hey everyone. i have this 2.8 p4 prescott that has run insanely hot ever since i got it.

i first set it with a thermal patch, but when i saw it was running hot i reset it with some thermal paste, it STILL ran hot, so i reset it with the paste again, making sure i scraped off all the old paste and put on a very very thin, even layer of new paste. it still runs very hot, idling at about 65 and gets up to as much as 89 when i play a game.

the case runs at about 30-35 with two fans. the cpu fan seems to work fine with 3500 rpms.

does anyone have any suggestions short of liquid cooling? thanks.

5/1/2006 6:54:49 PM

get a larger HSF? possible temperature sensors are off?

[Edited on May 1, 2006 at 8:11 PM. Reason : .]

5/1/2006 8:10:53 PM

Are you overclocking any?

I would take Prospero's advice and go for a bigger and/or just more efficient (copper perhaps) heatsink and fan. You don't have to get the most expensive ones, but don't get the cheapest either. Read the online reviews of any you look at and see what other people's experiences are with them.

[Edited on May 1, 2006 at 8:22 PM. Reason : that is, if your sensors are working]

5/1/2006 8:21:51 PM

ive considered the larger HSF. i'll prolly end up doing that.

after the third setting, i figured the sensors were off, so i pretty much ignored it for a while. then when i played wow or was running other cpu intensive programs, my screen would black out after a while, i'd lose internet connection sometimes, or just freeze up. so i started looking back into the heat issue after a driver switch up, windows reinstall, a format, the usual. i installed 4 different temp programs which all pretty much gave the same readings.

^no OCing. yeah, looks like the best option right now. thanks.

[Edited on May 1, 2006 at 8:27 PM. Reason : wee]

5/1/2006 8:26:32 PM

more heak sink surface area

5/1/2006 8:54:42 PM

what socket is it. if it's 775, i'd recommend thermaltake beetle, keeps my 3.8 at 23-25 idle, 30-35 full load.

5/1/2006 10:50:44 PM

I remember my XP3200+ was getting way way too hot first of the year so I went and got my new cooler which I now use on my X2 4200+ (Thermalright SI-97A)



So I would recommend some high end air cooling. Take a look here, this is where mine came from http://www.xoxide.com/intelsocket775.html

5/2/2006 2:57:40 AM

If you are really wanting something nice, I have heard great things about this Zalman on the AMD's so I would assume its also great for Intels



lhttp://www.xoxide.com/zalman-cnps9500-at-cpu-cooler.html

5/2/2006 2:59:28 AM

Here is the Thermaltake Beetle that WMVlad007 was talking about



http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-beetle-4-in-1-hsf.html

Also you may want to check other places besides xoxide on the prices. They have a great selection to find what you want but you can then search what you found else where and find better prices.

5/2/2006 3:03:31 AM

holy shit that's ridiculous
i can't believe the size of that thing.. i thought it was a joke at first

how much further can they push these heat issues? will the move to 64bit change this?

5/2/2006 4:41:51 AM

^^ I have that Zalman, my AMD runs @ 29 deg C

5/2/2006 6:34:16 AM

I honestly wouldn't worry about it unless you're getting into temps where it's scaling the clock down, that's just a Prescott doing what it does best (getting real hot)-- just make sure to avoid touching the heat sink after a long gaming session

If can't help but to worry about it, you may be able to undervolt the processor to reduce its power consumption a fair amount without spending a dime, depending on your motherboard. If you have the option (probably in your BIOS), bump the core voltage down an increment at a time and run Prime95 for a few minutes until it reports errors, then bump it up an increment or two and run Prime95 for a couple hours to make sure it's good and stable at that voltage.

5/2/2006 6:43:46 AM

i ended up with this one.



it runs 20C cooler now. its still way higher than i'd like, but i guess for a prescott, its fine.

i have sensorview telling me my core voltage is 4V, which is waaaaay too high. i thought that was the problem, but bios is telling me its only 1.3V so it must be a misreading. my bios doesnt let me downvoltage it anyways.

your cooler looks ridiculous, yet badass, blackdog.

thanks for the suggestions everyone.

5/4/2006 10:04:40 PM

^i have that exact same cooler on my X2 3800+, runs @ 34'C idle

[Edited on May 4, 2006 at 10:51 PM. Reason : ^]

5/4/2006 10:51:21 PM