CPU gets too hot!

[ctjoyce]

There is no souch thing as a 9550Cu, only a 9500 and a 9700. You may be thinking of the AM2 version, but even then its the same number.

As far as the noise goes, its only loud if you make it. In silent, it still does a very good job of cooling, and making no noise whatsoever.

Cheers
Cameron

[flymo]

kl, if it truely is quiet i mite get one soon, cos im currently reading about getting my 4600+ up to 3ghz stable, which is possible just need volt mod and good cooling.
this zalman thing could be the answer to the cooling issue if it is as good as you say it is cam

[ctjoyce]

The proof is in the picture (Temp 1 is the CPU).

Cheers
Cameron

[yf]

"disapointing"

I just finish instaling the 9500, and the idle temp 38 amd load 45 ocercklocked to 3.7 using 1.5 vcore, its idle is 53-55 load is 63 and up and.... a blue screen!

can some one explain to me in what point the zalman 9500 is doing a better job from the stock fan??

My CPU gets "hot" and it need to be "freezed" not just "fan'd", it was a major job to disconect the entire 680i and lift it up to but under the parts needed to install the zalman.

is it somthing I did wrong???

yf

[ctjoyce]

Did you apply thermal paste before installing the heatsink? Its that guey stuff that came with the fan. You have to have a nice covering of that between your processer and the fan for any heatsink to work.

The Zalman is the best heatsink you can buy, so its not the heatsink, most likely its you, or you are reading the wrong sensor. where are you getting your temps from?

Cheers
Cameron

[justpassingthrough]

I just installed the 9700 version of the Zalman and I can tell you that if you use too much thermal compound it will be just as bad as not enough. My first install of it was not very successful because of that. The assistance I received from NickN said to place a healthy dot about 3/16th's in diameter, and not piled too high, directly to the center of the die and then carefully install the Zalman making sure I do not smear it sideways when the heatsink is installed. Once locked down, slightly rotate it left to right several times to spread the compound and give it about 10 minutes to finish seating. Once fired up and the CPU temperature is verified as good in the BIOS, use a CPU stress program such as Prime95 to cook it for a period of time monitoring temps to make sure no overheating. After a good burn, shut down for at least an hour. I was also told for the first 30 days it was best to not leave the system on all the time and to turn it off at night or when not in use. That cycle completes the cure process and after a period of time the system can remain on however long.


That process brought my CPU temp down to 30 idle and 45 load. I am only slightly overclocking. The reason I got the Zalman was to clock higher. I was told to keep the AMD 64 CPU below 60 and that 55c would be the max I would want to run it for extended periods under a load because there are typically 2 sensors for CPU temps and one of them will usually read 5-7c below the actual. With the recent upgrade to the latest AMD processor driver and the latest SpeedFan, there is support for the 2 CPU temps and he was right that the one I have been looking at is 5-7c lower than what the chip actually is!

NickN helped me overclock my system and in that process told me to never run a high overclock when a HSF is first installed. It is best to run normal or a mild overclock during the first boot and check of the system and if temps do not seem right to reseat the unit to confirm it is not a install error. During the first burn-in it is OK to clock up a bit but to refrain from a high clock until the first test cycle is complete. After that start raising slowly and retest with Prime95. Eventually an error pops up in Prime95 and when it does, back off. Each Prime test should run 1 hour at minimum or until an error appears. Once the final settings are established Prime should be run for 24 hours to confirm no errors. If one appears, back it down slightly and try again until no errors are seen. At that point you have the most stable CPU clock possible. He also suggested running Super_pi which stresses memory and CPU.

He also had me replace my 80mm rear tower fan with a 120mm silent unit. There is more to cooling than just the CPU heatsink. If the tower cannot get the air out and because of hot cards and other devices the ambient in the tower rises, the CPU temp will jump. A way to check that is run with the side of the tower off. As long as you dont live in the desert or in a place that has a temp of above 80 degrees you should be able to see if the tower airflow is correct. Also, the Zalman must be installed with the fan blowing toward the rear tower fan. I have read about people who point it in the wrong direction or try to use it in a tower that does not have a rear fan, or one in the right location which will grab the hot CPU air being expelled by the Zalman and remove it from the tower right away. The Zalman was designed for it to blow air directly ar the rear fan.

I was also looking at the different Zalamn units. NickN recommended the 9700 version of the Zalman because it comes with a clip type retainer that works for 939, AM2 and many Intels along with the backplate mounts if needed, so I did not have to remove the motherboard to install. He said the older models do not have all the clip support the newer ones do and that when I upgrade I am ready for just about anything without having to buy a new or updated unit. It also comes with a secondary speed contoller for fine tuning only the AM2 version of the 9500 had. Between the 120mm rear fan which ports almost twice the air at 1/2 the RPM and the Zalman properly installed and tweaked for speed my tower makes 1/2 the noise and is significanly cooler that it ever was in the past.

I now feel more confident about learning overclocking and I am about ready to start testing to see how high I can get it.

[yf]

okay, first thanks all for yous support.

I used 4 lines artic silver5 on the chip and installed the 9500, was it to much?

here is a PICTURE WERE MY PC IS and the case is the antec gammers case









so how is my set up?

thanks yf

[justpassingthrough]

I

[yf]

First, Thanks for looking and trying to help.

I was working very hard to get all that cables in place, but "this" is the best I can do!

Its almost not posible to have a clean cables set up, I'm ready to spend for the "right case" as far I know, this case should give an ultimate cooling design will all dose fans, do you know, what will/can work?

I just want to have a smashing highend rig, so i did 4 raptors in a raid 0, and it works like a jet. but I never dream'd i will have so much problems, I wanted to play fsx smoooooth and thats it. I was ready to pay for a compeny to get it setup for me, but i could not find one, so i did it my self, and the hard parts I pay'd for a teck to do, and here I am,

[ctjoyce]

MY GOD MAN!! You have just given me an anursim.


This is what a case with correct cableing should look like.


You say that you tried to get those wires as tidy as you could. I dont believe you. I dont see a single Zip tie in your case, nor do I see you makeing any attempt to hide those wires behind the motherboard or the drive cages. Grab a bag of Zip ties, and get hideing. Lust looking at that case, I can tell you that you could easily clean up some of that wireing.

If your willing to pay for a new case, and you want the best you can get, its time for a SilverStone TJ07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811163067

Two 120mm top blowing fans, two rear 92mm fans, two three drive HDD racks each cooled by a 120mm fan. That is the case you need. It also comes in a non windowed version. With your raptors setup like you have them they will catch fire eventualy, the new case will allow you to space your drives and actively cool them.

Cheers
Cameron

[justpassingthrough]

Now thats more like it. My tower looks like the picture ctjoyce posted. I run 3 hard drives 2 CD burners and a floppy.


About the silverstone tower, I like the construction quality but the design does not appeal to me. For some reason putting a PSU at the bottom of the tower and crowd the hard drives there too does not compute to me. All that heat, even with the fans below and the power supply fan running, makes no sense to me. Too many fans too. I can not believe a tower needs that many fans running if it is laid out correctly unless I'm living in a hot environment. I like performance but I just dont think it requires all that air. I have been looking into a bare aluminum or stainless design for my next rig.

I was looking onto power supplies for my next build and the recomendation I got was for a PC Power and Cooling unit. They do not use modular connectors and the hardend wire covers. I was told those are not needed and make it harder to route the PSU wiring because it is not flexable and hard to fit in tight areas. PC Power and Cooling also posts on their site why modular connections are not good for high power systems. Connections like that create voltage drops according to their engineers.

[yf]

Okay, I realy trust you, an I new egg the case you linked above, I hope to see it soon.
is somthing else wrong or needed ection to my system?

thanks

[Ivan]

Okay, I realy trust you, an I new egg the case you linked above, I hope to see it soon.
is somthing else wrong or needed ection to my system?

thanks

1: get a fullsize bigtower
2: although imposible with your case, get the harddisks in such a position that the hot air is blown out of the case instead of being sucked in. WD Raptors tend to get very hot (that's why they have less capacity... quite a large amount of the metal base is used as cooling ribs)

[yf]

is it posible to reverse the blow of a fan?

[ctjoyce]

YF that case will be perfect for you, don't worry your little head. I have done some extensive looking for my next case, and I have yet to find something that works for our needs better than that.

@ miltestpilot: The idea behind placeing the PSU at the bottom of the case is that the PSU is one of the hottest componants in your case. When its running full blast, it can generate a lot of heat. Placeing it at the bottom of the case keeps that heat away from the processer. Also if you look at the silverstone again you will find that the hard drives are in 2 3 drive racks. For someone like YF who has 4 raptors this is perfect because he can stagger them two to each bay, and with a 120mm fan cooling each bay there is ample cooling.

There is a reason that that case has been used twice by Max PC for their dream rig, and was given case of the year twice.

Cheers
Cameron