Temperature issues help me

[nitin k]

Hello friends i am nitin
i have recently purchased a system as follows
1- amd phenom x2 550
2-asus m4a78-em/1394 motherboard
3-powercolor hd 4870 1 gb gddr5 gpu
4-kingston 2 gb ddr2 ram
5-tagan u37 600watt psu
6-seagate 80gb ide harddrive

my room temperature is 31 to 34 degrees
i am using my old cabinet which has a good height but no fan and no ventilation in panels.

From the day i had assembled and operated the system i had noticed on the bios that within 15 minutes temperature of
cpu at 48 degrees and motherboard at 52 degrees under idle state .
When i start playing games after fifty minutes the bios shows cpu at 59 degrees and motherboard at 63 degrees.
[no cpu or gpu overclock infact on auto mode]
i had called amd india they told me that the phenom x2 550 can reach upto 80-90 degrees normally without burning and so 60 degrees is normal for such cpu.
And asus india told me that this motherboard can reach upto 75 degrees normally they suggested me to put a chassis fan on my cabinet for cooling will it work ?
Now please tell me is it normal temperatures of cpu 60 degrees and mobo 65 degrees for such system configuration? Should i apply thermal compound how and which?
What should i do now i was and is hopeful and eagerly awaiting genuine help please help.

 

[nofun]

The stock cooler should have thermal compound pre-applied to it. Before you seated it on the CPU, you should have peeled back some plastic to reveal it, then seated the heat sink. This is fine, applying a different thermal compound really isn't worth it. Arguably other compounds will give better performance, but the performance/cost just isn't worth it since you already have some that should work just fine. (You're better off spending that money on other cooling solutions).

If you do decide to get better stuff DO NOT OVER-APPLY THERMAL COMPOUND! You need JUST enough to fill the microscopic air voids in between the CPU and the heatsink, any more and it could seep out onto other components. A small dot (a DOT) on the chip, then smear it around a little to insure good coverage, then seat everything and make sure there is no seepage. I still say this is a waste of money though.


First of all: The temperatures you described are alright, nothing to panic about (AMD themselves said so).
Secondly: Moving the case out of the cabinet and somewhere with open-air access is a VERY good idea. Air cooling relies on moving air. If your case is choked, the best heatsinks in the world are useless.
Finally: What case do you have? If you're still concerned about temperatures, we can take a look at your case and recommend where to put additional fans (if needed) or if an aftermarket cooler would be a better way to spend your money.

 

[Rustyy117]

Those temps are fine, If you don't have any intention on overclocking your components then I'd just leave it all as it is.

If you would like to overclock in the future then get a decent case with good air flow (if you haven't already) and you'll also need an aftermarket cooler for your AMD CPU, and take nofun's advice regarding thermal compound, Less is more in this case.

Personally I would be more worried about that HD4870 overheating, those cards get toasty, You can check the cards temps with GPU-Z.

 

[nitin k]

The stock cooler should have thermal compound pre-applied to it. Before you seated it on the CPU, you should have peeled back some plastic to reveal it, then seated the heat sink. This is fine, applying a different thermal compound really isn't worth it. Arguably other compounds will give better performance, but the performance/cost just isn't worth it since you already have some that should work just fine. (You're better off spending that money on other cooling solutions).

If you do decide to get better stuff DO NOT OVER-APPLY THERMAL COMPOUND! You need JUST enough to fill the microscopic air voids in between the CPU and the heatsink, any more and it could seep out onto other components. A small dot (a DOT) on the chip, then smear it around a little to insure good coverage, then seat everything and make sure there is no seepage. I still say this is a waste of money though.


First of all: The temperatures you described are alright, nothing to panic about (AMD themselves said so).
Secondly: Moving the case out of the cabinet and somewhere with open-air access is a VERY good idea. Air cooling relies on moving air. If your case is choked, the best heatsinks in the world are useless.
Finally: What case do you have? If you're still concerned about temperatures, we can take a look at your case and recommend where to put additional fans (if needed) or if an aftermarket cooler would be a better way to spend your money.

i have seen in few threads where the users claim that phenom 2 550 works ideally at 26-30 degrees thats why i got nervous and confused is it real or just for creating confusions.
i am using chinese tower case quantum bought in 2004 december.
i am greateful to precious advices thanks a lot all techies.

 

[Rustyy117]

hmm....Dunno where you heard that, maybe your getting confussed.

Your Idol temps should be around 30C, This means when the processor is doing nothing (0%load).
Your processor will work fine up until about 75C, after that your computer may shut itself down to stop it cooking itself.

Theres not really an ideal temp or a temp where your computer works best, just try to keep it under 65C and it'll be fine.

 

[Rustyy117]

I just noticed that your using your BIOS to find out your temps, which isn't a good idea as there not very accurate.
My advice would be to download a program called Real Temp and install it. It should give you more accurate temps.

 

[nitin k]

thanks a lot now ....when should i apply thermal compound and which one and how to clean old compound my retailor was telling me that you should clean it with any cloath casually but i want it should be with ideal way.
should i clean with isopropyl 75 % which is available will it be sufficient or i could buy arcticlean or tuniq for cleaning. and most importantly how much compound shout i apply and where in cpu die should i need to spread it all over if yes than how i am doing this because i want to be completely satisfied from my side since i am focused towards prevention rather than cure . so please guide

 

[Rustyy117]

I take it your using the stock cooler that came with your CPU, if so then it has already got thermal compound pre-applied.

If you want to add better thermal compound add it after you have cleaned the old compound off and before you install the cooler back on your CPU. I would advice Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound, and use ArctiClean to clean the old thermal compound off of your cooler and CPU.
When you apply new thermal compound only use a tiny amount, like 1/4 the size of a small pea. Use something flat like an old credit card or business card to spread the thermal compound evenly.
You only want a very thin, flat layer of thermal compound, its only job is to fill in the scratches and imperfections on the surface of the CPU and Cooler.