Just some basic questions on hardware

[Shohan]

Ok I am one of the lucky few who are experiencing heat problems with my AMD 1400MHz CPU and the ASUS A7A266 Motherboard.

1)Has anyone else with this problem found a solution?

2)I am thinking of replacing my ASUS with a Giga-Byte, is this recommended?

3)Is

http://www.pricewatch.com

as good as it seems? And is it safe?

4)Should I forget AMD and go Pentium?(Not my favored action but if it works.)

 

[osuman]

What have you done to correct the problem? Try a bigger heatsink and/or fan. You may also want to get another case fan, and be sure cables and ribbons aren't blocking the cold air inflow.

 

[lizzard394]

I would go with a new board, although it has nothing to do with the heat. You may want to go into your BIOS and enabable your spread spectrum that will allow your fan to turn at more rpms.


P.s. azus has a 40% return on there boards

 

[paparazi]

This board is apparently known for exagerating CPU temperature, but this doesn't mean that processors on this board actually run any hotter than any other board!!
You say you have heat problems?? is it locking up? bombing out?? or is it just the reported temperatures are scareing the hell out of you?
There is a serious heat issue with T/birds of this speed but this is a seriouly fast processor.
You want a fast Ferrari so you don't put remould tyres on it!! you use V RATED Goodyears.
Put a decent heatsink/fan on it, at least two extra case fans in the system and there is NO PROBLEM! for this fast Ferrari! Martin
PS! Why on earth would you want to take a step backward and get a Pentium?

 

[osuman]

I think you mean Z rated Goodyears. They tend to be a little stickier than V rated tires.
Cheers

 

[Shohan]

These are the specs of my system:

1.4GHz AMD Athalon
Antec Heatsink rated to 1.5GHz
ASUS A7A266 Motherboard
256 MB of PC2100
16x DVD
40 GB Maxtor HDD 5400 RPM
64 MB GeForce 2 MX-400
SB Live! 5.1
10/100 NetGear NIC
56K v.90 Modem
300 Watt Powersupply
2x Case Fans

I am encountering choppiness in the running programs, high heat readings, regular system lock-ups( every 30 min), and power and heat spikes (these are readings from the ASUS Probe).

To correct the problem I have replaced the heatsink to the Antec brand one and installed the 2 case fans. The configuration of the case fans is also at question for me. I have had the bottom blowing in and then the top blowing in and out on different occasions with no real advance.

And as far as degenerating to a P4, this is only a solution to the problem as a last resort. As I said not my favored action.

Everyone talks about Pricewatch.com; is it as good as it seems and is it safe?

 

[osuman]

When you install the extra case fans you have to ensure that they are FLOWING air. The ideal case is to get the air to flow in one side and out the other. You could put one fan on the front sucking air in and one on the back pushing air out. If you put them both on the same side, it may just recirculate air and accomplish nothing. Also, to determine that it really is too hot, open the case, get it running for a while and put your finger on the processor. I have read that a good rule of thumb is that if you can't keep your finger there for more than 10 seconds then it's too hot. I think there is a lot more things to try before buying a new processor. As for pricewatch however, it's just a site that lists the current prices listed my resellers. There is really no security issue with it since you don't buy through it. It's just a reference website, but it is good, you should check it out.
Good luck.

 

[ceh4702]

Might check to see if the Power supply is AMD approved. The power supply has to provide a steady rate of power. On some cooling systems the fan actually Heats up the probe also. The fan could actually blow hot air on the motherboard's sensor. May want to check the airflow rating of the actual fans as well. Not all fans are created equal. Then check to see if your software lets you monitor the case temperature as well and compare them. The object should be to get the hot air out of the case. I have one of those enlight cases with the side panels and I was thinking of puttting a fan on the top to push the hot air straight up. More than the CPU can heat up! The memory can get too hot, and the Chipset can get too hot. The Video card could overheat as well. All I/O cards can make heat. A CD-ROM and a Hard Drive also make quite a bit of heat; not to mention a CD-RW.

I saw a kit at a case mode site for a fan monitoring system that can monitor 4 case fans. It has a digital Temperature readout and mounts in a CDROM size bay. It has an additional fan next to the readout. You just hook the power up to it and run leads from it to the fans. Looked very interesting. It might be nice if you had additional case fans that were switched so they could be turned off from a central location. I think it left enough room behind it to mount a harddrive.That way you could turn them off at night if you like to keep your system running all the time. I think fans are rated at Cubic Feet per minute or something like that. Some sites have the rating and some don't. They claim that a cooling system with a copper base works better.

Might be easier to make a little refrigerator or buy an air conditioner and hook up a little tube to it. They make them little fans that mount on a wall like they use inside a bus or a truck imagine mounting one of those on the bottom the case and pointing it at the cpu.

The CPU may not be making good contact with the cooling system because of the rubber pads. you may need a shim to help it make better contact.
If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.