Help with Cpu Temp and RPM Please...

[rockgirl26]

Hi everyone, here is my deal..Recently I haven't been happy with the temps on my 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2..they would typically be around 35C/45C at idle..So I decided to go into the bios and disable smart fan, now I see the temps ranging around 24C/34C and the RPM has jumped from 1210 up to 4167 now..

So here is my questions..
Should I leave smart fan off and not worry about the life of the cpu fan, or should I turn it back on and just accept the higher temps?

Another question, when i turn my pc on now, there is about a 3-4 second pause before all the fans are kicking into high gear, I don't remember that being that way until I disabled smart fan..Is that anything for me to worry about?

I just wanted to add that I play hours of games and have seen the temps on the cpu hit the roof, in the 70's (celcius)..But with smart fan off I now see temps hanging around 55C..This is a Gateway PC that I just kinda upgraded along the way, so the cpu/heatsink is stock from the factory..I also have not tried reseating the heatsink, is that something I may wanna think about doing?

Thanks in advance


My PC Specs: Nothing is overclocked

3.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 (Windsor)
500GB SATA II HD
WD IDE 320GB HD
4GB DDR2 667(PC2-5300)
DVD+RW Dual Layer
Lite-ON DVD-RW LS
Corsair VX450W 12V@33A
ASUS 9600GT 512M DDR3
Vista 32bit

 

[rockgirl26]

Anyone?

 

[roofus]

well it sounds to me like you did what i would have done. your temps are lower so really the only two things you have to care about are if the noise level bothers you and perhaps the fan life gets shortened (not a big deal as they arent expensive).

 

[spathotan]

Dont worry about the fan, youll be fine. But another option is to set the fan speed to around ahhh....70% or what not, as at 4100RPM's it sounds like that at 100% which really isnt necessary.

 

[rockgirl26]

First, thank you for the responses...the noise for me isn't a problem at all, surprisingly it isn't that bad.. Can anyone recommend a shutdown temp that I should enter in the bios? right now there isn't anything entered that's telling it when to shut down.. thanks

 

[sighQ2]

Playing in the bios? Fun and be careful.
Set shut down at 60 or 70 - if it shuts down, maybe 80.

Really - what mobo - oh, it's a gateway. Well - see if you can get a manual - or easier, contact gateway support - see what they recommend.

I love playing in bios but you have to know what you are doing cos that's all low level stuff, and everything rides on that. Smart fan is probably turning fan on and off as required. An Athlon 6000+ runs pretty hot. I doubt a gateway will allow you to oclok.

I tend to agree with roofus Run it cooler. The on and off fan is about power saving - but if you are gaming, that's high stress heat so cooler is better. Run the fan fulltime.

The shutdown temp is about saving your unit if all fails- maybe before it blows up. Usually that means fan failed - or something like you mentioned, the cpu seated properly.

A bigger heatsink w a copper heatpipe would be a good idea - and then you could use smartfan too. The better sink will give lower temps even if the fan is off. Arctic Silver cpu goo will help also.

But the cheap route is run fan fulltime. and if the fan gets noisy, put a new fan in - just 4 screws on the sink, and one power plug.

But as a gamer who has seen capacitors boil over while running doom3 on a p3-866 - I suggest you goto a copper sink w a heatpipe and a full time fan. You want at least one case fan dumping heat out the back of the case also.

Many performance mobos will show fanspeeds for several fans in case.
Cooler may mean everything is cooler = longer life. It's a breeze!!

That's my meandering mind for now.

sigh
.

 

[rockgirl26]

Thank you soo much for that info sighQ2..I checked a while back and found out right quick that this mobo is locked, so no Overclocking here..

I set the shutdown at 70, we shall see how that works out

Now for that Cpu heatsink/fan..I could sure use a recommendation on something here..I need something on the smaller side, due to my cramped mobo..I have no prob installing one, but honestly I could use some help with just picking out the right one..If at all possible I would like to replace it without taking my mobo out..Can anyone recommend a good one to me..I already have a tube of arctic silver laying around, I just need something to put it on....price doesn't matter, i just want it to be quick n painless.. thanks

 

[rockgirl26]

any thoughts on this one, it looks to be a pretty simple replacement/upgrade

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835193002

 

[roofus]

might take a good look through the charts here: http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[spathotan]

any thoughts on this one, it looks to be a pretty simple replacement/upgrade

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835193002

That cooler is very close in size and design to the stock AMD cooler (the one with the copper pipes anyways, you might have the all alluminum one). Odds are it does a better job than the stock AMD cooler. Another one you might want to look at it this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835101028 , which is the same price. It has a 80mm fan compared to the 70mm on the one you linked, smaller the fan the louder and less efficient it will be.

 

[rockgirl26]

Ohhh thank you much spathotan, I didn't even see that..I'm gonna purchase that one for sure..it looks good to me.. thanks again