Problems with AM2 build and Zalman cooling. Please help...

[killtacular]

Hello all,

I recently built the following PC. The specs are as follows:

Asus AM2 M2N-E motherboard
Corsair XMS2 6400 1GB Cas 5 ram
AM2 X2 4600+ processor
250GB Sata 2 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard drive
530W Hiper Type R Modular PSU
Sapphire 256MB X1300 graphics card
Antec Super Lanboy Case
Zalman CNPS9500 AM2 Heatsink/Fan
Windows XP SP2 Professional

However, I am experiencing constant freezing and some rebooting as well as the problems:

1) When I, say, delete a folder, the folder would still be on my desktop until I right click and select refresh?

2) When I "switch" user to log in as another user, my screen would go black until I physically switch my monitor off and then on ??

3)The PC would sometimes freeze and automatically rebbot itself ??

Now for my cooling problems:

With a bog standard AMD heatsink/fan (no fancy pipes) my idle cpu temp is 40 degrees and on full load its 60 degrees. I purchased the Zalman cooler and expected amazing temperature drops but they are the same!? I cheched the bios to check the cpu temp (in case the Asus software was screwy) but the bios told me the same???? P.S My case has 2x 120mm fans and my PSU has one 120mm fan and one 80mm fan.

In conlcusion, I think I my have a faulty motherboard or even a bad PSU? What do you guys and gals think? Please provide me with any info you possibly can, as well as any experiences with the Zalman cpu coolers for AM2 as I had expected big temp drops.

Thank You all for your time and feedback.

 

[akira982443]

for the 1st problem.. try running memtest86 on that ram... if you got 2 stick.. then test 1 by 1... for the 2nd problem.. go and buy artic silver and apply according to the instruction.. the instruction is on their website...

 

[sleepy127]

The freezing almost sounds like it could be ram or a bad psu. After running memtest get speedfan and check your volts for bad fluctuations. As far as the cooler goes I didn't see much of a change in temps either. It seems that the box cooler is a fairly good one. There are some problems with the zalman not being flat thus reducing the surface contact area with the cpu. You can fix it by lapping the cooler and the cpu also (it may void the warranty). Also as the other poster suggested apply some AS5.

 

[killtacular]

Hi all,

Thanks for the speedy reply.

I have ran memtest86 and that did not report back anu errors. Also, I ran speedfan and everything seems normal. However, my ram seems to be at 61 degrees? Is that normal?

I have read somewhere that this constant freezing/restarting thing has something to do with the CPU HT voltage being set too low by the mobo? Has anyone heard of this?

Memtest86 took hours, if it was a PSU fault, wouldn't the comp have restarted within those hours? It was fine then however back to normal desktop and it restarts every 30-60mins?

I emailed Asus. I am thinking of swapping my motherboard or getting Gigabyte instead...

 

[calyn]

Do you have another video card to test with? Try that as it seems to happen with a graphical interface. It could also be as simple as a botched windows install... you could try reinstalling that from scratch as a second thing.

 

[trailranger]

Hmm...Zalman not working? When I get my DDR2 ram in the mail I'll get a first chance to see if there is any difference with my CPNS9500 installed....Did you notice that the cooler can twist 15 degrees on the chip, mine does and gives me some worry.

I really doubt the cooler is faulty but, check anyways:
IS FAN Speed is between 1350~2650
IS There is an even thin coat of thermal compound on the heatsink and cpu, this means removing the cooler and scapeing off the old and using new compound. I used a razor blade to spread mine out.
Is there a good seat between the cooler and cpu. I did the wiggle and press while the CPU is clamped in palce to help form a better bond between the cooler and CPU.

Now for case airflow:
UMM...I perfer the intake low from the front of the case with two 80mm fans. Then exhaust it in the upper rear near the CPU with two 80mm fans, not including the PSU fan. I used Aluminum tape to tape all the excess small wires to the case walls. It matches nicely with the Aluminum case. I also used the AL tape to smooth out sections of the case where there were lots of holes that would slow down the air before being circulated over the critical areas. The fan mounted on the view panel, I have not made up my mind to keep it, or force air in the case, or out of the case...or relocate it ...still waiting on the RAM to make the test. With my old setup it was better to force air in since the CPU FAN was pushing air down to the chip not drawing it off. The Zalman Throws a kink with the horizontal setup.

 

[killtacular]

I've purchased Arctic Silver 5 and will be applying that between the heatsink and CPU. Hopefully that will make a difference. Arctic Silver claim it can take up to 200 hours for maximum heat transfer...

My Zalman fan speed is running at 2410. I did not notice the cooler twisting in any way.

Maybe my graphics card is faulty too? That would explain the monitor refresh problems????

This is too confusing. At this moment in time, I'm thinking of getting the Gigabyte mobo GA-M57SLI-S4 as well as replacing my video card. Still waiting for Asus' reply...

 

[killtacular]

A update for you all!

I now have the Gigabyte mobo GA-M57SLI-S4 (replaced crappy Asus M2N-E) and Arctic Silver 5 as well as a LeadTek Nvidia 7600GT .

The monitor refresh/ switch problems have all been resolved thanks to the new card.

In addition, the random reboots and system crashes have all stoped and the system is so much more stable! Also my CPU now runs at 28-30 degrees idle and around 45 degrees full load! Thats sounds so much better!

In conclusion, Asus sucks Gigabyte rules! Will never purchase Asus mobo again!