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Thread ID: 41886 2004-01-25 20:10:00 Would I need a new CPU Heatsink/Cooler unit? somebody (208) Press F1
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209920 2004-01-25 20:10:00 I have an older PC - 1.4ghz Athlon Thunderbird. It has an el-cheapo heatsink/fan unit, and the CPU temperature regularly reaches 60+ degrees during the day.

My question - should I invest in a new Heatsink/Fan unit to cool it down a bit? It has been experiencing system instability which I suspect is because of the heat.

Also, has anyone had experiences with this heatsink/fan unit:
www.dse.co.nz
(dse code XH6434)
somebody (208)
209921 2004-01-25 21:57:00 yes the 1.4 tbird is one hot @#$%

assumeing your temps are accurate then your actuall cpu temp will be hitting 80 odd which is real cose to the 90 max.

i would upgrade the heatsink to the best you can fit. the dse looks okish, at that price it won't hurt to try it.
tweak'e (174)
209922 2004-01-25 23:59:00 Yes, I have one of those Thunderbirds in my set up, but I have a 120mm fan mounted from internal metal-work and a hole cut in the side of the case. I made up a temperature sensitive fan speed controller with the sensor inside the cpu heatsink fins ( it is just an ordinary heatsink from the local comp shop, nothing special), the fan blows straight onto the cpu heatsink.

At the moment, room temperature is 23deg, "system temperature" 31deg, and cpu temperature 46deg (as reported by the VIA Hardware Monitor)

Without the fan I was getting 60+ in warm weather, now even when it is really hot day, the cpu stays below 55deg. There is usually about 15-16 deg reported temperature difference between system or board temperature and CPU temperature.

The cpu sensor on my board is a bead under the cpu socket, bent up so as to contact the cpu and with a blob of heatsink silver compound to get a better sensing.
Terry Porritt (14)
209923 2004-01-26 00:11:00 Thanks guys. I will give the DSE cooler a go, and see what happens. somebody (208)
209924 2004-01-26 02:09:00 Personally I'd avoid the DSE cooler... you say you've currently got a cheap n nasty hsf, well you'd be going from one evil to another.

Find an online retailer who stocks alpha or swiftech cooling gear - it'll be money well spent.

The problem is you have a 1.4 TBird - one of the hottest CPU's to come out of the AMD stables. In more recent times CPU voltage requirements have dropped as manufacture has gone to smaller processes, so cooling requirements have subsequently dropped. What might be suitable for a Barton 2500+ may not work as expected with a 1.4 TBird, so you'll be wanting to get something good enough for what you've got.. an Alpha PAL8045 or above would be more than suitable
whetu (237)
209925 2004-01-26 04:07:00 Thanks whetu. I don't know whether it is worth it spending so much on a new hsf. The PC at the moment does not have severe problems, but the high temperatures are a concern to me. Either or, from my opinion, the DSE one seems to be of much much better quality (from appearance) than the one I presently have. somebody (208)
209926 2004-01-26 05:29:00 a Thermalright SK6 would do the job nicely for a lil less, you can get them with either a Delta(really really loud be warned) or a Sunon 60mm fan. You shouldnt need to pay more than $55 for one of these. Pete O'Neil (250)
209927 2004-01-26 19:41:00 Thanks Pete. I think I'll try the DSE fan first, plus some case fans and see what happens. I don't really want to spend so much money on a computer which at the moment still works, even though the CPU temperature seems a "bit" high. somebody (208)
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