time for a new heatsink/case fan?

tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
edited January 2005 in Hardware
On my case, aspire xdreamer theres a little lcd thats attatched to a thermometer that i had monitoring my processor(AMD Athlon 64 3200+) The temperature on the lcd was always about 10* below what my cpu monitoring program said, and same with bios. So it was usually idle around 92-93*F on the lcd, or actually 102-103*F. Well the other day I checked the lcd and it said that it was 108 idle, meaning it was really 118*. I had no programs running, my monitor was asleep, and i have 2 casfans in my computer, and its still staying idle around 118* and goes up higher while playing games. I checked all the fans and they are all working, including my heatsinks fan. What could be the cause of this sudden jump in temperature? Should i get another heatsink/case fan.(im using the heatsink that came with my processor), and i have 2 case fans

Comments

  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited December 2004
    118 Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) is a reasonable temperature and is nothing to worry about. Were there any jumps in ambient or room temperature recently? It will increase proportionally to your room temperature. You may want to double check that the cpu heatsink is securely attached. Give it a small wiggle with the computer off to ensure that it is sitting well.

    What is your system/case temperature being reported in the BIOS? Additional case fans can certainly help to lower your case temperature, and will subsequently lower your cpu temperature as well. Also, does your BIOS/mobo utility also report an increase, or is it just with the LCD panel?
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    Lemonlime has pretty much hit the nail on the head, tmh88. Are you running the heater in the room and is it blowing at the computer? If the room heat is higher, the computer will show higher temps too. Also, did you remove the fan from the heatsink and see if the heatsink is clogging up with dust? That will also make your temps rise too. I don't like the retail hsf that comes with retail procs because they have too little extra cooling capacity to compensate for when they get dirty. 118° F isn't really hot enough to damage the proc though. :)
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    Both the LCD and the program report an increase of temperature. And no, the room temperature hasnt gone up, and i dont have any heaters pointed at the computer, or near it. My house is old, and we have radiators in it, which is on the complete other side of the room from my computer. I'm going to get a 120 mm case fan, but I still have no idea why my temperature went up randomly. thanks for the help, and my heatsink is on tight
  • scottscott Medina, Ohio Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    tmh88

    I am leaning twoards the dirty heatsink theory. Take a look at the pictures in this thread http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5277 I just cleaned my heatsink the other day ( It has been awhile ) it was not as dirty as in the pics in that thread, but my temps dropped 5 degrees C after the cleaning. I would take the fan off the heatsink and check it out.


    Scott
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    Ok my heatsink isnt even cloes to that dirty. I got a 120 mm case fan, which means im now going to go play half life 2 and see what the temperature jumps to. I'l report back after playing for around 20 mins.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    Alright the fan helped a little(like 4*F). Should I have the new 120mm fan blowing air into the case or out of it? Currently I have 2 other case fans, on blowing in and one blowing out.

    I still cant think of an explination for the increase in temperature. It wasnt gradual or anything. I just turned it on and it started to go up to like 104, when its usually around 94
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    What is a good heatsink thats not outragously expensive for me. I have an AMD Athlon 64 3200+, socket 754
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    SVC has this Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu heatsink for $28.99 and it's supposed to be socket 754 compatible. They are supposed to be pretty good and quiet heatsinks, much better than the retail heatsink.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    Ok thanks for all the help. But I still have one question. Should I have my new 120 mm fan blowing air into my case, or out of it. Currently I have one 80 mm blowing air into the case from the side(it seems to be directly over the heatsink), one 80 mm blowing air out of the case thats on the top of my case(hot air rises=fan blowing hot air out of the case) and the new 120 blowing air into the case from the back directly below the power supply.


    which way should it be blowing air?!?!?!
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    I just looked your case up on Newegg and it looks like you must have mounted the 120 where they have a spot for 2-80mm fans on the back side of the case. Normally, fans mounted in that position blow out instead of in the case. Also, it looks like your case has mounts in the lower front for 1 or 2 80 mm case fans and I would mount the fans there, blowing into your case. Also, you can significantly improve airflow in the case and lower flow noise by cutting out those incredibly restrictive built-in fan grills and using a wire type fan grill instead. Just cut them out with a Dremel tool.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    thanks for the help. I'm going to switch the 120 around so its blowing out of the case. Also the fan grills screw in so I'll just buy new ones that are wire for better air flow.

    Ill let you know how the temp changes when its all done. thanks
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2004
    another question that could be a problem. About how many rpm's should the heatsinks fan be going. mine is around 1500 rpm's
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited January 2005
    1500 rpm seems quite low for a small cpu fan, usually the 60mm varieties spin somewhere in the range of 2500-4500 rpm. Did you enable 'smart fan' or 'quiet fan' mode in your bios by any chance? that could explain your sudden jump in temperatures. Im not sure if your mainboard supports such a feature, but I know that some ASUS boards have this feature, among others..
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited January 2005
    I did enable the feature called "cool & quiet", but I've had it enabled for almost as long as I've had the comptuer, which is about 4 months. The temperatures arent high, so i'm not going to worry about it.
  • tony7914tony7914
    edited January 2005
    tmh88 wrote:
    What is a good heatsink thats not outragously expensive for me. I have an AMD Athlon 64 3200+, socket 754


    hi there!
    i just ordered a Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU CPU Cooler from zipzoomfly.com for $38.99 us
    Zalmans site has info on what motherboards there coolers will fit ( mine is an MSI K8T Neo with an AMD athlon 64 3000+ socket 754) zipzoomfly has the lowest price i could find in the states (including shipping) i read a review at site (can't think of which one but you can google for it!) it is quieter than the stock AMD fan and cools better to, you just need to make sure you have the clearance for it!
    hope this helps!
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