Athlon 5000+ BE heat problems

[jdh440]

I've found that to keep my temps down is to under-volt my processor to 1.2500v,
at 1.2500v its 46c but at stock 1.325v it goes up to 55.
I've got the heatsink/fan installed properly because I reapplied it and it went from 65c to 55c at stock everything.

my specs are:

athlon 5000+ 2.6ghz
biostar am2+ motherboard
2gb 533mhz ddr2
ati 4670 512mb
350w psu pulled from a Dell

what could be causing this... power supply?

 

[pepperman]

55C sounds fine if you're using a stock cooler.

 

[jdh440]

this is the cooler I got:
http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/8926139/rocketfish-universal-cpu-cooler-reviews/reviews.htm

 

[buzznut]

Well, it could be a couple of things.
Lets start with air flow. What kind of case do you have and what fans are running currently? Air flow is a funky beast that can cause all kinds of problems.

You say you have your heatsink mounted properly. What are you using? Is it the stock heatsink? What kind of thermal paste are you using? How did you apply it?

What about the motherboard? I have a Biostar board that is a great board, but notorious for having soaring southbridge temps, as in 80C! I had to replace my (flimsy) chipset heatsink with an active cooler, my CPU temps dropped considerably after I did. What other temps are being reported by the motherboard?

I don't know that the PSU could be causing this, but it sounds like a cheapo dell which may not be removing PSU heat from the case. Unless it has a failing fan however, I would not spend too much time worrying about this. As far as efficiency or voltages are concerned, I don't see this as a direct cause of excess heat.

If you are confident in your pc Know-how, open the side panel. Turn on the pc, and wait for it to idle about 5 mins. Then turn it off and check to see if you have hot spots anywhere. Are the chipset heatsinks hot? How about other than the CPU, which we know is warm. How's the video card? The ram?

 

[buzznut]

this is the cooler I got:
http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/8926139/rocketfish-universal-cpu-cooler-reviews/reviews.htm

hmm following that link got me to Best buys front page. Could you give us the make and model?

 

[jdh440]

my H/F is a Rocketfish - Universal CPU Cooler RF-UCPUCF which is on amazon but I bought mine off ebay.
the case I have is a Rosewill Blackbone case,so far its had minimum dust build up plus I cleaned it just a month ago so its getting good airflow.
the motherboard bridges does not get hot so that's not the problem either.
what the heck is wrong with my processor?
thanks buzznut for the help so far.

 

[buzznut]

my H/F is a Rocketfish - Universal CPU Cooler RF-UCPUCF which is on amazon but I bought mine off ebay.
the case I have is a Rosewill Blackbone case,so far its had minimum dust build up plus I cleaned it just a month ago so its getting good airflow.
the motherboard bridges does not get hot so that's not the problem either.
what the heck is wrong with my processor?
thanks buzznut for the help so far.

Well, I doubt its your CPU. The HSF is not one I've heard of before. A quick google doesn't reveal much. Looks like a best buy product, or at least that seems to be the main vendor.
You didn't mention the thermal paste. I'd still like to know what you used and how it was applied.

Did you have a OEM fan for the CPU? (was it a retail CPU?) Did you try to install with the oem?

That case is a budget model, not known for great ventilation. But we can assume for the moment that its doing its job. Little dust buildup in a month doesn't mean you're getting great airflow. My Antec 900 is vastly superior in terms of # of fans, efficiency of said fans, and efficiency of design (airflow through the case.) Unless we know how many CFM's you're moving, about the best we can say is "its moving some air." I digress, we'll leave that alone for now.

I think I would suspect the HSF at this point.
#1 Its cheap, $20
#2 Its not a reliable manufacturer


Sometimes people just get stuck with a bad heatsink. Sometimes the machining process will cause the (supposedly) flat bottom of the heatsink to be convex, in which case there isn't enough surface area in contact with the CPU heatspreader to eliminate heat efficiently. Its hard to say without being able to test "flatness", but I would replace the heatsink when you can. Use the oem, or borrow one from a friend.
Or if you'd like a more permanent solution, grab a reliable heatsink like the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ for 30 bones.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Can I guarantee you won't have any more problems? No, but it will be a helluva lot better than what you're using right now.