Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU

Posted by: burdell1

Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 22/08/2005 12:43

I recently installed a new motherboard and CPU in my computer (an Intel 3.4 ghz) and it seems to run really hot ( avg. temp is 135 F for the CPU and 110 for the motherboard.) Evidently my case is not very good at dispersing heat, so I was wondering if there are any cases you suggest that are good at this. Or any good, big fans that are nice and quiet or any other heatsinks that would be good?
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 22/08/2005 13:02

Unfortunately, this is a pretty normal temperature for Intel's latest cores (Prescott). It's also the main reason I've made the switch to AMD, something I would have considered impossible no less than a year ago. I still like Intel though, and plan on returning to them once they clean up their act and produce good, solid and low-temp cpu's again, just like they've always done in the past.

But to answer your question: I doubt there's much that can be done about those temps. Not with a quiet fan, or without the aid of a watercooled setup anyway...
Posted by: mlord

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 22/08/2005 23:48

Quote:
once they clean up their act and produce good, solid and low-temp cpu's again, just like they've always done in the past.


Mm... AFAICR, Intel CPUs have always had a reputation (deserved) for running HOT HOT HOT!

Cheers
Posted by: tman

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 23/08/2005 00:02

Quote:
Mm... AFAICR, Intel CPUs have always had a reputation (deserved) for running HOT HOT HOT!

That's not true. The old Athlons were famous for running exceptionally hot and then frying themselves because AMD didn't have any form of thermal throttling. Intel have suddenly gone crazy in power consumption and heat output because of their misguided attempts at marketing based on how high of a clock can you go even at the detriment of performance per clock.

Intel should be a lot better once they junk the NetBurst architecture that the Pentium 4 uses and switches over to the Pentium M based chips.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 28/08/2005 13:07

are there some fans that work better than others? my case doesn't have a back fan....is there some sort of big heat sink that I can put in that will help dissipate the heat?
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 28/08/2005 22:49

Gah. www.zalmanusa.com .
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 29/08/2005 02:04

Quote:
Gah. www.zalmanusa.com .

Ditto. But as has been the experience of others on this board [sorry!], make sure to check their compatability documentation before ordering. Your motherboard may not be able to physically hold those circular heatsinks.
Posted by: larry818

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 29/08/2005 11:21

Quote:
Ditto. But as has been the experience of others on this board [sorry!], make sure to check their compatability documentation before ordering. Your motherboard may not be able to physically hold those circular heatsinks.


It seems in particular that most Zalman heat sinks require the threaded inserts around the socket to mount them. Their only real claim to fame is that they are almost silent. They do this by running huge fans very slowly on huge heat sinks. On my mb, the heat sinks were too big.

I ended up running the Cooler Master Aero fans (they are designed for full flow at 1800 rpm, most other fans are 3600 rpm. Blade fans lose eff at lower speeds, something like 50% flow at 80% speed.) mounted on the original heat sinks. I've attached a picture of it. It worked pretty well, but didn't move air like the original, extremely noisy fans. My cpu would exceed 65 degrees c if the room got to 30 degrees c. In a cooler room, you should have no problems.

My room gets that hot sometimes in the summer, so I ended up using a water cooling system. It cools both the Athlon cpus, the VGA card, and the hard drive. The CPUs are running 15 degrees cooler and now my only fan on the 'puter is in the Zalman silent power supply. The radiator comes with two 120mm fans that almost never run over first speed (ten speeds). The whole thing is very silent now.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 29/08/2005 13:49

Quote:
My cpu would exceed 65 degrees c if the room got to 30 degrees c. In a cooler room, you should have no problems.

My room gets that hot sometimes in the summer

Your room gets to 30 in the summer? Don't you have air conditioning? I know people say they don't need it in California, but if it were me in California, I would need it.
Posted by: canuckInOR

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 30/08/2005 04:50

Quote:
Quote:
My cpu would exceed 65 degrees c if the room got to 30 degrees c. In a cooler room, you should have no problems.

My room gets that hot sometimes in the summer

Your room gets to 30 in the summer? Don't you have air conditioning? I know people say they don't need it in California, but if it were me in California, I would need it.

I have AC, but have never turned it on. And yeah, it can get pretty warm in my apartment. The thing is, during the day, I'm typically at work, so I don't care if my apartment is a bit toasty, and by the time I'm home, it's usually cooled off to bearable temperatures.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 07/09/2005 11:22

my computer has started to shut off again for no reason....is there any way to find out what the temperature of the cpu and motherboard was at the time it shuts off?
Posted by: Roger

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 07/09/2005 11:33

Quote:
my computer has started to shut off again for no reason....is there any way to find out what the temperature of the cpu and motherboard was at the time it shuts off?


I use MBM5 (Motherboard Monitor). See here. It lets you monitor temperatures, logging to a file, to the Windows Event Log and stuff. It has alarms, too.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 16/03/2006 16:32

for people using the Zalman fan/heatsink, how much did it lower the temperature by?
Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 16/03/2006 16:51

I lowered my temps from 150-170F to 125-135F with a Zalman. It is truly quiet.

-Zeke
Posted by: sein

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 16/03/2006 21:21

Quote:
Gah. www.zalmanusa.com .

Its a bit late for this thread, but in case it is useful for someone in the future, I would absolutely totally recommend Thermalright heatsinks paired with a good quality quiet or silent fan. The quality is outstanding, and they are very efficient for moving the heat. I have an SLK-800U in one machine and a SI-120 in another, both are ace.
Posted by: peter

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 17/03/2006 09:24

Do those heatpipe heatsinks work if the motherboard is mounted vertically? Seems to me that heatpipe operation depends on the liquid phase flowing back down to the CPU under gravity.

Peter
Posted by: tman

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 17/03/2006 10:58

Most heatpipes have a wick in them so you can use them at odd angles. Doesn't work as well as if it were vertical though.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 18/03/2006 07:15

Quote:
Do those heatpipe heatsinks work if the motherboard is mounted vertically?

Funny you should ask that, I remembered a Dan's Data column on that recently:

http://www.dansdata.com/io054.htm

My personal opinion of heat pipe products is that they are significantly less efficient than a direct-mounted heat sink, and are frequently more trouble than they're worth, except in certain places where a real heatsink is impossible logistically.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 20/04/2006 04:08

is it very hard to install? (the zalman)
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 20/04/2006 08:14

No. The newest Zalman CPU heatsink does require you to remove your motherboard to be able to install it though. (a back plate needs to be screwed onto the motherboard). This is a bit of trouble, but it's not that hard.
Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 20/04/2006 14:05

Archeon's experience matched mine. If your motherboard is an obscure model/make you may want to very carefully check the clearance dimensions and/or the supported motherboard lists before purchasing a Zalman. My install was pretty straightforward. I had to remove the Mobo, so it was not a quick project, maybe an hour and a half from start to finish. I had some motherboard screw/standoff thread pitch issues, but that had nothing to do with the Zalman.

-Zeke
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/05/2006 00:39

Is that with all the new ones or is it just certain ones where you need to take out the motherboard? I noticed on my parent's dell there is some sort of plastic "tube" (for a lack of a better word) that goes from motherboard to the vents....is there something like that I can install on mine to help expel the air out to the vents.
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/05/2006 01:01

The cases I have seen that have that just have a hole cut in the case with a tube attatched to it.
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/05/2006 07:58

With all motherboards that use an Intel 775 socket you are required to remove the motherboard. If you still have an older 478 pins model, then you'll be able to attach the cooler to the plastic holder around the CPU (socket 775 does not have such a holder) without having to take out the mobo.
I know that 'tube' system that Dell uses to get the hot air out of their cases, but I found it wasn't as effcient as you would think. It also added to the noise, so I have removed those tubes in the past and swapped the CPU cooler with a decent (Zalman) one.
Posted by: sein

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/05/2006 08:06

Quote:
Is that with all the new ones or is it just certain ones where you need to take out the motherboard?

Although the ones which require you to remove the motherboard take much more time to install, I find you end up with a much more satisfying and robust heatsink mount this way. Big heatsinks like Zalman ones are pretty heavy and it is much nicer when they are solidly mounted in all four corners instead of wrestling with that horrible two side socket clip.

EDIT: Oh, the ones with the frame around the socket are not bad either.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 10/05/2006 03:08

What is the best Zalman heat sink/fan? It seems that there are a couple of them that will work with my motherboard/CPU.
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 10/05/2006 06:18

The CNPS9500 is the most efficient (and most quiet) at the moment. This is an excellent cooler!
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 10/05/2006 14:12

What is the cheapest you have seen it for?
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 10/05/2006 18:36

I'm not really the right person to ask since I have to pay the 'Europe premium' with every purchase I make, but for you US folks, Froogle is always a good place to start.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 28/05/2006 11:18

How long of a job do you think it will be?
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 28/05/2006 20:35

Quote:
How long of a job do you think it will be?

Installing the cooler you mean? You have to remove the motherboad in order to do so. So I'd say something between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how handy you are.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 29/11/2006 15:08

Did you put that arctic silver stuff on the cpu before you put on the Zalman?
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 29/11/2006 15:14

Quote:
Did you put that arctic silver stuff on the cpu before you put on the Zalman?

Are you asking whether to put thermal compound on the CPU at all, or that type specifically?

If it's the former, then the answer is: yes, affirmative, absolutely, 100% required.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 16:48

does it matter what brand? where i work I can get some cheap, but it is the generic stuff....
Posted by: mlord

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 16:55

White thermal grease. Comes in a tiny toothpaste style of tube. Nice, generic item from any electronics shop, including Radio Shack.

Or you could pay more for the "special" stuff the computer shops sell, but it won't make a significant difference one way or another.

Cheers
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 16:57

I don't believe so. Some claim to be better than others, but I don't think it matters. Just so long as you have just the right amount on the CPU core. That's the part I hate most when building computers. It's so inexact. I liked the HSF that came with my Athlon 2100, which just had a peel-off backing over some thermal paste and I didn't have to do anything more.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 17:44

Does it matter if it is silver or white? I was planning on buying the silver stuff....
Posted by: sein

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 19:41

Quote:
Does it matter if it is silver or white? I was planning on buying the silver stuff....

No, I'm quite sure it really doesn't matter. I remember when I was really into new hardware a few years ago reading a short review of thermal paste. They tested temperatures of a CPU using a large variety of different pastes, from the free sachet you get with a heatsink to the fanciest Arctic Silver. The conclusion was, they are all the same - no temperature difference. I wish I could still find the review.

Quote:
I liked the HSF that came with my Athlon 2100, which just had a peel-off backing over some thermal paste and I didn't have to do anything more.

Yeah it is convenient, but the same review mentioned that the 'pads' on the bottom of heatsinks are not always great. For one application they are fine, but if you take the heatsink off the CPU and put it back on you are better off carefully removing the pad, cleaning the surface and using a tiny bit of liquid paste.
Posted by: tman

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 01/12/2006 21:01

I believe the canonical review of all thermal paste is at Dan's Data.
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 13/12/2006 12:08

maybe I should post this in a new thread, but....I finally installed the Zalman 9500 on my motherboard, and now when I power up the computer, the fan turns on, but the monitor doesn't turn on. I have triple checked the video card (it is a pci express) and it seems to be in ok.... any ideas? if I fried the processor, would the computer turn on at all?
Posted by: burdell1

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 13/12/2006 14:49

ok...i got that one figured out.....for those of you that have one of the Zalman heatsink/fans....what do you use for the other fans in your case? and where do you put them? Mine starts out at 110F with out the side cover on, but then when I put it on it eventually goes up to 160 ...
Posted by: Neutrino

Re: Cooling off new intel motherboard and CPU - 13/12/2006 22:18

Some time ago you had asked about a different case that might cool better. This is the case that I have been using on a file computer with no less than 7 harddrives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

It runs both cool and quiet. This case is a bit of a monster but it serves it purpose well.