X2 4400+ too hot!

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:33 pm

I am excited to install my new X2 4400+ today, but the cpu temp is too high for me to feel safe. I am wondering if there's something that i did wrong, or if i was expecting too much from my case + heatsink + airflow setup etc.

Before i installed the X2, i had a winchester 3200+, at ambient temperautre of about 23, the idle temp is about 40, with load temp of 53, a bit high but i can live with that.

Now with the X2 4400+, it idles at around 40 as well (23 ambient), and the temp with 1 instance of prime95 is about 53, but when i run the second instance, it goes up to 60. It's still within limit, but i am worried when the ambient temperature gets higher, or when i play games which mean the gfx card will give more heat, it may fry the cpu.

I tried putting the 7000 AlCU fan at 12V, and the load temp for 2 prime95 goes down to 55. But it's too noisy at 12V...

Assuming i didn't install the heatsink wrong and the reported temperature is reliable, what can i do to improve the temp? I realize my case (sonata) does not have the best airflow, and that i have plenty of hot components in my case. Would a better heatsink like the 7700, the XP-120 etc help to reduce the load temp by say 8-10 degrees? Any other suggestions?

Any advice is highly appreicated. Thanks!!

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:43 pm

I think you need something better than the AlCu 7000 to cool that .. how about a Cu 7700?

I bought a boxed 4400+ and it came with the best OEM heatsink I've ever seen. Thin-fin aluminum with a copper inset and 2 copper heatpipes (!)

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:12 pm

Thanks for the reply. I read from the SPCR review that the 7700 ALCU is not significantly better than the 7000 ALCU, and the 7700 CU is way too heavy.

Yeh i am amazed by the look of the stock heatsink that came with my 4400+ too. Have you tried to use it? How is the temp and the noise?

Mar. · Post by **Mar.** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:19 pm

addyngan wrote:Thanks for the reply. I read from the SPCR review that the 7700 ALCU is not significantly better than the 7000 ALCU, and the 7700 CU is way too heavy.

Yeh i am amazed by the look of the stock heatsink that came with my 4400+ too. Have you tried to use it? How is the temp and the noise?

And _I_ have read, that there is virtually no performance difference between the 7700AlCu and the 7700Cu. I don't remember where the review was, but they cited a 0C difference at idle, and 1C at load.

Mari0-Br0s · Post by **Mari0-Br0s** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:46 pm

Hum... is your 4400+ @ stock voltage ? Because on another forum, I saw people having around 58 celcius degrees with 2 instances of prime95. The thing is, they had overclocked the CPU to 2.4GHz with Vcore at 1.550 Stock Vcore should be 1.330 or 1.4 depending of chip version.

If you did not overclocked your CPU, I suggest you to verify if the thermal paste is correctly installed, with the heatsink and the fan. Also, I suggest you to have at least one case fan to exhaust the hot air. A regular 4400+ suppost to be around 52 celcius degrees at stock volatage with 2 instances of prime95. Take a look at xtremesystems.org forum.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:11 pm

Also make sure the heatsink base is flat. Sometimes they mismanufacture one and it doesn't properly contact the CPU.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:52 pm

Yeah I say do 2 things:

one is easy and annoying, the other is fun and you have to wait for it:

1. reapplay thermal grease (artic silver 5 if you are talented, ceramique if not) 2-3 times. test what gets the best temps. easy solution, also a nice lesson, i tried this until i realized a thin coat completely over the die is best, it doesnt really ooze out if thin, so I realized that it should be evenly coated then. Thermal grease is one of the mysteries of computer life.

2. get a sticky thermometer from online, calibrate it (stick it in your mouth

and then see if the board just isnt whacked out. it could be ABIT and then it has some temp issues all of a sudden in new bios realeases.

also, that huge flower from zalman HAS to be big enough for the job. its huge and heavy and blows decent air. it cools overclocked prescott's with ease.

say it aint so ma!

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:19 am

nomoon is getting much lower temps from a 4600 / Ninja combo. Although with 2 x 120's in very close proximerty to the Ninja, I'm not sure you can call it 'passive'.

Uberapan · Post by **Uberapan** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:04 am

Have you checked what kind of temperatures that chip is rated for? 60 degrees is nothing, at least not for a P4 chip. My 2.0 ghz Willamette P4 routinely reaches 70 degrees, and it still works fine.

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 6:54 am

Thanks for everyone's reply!

Mari0-Br0s: I am running it stock right now, and software monitor reports 1.3V, and i do not overclock atm because of the already high temp. I saw that you also run a similar setup but with the P180 (and what heatsink?), what's ur temp like?

Shadowknight: I believe the heatsink itself is ok, as i've used it in previous CPUs, a 2.4C northwood which runs real cool (sth like 34, a different motherboard though), and the 3200+ winchester which runs kind of hot but not unreasonable (40 idle,51 load).

~El~Jefe~: I will try reapplying that. I used the arctic silver 5, but i followed their instruction to have a rice-like piece in the middle and hoping it would ooze out. I will try to spread it out next time. (What do u use to spread it out? My first candidate is a credit card, but then it's not exactly clean..)

Uberapan: The chip seems to be rated for 65C, that's why i am worried as mine is getting close. And anyway, other people even manage to overclock it with stock cooling and still get temps lower than mine.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:17 am

well, get some high concentration rubbing alcohol, isopropyl.

some say it has water in it and is conductive. eh, the machine is off and stuff, never had an issue with that. I use pure methanol now, the public cannot get this stuff as if it ignites, your bascially dead or severely disfigured.

however, there's water in that as soon as you open it up, sux water in, or apply onto a thing, water goes into it making it conductive. not really an issue however. well, swab down an edge of a credit card. it works fine then. i use packaging blister pack plastic, i cut it into 1/2 inch wide strip and use that.

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:04 am

hmm.. i just reseat the heatsink (and spreading the arctic silver) but the temp is the same..

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:14 am

The only way you will likely get the chip temperature lower is better cooling. That either means more airflow (which is too loud) or a better HS. While the 7000 is a good entry level heatsink it isnt really meant for something like a dual core chip (especially running on 5V). I'd go get a Ninja or an XP-120. If cost is a problem, you can pick up an xp-90 with a 92mm nexus for ~$40 at jab-tech.com.

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:08 am

Now that i have reseated the heatsink and the temp stay the same (23C ambient, 59-60C for 2 instances of prime95, w/ 7000AlCu at 5V, and 54-55C for 12V), i am considering several options:

1. Better heatsink: Ninja or XP-120, probably with a nexus at 12V. If i simply plug it the numbers from the reviews here, it extrapolates to suggest that the load temp shd go down to about 51, then i will be quite happy. (0.31 C/W for zalman 12V, 0.24 C/W for zalman 5V, 0.18 C/W for ninja w/ nexus 12V). Do you think such extrapolation is valid? I would hate to spend the $ and time on a new heatsink and only shave 1-2 degrees..

2. P180: my case is sort of cramped right now with 3 HDs and the big 7800 GTX. How much cooler would the better airflow of P180 give me?

Thanks all!

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:16 am

addyngan wrote:
2. P180: my case is sort of cramped right now with 3 HDs and the big 7800 GTX. How much cooler would the better airflow of P180 give me?

Thanks all!

It will give you much better airflow. Since you can move the HD's down to the lower chamber, the intake restriction is eliminated. and if you remove the upper 3.5" bay, there will be plenty of room for air to flow around the 7800GTX.
The other advantage is that you can just put two nexus's or yate-loon's on the exhaust points and cool the ninja "passivly" while also exhausting the hot air.

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:24 pm

I took the plunge and ordered the ninja with a nexus fan. Hope i can get it soon! If it still doesn't help by much i will really need to consider a p180..

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:07 am

It might help to use a 120 x 38 rear case fan. This gets the fan 12mm closer to the Ninja, so should cool that little bit better, hopefully to the extent that you won’t need the Nexus on the Ninja (or a top fan). Hightower seems to prefer the CoolerMaster Alu 120/38 to the Nexus 120/25 – see here.

Btw, here’s an alternative to the Ninja. I’m not sure the EVO120 was designed to be run passive, but it’s off-set design should mean it ends up as close to a 120/38 rear case fan as the Ninja gets.