Is this a heating problem?

[verix]

I have a Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 motherboard and the temp reading seems to be a bit high. I have an AMD X2 3600+ clocked to 2.6ghz from a 70mhz fsb increase. The idle temp reading for the motherboard is 38 and load is 52 (Orthos). I recently replaced the NB passive heatsink with a much larger Cooler Master heatsink :

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128034

Heatsink
http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/heatsinks/coolermaster/BlueIce/index.htm

After installation the temps are 37 idle and 48 load. I was expecting a bit more of a jump because the heatsink is much bigger and I have a 120mm fan pointed right at it. One thing, I forgot to remove the thermal paste from the old heatsink when I put the new one on, would that be a large detriment to the cooling? Also, would not using a more high performance thermal grease like Artic Silver cause only a mediocre increase in cooling?

And as a last question, I am getting a PCIe graphics card soon, since the 6150LE chipset inside the northbridge will no longer be in use is it reasonable to expect the temp to go down?

Thanks

Andrew

 

[verix]

Bump?

 

[I]

If the old thermal material was hardened phase-change type or dried out grease, yes that can interfere with best conduction of the new 'sink and should be cleaned off.

If the new 'sink didn't have a very smooth base finish, that also could account for the result and might improve with lapping it.

High performance grease will not make much difference, if both types are applied optimally then maybe a couple degrees if that, keeping in mind that it may take a few days for normalization of the new temp (if you haven't waited that long yet, you might get lower temps by waiting).

Why did you buy a premium 'sink for that when it was only at 52C? If it's not instable, what did you hope to gain by replacing the heatsink? Were you trying to o'c further than you are presently and it wouldn't so you felt it a heatsink issue? If so, I recommend temporarily pointing a small fan directly at the original heatsink to see if that helps before investing in a replacement 'sink. Another thing to try is taking off original sink, cleaning it off and lapping the base then putting fresh grease on it and retrying it.

I would not expect much temp decrease in 2D uses by using a video card instead, it might actually increase temp because the video card may decrease airflow past the 'sink, or the opposite, the video card creating a wall could increase airflow from the nearby fans. In 3D, it would tend to cause less heat production by the NB when using a video card instead.

The remaining question is why you are trying to get the temp down? Right now at 48C, it is not too hot.