Intel 945G Big Lake/Pentium D 830 very hot, help!

[Moustiq77]

Hi

I got the Gateway FX 400S desktop

http://support.gateway.com/s/pc/FX40...008493nv.shtml

with Pentium D 830 on Intel 945G Big Lake mb.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERB...5GBIG1nv.shtml

The system runs 78-85C idle which seems very hot (using the Intel Desktop Utilities to monitor). Goes up to 100C loaded. The stock heatsink is aluminum, no fan. Instead there's a 120mm on the front of the case and another one - on the back. I tried to put a nice Zalman 90mm on it, but descovered that the CPU under that sink is positioned diagonally, like a diamond. The screw holes do not corespond the diamond shape, you can see it on the sink. Didn't work. All the cpu hs/fans I looked through seem to fit the rectangular placement of the LGA775 socket only. Could anyone suggest an alternative cooling solution for such weird config (fan/hs)?

Thank you

 

[apache_lives]

perhaps the hsf is one of those oem heatsinks with the fan inside the aluminum where you cant see?

also that temp reader may be off perhaps? does the hsf get warm?

 

[Amiller127]

Hi

I got the Gateway FX 400S desktop

http://support.gateway.com/s/pc/FX40...008493nv.shtml

with Pentium D 830 on Intel 945G Big Lake mb.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERB...5GBIG1nv.shtml

The system runs 78-85C idle which seems very hot (using the Intel Desktop Utilities to monitor). Goes up to 100C loaded. The stock heatsink is aluminum, no fan. Instead there's a 120mm on the front of the case and another one - on the back. I tried to put a nice Zalman 90mm on it, but descovered that the CPU under that sink is positioned diagonally, like a diamond. The screw holes do not corespond the diamond shape, you can see it on the sink. Didn't work. All the cpu hs/fans I looked through seem to fit the rectangular placement of the LGA775 socket only. Could anyone suggest an alternative cooling solution for such weird config (fan/hs)?

Thank you

Its a BTX board meant for a BTX chassis. Your trying to use ATX coolers on the system:S

Search for BTX coolers

Intel have one at http://shop.intel.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=116&pid=SIPS1068&mscssid=E95VQT6TM1H38PWX9DQUTU4BXWNK1LN5

You should have 2 screw holes on the board and 2 on the chassis to connect the fan. If not the chassis is either not set up correctly, or your using the wrong chassis.

 

[Moustiq77]

Nope, there are no secret fans there And yes, the sink seems pretty damn hot 8O

Its a BTX board meant for a BTX chassis. Your trying to use ATX coolers on the system:S

Thank you for the tip. And, to excuse the amateurness, how the hell would I know that the BTX means the diamond-shape allocation? On the Gateway's picture it's covered with the square hs. No, I did not remove the stock hs before I ordered a fan.

So now there's a new dillema. There are BTX types I & II. I found more fans of each type. Which one is mine? It's not mentioned on the MB specs. I guess I'll try to contact Intel. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Amiller127]

Thank you for the tip. And, to excuse the amateurness, how the hell would I know that the BTX means the diamond-shape allocation? On the Gateway's picture it's covered with the square hs. No, I did not remove the stock hs before I ordered a fan.

So now there's a new dillema. There are BTX types I & II. I found more fans of each type. Which one is mine? It's not mentioned on the MB specs. I guess I'll try to contact Intel. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

I took a look at the board and its not one that is officially supported by intel that I can see. It looks to be an OEM board that either gateway have manufactured by a 3rd party with intel chipets, or intel has made specifically for gateway as an oem board. In which case intel would not support it, that would be up to Gateway.

Contact Gateway tech support and they should be able to help you.

Looking more at the board, a BTX fan might not help either. You should have only 2 places on the board to screw the fans/heatsink into and 2 on the chassis. Your case might not support a BTX fan/heatsink as this board has 4 connection points on board which arent standard :S.

Looking at the details of your system on the gateway page
http://assets.gateway.com/s/CASES/WME003668-0403/WME003668-0403iv.shtml - The cooling system looks like the ones used by intel server platforms....

I would say that if the CPU is getting hot then your fan is either not working properly, or the air duct is loose, or you need to clean the thermal paste from the heatsink and CPU and re apply fresh. Also worth checking that the heatsink is clear of dust and crap like that.

The CPU doesnt hit those temps unless there is an issue with the heatsink, fan or airflow. Might also be worth looking into the BIOS and seeing if you have a fan controller enabled. Switch it off and the fan will run at full speed which might bring temps down.

Personally though I would replace the system if you can afford to. Buy a 965 based motherboard and your CPU should work out of the box without needing to update the BIOS. You would also need to buy a new chassis and you could use your zalaman cooler on the system then and get better airflow and lower temps. The 965 board will also let you upgrade to the 1066MHz Core 2 Duo's if you want. Stay away from the newer 3xx chipset from intel though as officially they only support core 2 duo and equivelent CPU's (Petium Dual Core and Celeron 4xx series). Make sure you buy a board with graphics on board if you do not have a PCI Express graphics card for your system. Thats probably the cheapest way to go about an upgrade as you should be able to use all the other components from your old system.