste, put it as thin and uniform as possible and it's done :wink:
 

mag820

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Prozac26, I don't worry about the CPU dying or something, but I do dislike the noise the Rocket-Pro makes at that speed.

Labbby, I will probably check the paste and apply new (seems Arctic Silver is the popular brand). I did not assemble the computer myself, since the vendor did that free of charge. I have spoken to them, but they don't think it is too high. I do not trust them too much, though.

My video-card is an ATI Radeon X550. Airflow in the cabinet (ATX Colorsit C8001-C43) might be the problem, since this only has a top-mounted 8cm fan and the power supply fan. Cables are fairly well stashed away.

Where do you advice me to start? Thermal paste, adding some case fan or changing my cooler? Or all at once?

My key-priority is having it operating at moderate noise levels. However, if results were successful I might try overclocking (at least in winter ;-)).

Thanks for responding,
Mag
 

mag820

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DEFINITELY YES!!! 8O
Your SHF may be too weak for a PD. Otherwise Check your CPU fan: if its below 4000 rpm, that is the problem. If it's OK and runs fast enough, try reinstalling it with new & decent thermal paste, put it as thin and uniform as possible and it's done :wink:
M25, running the CPU fan at 4000 RPM results in a couple of degree less stress temperature and way too much noise.

What heatsink / fan would you recommend for this CPU, keeping in mind the high ambient temperature and the desired moderate noise level? Zalman CPN-7700, as labbbby suggested?

For the record: I am willing to spend some money and time to enhance my computer, but want as much info as possible (from experienced people like you guys) before I decide what to do.

PS. What do SHF and PD stand for? (Pardon my ignorance. I program computers, not build them :))
 

m25

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I meant HSF not SHF :oops: (HeatHink & Fan). PD is PentiumD.
However, I'm not much expert in heatsinks and other guys may lead you to a good solution but even browsing the web in search of it can give good results. Don't forget also that at least a case fan that blows the hot air outside is a must for recent (2-3 year old) processors. If you don't have one, installing it may drop your temps down to the optimal 60°C without doing anything else.
 

kitchenshark

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I have a Zalman 7000 Cu, and I can confirm that they're great coolers. I have no AC in my house and when ambient gets up around 35C my A64 3200+ still runs at or below 50c under heavy gaming load.

EDIT: Also Arctic Silver 5 does seem to improve the performance of any cooling solution i've used it on.
 

mag820

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Labbbby mentions Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro in this post. Seems like a good and economic alternative. (One of my local shops sell it at 24 €.) That (together with some thermal paste and possibly one more case fan) would be a no-brainer.

However, I am still interested in more opinions regarding my configuration and what to do. Is my expensive 3D Rocket-Pro really not good enough?
 

Whizzard9992

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Labbby, I will probably check the paste and apply new (seems Arctic Silver is the popular brand). I did not assemble the computer myself, since the vendor did that free of charge. I have spoken to them, but they don't think it is too high. I do not trust them too much, though.

Thanks for responding,
Mag


I agree totally. Try some better paste first, and make sure it's applied properly. You should be placing the paste between two VERY clean METAL surfaces.

Then move to a bigger fan. If you have one handy, try an external thermistor. Sometimes the board reports bad temps. 40C and 50C normal load doesn't sound all that atypical for a Pentium, though.
 

samxxxii

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DEFINITELY YES!!! 8O
Your SHF may be too weak for a PD. Otherwise Check your CPU fan: if its below 4000 rpm, that is the problem. If it's OK and runs fast enough, try reinstalling it with new & decent thermal paste, put it as thin and uniform as possible and it's done :wink:
M25, running the CPU fan at 4000 RPM results in a couple of degree less stress temperature and way too much noise.

What heatsink / fan would you recommend for this CPU, keeping in mind the high ambient temperature and the desired moderate noise level? Zalman CPN-7700, as labbbby suggested?

For the record: I am willing to spend some money and time to enhance my computer, but want as much info as possible (from experienced people like you guys) before I decide what to do.

PS. What do SHF and PD stand for? (Pardon my ignorance. I program computers, not build them :))


For Thermal paste you should use Artic Silver 5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100008

For HeatSinks You must have ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT (If you don't care about the price...)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118003

For the Case you should buy the Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum (I have this one and it has a great ventilation at minimun noise levels...)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154

If you don't like Noise and you don't wan't change the case that you have, you should try with water cooling, a good solution considering that you don't wan't any kind of noise you should check at this product....

ZALMAN RESERATOR 1 Plus Fanless Water Cooling System

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118120

I hope this info will help you to choose...!

But the real problem in your PC is the room temperature....! that's the big reasen why your CPU runs so hot....!

Cheers

Sam
 
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[Yeah the Artic Cooling I linked in another thread is pretty nice for the price, my employer( I work in a small computer shop during the summer ) ditched his usual Zalman recommandation to this one due to the Weight/Price/Cooling ratio that is pretty good. I still beleive the Zalman stuff is top notch but it come to a price.

As m25 said, you should be able to add fans to your case, For optimal airflow/noise, you should Fit some 120 mm, optimally one intake and one exhaust, that could be enough to fix the temperature and would be pretty cheap(thats if your case can accept them).
* I check and your case does have support for extra fans
Cooling fan space:1?cm extra upper fan,rest 4 fans' space (Option) for better ventilation

Imo the thermal paste/reseating wont do enything because, with all the information, it's obvious that 1. ambient aire is warm, 2. it's not moving a lot in your case so it's even warmer, and 3. your processor is rather hot by itself so it all add up to 70c! =)

As for water cooling, you'd need a pretty large resevoir at 35+ temperature to keep the water around that temprature!

First Recomandation add some fans to it, no matter hwo good your CPU heatsink is, if air is not going anywhere it will get warm!
If your case doesnt support 120mm, and adding fans add to much noise, a new case would be a good start, but it get a bit more expensive and you have to take the whoel computer apart..

Finally great post samxxxii, to bad he's in Spain, availabilty might differ over there =|
 

sepheronx

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open up all your windows and if still warm, take off side panel off the case, try to get the cool breeze to the pc, that system is running a little too hot.
 

mag820

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Thanks all for the feedback. I will sum up some comments in this post.

Samxxxii, thank you for your suggestions. I am afraid though that I do care about the price ;-). Spending 50 € in ventilator etc. is not a problem, but I hope not having to spend 200 € in a new case or water cooling. I have ordered Arctic Silver 5 though from my local dealer. Nice to have, wether I use it now or not.

Labbbby, my case only supports 8cm fans (I know, bad choice), two in the back, two in the front and one at the top (already mounted). Since you and others think that better case ventilation might be the solution, I will try taking off the cover (probably this evening) and put my high speed 40 cm room ventilator in front of it (a must have in Spanish summers). That will generate more airflow than any case has ever seen :). If that makes a big difference, case ventilation is the way to go. If not, I will direct my focus back on the HSF.

Regarding the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, what do you think of the mounting. It does not have a backplate or anything like that. Does it suffer from the same problems as SupremeLaw mentions for the stock Intel HSF, i.e. inproper pressure against the CPU? (It's price and the fact that I know a local dealer that sells it are positives.)

Sepheronx, my flat has it's windows turning west. That means afternoon sun. Now, in most countries (my birth contry Norway included) that is considered a great advantage. Not so in Spain. In Spain that means that between 14:00 and 21:00 you should shut all windows and lower all shutters (preferrably external) to avoid your flat heating up too much. :) But hey, it's a great place to live, even though you (and your computers) sweat a bit...

Whizzard9992, for the trick with the fridge to work, I would have to put it in the window, with the door opening against the interior and the heat dissipators on the back facing the exterior ;-). Or, I could by a 300 € AC equipment. However, I don't like the air it produces, so I will try to hold it off.


Once agains, thanks to all of you. I hope to get back to you this evening with some test-results.

Take care,
Mag
 

mag820

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I have now done some testing on the system as is, and with the case open and a huge ventilator on the floor two meter away from it (huge as in "tosses papers around"). All testing was done with the ventilator at 3400 RPM (the acceptable noise level) and approximately 30 degrees room temperature (all temps in celcius).

Closed case[*:c09fad06d2]Idle (measured in BIOS after 5 min idle): CPU 51 / MB 38
[*:c09fad06d2]Stress (measured with speedfan after 10 min testing with S&M): CPU 74 / MB 46
[*:c09fad06d2]Post stress (measured with speedfan 1 min after the stress stopped): CPU 54 / MB 46

Open case with external fan[*:c09fad06d2]Idle (measured in BIOS after 5 min idle): CPU 52 / MB 38
[*:c09fad06d2]Stress (measured with speedfan after 10 min testing with S&M): CPU 69 / MB 41
[*:c09fad06d2]Post stress (measured with speedfan 1 min after the stress stopped): CPU 50 / MB 40

My conclusion
Better case ventilation could lower my CPU and MB temperatures with about 5° C (maximum).

Now, do you still think my CPU is running hot? Should I procede to focus on the HSF? (Thermal paste and possibly replacing it.) Or is this as good as it gets, given my budget (not spending 200 € on water cooling) and environment (sunny Spain)?
 

Whizzard9992

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I have now done some testing on the system as is, and with the case open and a huge ventilator on the floor two meter away from it (huge as in "tosses papers around"). All testing was done with the ventilator at 3400 RPM (the acceptable noise level) and approximately 30 degrees room temperature (all temps in celcius).

Closed case[*:1ec39acf77]Idle (measured in BIOS after 5 min idle): CPU 51 / MB 38
[*:1ec39acf77]Stress (measured with speedfan after 10 min testing with S&M): CPU 74 / MB 46
[*:1ec39acf77]Post stress (measured with speedfan 1 min after the stress stopped): CPU 54 / MB 46

Open case with external fan[*:1ec39acf77]Idle (measured in BIOS after 5 min idle): CPU 52 / MB 38
[*:1ec39acf77]Stress (measured with speedfan after 10 min testing with S&M): CPU 69 / MB 41
[*:1ec39acf77]Post stress (measured with speedfan 1 min after the stress stopped): CPU 50 / MB 40

My conclusion
Better case ventilation could lower my CPU and MB temperatures with about 5° C (maximum).

Now, do you still think my CPU is running hot? Should I procede to focus on the HSF? (Thermal paste and possibly replacing it.) Or is this as good as it gets, given my budget (not spending 200 € on water cooling) and environment (sunny Spain)?

Honestly, I know you're worried about it and all, but 74C isn't all that hot. That spec'd max for that particular part is 64C. Any OC'er can tell you that you can push the 820 well beyond that. My buddy had a P4 (Not PD) running at 90C max load for like 3 months.

Unless you're experiencing problems, I wouldn't really worry too much about it. It sounds like you really should ventilate your case if you're getting a whole 5C cooler. The stock fan is really bare-minimum. I'd still recommend a new fan/sink and paste.

Still, though, unless you really want to throw money at it, it's not all that necessary. Unless you're roasting your processor at 90C or above, you won't hurt it. All processors are a little different, but unless you notice problems (such as BSOD :)), I wouldn't bother. You won't see a return on your investment.
 
G

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Wow, that's not a big improvement...I will simply add that have a close case with a good ventilation might do betetr than this big fan because you have some kind of wind tunnel going on quickly expelling hot air.

While I agree with Whizzard9992, I still suggest you change the CPU fan because even though it wont damage the CPU right away or cause instability, you never what might happen in the future.

And whizzard, I think he mentionned his CPU was throtling, your friend's CPU probably is to. I think the 50$ or so should be worth it since he might gert a bit more performance, lower noise, and he wont be reducing his CPU's life(anything over 65c for an extended period will have repercution, maybe in 5 years...but still). Also instability might arise at some point so I think it's better to try to prevent it.

I would buy a new CPU, witht he thermal paste you bought and on more exhaust 80mm fan and I think you might be able to remove 10-15c and have a PC that's a bit quieter.

IMO the money would be well spent, I stay behind my Artic Cooling recommandation, easy to install, no backplate and all that, pretty light, and on my test machine (Pentium D's 9xx) I saw a drop of temp of around 5c (50-55 to 45-50c) and a drop in noise.

Anyway, I hope that will help you and that you've not been thru all of this and that in the end the CPU is just hot because aire is hot :?
 

mag820

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Latest update:
I have now tried to take out the HSF, clean it properly, add new thermal compound (unfortunately I did not find Arctic Silver) and mount everything. The results were equal to the previous ones, i.e. the HSF was already mounted correctly. I have also experimented a bit adding one or two fans extra to the case, and have only got minor improvements.

I think I will procede to buying an Arctic Cooler Pro 7, since both Labbbby and my local computer shop recommend it, and I really would like a fan controlled by the MB, not by an external regulator. (So that fan speed can depend on CPU utilization.)

Mag.

PS. I don't know if this is interesting for you guys, but I update this thread until I solve my problem, just so it can be of use to others experiencing the same problem (by e.g. googling it).
 

mag820

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Haha103, I am afraid you might be right. However, I do not like to have my CPU fan at such high speed (3400 RPM) continously in order to avoid overheating/throtling. This is why I will probably change my HSF to one that is controlled by the MB, so that I can take advantage of its dynamic fan control.

As you see above, opening my case and putting a large ventilator in front of it, reduced MB and CPU temperatures with apx. 5°. It is not an option for me to leave it like that permanently, though. The WAF is too low ;-)

Take care,
Mag
 

mag820

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A final update to this thread for other users reference...

I finally ditched the Gigabyte HSF and bought an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro and three case ventilators Arctic Fan Pro TC of which I ended up using only one.

The results are magnificant. My computer is now a lot more silent, even on full load when the CPU fan is running at 2000 RPM. On idle or semi-idle the CPU fan is not audible (the graphics card is now the loudest component). More remarkable though, are the temperatures. A stress test equal to the one described above now results in an MB temp of 40° C and CPU temp of 62° C. This is a drop of 12° C compared to the Gigabyte. It should also be noted that after a while of stress testing the fan speed drops to 1500, meaning that the MB actually reduces its speed because its effect exceeds that of the CPU.

Conclusion: I strongly recommend Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for cooling Pentium D processors being a very silent yet efficient HSF. The opposite can be said for Gigabyte 3D Rocket-Pro PCU22-VG. It is noisy and unefficient.

Thanks for all that helped me out on this, especially Labbbby for pointing me to the Arctic Cooling option.