cooling - Serious CPU overheat issue
2013-08
Tim Alexander
So I have had a look at this post and am still somewhat in the mire. My computer is:
CM Stack Case, Tagan 900W PSU, Gigabyte K8NSNXP, 2 Gig Corsair something or other RAM, AMD 64 X2 4400+, 3 HDD (2x 200GB and 1x 120GB), ATI HD 3850 AGP.
It has moved house recently an then sat unused for 3 months in a garage. Since then I took it out and set it going. Was running windows update when it shutdown on its own. Turned back on and pulled some plugs out of the bank thinking I had put too much load through the multiplug. Same result. Installed speedfan and was just in time to see the temp rise to just under 100C!!! (on the Core variable, which I believe is the CPU from previous experience with Speedfan on this mobo).
Decided it must be the heatsink. spent an age degunking it from a hefty layer of dust, likewise for the other fans. Took it off, cleaned of paste and reapplied/reseated it. All seemed to be going well last night doing a virus scan and updates. Today however the problem has reappeared. I am worried it might be something more insipid than just poor thermal contact between the cooler and chip. Could the chip be damaged and thus overheating or am i jumping to conclusion? Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
William Hilsum
As you have narrowed the problem down to overheating on the CPU, most likely the fan/heatsink became damaged during your move.
Devices with moving parts such as the hard drive and fans are most vulnerable to vibrations and problems that can happen when moving - I have seen it happen loads of times to the hard drive and it is rare to get damage to the fan without getting damage to the hard drive - but not impossible.
Just replace it and cross your fingers. This advice is based on what you have said and I can't really say anything else without seeing the system - but if the CPU was at 100°c, this is what I think is wrong.
Pure.Krome
i've been watching some YouTube vids about Lapping a CPU. I've never heard of this modding technique before and, though extreame, I was wondering if it acutally works?
Assuming you lap your cpu and/or heatsink correctly, will the temps drop? When I say drop, at least a 1 degree drop is success (for the debate of this topic).
To keep this topic clean, please refrain from anyone commenting on the overkill of labour, just for a 1 degree (worst case) drop, etc. This is a discussion about the theory and concept, not personal opionion of wether to lap or not.
Stefan Thyberg
As far as I can tell, there is only anecdotal evidence for this, something which is very dangerouse since those who broke their processors or actually got a temperature increase are likely to assume they did it wrong and not write about it. I have yet to see any clear evidence that this works but I also have not seen any clear evidence that it does not except ramblings about how "it could not possibly work, just because".
As for anecdotal evidence, on the local swedish overclocking forums the reported results where a decrease was reported seem to vary around 2-5 degrees.
Also, there is a very good chance that the processor/heatsink is very smooth and flat to begin with and that this will actually result in a higher temperature.
If you're going to try it I suggest starting with the heatsink since there is practically no chance of breaking it, while there is a very real chance of making your processor into a very expensive keyring.
UPDATE: As hyperslug says, there is some compelling evidence in these two posts that supports the tweak as a significant improvement. (~10C difference)
Qwerty
I would say: Yes, it does work. I can't fathom a reason of why heat transfer wouldn't improve if one/both surfaces have been polished up. (Done properly)
But before you start lapping you should review what you are trying to gain from it. I have read of experiences where (done properly) has ranged from 2-8 degrees of improvement. Is that amount of temp drop worth the effort? Don't lap your CPU if you are doubting yourself. The heat sink should be enough for a result.
If you are still interested have a look here. It is full of instructions and nice pictures of lapping.
For everything else there is Google.
Journeyman Geek
Years ago when the quality of the CPU caps were definitely in question (surface variances) this did matter. Reduction in temps of 8-10C though is not realistic for most users today (2012).
Also, the reasons for doing this were born from the fact we had to use stock heatsinks which were woefully inadequate of handling any extreme changes in processor temperatures due to overclocking. 80-92mm heatsink fans were enough to handle stock settings but not much more than that. Since then, the quality of the caps are much higher than they ever were AND we have much better choices now in cooling the CPU that were unheard of just a few years ago.
Watercooling, sealed watercooling units, extreme pipelines, push/pull stand up heatsinks, 120mm fans (single and or dual config) these have all made it practically useless to bother with lapping anymore. If at best you're going to get a "probable" 1-3 degree C temp change, is it worth 2-3 hours or more of work? And almost all users who lap don't even start with a known setpoint so they can't even tell what, if any gains, they've actually made. These are not assumptions they're known facts.