Temp of an AMD T-Bird 1 ghz

[chilids]

According to AMD the hottest safe temp of the Athlon is around 90 C. Personlly I think that is a little high. But I have been unable to find a source that provided a good temp. What do you guys think is a safe temp to run continually at. Also my computer randomly restarts, could this be a result of over heating and an unstable system or something else.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[paparazi]

Athlon CPU temps have been a little bit of a pet project of mine ever since I got my 1.2 7 months ago.
I had some worrying temps at first untill I sorted out my case cooling (dropped them by 14C with two case fans)
Along the way I have seen dozens of posts on temps with differant Athlon speeds.
For a 1 gig
With a sorted case (1 or 2 extra 80mm case fans) standard coolermaster fan/heatsink, absolute maximum temps with normal ambients no higher than 40c
Idling late 20's early 30's C
These temps are just very general but fairly normal from my experiences. Martin
PS. You shouldn't experience lockups untill you touch 60C + Vote if you found this post helpful please!!

 

[chilids]

Well, I'm hitting 60. My case is left open, from what I heard that will do more then having 2 fans inside. I'm going to get a Dragon Orb soon and see what that does. But thanks for your help.


Matt

 

[paparazi]

Leaving the sides off you would think is better than case fans but isn't! you have no movement of air.
Unless you live in a very warm country or you case is in a very confined space, even a standard generic heatsink/fan should be capable of keeping those temps below 50C with a 1 gig T/bird.
This leads me to believe that the heatsink cannot be seated correctly on the processor.
If you had a thermal transfer pad on your heatsink did you remove the plastic peel off strip before fitting?
Also these can only be used once! if you have taken it off for any reason all the old pad needs removing (completely) and thermal transfer paste applying,. just on the small raised contact billet.
Most Socket A heatsinks have a machined cut out in the base and must be fitted ONE WAY! (cut out over the ZIF socket A writing) otherwise it may not sit squarely on the processor.
Last thing read the reviews before buying a heatsink/fan those Dragon Orbs look nice but as a rule the design does not perform well, don't take my word for it, read a socket A heatsink review. Martin Vote if you found this post helpful please!!

 

[chilids]

Well, the problem came when I did take the heat sink off. I need to put more paste on. I know that is the problem. But I've been wondering about the temp for awhile. Even before this my heat was up there alittle, not as bad as it is now. I will check out some reviews.


Matt

 

[CitrixEngineer]

paparazi is dead right.

If you leave the case off, you will reduce airflow over the processor. This is extremely important - especially with Athlons.

To ensure good airflow, you should not only have a processor fan, but at least two case fans - one at the front, near the bottom, sucking air into the case, and one at the back, near the top, blowing air out. If the case is off, the air will not move properly over the components, and they will not be cooled efficiently.

Also essential is good contact between the heatsink and processor. The heatsink should preferably be of a good quality, with a (clean!) copper base.

Also, dust in the case acts as an insulator, as far as heat is concerned, but, paradoxically, can cause minute short-circuits which in theselves promote heat. Dust gets in (and stays there) more easily if there is no constant airflow.

No matter how good the heatsink and thermal compound, if the inside of the case is warming up, it will become less efficient at dispersing heat from the processor. So pay attention to airflow!

I hope this is helpful

 

[paparazi]

Just thoroughly clean off the old pad, most of this you can just pick off , the rest will come of with a scowering pad (plastic type) try not to mark the base.
You only need the smallest amount of paste on the contact patch only (the paste contrary to popular belief is not as good a thermal conductor as metal to metal contact) all the thermal paste does is to fill in the microscopic surface inperfections and remove air pockets. In an ideal world the processor contact patch and the heatsink base would be so perfectly machine matched that an ideal metal to metal contact could be achieved for optimal heat transfer, as it is thermal compound is the second best thing.
Don't be tempted to pollish the heatsink base, the fine machined roughness is their to aid the spread of the thermal paste, pollishing the base detracts from a good contact (a bit like slick tyers in the wet) you get aquaplaining . Martin Vote if you found this post helpful please!!