Phenom II 955 BE BURNING!

[boldor]

Hi there!

I've recently got my computer in order; with a format, decent software compilation and a physical dust off inside the case.
After that i got some monitoring and benchmarking for my AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition software like: CPU-Z, Everest Ultimate, Speedfan, CPU-temp and so on.

The following readings were noticed:

Idle i measured 46-49c.
Everest stress test got my cpu from around 45c to 52c.
Battlefield BC2 got it up to 51c~.
Prime95 - 59-60 celcius !!!!

After googling those results i was astonished! I've read that several people got around 35-40 with the STOCK cooler. WHAT?!
Ive got a big-ass cooler (Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme 2: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_43&mID=246) and i got temps like 48 idle?!
I'm not sure but i think the temps wasnt so high before, but as i said: im not sure.
My first thought was, i may moved the cooler abit when dusting it off but should it work at all then? Or maybe the cooling compoud is getting old? Its preapplied MX-2 that comes with the cooler.


Whats wrong? Can it be the fact that my case is crappy: "Tacens Signum"? Or maybe the fact that I use 2 gfx cards in crossfire aswell as a aftermarket soundcard which together produce quite much heat? Oh, and its also VERY little space left inside the case for airflow? Maybe combination of all those?

faithfully yours
Boldie

 

[moody89]

Are these readings after overclocking or at stock levels? For stock levels they seem pretty high.

Firstly, go into your BIOS and check your voltage levels for your CPU. The nominal voltage range for your CPU is 0.850-1.40V so check that your settings lies between these two values. There's no real need to have it at the top end of this range unless you're overclocking, so there's no harm setting it to something lower, maybe the middle of the range about 1.2V etc. as this may drop your temps by a few degrees. I know it did on my CPU.

If that doesn't work...since you have already mentioned that you cleaned the inside of dust etc. then my advice would be to remove your cooler and clean off any left over thermal paste from both the cooler and the CPU using high concentrate isopropyl alcohol and cotton wool buds. Then, apply new thermal paste and re-seat your cooler ensuring that everything fits correctly and you have proper, solid contact between the base of the cooler and your CPU. You can find countless tutorials on applying thermal paste etc. on Google or even Youtube.

This is a very good guide to the basics of case airflow and will give you a good understanding of how to keep the air inside your case as cool as possible:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=42853

Post back and let us know how you get on and we'll go from there. Good luck!

 

[Houndsteeth]

Could you have possibly moved the HSF during your cleaning operations?

With this much of a variance, I would go so far as to pull the HSF, remove the old TIM and clean the spreader and heat sink with alcohol, reapply with new TIM (everyone has their preference, I like AS5 still).

There are several techniques to spread the TIM, but whichever one you use (razor blade, baggie, etc.) make sure you use as little as you possibly can and still get full coverage.

It could possibly be that your case doesn't have enough ventilation, as the temps are not too far out of range, and I would worry getting it up to 60 C.

Try replacing the TIM and see where that gets you. If you don't have a change in temp, you can try to get a physical thermometer to verify the temperature before you move on to doing anything else.

 

[boldor]

great thanks for the answers!

@moody
Its a stock 3.2GHz running at about 1.32v. Never played overclocking and i dont think that is the problem. I will surely do the things u described in your resitting the cooler and reapplying the paste idea!

@houndsteeth
Excuse my incompetence but what is HSF? Could u explain a lil more? I know TIM is the cooler paste, and thanks for your paste application tips!

NOTICE: I just ordered a new case: Antex Nine Hundred II, some new cooling paste (same MX-2) and a old paste removing alcohol liquid.

 

[hvanpelt]

great thanks for the answers!


NOTICE: I just ordered a new case: Antex Nine Hundred II, some new cooling paste (same MX-2) and a old paste removing alcohol liquid.

the case swap will do the trick
i ve got my system 26@idle and overclocked to 3.6

 

[boldor]

Post back and let us know how you get on and we'll go from there. Good luck!

UPDATE!

Just finished installing the Antec 900II. I also used compressed air to clean all the components, reseated the heatsink and added new cooling paste.
Oh, and i disabled CoolNQuiet in bios.
The results:
Idle: 37-38c
Light use (browsing and so on): 39-43c
PRIME95: 60 min run : Finished on stable 56 degrees celcius.

Im pretty happy with the results although they could be better.

What do you think?

 

[moody89]

Those temps look fine to me. You must live in a fairly warm area and so they are slightly higher than average but there's not an awful lot you can do about that. Make the most of the heat! Where I'm from, in the UK its very rarely that warm. But then on the other hand, my Athlon II 630 idles at 21C with the stock cooler 😉

 

[boldor]

I've been thinking.

The Antec case has 2 more optional fan slots besides the big one on top, 2 in front and 1 in the back.
The optional fan slots (120mm) are on the right side of the case (the plexi-glass one) and the other one is the middle of the case.
The temps above are "only" with the stock fans and I'm wondering if installing those two will make a noticable difference?

What do you guys think?

Here's the case: http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTczMw==
Please tip me about some good, normal priced fans for that... Whats best? Noctua, Nexus, Scythe? which models?

also, on the antec website it says
"- 1 side (Optional) 120 x 25mm fan mount
- 1 middle (Optional) 120mm fan mount"
its the same thing isnt it? 120x25 and 120 ?

faithfully yours
boldie

 

[moody89]

120mm refers to the diameter of the fan whereas 25mm refers to the depth of the fan casing. I believe 25mm is the standard depth for the majority of fans.

Personally, I've never been a fan of fans on the side of a case. I'm of the school of thought that they interfere with an otherwise well established front to back (and bottom to top) flow of air through the case. I wouldn't bother with that 'Big Boy' fan you have on the top of the Antec 900II. The only application I can really see for a side-fan would be if you created a tunnel system to exhaust hot air straight off the CPU. This is just my opinion and I'm sure other people will think differently. I've actually cut the grill for the fan off my side panel on my Antec 300 to accomodate for a window instead...shows how much I think of it 😉

I believe the other position to mount an optional fan on your case is the front. You can experiment with this but I'm not sure you'll see any major improvements in your temps as you already have very good airflow through your case particularly with your massive top mounted fan. I have also heard that if you have one of the newer, long type graphics cards then theres often not enough room to install it when you have this fan installed as well.

To be honest, you're pretty safe with the majority of branded fans although if you want a second opinion particularly on noise levels vs performance then silentpcreview.com is the place to go.

Hope this helps and good luck!