Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Bad for your XP CPU

[ViaKing]

I have a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Motherboard. I have read numerous message boards and help forums that indicate this Motherboard has seriously finicky Vcore voltage requirments, otherwise it locks up without question or atleast in my case this is true and for countless others. Whenever I play 3D intensive applications I get an immediate lock up and I'm forced to cold boot.

So I decided to up the Vcore voltage by 5.0% and tested to see if my problems went away, No. So I upped the voltage agian to 7.5% and walla! haven't had a problem since and have been running stable for a week. This is obviously the problem but now I have another problem. My CPU is running at 56C in Normal operations. It really gets ramped up when I play games Like Jedi Knight for a few hours.

I hit 159 Degrees Ferenheit after a few hours of playing 3D games. This can't be good for the life of the CPU , even though I read in theory the CPU can handle upwards of 190 Degrees F or something +/- to that.

I have no alternative I guess other than buying a new Mobo or Getting a preformance HSF with some Artic Silver 3 compound (which I doubt will fix the problem). I have 4 case fans aswell, 2 blowing air in and 2 blowing air out (80mm Vantec Stealth fans). I have Updated the BIOS to the latest (F8) and it does not correct the Voltage issues of this Board. Be forewarned! Stay Away.

 

[jankphil]

ok, first off, i'm curious. do you have a metal arm or a plastic arm holding down the cpu. 2, are you using the standard hsf that came with the athlon or did you get a seperate fan, 3 if you didn't use artic silver, what did you use? If you want to know the artic silver and a copper based hsf does reduce heat greatly, almost 10degreese in some cases.

 

[GoLarge]

Keep in mind according to many posts i've read that this gigabyte MB reads temps up to ten degrees high because of the placement of the thermal sensor.

"A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions" - Nietzsche

 

[jankphil]

really, wow, that means my temp (could be) 37 degrees C?

 

[GoLarge]

I'm sure it varies that's why I said up to 10 degrees. If you go to amdmb.com and the gigabyte forums some people measured temps with a thermometer and figured this out. I believe it's because the probe actually touches the bottom of the processor or something like that and a improved workaround was to make sure to press it down before installing the cpu.

"A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions" - Nietzsche