Hi All,
New to postings on the site but unsure where else to turn.

Running a 2500xp and can't seem to get the temperature down to an 'acceptable' level. Idle or loaded, temp runs continuously at 55'C (BIOS reading). Tried changing fan type and re-applying thermal compound (Thermaltake Volcano 7 and Artic Silver 3 respectively). Then added a couple of extra 80mm fans to the case. To no avail.

Then thought I'd check Sandra - who tells me that my cpu is running at 22'C (!, my board is at 32'C but my Power/Aux temp is 55'C. Arggghhhh.

Has anyone ever seen this before and/or can suggest a solution? Would be more than apprecative for any help as hair is begining to be pulled out by the roots and box is in danger of being booted (I know - last resort of the technically inept).

Additional observations:
1. Fins on HSF are v cool to touch when system running (1 up for sandra)
2. Volcano is running at 6000 rpm. This is controlled by temp sensor on cpu - an automatic function which controls the speed (variable fan range 3000 - 9000 rpm)
3. Box comes with a thermocouple which tells me box temp is 31'C

Many thanks in advance,


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John

Gigabyte 7N400 Pro nForce2 Ultra
Athlon 2500XP, Thermaltake Volcano 7+ Vari-Speed HSF
1 gig Kingmax 'Turbo' DDR (2 x 516mb)
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax+9 SATA150 7200rpm 8MB
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax+9 IDE 133 7200rpm
nVidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 128MB 8x AGP
Quartz Q3 Midi tower 400w PSU
2 x 80mm internal fans (1 x in, 1 x out)

I doubt it's running at 6000RPM. The Volcano 7's fan doesn't go anywhere near that high.

How thick did you apply that thermal paste? The heatsink should be warm or hot to the touch.

Ooh, almost forgot. 55C isn't dangerous, so there's no need to worry.. I'm just thermophobic, and I assume you're the same.

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QUOTE (SDA @ Nov 11 2003, 01:17 AM)I doubt it's running at 6000RPM. The Volcano 7's fan doesn't go anywhere near that high.

How thick did you apply that thermal paste? The heatsink should be warm or hot to the touch.

Ooh, almost forgot. 55C isn't dangerous, so there's no need to worry.. I'm just thermophobic, and I assume you're the same.
Hi SDA,

..."Volcano7 doesn't go that high"...
Sorry, it does. As I put in the message - range is 3000 to 9000 rpm. Check out:
http://www.thermaltake.com/products/heatsink/v7.htm' ">http://www.thermaltake.com/products/heatsink/v7.htm

..."thick thermal paste"...
Small "blob" (how's that for technical) - sufficient to cover die but not enough to flow over the chip when the fan is applied. The heatsink is cool-ish to touch.

Yep, definitely thermophobic (sad, isn't it) and I know that the cpu can run this hot without damage but I can't work out why it should be this high, or can I work out the difference between sandra and BIOS.

Hope this helps and thanks for the reply,



-------------------------
John

Gigabyte 7N400 Pro nForce2 Ultra
Athlon 2500XP, Thermaltake Volcano 7+ Vari-Speed HSF
1 gig Kingmax 'Turbo' DDR (2 x 516mb)
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax+9 SATA150 7200rpm 8MB
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax+9 IDE 133 7200rpm
nVidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 128MB 8x AGP
Quartz Q3 Midi tower 400w PSU
2 x 80mm internal fans (1 x in, 1 x out)

Shott, I am running a XP 2500 and running the same temps as yours. I have see quite a few different post in here with XP 2500's running anywhere between 55 and 65 C and from what I understand if you aren't having any stablity problems then it isn't a problem.

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