Pentium iv 3.2e ghZ 800mhz bus. RUNS HOT

Newbie Forum
#1

I have noticed since I started running this processor that it runs very hot. According to my Bios, the processor zone temperature is 71c or 159f. I Do not over clock the processor. The processor came with a huge heat sink and fan, which seem to be functioning properly. There was this sticky pad on the bottom end of the heat sink which butts up against the processor, which i left in place. The Processor fan runs at about 3550 rpms. Is this thing suppose to run this hot? Is there a different cooling system I can deploy to help lower the temp ?Anu suggestions would be appreciated.

:a Fasco22 :a

#2

was there a label over the thermal paste ? you DID peel it off before placing heatsink over CPU ? personally, i wipe all that gunk away and just have metal on metal. my 3.2 HT with stock fan and heatsink runs @ approx 48c idle…and itz OCed to 3.6

#3

71C sounds way too high for a non-overclocked system.

Definitely look into G)-(oster’s comments about the thermal paste. I’d second wiping off that worthless pink pad and investing in some good thermal paste - ie. Arctic Silver.

3550 rpms? Is this a stock fan? The P4’s do run much hotter than the previous generation Intel chips. M/b a heatsink/fan upgrade is in order.

Let us know how it turns out … ( that is if you can keep your computer on long enough without it rebooting … :slight_smile: ).

#4

Thanks for your replies guys, I will check into using better thermal paste, or maybe not using any at all. Is it possible to go to a water cooling system for the processor? I hear they work well, however I have never seen one in action. thanks again… I will post my results

:a Fasco22 :a

#5

@ fasco22:

You definitely should use thermal paste b/t your heatsink and cpu … ie. no matter how well you ‘lap’ (ie. sanding with fine sand paper to get a mirror like smooth finish) the bottom of your heatsink, there will always be small/tiny gaps (this is where ‘conductive’ thermal paste will aid in more efficient/effective heat transfer from the cpu to the heatsink). Therefore, it is NOT recommended to go heatsink to cpu without using any type of thermal paste in between. Not very efficient that way.

Arctic Silver is the best but expensive. Any type of thermal ‘paste’ is much much better (and last longer) than that thermal tape crap.

Heatsink design can make a big improvement in heat dissipation off the cpu. Copper core (preferably 100% copper heatsink) is the way to go.

Heatsink fan (larger diameter, higher rpm rating, higher airflow in cfm rating) also can improve heat dissipation. The trade off is typically more noise.

Water cooling has its own set of risks but is obviously one of the best ways to cool a system … shear performance wise. The risks may not be worth it though (ie. leakage onto expensive components, condensation, etc).

I’d start with simple thermal paste and possibly upgrading the heatsink/fan.

#6

Thanks again for your info guys. They have been very informative, I will post my results here.

:a fasco22 :a