Which Cpu Cooler To Buy..?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I upgraded my computer last weekend, from Athlon 3000+ to Athlon 64 X2 5600+, including a new mainboard Asus M2N68. Now this CPU for some weird reason is running very hot, idle at 55 degrees Celsius and under lot it quickly goes to 70 - and then the computer turns off, overheat protection.

I still use the cooler i had before, an Arctic Freezer Pro 64 which should be pretty sufficient, but somehow isn't.

It is definitely seated correctly, just it's base plate (that sits on the CPU) is a little smaller than the CPU itself.

I haven't tried the stock fan yet but from what i've read this is much worse, although this system has run before for a few months without problems, just under a different OS and never experiencing any load (office computer).

Now what would be a good CPU cooler for tropical conditions (Thailand!) that is also available here..? I spend all day googling and each test/review has a different winner, which makes it hard to decide (plus most of those you can't get here anyway).

Appreciate any information.......

Kind regards....

Thanh

[Guest Reimar]

Hi.

I upgraded my computer last weekend, from Athlon 3000+ to Athlon 64 X2 5600+, including a new mainboard Asus M2N68. Now this CPU for some weird reason is running very hot, idle at 55 degrees Celsius and under lot it quickly goes to 70 - and then the computer turns off, overheat protection.

I still use the cooler i had before, an Arctic Freezer Pro 64 which should be pretty sufficient, but somehow isn't.

It is definitely seated correctly, just it's base plate (that sits on the CPU) is a little smaller than the CPU itself.

I haven't tried the stock fan yet but from what i've read this is much worse, although this system has run before for a few months without problems, just under a different OS and never experiencing any load (office computer).

Now what would be a good CPU cooler for tropical conditions (Thailand!) that is also available here..? I spend all day googling and each test/review has a different winner, which makes it hard to decide (plus most of those you can't get here anyway).

Appreciate any information.......

Kind regards....

Thanh

The max temp for the Athlon AM X2 5600 is 55-70 Celisus.

If you look for an better Fan/Cooler, may you'll visit the AMD site here: http://products.amd.com/en-us/RecommendedT...0%2b&f9=AM2 for more infos regarding that.

Hops that helps.

By the way, I've an Athlon 6000 more than a year and run in my Office 24/7 without Aircon and the temp is all times 60-66 Celsius. The Athlon 5000 in my Server's (3) are never above 50 Celsius. And I use the AMD Fan/Cooler only!

Cheers.

[dave_boo]

Thermal compound.

Did you replace the 'goop' that was between the old processor and your HSF? Or if the HSF had a pad rather than a paste, did you scrape the old stuff off with a razor and alcohol and apply new?

I personally wouldn't worry too much about the HSF's base being smaller than the heat spreader on the CPU. The actual core is pretty much in the centre of the heat spreader, and in fact there was a whole sub-culture that would remove the heatspreader and have the HSF contact the core directly.

If I had to recommend a new HSF, Zalman would be the best. They're big and heavy copper heatsinks that do a really good job removing the heat. Just a word of caution, those fins are SHARP. I had the CNPS7700 before and a careless slip on my part had blood everywhere; cussed a lot and then checked the temps. If a blood sacrifice for the Zalman gods was needed for those temps on the Barton, it was worth it!

[moo9]

Hi.

I upgraded my computer last weekend, from Athlon 3000+ to Athlon 64 X2 5600+, including a new mainboard Asus M2N68. Now this CPU for some weird reason is running very hot, idle at 55 degrees Celsius and under lot it quickly goes to 70 - and then the computer turns off, overheat protection.

I still use the cooler i had before, an Arctic Freezer Pro 64 which should be pretty sufficient, but somehow isn't.

It is definitely seated correctly, just it's base plate (that sits on the CPU) is a little smaller than the CPU itself.

I haven't tried the stock fan yet but from what i've read this is much worse, although this system has run before for a few months without problems, just under a different OS and never experiencing any load (office computer).

Now what would be a good CPU cooler for tropical conditions (Thailand!) that is also available here..? I spend all day googling and each test/review has a different winner, which makes it hard to decide (plus most of those you can't get here anyway).

Appreciate any information.......

Kind regards....

Thanh

The max temp for the Athlon AM X2 5600 is 55-70 Celisus.

If you look for an better Fan/Cooler, may you'll visit the AMD site here: http://products.amd.com/en-us/RecommendedT...0%2b&f9=AM2 for more infos regarding that.

Hops that helps.

By the way, I've an Athlon 6000 more than a year and run in my Office 24/7 without Aircon and the temp is all times 60-66 Celsius. The Athlon 5000 in my Server's (3) are never above 50 Celsius. And I use the AMD Fan/Cooler only!

Cheers.

mine is running at 45-48 c no aircon, same Asus MB using the Asus Cool and quiet utility. I think it is an assembly problem, as I use the stock AMD fan. But I have a spacious case. There should be no need for an aftermarket fan in case one is not overclocking the processor.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

The problem is solved - in another way And bothg of you are right. First, @Reimar:

I have "borrowed" an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ from the office to install it in my system test-wise - and the temperatures are normal! I.e. 38 degrees C idle, 51 after half an hour of 100% on both cores (easy test - open a torrent with 25,000 files in uTorrent under Wine (Linux!) and "force re-check" - the program will freeze dead and both cores go 100%. Leave as long as you wish to test Tested at a room temperature of pretty much exactly 30 degrees C.

My googling all day with subsequent detailed check of my BIOS features verified what i've read - this particular board (M2N68) appears to have a problem with this particular CPU. The CPU gets too high a voltage, and there is no way to set it lower in the BIOS! The CPU is supposed to get 1.3 Volts and the board rapes it with 1.45. Hence the overheating - after a cold boot (!) straight to BIOS (mere seconds!) and already 55 degrees C..? Something NOT normal there. But with the 5000+ it works perfectly, so i'll keep that one and my office computer gets the hot 5600+ (aircon running all day at the office - doesn't matter there, apart from the fact it's another board anyway).

@dave_boo

Yes, i replaced that stuff. The Arcic originally had a pad (which, according to reviews, has identical properties to Arctic's "Silver" compound) and i removed it completely from the HS when swapping the CPU first time round. I used a compound from Zalman (for lack of Arctic Silver, i couldn't find that at Panthip, "out of stock" where ever i went!) and it worked flawlessly so far, i have used it on a few CPU's. Now it's almost finished, just today i ordered some Arctic "Silver 5" via E-Bay.

The Zalman cooler you recommend, is it available at Panthip? Although my problem is solved now, i might want a good spare - or for the next computer

With kind regards.....

Thanh