Problems with my new Volcano 7+

[travbrad1001]

I just purchased a Volcano 7+ for my Athlon XP 1900+. I am getting 122F full load and 114F idle. This seems much too high considering I have my case off. My friend got a volcano 7 recently for his 1800+ and it runs below 110F full load. Any tips on what I might have done wrong. I'm thinking it might be the thermal compound. Any tips on the thickness of the thermal compound would be helpful as well as any other suggestions you may have.

 

[jihiggs]

thin as a piece of paper, on the little square in the middle only.

how do you shoot the devil in the back? what happens if you miss? -verbal

 

[cakecake]

Three things:

Thermal compound should be put on as thin as possible. As thin as you can get away with, just enough to fill all the tiny valleys inside the heatsink and the top of the core.

Make sure your heatsink is properly seated on top of each of the rubber pads so that you know it is getting full (flat) contact with the core.

When you put the heatsink on, did you have to twist it on? If so the thermal paste may have smeared a bit, causing it to spread and creating air bubbles inside of it.

 

[travbrad1001]

How do you align the heatsink correctly without twisting. Ive tried 4 times and I can't get it right

 

[cakecake]

Well it's impossible to not have to twist it, but just minimize the amount that you have to twist so that it isn't messed up too much. The other thing I'd consider is the quality of the thermal compound. Maybe your friend has a compound that can reduce thermal resistance better.

 

[bum_jcrules]

Those temps aren't bad. That is between 45.56C and 50C.

1. Are your ambient temps the same as the one you are comparing it to?

2. Where is the reference case located in comparison to yours? Next to an air register or a floorboard heater? In direct sunlight, etc.?

3. Is the clip on the Heatsink as tight as the reference heatsink's?

There are a lot of other factors that could explain this. I and others can ask a whole bunch of additional questions to help you make thermal inprovements.

<b>"Sometimes you can't hear me because I'm talking in parenthesis" - Steven Wright</b> :lol: