quick Intel question

[notherdude]

A friend tells me an Intel p4 3ghz system he built is overheating causing the alarm to go off repeatedly. The system is at a distant location so neither he nor I can examine it at the moment. Temps must be 65 to 70 c since this is where he thinks he set the alarm. He tells me retail Intel chips come with a heatsink which has a thermal pad that is SMALLER than the surface area of the CPU. Is this true? I couldn't believe it frankly but I haven't built an Intel system in ages. I am also assuming that 65-70c even on a p4 (stock speed, no OC, cool, ventilated room) is excessive and would indicate a problem with the cooling somewhere, either fan or heatsink? Or could it be a faulty sensor on his Aopen mobo? Any ideas? My first thought is that if the fan is spinning correctly it must be bad contact between cpu and hsf but I don't know how likely this is on a retail Intel chip. Thanks.

 

[badge]

A friend tells me an Intel p4 3ghz system he built is overheating causing the alarm to go off repeatedly. The system is at a distant location so neither he nor I can examine it at the moment. Temps must be 65 to 70 c since this is where he thinks he set the alarm. He tells me retail Intel chips come with a heatsink which has a thermal pad that is SMALLER than the surface area of the CPU. Is this true? I couldn't believe it frankly but I haven't built an Intel system in ages. I am also assuming that 65-70c even on a p4 (stock speed, no OC, cool, ventilated room) is excessive and would indicate a problem with the cooling somewhere, either fan or heatsink? Or could it be a faulty sensor on his Aopen mpbo? Any ideas? My first thought is that if the fan is spinning correctly it must be bad contact between cpu and hsf but I don't know how likely this is on a retail Intel chip. Thanks.

I don't know the answer to your specific question about the thermal pad, but the heating could be caused by several things. Dust accumilation. Especially if the system is several years old and never been cleaned. Try a can of compressed air and blow the intake and exhaust fans free of dust. Also the CPU heatsink and fan should be blown free of lint and dust. I've seen a Pentium heatsink/fan look like the lint trap in a clothes dryer. Be sure the front panel air intake is blown free of dust so the air is pulled in the front and the exhaust pulls the air through the case and out the back. 120mm fans are generally more effective at cooling than 80mm. Use 80mm to 120mm fan adapters if more airflow is needed. Another cause of over heating could be the CPU is overvolted. Check in the BIOS to see that the CPU voltage is within the chip's specifications and not receiving too much voltage. HTH.

 

[Doughbuy]

P4's run hot... but 65-70 does seem just a tad bit excessive. You might want to consider taking the HSF and remounting it, using AS5 or something. I don't even want to think about how well the thermal paste that comes with most stock HSF holds up after a few years...

 

[casemods]

The stock P4 fans are only 80mm, loud as hell, and don't cool well with the stock heatsink.

Get an aftermarket heatsink with at least 4 heatpipes, and 120mm fan.

 

[notherdude]

Thanks for the replies. I think we are just going to have to open it up and see whats up. Does anyone know what usual operating temps are for a p4/3g with retail hsf? This is not an OC system despite the fact I foolishly posted this to the OC forum . .doh. Even with the stock hsf 65 to 70 seems high to me. I doubt the machine is full of dust, it's only 1 year and a few months old, although that needs to be checked. It's in an office and maybe there is lots of dust and smoke, not sure.

Also, somebody must know if the thermal pad is actually smaller than the chip. This is more for my curiosity than to troubleshoot. In all my years I've never seen such a thing and I can't imagine Intel started doing it when I wasn't looking. Thanks again

 

[casemods]

Thanks for the replies. I think we are just going to have to open it up and see whats up. Does anyone know what usual operating temps are for a p4/3g with retail hsf? This is not an OC system despite the fact I foolishly posted this to the OC forum . .doh. Even with the stock hsf 65 to 70 seems high to me. I doubt the machine is full of dust, it's only 1 year and a few months old, although that needs to be checked. It's in an office and maybe there is lots of dust and smoke, not sure.

Also, somebody must know if the thermal pad is actually smaller than the chip. This is more for my curiosity than to troubleshoot. In all my years I've never seen such a thing and I can't imagine Intel started doing it when I wasn't looking. Thanks again

You should take the whole thing apart and clean it.

My pc gets dusty after only a few months.

My stock HSF and p4 3.2 used to run 160°F while playing games, now it's about 100°F at the most while playing games with the G-power heat sink.

I have the pro edition, which only ads an RPM adjuster to the floppy or PCI.

 

[MarkG]

Does anyone know what usual operating temps are for a p4/3g with retail hsf?

Not sure quite which model you mean, but my P4-3.06 with the standard Intel fan is typically low-50s externally and low 70s internally when it's running flat out. It was getting up into the 60s a few months ago, but that was due to accumulated crud in the heat-sink: clearing that out cut the external temperature down about 10C.