Opteron 170 maximum temperature?

edited May 2009 in Hardware
I'm running my Opty 170 at 2.8G, stock heatsink and fan. Seems to be running stable in my Windows environment, but I have had a couple END_UNIT_EARLY errors in my folding logs. So I juiced up the processor to 1.6V and so far, it's been running fine but ASUS Probe II is reporting the CPU temp at 59C-62C under full load.

I Googled to find varying info. One report said anything above 50C is too high while another said that the Opty 170 can run as high as 70C max with no issues.

I should probably buy a better heatsink and fan unit, but heck, it's running! Should I be concerned?

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    If you do want to get a better HS/F, I can't recommend the ThermalTake Big Typhoon highly enough. It is by far the highest performance standard HSF I have ever used.

    It's huge though :eek3:
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2006
    Try to keep it under 65C. The processor is rated for a max temp of ~70C but the hotter it runs, the shorter it's (OC'd) Lifespan
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited July 2006
    What does your case airflow look like? Do your temps improve if you take the side panel off? I'm sorry if you posted your system specs elsewhere, but I'm too lazy to look to see if you did.
  • edited July 2006
    Donut wrote:
    What does your case airflow look like? Do your temps improve if you take the side panel off? I'm sorry if you posted your system specs elsewhere, but I'm too lazy to look to see if you did.
    Actually, the motherboard temp is 41C. I haven't tried taking the case cover off because the case has a nice tunnel port that fits over the CPU heatsink/fan and draws cool air directly from the side of the case.

    But if 70C is the acceptable max and I'm not hitting anything above 62C at max load, maybe I'm in the safe zone. That's what I'm trying to find out.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited July 2006
    I'd agree with Omega65, 65'C is about as hot as you'd want to run any K8 dual-core processor. An acceptable max in my eyes is somewhere in the mid to high fifties. If you are breaking 60'C, you will most likely start running into some issues. 1.6V is a lot to be running on air. I'd step back the voltage a touch until you can get a big-typhoon or another higher end HSF.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    I'll pile on. 70*C sustained is really high for any AMD chip. 70*C sustained is not too high for an Intel D820 flamethrower, but they are designed for heating large rooms, so it's all in the engineering....or lack thereof. :skeptic:;D
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited July 2006
    Daxx wrote:
    Actually, the motherboard temp is 41C. I haven't tried taking the case cover off because the case has a nice tunnel port that fits over the CPU heatsink/fan and draws cool air directly from the side of the case.

    But if 70C is the acceptable max and I'm not hitting anything above 62C at max load, maybe I'm in the safe zone. That's what I'm trying to find out.

    Personally, I think 62c is a little warm. (my 2 Intel furnaces are running cooler @ full load) Could you list your specs? Could be your mobo reads the temps high in which case no probs. I only sugested pulling the side panel off as a quick check of how well your case cools. Even with the little funnel on the side panel, if your case can't get rid of the hot air inside, it's not doing any good (the whole pressure differential thing).

    I guess what I'm trying to say, is if you can drop your temps for less than 20 buck and some elbow grease, it might be worth it.
  • edited July 2006
    Donut wrote:
    Personally, I think 62c is a little warm. (my 2 Intel furnaces are running cooler @ full load) Could you list your specs? Could be your mobo reads the temps high in which case no probs. I only sugested pulling the side panel off as a quick check of how well your case cools. Even with the little funnel on the side panel, if your case can't get rid of the hot air inside, it's not doing any good (the whole pressure differential thing).

    I guess what I'm trying to say, is if you can drop your temps for less than 20 buck and some elbow grease, it might be worth it.
    I'm building a computer for a friend today. I had some trouble keeping the 3500+ cool enough to keep from shutting down the system while running CPU Burn-in. Kept inching up to 68C, then BAM, the system would power down. I found the factory heatsink was not flat so I lapped it with some wet sandpaper on a flat surface. That helped, but I still had trouble. Then I went to the store and bought a ThermalTake copper heatsink that was significantly beefier than the stock AMD heatsink - SAME PROBLEM! :rant: I eventually found that the top surface of the CPU itself was not exactly flat. I've heard some people have lapped their CPU's but I'm not that brave. So I had to use more thermal compound that I am accustomed to using to get good thermal transfer to the heatsink. Now the CPU never gets over 45C when running CPU Burn-in, and better yet, it does it with the original AMD stock heatsink and the CPU fan at reduced speed (quiet mode). The interesting thing is that most overclocking sites say DO NOT use too much thermal compound - just a smear with very little thickness for maximum heat transfer from metal to metal contact. Sure, that works if parts mate correctly. In this particular case, more thermal compound was better to account for the imperfections in the components themselves.

    So where am I going with this... Well, I'm thinking about removing the heatsink off my Opty 170 and checking for the same problems. I might be able to get my temp down by lapping my heatsink and adding a little more thermal compound. :D

    Core System Specs:
    Opteron 170 @ 2.8G
    Stock heatsink/fan
    ASUS A8N32-SLI 939 Motherboard
    2.0G Corsair 3500LLPRO Memory
    eVGA 7950 GX2 Video Card
    Xfinity 600W Power Supply
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited July 2006
    There ya go, just a little elbow grease.:cool2:

    Let us know how it works out.


    (Don't tell anybody, I have OCed a little on stock sinks before, just had to keep a close eye on the temps)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    I've heard some people have lapped their CPU's but I'm not that brave.
    Yup, it works. But then, less than flush contact could also be due to a heatsink base that is not perfectly flat. If you are unsure, find the straightest item you can and lay it down across the CPU top and the heatsink base. In bright light check it at different clock positions along the surface.

    No bravery needed for lapping unless you are using a power tool with an abrasive that is too course. Best way is just to wet-dry sandpaper with a few drops of water and to keep working your up to finer sandpaper. VERY fine sandpaper to finish with.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    If you're not going over 45C on that kind of OC I think you're doing very well.

    Are you talking about lapping the heatsink or the IHS?
  • KrazeyivanKrazeyivan Newcastle, UK
    edited August 2006
    Just to jump in.... the t-case (think thats right) of my Opty 170 is only 57C.
    Not sure how much heat it could take above that! Which is sad but it is running at 2.7 now - tops out at 52C thats with prime95 running - produces more heat than just folding.
  • edited May 2009
    Donut wrote:
    Personally, I think 62c is a little warm. (my 2 Intel furnaces are running cooler @ full load)

    AMDs run hot, Optys even more so. My 170 gets a lot hotter than that most of the time, though I run BOINC (team The Knights Who Say NI!) flat out, 24/7 (except when I have to throttle back because the ambient temp is above 30C). My Fatal1ty mobo defaults to system shut down at 75C, and I've hit that more than once because of BOINC and no air conditioning in the room. I think that BOINC is good for at least a 20C CPU temp increase.

    BTW, it's been this way for years, though it took about 9 months for me to get the cooling set up initially.

    And there is no doubt that my case it moving air. It's a big Cooler Master (I forgot the model numer) with Front 120mm, two "blowhole" 120mm, provision for two side fans (I think I have one 80mm, maybe a 120mm there, because a second fan wouldn't clear the heatsink) a bottom fan (another 120, I think). The PSU is at the bottom, and intakes from the back and exhausts out the bottom.

    What's made the biggest difference is my HSF which is a combination of a big (not huge, but big) heat pipe heat sink from one manufacturer, with a 120mm-sized duct from another. The duct pulls case air over the heat sink on one end, and exhausts it via a 120mm fan on the back of the case on the other end.

    I flat cooked the Silenx 120mm I initially put in there. I was a bit irked until I realized it was no doubt NOT designed to be immersed in 60+C air 24/7. So I tossed another random fan in there - maybe one of the temp-controlled CompUSA fans I got cheap on closeout at Microcenter after the former closed their retail stores, or maybe an Antec Tri-Cool, because I sometimes snag some of those when they go on sale at Microcenter. I do recall that it has a bigger bearing than the Silenx, and it's held up so far, so I haven't bothered with it.

    Anyway, the reason I'm so confident of my cooling setup is that the "sys" temp per my "Fan EQ" applet runs only about 6-8C higher than ambient.

    Recently, I've seen some Intel temps reported as being a LOT higher than my Opty. And, like I said, my Opty has been happily working like this for years.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    Welcome to Icrontic, but holy thread necro Batman.
  • edited May 2009
    ROFL!
  • SPIKE09SPIKE09 Scatland
    edited May 2009
    he did mention the KWSN they are nutters :buck: or is that coconutters
  • edited May 2009
    SPIKE09 wrote:
    he did mention the KWSN they are nutters :buck: or is that coconutters

    Probably both :eek3:
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